Rome with Noah, Troy and Momma: Flying Home from Rome Sick

FCO > ATL > MGM

Sunday, January 1, 2017 - We got up early Sunday morning for our return flight to the U.S. Troy and I both felt very poorly and we knew this was going to make the 11+ hour flight home a lot worse. As soon as we got in our tiny taxi and shut the doors, our body heat from our combined fevers fogged up every window in the car. We had about an hour drive to the FCO airport. I can't imagine the taxi driver did not get sick from riding with us.

The flight from Leonardo da Vinci - Fiumicino International Airport (FCO) to Atlanta (ATL) was full. On top of that, pretty much every passenger was coughing just like Troy and me. It was loud and obvious. I do not know how we did not have the entire plane quarantined as soon as we landed in the U.S.

I was bad, but not near as bad as Troy. He got steadily worse and worse. I really did think that half way across the Atlantic, I was going to have to ask the flight attendant to ask for a nurse or doctor. Troy's breathing had gotten really bad and his fever was very high. But half way across the Atlantic, there is no where to go. He toughed it out as best he could. I was hoping the fresh air once we got off of the plane would make him feel a little better; but when we were standing in-line at customs, he told me he was having problems breathing and that he was not going to make the next flight to Montgomery. He was going to have to get medical attention at the airport or at the nearest hospital. We opted for the nearest hospital, jumped in a taxi with a guy who did not know for sure where the nearest hospital was; I Google Mapped it and he took us there. It was after dark and I didn't even know if this was going to be a real hospital or some urgent care facility that might close at 5pm. Luckily, it was a full hospital and they took Troy in pretty much right away. They got him on medicine and the mucous blocking his lungs started to clear up.

Momma and I waited with him for a couple of hours in his hospital room. She and I decided that there was no going home any time soon so I booked us a room at the Marriott by the airport. I actually booked us two rooms so that Momma would not have to sleep in the same room with us two sick patients and we stayed there for about a week before April and Jimmy drove up to pick us up. The hospital actually released Troy later that first night and I picked him up with a taxi to move him to the Marriott.

It was a good week. Troy was so sick those first few days at the Marriott that he could not fly or even ride in a car home. Momma and I would meet downstairs for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I would sit with Troy the rest of the time. We had balconies facing the Atlanta airport so we watched planes land and take-off all day and night / each day and night.

Momma never got sick. She had the forethought to get her flu shot well before we ever left for Rome. Had she not gotten her flu shot, we would have been in a lot worse shape. We probably would have had to extend our stay in Rome for Troy and her. On every trip after that, I have included the emergency medical evacuation insurance. I hope I never have to use it, but we came close on this trip.

Delta Jets from our balcony.

We missed New Year's Eve in Rome, but we had an amazing trip to Italy. We loved seeing Florence, Naples, Pompeii, Rome and all the many impressive works of art, remarkable architecture, cobblestone streets, piazzas, fountains, picturesque landscapes and so much more that make Italy a wonderful destination. There is so much more for us to see and experience in Italy that we definitely want to return on another trip. I'd even like to spend an extended vacation there sometime soon. We love Roma!