Day Four: It’s going to be a long day

Well the good news is that I got some solid sleep. Bad news is no change on the ankle/foot. Still as busted as last night.

Betrayal.

I got to icing it again this morning as I packed and decided that I needed to get in touch with the Kaiser advice nurse. I messaged them and the very nice nurse, Amy confirmed that I needed an x-ray (today) and made an appointment for about an hour after my plane lands in Dulles for the Urgent Care in Reston, VA. Got to love Kaiser.

I got an Uber to the airport and hobbled my way through security. Now, a miraculous thing exists in Montreal airport that I am particularly thankful for in my current state. After you go through regular security, you go through U.S. Customs in Canada. Since there’s so much travel in between the two countries it made sense for the US to set up a pre-clearance facility in Montreal. I did my face scan with Global Entry, had the border control agent (creepily) greet me by name, and walked on through. That means when I get to Dulles I can go directly to my car, directly to Kaiser, and directly into an x-ray machine to verify that I didn’t break anything.

Side note: I’ve said it before, but Global Entry is worth it. You get TSA Pre-Check (bonus) for five years and if you happen to come in during a heavy traffic time of day, you can skip 90% of the hellscape of US Customs on your return to the country. Especially nice if you have a connection you need to make. It’s like $120 and lasts for five years. Even if you only travel occasionally, I would still recommend it.

After I got through customs I had four hours until my flight. I found a restaurant and ordered my birthday steak at 10:30 in the morning on a Sunday. It was amazing, even if I had to cut it with a wooden steak knife that was somehow only slightly more effective than a butter knife.

After lunch I wobbled my way down to my gate, propped up my foot, and did some reading. We boarded a little before 2 and they let my wobbly behind on the plane first since I was 1) having some physical challenges and 2) seated in the absolute back of the plane. We got out of Montreal just fine and I finished my book on the plane. We landed in Dulles a bit later, but they had a wheelchair waiting for me that took me nearly all the way to where my car was parked.

Look at all the fluffy clouds that will very shortly be creating lots of turbulence as we try to land.

I wobbled the rest of the way to the car and got on the road to Kaiser Medical Center in Reston for my appointment (to verify that I did not break anything). It took a couple of hours but I got the all clear.

Nothing broken just a bad sprain that will hopefully heal in 1-2 weeks. Let this be a lesson for you all, sidewalks around the world are NOT all the same. Watch where you are going.

I got home around 8 pm and got some food and puppy snuggles before beginning to unpack. Until the next adventure!