We Did It!!!

And being there was itself not the biggest obstacle! Our doctors, naturally, were most concerned about the risk of injury and exposure to infection—uncontrolled, unsanitary conditions, contaminants in the water, lack of ordinary conveniences like showers and toilets.

And then there were the feeding issues—TPN for the PICC line, and cans of liquid nutrition for tube feeding, plus problems of electrolyte replacement and hydration.

But thanks to some good luck with weather, a great boat crew, helpful raftmates, and oodles of past experience, all that turned out to be rather inconsequential.

The real ordeal was just getting there, and getting the various hospitals, home healthcare agencies, medical suppliers, and the outfitter all on the same page. Clearly, adventure travel with PICC lines and feeding tubes is just not a run-of-the-mill thing.

But we owe big chunks of gratitude to Sandy Harmer at Western River, our guides Steve and Johnathan, Joy and Jamie at Coram, and Doctors Patterson, Thirlby, and Hohmann at Virgina Mason.

Whew!

But what a trip...