Aloha!

Two weeks from today I'll be stepping into the Hawaiian sun, specifically the sun on Waikiki Beach. It's been a whirlwind few months since I found out we were going. January first seems like ages ago, when we started looking at flights and hotels. When we bought the tour books and started making reservations.

These last two months we've all been holding our breath a little. One of the first things I asked the doctor the morning I woke up in the hospital, was can I fly? Can I go to Hawaii in March? He said without wavering, of course! And take me with you!

The next doctor wavered. He said, flying isn't a good idea. I decided to ignore him. The third doctor? The hematologist and blood clot specialist? He said flying, especially a relatively normal length flight (I disagree that the nearly six hour flight to Hawaii is normal length but still) like the one we'll take should be fine. He'll up my blood thinners around the travel dates. He said no compression socks or any other measures since I still have the clots in my legs. He said to do all the good stuff like wiggling and walking and moving. Even more than just moving my feet, because your hips can get blood clots too. So I'll walk. I'll move. I'll wiggle. And I'll go to Hawaii with Mom, Dad and Angela in 14 days.

These last couple of weeks have been crunch time. We booked our flights (Delta direct to Honolulu) and hotel room (Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort) in January but nothing else. So last week Angela and I got busy. And then I found out that our resort has a wonderful concierge service and that Nicole could help with anything! So things have been a breeze.

We've arranged a car for the first half of the week we're there to drive to the North Shore, Diamondhead, Pearl Harbor, etc. We've booked Angela and my Dad 18 holes at Ko Olina Golf Club (I'm bugged big time to miss golfing in Hawaii but healing is still happening!). And while Ang and Dad are hitting the links, Mom and I will take a whale watching breakfast cruise. We've booked our tour at Pearl Harbor. We've arranged to attend a lu'au our last night on the island. And we've planned lots and lots of time to sit at the beach, to swim, to eat, to relax.

So we're going to Hawaii! Ahhhh! It's really unbelievable. I'm feeling so much better than I was just two months ago, I'm so thankful for that and the healing that continues. Mom and Dad will come out the week of the 23rd, driving, and then we'll all fly out together. So, aloha!