Hawaii was wonderful, except for the absent husband. The ocean was a beautiful sea-green or blue-green depending where we were. It was amazing. Our cabin was 20 feet from it and the constant sound of the waves was very comforting.\
I went on: a boat ride, a helipcopter ride, a submarine ride, a canoe ride, and a train ride.\
I went to: “the big island,” The Shrimp Shack (as seen on the Food Network), the Hawaii Mormon Temple, a waterpark, the lava fields of Mt Kilauea, the Dole pineapple plant, the beach (duh), the Polynesian Cultural Center, Sea Life Park, a luau, tha Mauna Loa macadamia nut farm, the North Shore, and Waikiki.\
I saw: three sunrises and one sunset, the biggest active volcano in the world, the most active volcano in the world, volcanic steam vents, a lava tube, many Japanese tourists (the touristy mall’s food court felt like Tokyo. I wish we’d had more time there. I wanted to try some traditional Japanese food.), a Polynesian dance review, undersea boat and plane wreckage, three real waterfalls and several temporary ones, where Mighty Joe Young, the Jurassic Park movies, 50 First Dates and Lost were filmed, the hotel where the cast of Lost stays, and a tree where Elvis once sang.\
I saw, in the wild: crab, fish, sea turtles, and a whale.\
I ate: fresh pineapple everyday and binged on chocolate covered macadamia nuts. I also had spam, poi, chicken long rice, Hawaiian BBQ, yummy seafood, coconut syrup, tropical drinks, haupia, and guava cake.\
The best parts were: seeing my parents, swimming at the beach, the helicopter ride, and the waterpark. (heh, most of those things I can do near my home in Virginia.)
Author: Kevin Lawver
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Highlights
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Brian In Hawaii
How happy is the boy? No, really, do you remember ever being that happy? I’m really glad they’re home, but after seeing the pictures, I’m kind of sad I wasn’t there with them.
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Crap!
I couldn’t sleep at all last night. So, crappity crap crap. I gave up at 4:30, when I would only have 90 minutes until my day official began. I blame Hawaii. How am I supposed to take care of my three boys nows?
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Quote Of The Day
I’m back semi-working. Pain and drugs are keeping me at less than 100%, but I got a great quote today:
- Someone: Yeah, now we’re at the center of the “cool universe” around here.
- Me: You mean the “cooliverse”?\
I crack me up… and this is probably only funny if you’re taking vicodin. Sorry.
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We’re ba-aack.
We’re finally home. I am tired, sneezy, and swollen. Max slept from 8 pm last night to 10:30 am this morning. I guess the boy was tired too.\
Before I get into the details of our trip, a few thoughts:\
I am sad Kevin couldn’t come. But the 2 bedroom cabin was small and probably would have felt cramped instead of cozy if he’d come. Since I was vacationing with my parents, I felt no qualms about sneaking a nap on their bed or hiding in their room at night while they were watching bad reality tv (heh, I am not a fan of reality tv, can you tell?). I am not sure Kev would have felt so comfortable doing that (just like I wouldn’t hang out in his parents’ room without his mom).\
I loved Hawaii and am so glad we went for 2 weeks, instead of the 1 week my dad was pushing for. I wish we could have stayed longer, but also feel satisfied with our trip. I can’t believe that there were still things we didn’t manage to do, even though we were there for so long.\
We stayed in a cabin that was only 20 feet from the ocean at Bellows Air Force Base on O’ahu. The base which was much nicer than I expected. They had tennis courts, paint ball facilities, miniature golf, hiking trails, kayak tours, snorkeling, craft lessons, free movie showings at the rec center, DVD rentals, fishing, internet terminals, an arcade, camp grounds and more. Of course, the best part was the beach. It was beautiful and really uncrowded. At its busiest, there were only 4 other families there when we were at the beach. If you plan on going though, I would recommend you stay at the Hale Koa, the military rec hotel in Waikiki, for a few days and do all of your Waikiki touristy stuff so that by the time you get to Bellows, you are ready for rest and relaxation without the pull of being an active tourist.\
More later. Aloha! -
Little Victories
I was able to get my foot into the boot yesterday and crutch/walk around the kitchen a couple times. That’s better than I’ve been able to do since surgery (almost a month ago now). Unfortunately, I could only handle it for about ten minutes before everything revolted and I had to take it off.\
My food really doesn’t like being at 90 degrees (you know, where it’s supposed to be). All the tendons on the inside of my foot revolt if they’re held there too long. So, I’m doing a lot of stretches and still writing the alphabet with my toes a hundred times a day.\
I have an appointment in a couple hours to see how things are going. I’m supposed to start physical therapy this week, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet. It’s still swollen right around the ankle (you can’t see the bone still), and it’s still puffy around the incision (bad sidekick photo). We’ll see what happens.\
In other news, I’m working on the couch, which is really not the most “inspiring” place to try to work. I hope to be up on the boot next week and back in the office. I hope…. -
A Little Update
There’s really not much to talk about when all I do is sit on the couch… I had a lovely Thanksgiving over at my parents’ house. I think the infection is gone, although where the doc re-opened the incision is healing kinda funny. I’ll take a picture when Jen gets home, or if I can find the sidekick. Ok, the infection’s not gone, it’s moved to my sinuses, but I’m not really worried about that because I’m on really good antibiotics.\
I have a new goal. It’s to be walking without crutches, cane or boot before I go to France at the end of February. At the rate I’m going, I’m not sure how easy this goal is going to be to reach, but I’m going to do it. I don’t want to be hobbled for that trip or SxSW the week after I get back. I probably won’t be playing kickball next year, but I don’t want to miss out on anything because I’m gimpy.\
Jen and the boys get home on Tuesday, and then I’m sure you’ll get a ton of Hawaii pictures and stories. I’ve talked to Max on the phone a couple times, and I think I’m going to try to get him to write some too.\
I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. Hopefully, it’ll be all good news, because I’m tired of the other kind. -
Pre-Breakfast Gross Out
I slept from 10:00 PM until 1:30 AM, and have been up trying to get comfortable ever since. There’s an uncomfortable moment any night I don’t sleep where I resign myself to being awake. It usually happens around 5:30. It’s a horrible feeling, being exhausted, but knowing that I’ve just made the decision to get up anyway and do something (usually that involves checking e-mail and finding something to eat).\
Last night (this morning?) while I was sitting there trying to ignore the stinging in my foot, I realized I forgot to tell you the grossest part about yesterday’s trip to the doctor. Since my foot’s infected and the previous antibiotic wasn’t doing the job, they wanted to do a culture (stop reading now if you’re eating or feeling squeamish). You know how they do a culture on a surgical wound? They slice it open and jab two giant q-tips in the wound. I had no idea a q-tip could go so far into my foot without me passing out (this is where Dr. Wilson found the “live nerve” he didn’t kill off during surgery).\
And an added bonus, this morning when I went to change the dressing, it was stuck to the incision so I got to open it all back up again. Hooray for mornings!! Hooray for gore!! Hooray for stinging pain that never goes away!! Hooray for sleeping on the couch!! Hooray for pop-tarts!! Hooray for Dr. Pepper!! Hooray for crutches!!\
Hooray, hooray… yeah. -
Vicious Cycle
First, there was the contamination. Now, it’s an “infection”. I have a fever, I have puss. I have new antibiotics, cultures at the lab, incredible pain that’s making me watch the clock (two hours until I get to take more pain killers), and a slowly creeping disdain for my right foot.\
I got to watch Dr. Wilson cut into my foot today, which once I got over the weirdness of seeing it happening and watching the blood come pouring out, it was kind of cool. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, although the numbing stuff they put on it didn’t quite do the job.\
It just feels like moving backwards. I was progressing. The steri-strips were off, and I thought things were healing. And then, the puss, the red, the white… it all came back, and here I am again with an open wound (no staples this time, it’s just sitting there under 8 layers of gauze – oozing).\
I’m ready to walk again. I’m actually longing for the stupid black boot. My foot is still too swollen to fit in the boot, which means no walking. It means more crutching (my biceps and abs are getting a workout – the one positive I can think of). It means more helplessness. It means creating ways to carry things from the fridge to the couch (under the chin, in the pockets, held in a grocery bags, etc).\
I’m sorry, there are good things happening. I think. The family’s having a great time in Hawaii (look forward to pictures… be grateful I don’t have a camera in the house). Yeah, that’s about it.\
update – Feeling blood seeping out of my foot feels really really gross. -
Trade-Offs
When you sleep for thirteen hours, that means you miss three doses of pain medication. That probably means you’ll wake up in a good deal of pain (probably because you moved wrong and woke up swallowing a scream). But, part of you is happy and shocked that you got more than two hours of sleep at one time.\
Trade-offs, man, trade-offs.