Well hello. I have so much in my head and so many things that have been thought and felt – I guess I should start at the beginning…
Vacation day 0 – Thursday before we leave: I went back to my foot surgeon because I was still having staining on my bandages. My foot had not fully healed all the way. I have 3mm opening that was still open in the middle. He cleaned it up and put new steristrips on and said I could take showers, didn’t mention swimming 🙁
Vacation day 1 – Friday we flew to Orlando, Flight was delayed an hour. After that it was fine 🙂 We got to the car rental place, got our car and made it to our hotel just as it was getting dark. We enjoyed a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant had a few drinks then off to sleep.
Vacation day 2 – Saturday we finished our drive to Fort Lauderdale. Bonus – the car rental place had a shuttle to the cruise ship – we didn’t have to pay for a taxi. Fairly painless process to be processed and boarded to the ship. When we first arrived we purchased the soda/tea/coffee/water package. That was like $29 a day per person. After we found our room and looked around a bit we decided to have a couple drinks. Well when two mixed drinks and 3 beers adds another $40 to your daily bill – we quickly decided to upgrade to the package that has drinks in it. Day 1 on the ship ended with us falling asleep around 6:30-7:00 with the idea that we would get up to go to dinner at 8:30 for our assigned dinning time…lol we woke up around 9:30 and got out of our clothes and slept the rest of the night 🙂
Vacation day 3 – Sunday we docked in Nassau for a day of excursions or tours. We just took a bus tour and were shocked beyond belief. They take you to the richest parts of the area as well as the ghetto…the ghetto was scary. We got to hang out at Atlantis for about 40 minutes. We ran into the local eatery and grabbed a snack and a drink. After our tour we spent some time in the shopping area just off the Dock area and spent a little money. I was not thrilled with the island – no desire to go back.
Vacation day 4 – Monday was a sailing day. Out to sea all day. We got up and ate breakfast and put ourselves together for a day on deck 🙂 Sunshine and ocean. It was so nice and warm with a nice breeze keeping you from over heating. We laid there and relaxed for the first time. It was nice. We had a drink and chatted the gals next to us. John went back to get another drink and I got the nerve up to ask the girls about their business and told them of mine and what I had been struggling with. Great feed back and also what I knew – I have to do this for me. I have to commit to the life changes I need and the rest will naturally follow. So I had added to my resolve to come home and get back on track first thing Monday. We ended up spending 4~ish hours in the sun with 2-3 drinks each and decided to go back to our cabin and nap before dinner. We got up and showered and headed up to the 16th deck for dinner. This would be the first night we were out and about later than 6:00-7:00 LOL Old people!
After dinner we went to the front of the ship and ordered a couple drinks and just looked at the stars and have amazing conversations! It was by far the best night of the trip for me. I only had two drinks after dinner. I felt really bloated and just overall very full. Walking around holding my husbands hand under the stars was the perfect end to the day.
Vacation day 5 – Tuesday morning 4:30AM I woke with a pounding headache and stomach pain. I came to the conclusion that I was probably dehydrated from the day in the sun and drinks. So I started pounding the water for the next hour or so. I fell back to sleep until about 7:00 and thankfully my headache was gone. The stomach pain was still with me though. I googled to see if that was something I should expect with dehydration – it was not. We were docked in Jamaica that day and I told John, despite feeling like crap I wanted to at least get off the ship and say I was in Jamaica. We got off the boat for a while and bought the kids souvenirs. I was still feeling poorly so we went back to the cabin. I took a nap – John sat out on the balcony and read a book and relaxed. After my nap I still felt poorly and decided it was time to go seek out the ships medical staff. We spoke to the gal at the desk and she sold us some Mylanta with the hopes it was indigestion from the ships food. Back to the room and resting most of the rest of that day.
Vacation day 6 – Wednesday was another day at sea. I was still in pain and did not want to go back to medical. I didn’t want to spend the money for one thing. Medical on the ship does not take insurance – its CASH. And you have no idea what its going to cost until you are done, because you have no idea what they are going to find. But after showering and trying to manage through the pain I decided the money was going to be worth it. We went down and I was put into the system and moved to a room to be seen. The doctor came in shortly thereafter and listened to my symptoms and then started her physical exam. When she started poking at my belly I wanted to cry and scrunch myself down into the bed so she could not touch me. She proclaimed it was either my appendix or diverticulitis. She needed blood work to make her next move decisions. They started an IV and drew blood. We waited for blood work and it showed that I had an active bacteria infection and my inflamation markers that should be between 5-7 were 99. SO they started me on IV antibiotics. After the saline bag and two bags of antibiotics finished, they wrapped my IV and sent me back to my cabin to rest. I had to return at 6:00 that evening for a second dose. When we went back at 6, the Doctor talked to us about arranging my exit from the ship via ambulance. She said it would expedite my getting evaluated in the ER and it had to be done before we got on an airplane, because if was my appendix it could burst on the plane.
So we had to have photocopies of our passports made and our customs form filled out to be turned in ahead of time. I had to go back for a third does at 2AM….long day ahead…
Vacation day 7 – Thursday we docked in Fort Laurdale at 6AM. When she said removal via ambulance, we assumed like a little white LIFE EMS or something – NOPE! Browered County Fire Rescue! Off to the hospital and more blood work, a CT scan and morphine for pain. Results were diverticulitis. Two antibiotics and ibuprofen for pain. We were able to hit the road and get our rental car to drive back to Orlando. HOWEVER – once released the morphine decided to turn on me and I almost passed out more than once. I could not sit up and I just wanted to die. Never again! 2 mg were fine – the 4 more they gave me in the ER put me over the edge and I will add that to the list of things not to give me. Finally I started to feel like a human and was able to help navigate and talk to my hubby. I called my sister, mother and twins while we drove that three hours and let them all know I was alive and kicking and we were headed to Orlando. When we got there we found a Wallgreens and had my prescriptions filled. We checked into our hotel and went to the little tiki bar/restaurant to grab some food. John had a few green beers and I had one drink with my doctors approval 🙂
Vacation day 8 – Friday we got up and went to breakfast on the way to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon! A day at the water park was just what I needed to end the vacation on a better note. We laid in the warm sun for a while and if felt amazing 🙂 We decided to go cool off and while standing in the water I noticed that my steristrips were coming off, so I stepped out of the water to check on my incision – and notice it STILL not closed all the way….out of the water. We floated on the inner-tubes of the lazy river for a while so I could cool off but keep my foot out of the water. I was extra careful not to get sand in it and spent the rest of the time mentally freaking out about my foot. So we didn’t stay there past 1:00. We went back to our hotel and got cleaned up and drive down to Downtown Disney for dinner and souvenir shopping for our grandson. It was a nice night 🙂 we walked around for a while and then back to the hotel to fit 10 pounds of shit into a 5 pound sock 😛 We had so much stuff to get back into our luggage LOL we got it all in there and home with out extra fees – I’m not sure how but we did it.
Vacation day 9 – Saturday we flew back home. SO happy to be home and in my own bed 🙂
Sunday we visited my MIL and had the kids over for dinner. I didn’t much feel like eating – had not really had much to eat since Tuesday.
Monday I woke up feeling worse. I ended up going to see my doctor. He told me to start taking Zantac on top of the antibiotics. My guts did not like all of the medication I had been taking. I woke up today feeling worse yet. Soooo frustrating!!!! I took the Zantac first and waited a bit then took the antibiotic. But within an hour everything in me was coming back up. After that I decided I was done taking anything. Finally now at 9:30 – I just drank a Shakeology to help with my gut health and nutrition as I have not had much in days I may actual make it back to work tomorrow. Super glad I have the opportunity to work from home – because if this keeps up I will need a nap here and there just to make it through the day.
So to end the whole story – I did not come back home and hop right back on the fitness trend – I first have to finish healing. You have to follow a low fiber diet while your guts heal – then a high fiber diet to keep things moving and “swept clean” to keep the infection from returning. From my research I basically need to do all the things I know I need to do!!! LOL Yoga for stress relief, exercise cuz we need it and from several sources I need to lean all I can about a Paleo diet and follow that. Lots of veggies – some good sourced animal protein, good fats and a few more carbs than I had been consuming. But NOT your Standard BS high carb low fat diet. Salads – stir-fry – sauteed veggies. real food!
I truly hope to be feeling like myself again by the weekend. The kids are coming for Easter dinner and I would love to truly enjoy the day with them.
I need to get headed off to bed. It’s been a long week and a half.
Good Night!