Nameless, for now

Well…here’s the saga. 

The Hubby and I went to Toronto last Thursday for the One Night Live concert. I was excited to go, really looking forward to the concert and our mini-vacation. I had never been to Toronto before (actually, anywhere east of Winnipeg, really).

We planned a nice dinner out at Rosewater Supper Club on Friday night and a winery tour in Niagara for Saturday. Then, dim sum and shopping on Sunday.

Minor points of discontent:

1. The concert was late…by an hour (it was supposed to start at 7pm, but actually started at 8pm). Major technical difficulties. Bad sound checks resulting in…yep, you guessed it…bad sound. We finally left at 12:30am, but the concert wasn’t even finished at this point. After being awake since 4am, it was just too much.

2. The meal at Rosewater Supper Club on Friday night was fantastic. However, the four locals sitting behind us left much to be desired. Extremely loud, obnoxious, vulgar comments were coming from their table as the wine flowed. I eventually tuned out when talk started of blow jobs and the c-word.

Major point of discontent:

Do not, I repeat, do NOT eat at Bright Pearl if you ever want to have dim sum in Toronto.

We ate dim sum (as we do quite often back home) on Sunday afternoon. We arrived at around noon, got seated quickly, and tucked into our little morsels of heaven.

After eating, we headed down to Eaton Centre to escape the cold. About 15 minutes after arriving, I felt my bowels start to churn. Uh oh. Okay, let’s hit the washroom. Obviously, something I ate disagreed with me. Doesn’t happen often, but when it does, one bathroom trip will “cure” it.

We continue shopping until it’s time to leave for the airport at 4pm.

On the way to the airport, I was feeling queasy and just “off”. Didn’t think much of it. Time to board the plane. Am definitely feeling nauseous, like I’m going to hurl, the plane is spinning, and my upper abdomen is cramping. Hmmmm…what to do?

Get escorted off the plane. Plane leaves without us.

Have the priviledge of having EMS called. Note to Toronto travellers - Do not get sick in Pearson International Airport. Due to budget cuts, they have eliminated their medical clinic and ALL medical staff, including nurses. So, your only option is to wait for an ambulance to take you to the nearest emergency room (Etobicoke General, for those playing along at home).

Spent the next 8 hours in emerg. I won’t gross you out with the details, but let’s just say the diagnosis was gastroenteritis. Severe gastroenteritis.

Was released from emerg at around 6:30am. Booked into the Sheraton at the airport, as we had rescheduled our flight home for that day at 4pm. Yeah, right. Didn’t happen.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that Air Canada had NO IDEA where our checked bag was?

After spending the next two days in the lovely Sheraton, lying in bed, cramping with pain, doing my business (from both ends) in the bathroom, we finally checked out on Tuesday and flew home. Roughest flight ever. Seriously. Spent most of it locked up in the cubby they call a bathroom.

Back home now, but still not back to work. Have yet to eat solid food - tried some grapes earlier, we’ll see how that goes over.

So, that’s pretty much my Toronto saga.

PS - Did I mention that I *just* started a new job and have now taken approximately half my sick days in less than a month.

PPS - Did I also mention that I have to write a final exam this Sunday?