Vacation

As I mentioned in my last post, Roni and I headed to Montego Bay, Jamaica for a vacation. We needed some time to just relax and not think about cancer. Plus, I was able to go outside, something I haven't been able to do while it is cold here in NYC. The temperature in Jamaica was between 70 and 80f, and even though the neuropathy in my hands and feet bothered me a little, the weather allowed me to be outside, even in the evening.

The resort was OK. Nothing to write home about, but we got a good price, so it was worth it, especially as it was an all-inclusive. Besides, the view from our room was pretty good, and we were able to watch the sunset over the ocean every evening.

Usually while on vacation, we try to do something adventurous. In the past we have walked through the old city of Fez, Morocco, walked on a glacier in Alaska, went snorkeling in the Bahamas, etc. But this time, we just stayed on the resort. I am still fighting fatique from the chemo, so we decided that this vacation was for relaxing. We did go out of the resort once and within 5 minutes were accosted by two people to come to their souvenior stores. That was enough for me to keep me from leaving the resort. I just wasn't up for dealing with people pretending to be friendly, but only wanting my money.

The only problem we had was when we were on the plane to come home on Thursday. As they were towing the plane back from the gate, something happened to the towbar and we think damaged the nose wheel gear. We sat on the plane for about an hour before they decided that it wouldn't be safe to fly, so we went back to the gate and got off. After about an hour or so, American Airlines told us they were sending a part to Jamaica to fix the plane, and in the meantime, they would be putting us up in a hotel for the evening. So, more waiting while we stood in line for our hotel vouchers. Once we got those, then got on a bus, it was about 7 PM when we got to the hotel, Rosehall Resort and Spa (a Hilton hotel). When you realize we left our resort at 12:30 PM and our flight was support to depart about 3 PM, it was turning out to be a long day.

They told us that our flight was going to leave at 6 AM, so we had to be ready to leave for the airport at 3:30 AM, or we used to call it in the Air Force, Oh-Dark-Thirty.

The voucher they gave us was good for food and drink, so we had a great meal before heading to our room. I took a hot shower, and laid down to sleep about 9:30. I haven't been sleeping well, so I usually take an Ambian to help me sleep. Well, as we had to be up at 3, I did not take an Ambian, and probably got a total of 30 mins or so of sleep.

3 AM, our alarm went off, we packed up and left for the airport about 3:40. Because we had to go through customs and immigration when we left the airport on Thursday, we had to go through all that again to go back to our flight. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6AM, but we didn't start boarding till about 5:40. We finally took off about 7 AM. The flight took over 3 hours. After getting our luggage, catching a cab (getting stuck in traffic), etc. we finally got home about 12 noon. So as you can imagine, it was a long ordeal getting home, but we made it back safe and sound.

But even with all of that, the trip was worth it. The warm weather was great and I enjoyed being able to be outside. Hopefully it will start warming up around here so I can get outside my apartment more as well.