Got a few Pm's asking about my Trip.
About 8 years ago I met a Girl On the internet named Stefanie, a young girl in Canada who shared a lot of common interests and overall was just one of those people who is really special, Our friendship blossomed into a close relationship, as close as you can really have over the internet.
When we were quiet a bit younger we fell in love and really wanted to see each other. Unfortunately at the age of 15 we were both so bogged down
with school work and just lack of finances in general we both kind of fell into a ' well I'd love to meet you but I just cant afford it '
phase.
Years Passed, we both continued to have a strong relationship and eventually decided that we wanted to meet each other, we were both in love and wanted to take the big step in actually meeting for the first time so that we could be a normal couple instead of having to constantly try see each other and be in love online.
We had been playing games online for years, drawing, having voice conversations, doing the absolute best we could to have a normal relationship and be a normal couple.. as normal as the internet really let us.
One thing was for sure though, we were in love, and to this moment I love this woman more than anyone in my entire life, we built up a strong friendship for the past 8 years and have a relationship built on love, trust and honesty.
I decided that since I was working and she was studying that I would save up all my resources and come to Canada to live with her for a while and
actually have a normal relationship, and boy was I excited.
So I started making plans, I started jogging to get into shape, working really hard and making sure that I was going to be everything I could for
this woman.
I got a job at a local restaurant called Lone Star, a Texas Themed Restaurant based here in Penrith near my home town. I worked double
shifts and more to save for my trip over, sacrificing everything I had just to scrounge up the money needed for both a ticket and a few thousand dollars spending money so that I could live comfortably for a few months in Canada and so I wouldn't be a finacial burden on Stef in any way , shape or form.
This Girl meant the world to me, so much so that at work I was even cleaning up peanut shells from the floor and tables to make a few extra dollars, which is a hard thing for me because I'm allergic to them, each night my hands would swell up a littlebut I was determined to get to Canada, by any means nessicary.
A Few months passed and things were really starting to get momentum, My Ticket was booked, Work Visa was paid for , Passport was ready and it was
just a few short weeks till my trip of a lifetime was about to commence.
I did all the last minute checks, made sure I had travel insurance, lots of money, and was all ready to go. I couldn't sleep the night before my
trip, I was so excited that I finally got to meet the Girl of my dreams,
Stef means the world to me and I would gladly give anything I have to see her happy.
So the big morning happened, I hopped on my first international Flight with Air Canada, I was so excited, In just 15 short hours I was going to
be in Canada with the Girl of my dreams, Years of trying to manage a difficult relationship over the internet, months of saving and selling everything I owned meant that now I could finally have a Girlfriend, The one girl that means the world to me.
I arrived in Canada, got to my destination and we finally met, I was attacked by the biggest hug you've ever seen and was trembling with
excitement and fear, this was the girl I'd known for all of these girls was finally in my arms giving me the mother of all bear hugs.
It was very hard for me not to tear up at the situation, I'd never had someone in my life who cared for me so deeply and was there for me every
problem or difficulty I faced in life.
We exchanged a few gifts and made the trip home, I had a sleep on the bus and for once in my life thought ' I'm in love, and I'm truly happy, I hope I never have to leave Canada '.
Unfortunately a day later something horrible happened, We arrived home and decided to have a Pizza in celebration, I was dying to try out all the
different kinds of food in Canada and my eyes lit up when Stefanie showed me a gourgeous pizza in my favorite flavor ( Meat Lovers.. Mmmm ).
We had a beautiful dinner together and had a cuddle on the couch and went to bed.
The next morning she had to duck off to University, so I was left alone in the apartment, There was a tiny bit of left over pizza, My stomach had
been a bit uneasy since I had it last time but I was convinced it was just jet lag with a bit of hunger and getting used to a new time zone,
the excitement ect.
I had a small piece of pizza and went to watch Tv while waiting for Stef
to return home from Uni, Then It happened.
My Chest tightened, my stomach bloated and I was on the floor in Agony, I
crawled to the bathroom trying to throw up whatever was doing this to me but it didn't work, I was alone in a foreign country feeling like I was
having a heart attack.
I tried to wait it out but it just got worse and worse, I was terrified and thought I was honestly going to die.
So I crawled out to the front, hailed a taxi and bolted to the emergency room, I was immediately told to get any treatment It would cost me $550 +
$150 for each doctor, I was in so much pain I didn't care, I knew I'd still have roughly $1000 spending money even with this so I went in.
A few hours and scans later it was determined I'd had a gallbladder attack and was recommended that the only way to solve this was for the
gallbladder to come out.
I'd been in Canada less than a day and hadn't even had a chance to take Stefanie out on a date and I was in hospital being told to have surgery.
Anyways I was discharged from hospital feeling bloated and given some stomach relaxers to get me through till I decided to have surgery.
That night Stef and I were in tears, we didn't know what to do, then it occurred to me, I have health insurance, so It'll be an inconvenience to
have surgery in a foreign country but I'd be debt free right?
Wrong.
My Insurance wouldn't cover gallstones/gallbladder attacks since Gallstones are apparently ' pre-existing ' and about a year earlier I'd had a similar but less severe attack, at the time I was in Australia and was just told to eat healthy.. So I did.
For the next few days I was on the couch in pain, starving but unable to eat a thing, with a dull pain in the right side of me. Each day Stef would try miss Uni to take care of me, but I felt like a failure to her.
Here I was the Guy she had wanted to meet for so long, a usually energetic and happy guy lying on her couch sweating and in pain.
Each night I prayed the pain would go away and I could just be healthy, at LEAST for 2 weeks so we'd get to spend some time together, but no it
stayed.
I went to Several doctors and spent a small fortune ( Since my Insurance wouldn't cover ANY of it , I wasn't pleased ) each time I got the same
thing, go back to Aus and have surgery it would be cheaper ect ect.
Eventually the pain got so bad I had to make the hardest decision of my life, I had to leave the Girl I had waited so long to meet.
I was crying non stop, She had been such a trooper, taking care of a sick Australian Guy out of the kindness of her heart, without asking for
anything other than a small cuddle when I was feeling better.
I got so angry at the situation at one point I rang every doctors clinic, hospital and reach out line I could find within a 100 mile radius begging
for some help to get the surgery, in Canada It was going to cost me in the $5000 range, I couldn't afford it and if any complications arose
after surgery that it would be even more costly, and the rate I was going it looked like nearly $2000 a night in Hospital, if one thing went wrong
I'd be in a lot of debt.. fast.
The hardest thing I've ever had to do in life was leave Stef behind, I hopped on the bus and cried the whole way to the airport, it takes a lot
to get me upset but I felt like I had failed her, the trip we were both so excited for had turned into a health nightmare, What still tears me up is the fact that before I left My Mum had given me $200 and said ' Take her somewhere nice for a Date ', and I never got to.
I never got to take her out to dinner, or a movie, I spent the entire week on the couch passing out , starving and unable to eat, and she took
such good care of me.
So I hoped on a plane with a sharp pain in my right side and flew home crying, I had lost everything, all of my money went on Doctors Fee's, hospital visits and scans/trips to the doctors ect, I had lost the girl I worked so hard to meet , and I am at the lowest point in my life. Coming back to Australia with less than $20 in my pocket and a broken heart.
Stef said something amazing to me before I left, She said she'd stick by me no matter what, she'd wait for me to return to Canada.
And Sadly that is my story, My First international Holiday has turned into a nightmare, I'd never been so heart broken in my life, and I really
loved Canada, I wanted to start a new life there, get a job and live with my Girlfriend.
And Thus this is why I'm selling all of my things at the moment, If anyone wants to buy the transformers or Ultimate Spider-man comics or anything off me It will be going straight on my hospital bill at the moment.
Im on a 1 year waiting list to have my gallbladder removed, but at the moment im in constant pain if I eat anything that has dairy, carbs or grain in it, So that means no bread, milk, cheese or anything, im living off apples.. for a whole bloody year.
