Thursday, December 3, 2009

An Interesting Way to Begin the 31st Year...


I am back after an unexpectedly long blog break... My sweet hubby and I recently went on a Western Carribean Cruise to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. We don't travel much, so this was a greatly anticipated event. We planned and prepared and waited and planned and prepared and waited. We flew to Ft. Lauderdale Friday and it was a wonderful start to a great vacation. We boarded our beautiful ship, the Crown Princess on Saturday, November 14. It was amazing! Our stateroom had been upgraded to a suite with a balcony which was also awesome. Unfortunately in my preparation I made one big mistake. I tend to have a little problem with motion sickness, so before we left I talked to my doctor and got a patch to wear to help. Even with the patch I ended up being pretty seasick the whole trip. On the upside, I lost 10 pounds because I couldn't eat much of anything :o)

We did manage to have a good time inspite of my being so sick. Our time in the ports was fun--after a couple of hours on land I usually felt a little better. Evenings when the ship would start to sail again were rough for me, but we still enjoyed some lovely dinners, dancing and shows.

However...the cruise itself is only the beginning of the story. The day we flew home, I took off the last patch and gladly threw it away. Almost exactly 24 hours later I began a nightmare of withdrawal symptoms including hallucinations, racing heart, chest pain, extreme vertigo, panic attacks, extreme pressure and ringing in my ears, blurry vision, and nausea just to name a few. The first 7 days after we got home I was pretty much worthless. I am not 100% yet, but am much, much better. I started looking at pictures tonight to edit and get ready to print. I haven't been able to do that yet and my sweet hubby is getting anxious for it to be done.

I am glad to say my dear husband decided to stick it out with me even after the rocky start to year 31 ;o) In all seriousness, I have been truly blessed by God with 30 WONDERFUL years of marriage to the best man I know. He has been a better husband, father, and friend than I could ever have imagined being blessed to spend my life with. My earnest prayer is for 30 more years and beyond to enjoy life together...oh yeah, and no more cruises!

4 comments:

Dawn said...

Oh, my goodness! I can't imagine being sick the entire cruise. We went on one a few years ago and didn't experience any nausea. What a blessing! But the aftermath - wow! Did anyone have a clue this might happen?? Yikes!

Happy Anniversary anyway! And Merry Christmas!

elizabeth said...

Well my word that is a dramatic start! Our 30th is next spring and we still haven't decided what we will do. The kids want us to go on a cruise, but I'm not so sure that's really us. The upside for you is that so many people GAIN weight when they go on a cruise! ;)

Happy anniversary!

grammy said...

wow...how crazy is that. I feel so sorry for you.
People have told me you don't get seasick on big cruise ships... wrong I guess. I guess you will never use a patch again. I know someone that used a patch to stop smoking (I know it's different...but) and had weird reactions to it.
Hope you are better soon and get to get the pictures printed... and posted :o)

Heidi Stork said...

Terry!!! Oh my word! YOU POOR THING!! You must have been miserable...and you had been looking forward to it for sooo long!! I'm glad you managed to enjoy it a little bit. AND THAT YOU ARE GETTING BACK TO NORMAL! I was praying for you guys! Here's to 30 more wonderful years!

Love,
Heidis