Corinne had to plan for lots of details and faced many "what-if's" regarding her healthcare in Europe. Before embarking for Spain, she had to learn to maintain the tubes of her Groshong catheter. She had been going to the clinic every week for blood tests since the tubes were implanted, so she had the luxury of sustaining a sort of comfortable ignorance about how it all worked. Now, overseas, she would have to do it herself.

The Groshong catheter is known to clog up and become useless if it is not flushed with blood-thinning Heparin every week. This involves using a hypodermic needle to draw Heparin out of its vial, removing the needle and attaching the syringe to one of the catheter's ports, then injecting the blood-thinner through the valves and tube to clear any clots.

Hiding her discomfort, Corinne learned to do this. And became more self-sufficient.