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Trips: cruise and doctor
Feb. 18th, 2009 07:51 amJohn and I went on a cruise with a bunch of friends last week. It was nice and warm and sunny, and I can't say that I'm happy to be back in the cold snow (though I'm happy to have missed the Big Thaw and the sinus aches that would have resulted had I been here)
I needed the vacation time more than I realized. Until three days into the trip when I finally relaxed enough, I had not noticed just how out of sorts I've been. It was somewhat like waking up and realizing that there's feathers all over the room and your pillow is missing, but you weren't dreaming about eating a large marshmallow. You can pretty much figure out what happened, but *why* it happened is a complete mystery.
Just prior to leaving, I popped into my doctor's office to ask about stopping a particular medication, and while I was there he ran a blood sugar test. I haven't actually stopped back in to let him tell me the results of that test, but I did start doing routine finger-pokes again, and based on those numbers I already know that the results of the official test are going to be "Hey, guess what, you're diabetic!" Which is not overly surprising, since during the "out of sorts" period it wasn't unusual for me to eat a 6oz bag of chocolates in a day. (When I say "out of sorts" I mean "Ohmygod, whatthehellareyoudoing?")
There's nothing quite like realizing that you need to cut out sugar and white breads/pasta and potatoes and then getting on a cruise ship where you are surrounded by desserts and breads and a pizza bar and a pasta bar. I didn't cut them all out, because I don't have that kind of willpower, but I did cut them back drastically, and my finger-poke tests are substantially better now. I still have to schedule a time to let the doctor lecture me, but I'm off to California on Friday, so he's probably going to have to wait until March.
The cruise was fun, but the first couple of days we had some very rough seas. I'm happy to say that I have figured out my motion-sickness triggers well enough that I didn't get sick at all, and only had a few very minor moments of queasiness. Others fared less well, but between getting our sea legs and calmer seas later in the week, everyone got better by the end of the cruise.
Though I missed it personally, there are reports that one of my old friends loosened up considerably during the trip, which makes me insanely happy. Even if it was a temporary "what happens in the Caribbean stays in the Caribbean" thing, I'm still glad that he had fun. I hope it's a sign of things to come, however. He's been too straight-laced for too long.
The short version of the stops:
Samana, Dominican Republic: Whale-watching. 12-foot waves in a 25-foot boat. Lots and lots of seasickness. One majestic whale who obliged and came halfway out of the water for us. Glad I went. Glad it's over.
St Thomas: Aquarium built into the ocean reef and skyride to a scenic lookout point. Aquarium was neat but smaller that I thought it would be. Skyride would have been better if it hadn't been raining on and off all day. Drinks at the top with friends was awesome.
Tortola: Pub crawl. Passed most of my drinks to Gail. Danced in the middle of the road. Not what I had envisioned when I signed up, but still tons of fun. Laughed most of the day.
Bahamas: Beach. Hammock. Book. Nice.
I needed the vacation time more than I realized. Until three days into the trip when I finally relaxed enough, I had not noticed just how out of sorts I've been. It was somewhat like waking up and realizing that there's feathers all over the room and your pillow is missing, but you weren't dreaming about eating a large marshmallow. You can pretty much figure out what happened, but *why* it happened is a complete mystery.
Just prior to leaving, I popped into my doctor's office to ask about stopping a particular medication, and while I was there he ran a blood sugar test. I haven't actually stopped back in to let him tell me the results of that test, but I did start doing routine finger-pokes again, and based on those numbers I already know that the results of the official test are going to be "Hey, guess what, you're diabetic!" Which is not overly surprising, since during the "out of sorts" period it wasn't unusual for me to eat a 6oz bag of chocolates in a day. (When I say "out of sorts" I mean "Ohmygod, whatthehellareyoudoing?")
There's nothing quite like realizing that you need to cut out sugar and white breads/pasta and potatoes and then getting on a cruise ship where you are surrounded by desserts and breads and a pizza bar and a pasta bar. I didn't cut them all out, because I don't have that kind of willpower, but I did cut them back drastically, and my finger-poke tests are substantially better now. I still have to schedule a time to let the doctor lecture me, but I'm off to California on Friday, so he's probably going to have to wait until March.
The cruise was fun, but the first couple of days we had some very rough seas. I'm happy to say that I have figured out my motion-sickness triggers well enough that I didn't get sick at all, and only had a few very minor moments of queasiness. Others fared less well, but between getting our sea legs and calmer seas later in the week, everyone got better by the end of the cruise.
Though I missed it personally, there are reports that one of my old friends loosened up considerably during the trip, which makes me insanely happy. Even if it was a temporary "what happens in the Caribbean stays in the Caribbean" thing, I'm still glad that he had fun. I hope it's a sign of things to come, however. He's been too straight-laced for too long.
The short version of the stops:
Samana, Dominican Republic: Whale-watching. 12-foot waves in a 25-foot boat. Lots and lots of seasickness. One majestic whale who obliged and came halfway out of the water for us. Glad I went. Glad it's over.
St Thomas: Aquarium built into the ocean reef and skyride to a scenic lookout point. Aquarium was neat but smaller that I thought it would be. Skyride would have been better if it hadn't been raining on and off all day. Drinks at the top with friends was awesome.
Tortola: Pub crawl. Passed most of my drinks to Gail. Danced in the middle of the road. Not what I had envisioned when I signed up, but still tons of fun. Laughed most of the day.
Bahamas: Beach. Hammock. Book. Nice.
