Home and recovering

Released last Friday (rather unexpectedly) and now home recovering. Today, to fill the time, I'm going to do some Blogger learning and update things.

Can you come in to see the doctor?

So today, sitting in the cardiac ward I get a call from my clinic.. 'The doctor has the results back from your recent blood work and would like you to come in to discuss them'.  Gad.

Getting checked

Early September and the night sweats and fever are back. Energy level is dropping so, in I go to the Oasis clinic at Royal Oak to get checked. Basic blood work and X-rays . Slight anemia, slightly high LDL, slightly high white cells but nothing that causes alarm, or apparently gives any clue. Energy levels continue to plummet. I get an appointment with one of their family doctors to explore further.

Cough cough...

Back in the summer, maybe July, I got what I thought was a nasty summer cold/flu/bug. Coughed and hacked for several days, felt run down, the usual type of thing.

But there were two things that I did/got that I'd never experienced before. The first was incredible drenching night sweats. I mean soak the pyjamas, soak the bedding, soak the pillow. Huge amounts of perspiration. These sweats were accompanied by raging fever. My old Fahrenheit oral thermometer showed temperatures as high s 103.5. Like a furnace. 

After about a week, things were back to normal, I thought.

Return to reality

Got back yesterday from Hawaii, Calgary was its usual dirty, grungy, windy self, but it was warm(ish), about 12 Celcius. Very little snow left on the ground.
And then we get up this morning.... The wind is howling, the snow is falling... gad. Winter is back. The meteorologists assure us that this will only be for the one day and then it will warm back up to above average temperatures but who ever believes them?
Time to start thinking about/planning another trip to Hawaii. Easter maybe...

A matter of perception

So, there we are, in Hawaii, in January and the 'surf's up' in what we think is a pretty impressive fashion. A drive along the north shore seems to confirm our believe. Wow! There are waves that must be near 20 feet! Then we stop at the Bonzai Pipeline to watch the surfers. Much to our surprise, the waves are actually a bit of a disappointment. Yes, we still think they're huge, but apparently the professional surfers don't. In fact the surfing competition is 'on hold' due to the disappointing size of the waves. NOT what we had expected or thought!
Met a very nice couple at the beach however, he is nearing retirement as an LEO and, upon retirement, intends to spend every day at the beach or traveling. Well deserved, I would say.

Day after day in Paradise....

Time flies, and yet it doesn't. Do you ever notice that when you are on vacation somewhere wonderful, like Hawaii? On the one hand it seems that we have just arrived, on the other hand our departure date is fast approaching :( . So much to see, so much to do, and so many great ways to relax. Spent yesterday exploring around Waikiki some more. Had never even heard of, let alone visited 'King's Court', also spent some time at the beach. Who knew that the Hyatt concession behind the Honolulu beach front office would have such great burgers?? A pleasant surprise. Had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, exceptional mahi mahi and a great salad to go with it. Today is 'history day', sort of... Going to the palace, Chinatown and other things in that area, and then the Hilton Hawaiian Village fireworks this evening with, of course, Round Table pizza on the beach.

Almost no Aloha

January 2 and time to head to Hawaii for an educators conference and a large dose of paradise. Up and ready to go bright and early but we hit a little stumbling block when Anna (the educator) fell into a different time space continuum and didn't realize what time it REALLY was. We did make it to the airport and catch our flight but it was close. Of course on arrival in Waikiki worries, troubles and concerns seem just to disappear. A nice long walk on the beach, a stop to watch the sunset, dinner at Duke's with friends and back to the hotel late in the evening. Perfect.

January 1 - A Clean Sweep

So to speak. Having recently acquired some new furniture, gotten rid of a bunch of, dare I say, 'junk' from the basement and rearranged/discarded some of the old furniture it was determined that we ought to make the house more presentable before departing for Hawaii on January 2nd. So, a long full day spent moving furniture, cleaning, organizing, sorting, hauling etc etc. and at the end of it all, packing! The packing part was actually the easiest and quickest. I mean after all, what does one need to take to Hawaii? Sandals, shorts, T-shirts and short sleeved shirts, toiletries, iPad & iPhone. Done. We're ready to go!