Steve Arnold

On Thursday  September 7th we departed the Port of Miami on the Carnival Sensation. The original itinerary was a 5-day cruise with stops in Key West and Cozumel. Thanks to Hurricane Irma, Key West was scratched, Jamaica was added and we stayed at sea two extra days. 


The cruise was lovely. We met wonderful people, relaxed, and destressed.  In Mexico we visited Chichen Itza. In Jamaica we zip lined, river rafted, and rode horses.


Two weeks later Steve noted that he felt tired, and had developed a headache.  On Wednesday, September 26th, we went to urgent care because of the headache. They didn't find anything. On Thursday evening, the 27th, we went to the emergency room, where it took two heavy doses of morphine to break the migraine. Meanwhile they ran more tests and ruled out more illnesses.


On Friday, the 28th, Steve felt pretty good, until bed time. Then, the headache came back, along with wracking coughs. Saturday he tried unsuccessfully to sleep it off. Back to the emergency room. At this point we started to hear docs talk about possible tropical diseases, and he was admitted to the hospital (Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids). By Sunday morning they moved him to ICU. 


Sunday Steve's kidneys stopped functioning and they put him on dialysis. Platelets dropped to 5. (Normal is ~200.) Monday Steve went into respiratory distress. Cpap didn't help. When they intubated him, his vitals crashed.  Enter Allina ambulance transfer to Abbott Northwestern.


And, here we are.