Free Trip to Mexico!
Thank you airmiles! I swear, they are how we are able to gain anything of value in our lives (with the exception of love). The only good thing about having CF is the ability to get 7 X airmiles on your prescriptions. When you’re on 18 different medications it tends to add up fast. And then you get a free trip to Mexico!
On the advice of our shrink (sorry Dr. O), we decided to cash in all of our airmiles and go on vacation, while Joey is still able to do it. Don’t want to sound too fatalistic here, but that could be the last time we are ever able to do that, so we wanted to have that memory. After he gets his pager our lives will be very restricted once again (to put it in perspective, we will need to stay within cell phone/pager range at all times so that he doesn’t miss the call. This even means no going up the lake. I know there are worse things in life, but f%*k).
Long story short, we wanted to go away while we still could and so we did. Here’s a summary of our trip to Cancun:
Day 1:
Fly in on the red eye, get settled into our room and nap. Get up for dinner at the buffet (sooooo good) and go back to bed. Aren’t we a barrel of fun?
Day 2:
We are awoken by a phone call asking us to come down to the front desk for a talk. When we arrive downstairs, we are brought into the manager’s office. She states that she doesn’t really know how to say this, but one of the other guests saw Joey at dinner the previous night, is convinced that he has hepatitis, and doesn’t want her or her kids to catch it from him by eating at the same buffet. Welcome to your vacation, hey? We confirm that no, he does not have hepatitis and point out the inaccuracy of this woman’s concern about how it is contracted. Manager is very apologetic, states that the other guest is crazy, and she appreciates our understanding. After we leave the manager’s office, we both wonder: “What if he actually had hepatitis? Would we have been asked to leave?” The rest of the day is spent reclusively in our hotel room. (Who wants to go anywhere when you are already concerned that you look sick and have now received confirmation that other people are disgusted by your presence?) We reluctantly leave the room for dinner again. The entire time is spent speculating on who the complainer might be and fantasizing about ways to confront her. I decide that I should purchase a journal so that Joey doesn’t have to listen to any more of my crazy ranting than is absolutely necessary.
Day 3:
First real day of vacation, in my opinion. Went to the beach, lounged around, had a quick dip in the ocean, ate a lot, danced, watched Joey play beach volleyball, and ping pong. Actually relaxed!
Day 4:
Hung around the resort. Beat out 10 people to win a darts game. Am quietly astounded that with very little prior practice I tend to be better than one would expect at sports involving light weaponry (BB guns in Cuba and now darts in Mexico). Joey naps, I lounge on beach.
Day 5:
Joey has headache and naps for most of the day. I lounge in room and on beach. Go on pub crawl starting at 9 pm. Antics ensue.
Day 6:
Go out on speed boat and go snorkelling. Joey gets out of water after about 5 minutes due to inability to breathe (it was cold), Kirstin snorkels until she is bitten by fish. Unsure of whether it had teeth, she quickly removes herself from the water and hangs out on bow of the boat until it’s time to head back to shore. Notes that the skin on right pinky finger has been broken, but figures it was worth it. Napped, then went to hilarious show at the hotel.
Day 7:
Attend basic Spanish lesson, extensive napping, squeeze in wee bit of beach time. Get talked into purchasing clay sculpture of ourselves [Calling Mr. (& Mrs.)Vain!]. After stuffing our faces yet again, go to another show at the hotel. Kirstin begins to feel sickish.
Day 8:
Last day in Mexico. Kirstin truly feels like garbage now and spends the majority of the day in bed. Joey picks up clay sculpture and speaks with hotel manager. Tells her that in the future, we think that she should not bring other guests into the issues of a complaining guest if there is nothing to be done about it (i.e. the whole hepatitis debacle). Hotel manager confirms that we would not have been asked to leave if Joey actually had hepatitis, but states that she had never encountered another guest quite that crazy before and wanted to put the issue to rest. Joey tells her that it definitely changed the tone of our visit and that he was more self-conscious and less eager to get out and do all of the things the hotel had to offer as a result of being roped into this other woman’s issue. Manager agrees it was a mistake to discuss the issue with us in the first place.
In the late afternoon, Joey plays in a beach soccer tournament while Kirstin lies on beach and watches. More napping, eating, and packing. Reluctantly leave Cancun on the red eye. It was a slice!
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