Salt water and Sun

I'm writing from the Business Center at our resort in Hilton Head. We just had breakfast around the pool (Grandma and Grandpa Doughty are with us), then I trudged over here to update.

Hilton Head is such a beautiful place. In some ways, it's like being in England. There are bike paths everywhere and people walk or bike all the time. Don took the children out yesterday for a long ride and they came back exhausted and over-heated. When I take them, we don't go as far and we take a much more leasurely pace, staying in shaded areas. But Don's more of a serious biker than me.

I went straight to bed when we arrived on Saturday. Our condo has three bedrooms, two that are master bedrooms. We gave my in-law's the front room - it has a private bath, a loveseat, and the whole suite can be shut off from the noise of the family. I thought they might rest better being able to just close themselves off. My mother-in-law is not feeling well. She's been having trouble sleeping and is very tired. I asked her yesterday why she's not resting and she said, "I think I'm worried about you!" Could I ask for a more loving Mom? I just hate that my illness is having such a negative impact on her.

I skipped church Sunday and spent the entire day in bed. Occasionally, I moved to the couch, but was exhausted. It was quite surprising to me that I was so tired. In the hospital, I got lots of exercise and power-walked the halls, deciding that getting my lungs pumping hard would be good for all parts of my ailing body. There was no power-walking on Sunday - just lots of power-laying. I did get to watch a good movie or two with the children.

So, yesterday, I sprung out of bed, determined to not "miss" the beach just because I felt bad. I threw on my suit before exiting the bedroom, then announced I was going to see the ocean. "Who's coming?" I called to the children. They clamored to get their suits on and gather their beachbags.

We loaded up our little rolling cart (my big purchase this year - I saw them all over the beach last year and decided we needed to invest in one), grabbed the kids, and we took off, all smiles. The walk to the beach was a little further than I had anticipated and, by the time we arrived, I was exhausted. The kids helped me set up camp. Deanna planted my beach umbrella while Dane got out my lounge chair. Daelyn stood around helping with anything he could. The children were wonderful - putting their own desires for the water at bay until Mama was fixed up.

As I sat down, I realized we had left the reclining camp chair. I had to sit up, which was not exactly what I had in mind. The children ran off to play in the surf, Deanna with her boogey board in tow. After sitting in the shade, sweating, for a few minutes, it occurred to me that the water would be cool and my float reclined. The tide was out, so the waves were minimal. I blew up my floatie and took off for my children.

We spent 2 hours floating in the surf together. Dane found tons of sand dollars and Deanna continued her quest for the ultimate wave ride. We all stayed together, the boys or Deanna towing me out further when I drifted too far. We prayed together, told stories, laughed, and enjoyed the coolness of the water and the OCEAN! Don arrived, swam with us for a while, then I decided I'd better call it a day.

I spent the rest of the day in bed, exhausted beyond measure. I suppose I overdid it, but my reasoning is quite sound. There is a possibility I will be facing emergency surgery upon our return from vacation. If I'm going into surgery, I need to condition my body as much as possible before hand or the recovery will be even worse. If I just lay around now, more muscles will atrophy. If I get some exercise and push the limits a little, I'm more likely to heal quicker. At least, that's what I think.

By yesterday afternoon, my frontol lobe was killing me. That's what the doctor told me to watch for. If I had any repeat pain in my frontal lobe, I was to let him know immediately. We had an adult conference after dinner last night. With sleep, most of the pain had eased. We decided to give it a good night's sleep and see how I was doing this morning.

My head is still a LITTLE sore, but not bad. I still feel like I need to push the envelope a little or I'll never get my strength back.

Meanwhile, Don bought and had steamed for me the best shrimp I've ever had in my entire life. I've been sitting on the couch, peeling them and dipping them in my homemade cocktail sauce, which has enough horseradish to do the job itself of the antibiotics.

Last night, I made pink cloud (raspbelly jello, cool whip, cottage cheese, pineapple, pecans) and green bean casserole for dinner. Grandpa and Don grilled angus burgers. It was a wonderful meal and we all felt like we really were "at the beach". Unfortunately, I have no idea what I'll do about dinner tonight.

Chinese take-out, anyone?