Exploring the beach

On the 26^th my friend Stephanie and her husband Patrick arrived in Hawaii.  I met Steph in Virginia, while our husbands attended TBS.  They also got stationed in Hawaii and I couldn’t be happier! It is wonderful to see a familiar face.  We picked them up from the airport and dropped them off at the lodge (our old home for 60 days) to get settled.

Since Kyle and I were on base we decided to go to one of the beaches we had yet to visit.  Fort Hase Beach does not have much of a “beach”, but it has beautiful water, a magnificent view, and fascinating rocks.  I had my camera and I took initiative to have a photo-op…needless to say Kyle wasn’t too excited. ;)  We had a great time just walking around, talking, and taking in the scenery.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

Beautiful sand, rocks and ocean.

Okay. I love this picture! :) Kyle was very reluctant to do a picture like this, but I convinced him and glad I did! :)

Wearing my new shirt from Darcy and Josh...love it! 

We love how the trees look like they're blowing in the wind at all times.

A sneaker wave came up and soaked Kyle! It hit that rock in front of him and shot straight up his leg. 

Portugese Man-of-War! This was about as a big one!

:)

Happy New Years Eve! Hope you have had a fabulous year and if not, I hope 2012 is much more joyous! :)

Kyle goes to surgery.

This is going to be a long entry…sorry in advance! It is a health update for Kyle.

Earlier this month Kyle was diagnosed with WPW (Wolff-Parkinsons-White) Syndrome.  For the last couple years Kyle has been having a racing heart rate at very random times.  He could be sitting on the couch watching TV and his heart rate increase like he just ran a 100 meter dash.  We tried to figure out correlations between when it happens to what he was doing, but it was very random.  He would have gone to the doctor sooner, but he was nervous it could possibly discharge him from the Marine Corps.  As a Marine, he did not want to do anything that would get him medically discharged, but his family I wanted him to get it checked out.

This last month his heart was acting up more often than ever before, so we decided he should go to the doctor.  First he met with a Navy Corpsman, next he was sent to the surgeon for the company, then he was sent to Tripler (Army Hospital in Honolulu) to meet with a specialty doctor, and he was finally sent to an electro-cardiologist, Dr. Shen.    

Abnormal pathways between the atria and the ventricles cause WPW.  When signals travel through the abnormal pathway it stimulates the ventricles and causes the rapid heart rate.  To cure WPW, Kyle needed to have surgery.  The surgery itself was non-invasive thank goodness.  Dr. Shen put a catheter through both femoral veins in the groin.  He worked the catheters up to the heart and then mapped out the heart.  This is done so they know exactly where the pathways are and they can make sure they are in a safe spot to ablate them.  Then they start the ablation. 

We showed up at Queens Medical Center at noon on the 22^nd to prep for Kyle’s surgery at 2pm.  They prepped him before 1pm, but luckily we had a TV and Scrubs and Everybody Loves Raymond to keep us busy until 2:45pm when they finally wheeled him into surgery. Usually the surgery takes about 2 hours to complete.  I went to the cafeteria to get dinner, talked to family on the phone, and tried to stay busy on my computer.  Around 7pm Dr. Shen stopped by the room very quickly and quickly told me that it was a tough surgery and they found two pathways, not just one.  He believes they got one completely, but the other one may come back.  Then I briefly caught something about afib and then he hurried away.  Might I add that he is Chinese and is difficult to understand…most of the time.  So I didn’t really think much of it.

Smiles BEFORE surgery

Watching "Scrubs". We thought it'd be suiting.

Kyle's IV.  He did not enjoy this :( He had to keep it in through the night. 

Around 7:20pm Kyle was wheeled backed to the room.  Since they did not sedate him completely, he was awake and pretty coherent, but he still was a little out of it because of the medicine they gave him.  Kyle then proceeds to tell me, “They had to shock me five times!”  Um…excuse me?!  A nurse came back out and told us that he went into atrial fibrillation five times throughout the surgery and they needed to shock him to bring his heart back to a normal rhythm.  They ended up keeping Kyle overnight, but we got a private room, which was nice.  We watched some Law & Order: SVU until they brought Kyle dinner and then we “slept”.  Kyle was hooked up to the heart rate monitor all night so they could keep an eye on his heart rate.  Every time his beats per minute went under 60 the machine would beep obnoxiously.  It happened VERY frequently through the night. I slept on a chair that folded flat, but glad I was able to stay with Kyle. 

Kyle's lovely hospital outfit. :)

All hooked up to monitor for the night. 

In the morning after very little sleep.  I think Kyle looks better than me and I didn't even go through surgery! ;)

We were released around 9am the next morning and headed home to try and sleep since we didn’t sleep well the night before.  Around 10:20am Kyle put his right hand on his heart like he always had previously when is heart rate would sky rocket.  I looked at him and knew.  It was happening again.  We immediately called the Dr because after surgery it should not have happened again.  We got an appointment at 1pm and it had happened another three times.  That’s more than it has ever happened in a day.  Dr. Shen informed us that he believes Kyle has atrial fibrillation and that is why he went into it so many times during surgery.  He had a predisposition to it. 

We were fortunate enough to rush this surgery in time for Kyle to go to AAV School in California on January 7^th.  After surgery he was supposed to be good to go. Now, with his heart still acting up we aren’t sure if he will be able to go.  He had a follow up appointment with the Doctor at Tripler and the doctor wanted him to wear an event monitor (tracks his heart rate) for two weeks and then check in with him.  Two weeks is the 11^th.  That is four days after he is supposed to report.  I am sitting in the room looking at Kyle just knowing he was screaming inside.  We arrived in Hawaii October 1^st and since then Kyle has not been able to be in charge of a platoon since he has not gone to school.  If he can’t go to school in January, the next one isn’t until June.  He desperately wants to go to school to learn and then come back and lead.  Now back to the doctor’s office, I decided to speak up because I didn’t know if Kyle would.  I asked the doctor if we could try one week on the monitor and if his heart is good he can go to school, but if not, then he will stay.  The doctor agreed! We have an appointment on the 5^th and are praying this week Kyle’s heart stays normal and doesn’t act up.  Please pray the same thing! :) 

Thank you family and friends who have been praying for Kyle, his heart, the doctors, and myself! We love you!

Mele Kalikimaka!

Well, our Christmas wasn’t ideal this year.  We didn’t have any family with us and we still don’t have a house or our belongings.  According to Kyle, “There was no Christmas 2011”.  He’s being a tad overdramatic, but I have to agree it was a Christmas unlike any other. 

On Christmas Eve we went to the Sheratan Hawaii Bowl at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.  Southern Mississippi vs University of Nevada…not really the best Bowl game or teams for that matter, but the tickets were free and it was something to keep us busy. 

Aloha Stadium...very empty!

We started in the shade, but moved to the section that was facing the sun.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but it got a little chilly!

Beautiful rainbow when we were leaving the stadium!

Since we’ve been married less than 2 years we are still trying to merge our family traditions together and even create some of our own.  Kyle said they would always be able to open up a gift on Christmas Eve, so I decided we could do that…at least for now. :)  Kyle gave me a bigger gift and was very anxious for me to open it.  He has a tough time keeping secrets, so that’s what I thought he was so giddy for.  I ripped off the wrapping paper, and it was an Amazon box, so I continued to open the top and what was inside? Well…it was two smaller gifts that were wrapped!  Kyle starts laughing and proceeds to tell me that was the one gift I could open. Ha ha, very funny (if there was a sarcasm font, I would use it here).  We decided we would pick the gift we wanted the other person to open.  I think that may be a tradition we’ll keep…I know I would have loved that as a kid!

After opening our gifts, we drove to Hope Chapel for Christmas Eve service.  This is the church we have been going to the last couple of weeks.  We were invited by the McDaniel’s (friends of ours from Oregon) to go on Friday nights.  They have been attending on Friday evenings, so they can have their Sunday’s free.  Kyle has enjoyed the Friday service, but I think we may switch to Sunday mornings because it’s what we’re used to and I’ve heard there are a lot more couples around our age.  Anyway, Christmas Eve service was wonderful.  I always enjoy church around Christmas.  And I love, Love, LOVE the worship band!  The lead singer has been blessed with a beautiful voice.  And they sang one of my favorite Christmas songs, Oh Holy Night. Here are some of the beautiful lyrics:

“Oh holy night!

The stars are brightly shining

It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till he appear’d and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!”

By 5:00am Christmas morning I was awaken by screams from the two little girls who live next to us.  Our studio is attached to the family’s house we are renting from.  At first, I admit I was a bit of a Grinch and all I wanted to do was go back to sleep.  But then I was thinking about those girls and listening to their excitement of Santa Clause and it made me think about our future kids.  I bet being a parent and seeing the magic and excitement of Christmas come alive through your kids will be a joyous time. :) 

Then around 5:30am I became a Grinch once again when my child, I mean husband, woke up and started tapping me and telling me to wake up so we can open presents.  All I wanted to do was sleep!  I asked Kyle to wait till at least 8am and he was sweet enough to wait for me.  Since it was just us, we got our stockings and opened them together and followed stockings by taking turns opening our presents from each other and family that was kind enough to ship all the way to Hawaii!  We were very blessed this year! Thank you family!

Best wrapping paper ever! Our stockings combined. Kyle's treat for Santa. Watching "A Christmas Story" (tradition in my family).

One of my favorite TV shows! Kyle with all his amazing gifts! Kyle with his all-time favorite board game, The Settlers of Catan. All my goodies!

Since we’re in Hawaii we HAD to go the beach on Christmas. So that’s exactly what we did. :)  We went to my favorite beach to relax.  Lanikai Beach has beautiful, calm water with the softest sand AND it’s only 5 minutes from where we live!  We spent an hour relaxing on the beach and taking in the sun, but then we had to get back home to start cooking Christmas dinner.

Kyle in the beautiful water on Christmas day. How weird!

In my new cover up dress to wear to the beach, thanks to my in-laws! :)

We were meeting up with a family who is from Oregon.  Kyle used to work with C.J. in high school and he is stationed out here as well.  He has his wife Sarah and their little 5 year old son Clayton.  They have been so kind to invite us over while we were at the lodge and even now when we don’t have much space.  For dinner, Kyle made a 7-layer salad that he LOVES and it was a big hit!  Good job, Kyle!  We also made my mother-in-law’s yam recipe for the first time and it turned out AH-MAZING!  I think we’ll have to make it for more dinners than just holiday meals. 

We had a delicious dinner! They made the ham and mashed potatoes and had rolls to round out our meal.  It was a great Christmas dinner for being the first one without our families.  Hopefully next year we’ll be able to host some of our family in our house…if we ever get one! :) We ended our night by played a board game the McDaniel’s got us for Christmas called “The Logo Game”.  Basically, you need to watch a lot of TV, surf the Internet a ton, or just have an immense amount of knowledge about “things”.  You have to ask questions about logos or companies.  Needless to say, I think Kyle and I watch too much TV. ;)  I also believe my Dad would ROCK at this game with all of his trivia knowledge!

Kyle, Clayton, and CJ

It was nice to get a picture with a full size tree!

Christmas day we talked to our families a couple times throughout the day thanking them for our gifts and seeing how they liked our gifts and in general, just trying to make Christmas feel like we are still “with” each other even though we aren’t.  I am glad the holiday season is over because it really didn’t feel like it this year and I’m already anxious for next year when we will have our belongings and a house and I am going to decorate like a Crazy-Christmas Woman! :)

One blessing about this year is that I have been able to focus more on why we celebrate Christmas…and that is God sending his son to Earth to be born, live without sin, and ultimately dying for our sins.  Not that family takes away from me focusing on Jesus and all He has done for us, but I have had more time to think, praise and thank God for all He’s done.  Luckily, we have found a church that we enjoy…just in time for Christmas! Praise the Lord!  I am ultimately thankful I am free to celebrate the greatest gift we have all been given…Jesus Christ!