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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Epilogue From The Islands


I have been painfully amiss from my blogging world. I miss all of you! Our Hawaiian adventure with eight friends was, as expected, wonderful. Five days at sea in each direction gave plenty of time for reflection. You'll read more of my reflections in coming days. A brief summary is nearly impossible -- my head spins with all of the people, places, and things that we encountered. The link to my myriad of photos is here....I had a love affair with my camera, as you'll clearly be able to tell. And I'll never be able to complain about the silver coffee service every single morning served in our stateroom and enjoyed on our veranda with an accompanying Pacific breeze from the world's largest body of water. It doesn't get much better than that. Dessert frenzies, fancy clothes, a cocktail or six, a photography workshop, afternoon trivia sessions, quiet time snuggled in a worn leather chair in the ship's library while the miles of ocean passed by, watching an endangered sleeping monk seal on Waikiki, taking a cooking class with the executive chef of Holland America Line's ms Zaandam, meeting new friends from around the world, taking my very first horseback ride, enjoying a luau at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki, walking humbly across the top of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, taking half-nekkid photos of men on the beach (we'll save a furtherance of that topic for it's own special future blog entry), being asked to judge a cocktail-making competition around the pool on deck, walking across the volcano fields of one of the world's most active lands, and relishing some of the most perfect sunrises and sunsets. One of the most cool things we did was our last day on the cruise.....On Deck for the Cure. It is a 5K walk around the ship's promenade deck to support breast cancer. About 100 of us took part in that. And lots of excellent musical entertainment including Peter Fernandez, the Sean Bell Trio, and Karen Saunders. I'll be putting together some videos from the trip in the future. I really haven't done 15 days at sea in luxury accommodations any real justice here. Suffice it to say that it was something that we'll be repeating again and again. And if you haven't done it, I'd consider it...for sure. In quietness and happiness, I say Aloha to you all.




MRI Update: The results are in from my MRI. "The cervical spine reveals degenerative disc disease (arthritis) overall. At c5-6 ther is moderated disc herniation. Moderate spinal stenosis (narrowing of the cavity where your nerve passes through), hence resulting in bilateral C6 nerve root compression. This is why you have numbness in your fingers. Your lumbar spine reveals mild disc degenerative changes at L4-5 and L5-S1. You have a mild disc bulge at L4-5, but it doesn't press on the nerve root." I'm going to see a neurologist on Thursday.


18 comments:

Dave2 said...

So happy you're back home safe and had a great vacation! :-)

Cooper said...

Welcome home, Lewis. It sounds amazing! I can't wait to read all your reflections. You sound so relaxed and sated and happy ... exactly how you should after a holiday. Having looked at some of your pictures, I want to be there right now!

Nathan said...

That doesn't sound so good about the MRI, but at least they used works like "mild". I guess it's better to know early.

Let us know what you find out.

Hugs,

Nathan

Sorted Lives said...

Glad to hear you are alive. Thought you decided not to get off the boat.

The pics are wonderful. Glad you found an answer about your health. Now you can move forward.

Wayne said...

Can't wait for all the details!
Glad your getting some answers on your health issues.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed your pictures, but didn't leave too many comments. It sounds like a great trip.

You diagnosis sounds very familiar. I should look up my "disc numbers" to compare. May I ask if you have a "seizure" of your upper torso? On occasion I have what I would describe as an intense(!) "charley horse" of everything from my arm pits to the base of my skull. My MRI's suggest a pinched nerve via herniated discs and arthritis.

Steven said...

Glad that you have made it back safe from a great vacation. The pictures are breathtaking. I should finish viewing them all by weeks end. ;-) There are quite a few.

I hope all goes well with the neurologist and a plan is in place to remediate any further damage. ((((HUGS))))

tornwordo said...

I'm jealous, except I'm going in June for a 12 nighter. And I hope the treatment is mild as the diagnosis.

TJ said...

Glad you had a wonderful time on the trip! As for the MRI it unfortunately sounds just like what I had and as I mentioned before I had to have surgery. I hope there is another way for you to have it fixed, but the way I understand it you will need it fixed one way or another. Here's thinking of you! (((HUGS)))

Homer said...

That sounds like a pain in your neck!

Your trip to Hawaii looks fun. I would have gained 10 pounds.

Will said...

Not the greatest news from the MRI, but given some of what it could have been, not so bad either--at least if they can now treat you to relieve the pain.

Hugs and our very best as you work your way through this.

Ur-spo said...

the MRI sounds promising there is nothing terrible there. ask the neurologist for all available options on how to address the peripheral matters
the cruise sounds lovely; i hope to have a fraction of that when i go this weekend.

LSL said...

Awesome, Lewis. Glad you're back and I'm anxious to hear more.

Happy Halloween!

Billy said...

Sounds like a amazing trip! Glad you came back relaxed and rested.

As for the MRI results - my thoughts are with you!

Michael Guy said...

Sounds like a slice of paradise for sure. What a get-away break! I need to do that someday with a good group of friends. (versus a bad group of friends ala RSVP '90; all they did was bitch about EVERYTHING!)

RE: MRI; Good to have the info no doubt. Good luck with those next steps in seeking help/answers, Lewis.

Trailhead said...

My MIL has spinal stenosis, and has not needed surgery as yet. I'm glad you finally have an answer.

It sounds like you had a wonderful trip. Hawaii is a huge gap in my travel history, and you've about convinced me to fix that.

WAT said...

Hello Lewis!

I thank you for stopping by my blog to say hello. Hawaii sounds wonderful, and I hope to visit someday. They say that after living there for a while though you go crazy being in "eternal paradise."

So sorry to hear about your back troubles. Sounds painful. How about some cotton candy?

Anonymous said...

Glad you enjoyed the Sean Bell Trio, Lewis. I love this video you made too, it's really great!