Let me try and make this short and sweet since a lot of what I did at PAX will either be covered on my radio show over the next few weeks or my site.
For those of you who are familiar with the one with the orange, you will find the following amusing. I think “they” knew I was coming back into the states. About 30 minutes before hitting the border on the way down, the bus driver announced over the speakers:
“It is very important that you fill out a proper declaration form regardless if you are an American citizen or not. Also it is very important to declare, even if it is just 1, all ORANGES, apples, bananas, peaches, pears, cherries or any other fruits or vegetables you may have on you.”
5 minutes before crossing the border, he warned us once more about the importance of declaring ORANGES, apples, bananas etc etc.
PAX itself was just super crazy and I am still trying to remember all that I did. Thank bob for handy dandy voice recorders to keep track of all my interviews.
Coming back into Canada today was very uneventful. Or so I thought until it was time to board th ferry. The bus gets front of queue. The bus driver went to fire up the bus’ engine to load us onto the ferry and the bus won’t start. He tried to start the bus for 5 minutes while all the vehicles are waiting behind us, only to hear very loud buzzing noises. We are told to get off the bus and wait until the next bus comes for the next ferry in 2 hours.
I almost cried and told the wonderful people at BC Ferries and Greyhound this will not do! I have children that will be home from school in a couple of hours and my childcare left first thing this morning once they left for school. I nearly had a melt down. You should have seen their poor faces as I went off.
So they told us to grab our luggage and walk on the ferry and they will contact Greyhound on the island to see what arrangements can be made. I thought to myself, oh you will make arrangements all right if you know what is best for you!
Just in case they didn’t make arrangements, the other passengers and myself discussed splitting cab fare to get to the Greyhound terminal in Nanaimo just to be safe. But half way through the sailing to the island, we got the wonderful announcement that a shuttle will be waiting for us on the other site to take us to the depot.
On top of all of this, ever since I woke up yesterday I have not been feeling well. I have slept most of the last two days, sore chest, cough, runny nose, fever, swollen glands, kidney pain, diarrhea and a bunch of other symptoms. I had been hoping it was just lupus fatigue and I was not among the hundred of people who attended PAX and contracted the H1N1 virus.
I decided I should phone my doctors office and ask them what I should do. They told me to get my butt down there ASAP. And so I did, hoping they were just being extra cautious. Well this hope turned south. After an examination and a swab being stuck so far in my nose it went down my throat, I have been placed under quarantine for at least 2 weeks and given a prescription for Tamiflu and a diagnosis of probably H1N1. It is not completely confirmed, however due to the fact I have lupus and I am on immuno-suppressants, I am showing all the symptoms and over 100 confirmed cases, they are treated me as if it is since you can only start treatment within the first 48 hours of symptom onset and putting off treatment could be fatal for me.
My worst fear regarding attending PAX came true. I suppose sooner or later traveling with my medical condition would catch up to me. And despite the doctor’s office and health authority urging me not to go again next year and those same huge fears cropping up yet again about contracting something that for most is “nothing but the flu”, but for me is possibly life threatening, I will most likely still attend PAX next year. After all, you only live once and what is the point if you don’t make the best out of it that you can.
PAX and PAX people are awesomesauce and full of win!
julia sherred
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