Day 4- An Anniversary we'll never forget.

Today was our first wedding anniversary. A year ago today, I married my partner in crime and we were going to celebrate, in our own weird way. I woke up at 3:30am again, so no improvement on my jet lag today. I got myself dressed right away so that I could start the hunt for crutches. I also worked on the blog and reorganized the room a little bit. Matt got up and he was still hurting, so it wasn't just a bad dream like I hoped. We wished each other a Happy Anniversary and then I was off to get him ice for his knee and then the hunt for crutches began, now that it was Monday and more places were open. We also decided that we definitely needed to see a doctor because we had no idea what was going on with his knee, would he need surgery, would a hot tub make it worse, etc. So Matt got on the phone with his insurance to find out local places that took his insurance, while I cleaned up our room so housekeeping could walk. Normally, I keep my hotel rooms super organized, but this trip has been far from normal.
We found out that both the place that almost definitely has crutches opens at 8am and one of the Orthopedists also opened at 8am. So we jumped, well Matt hopped, in the car and this wild child drove us over to get my man some crutches while Matt called Doctors. The Doctor that opened at 8am was on vacation, how fitting, so it was on to the next doctor whose office opened at 9am, but was right down the street from where we were going for the crutches. We make it to Ace Medical supply, that Matt called, Ace Hardware for the rest of the day, and they had our crutches waiting for us. There was this big hub-bub about not selling them to us because I didn't have a Rx...I was about to climb across the counter and strangle someone. Another woman came of override the system and finally we had crutches.

It was about 8:35am so we decided we'd just drive to the doctor down the street that opened at 9am and sit in their parking lot and wait. Stalkers. We didn't want to bother with an ER because really, they wouldn't be able to do much and would just recommend us to go to an Orthopedist. We knew it was a long shot to get any appointment, especially the same day, but we were desperate. Finally, it hits 9am so Matt calls the office. They have one appointment left for the entire next week, it's today at 12:15. Bitter-sweet news! We were so lucky to score an appointment and not too mention, so soon. However, it's our first anniversary, we're at the doctor's office now at 9am and we'll have to be back in 3 hours, we're thirty minutes away from our hotel and we have a couple's massage at 1pm. Awesome. So Matt made the appointment and then we find out that the doctor was not at the office we were at today, but in downtown Honolulu. Wonderful. So we head back to our resort to make our 10:30am breakfast reservation at Ama Ama. 

Once back at the resort I went to the front desk to cancel our spa appointment. They were going to charge me a cancelation fee- even after the entire story. Really?? So we rebooked it for tomorrow and hoped that would't be a problem. Next we headed to the restaurant and tried to get in early, which we did. Breakfast was very good. Matt ordered the Loco Moco, a traditional Hawaiian breakfast of rice, gravy, hamburger patty and two sunny-side-up eggs on top, which he loved.  I got the HUGE breakfast burrito, that was very good but the chili they put in it over-powered all the other ingredients so it just tasted like I was eating a bowl of chili. I wouldn't get it again. We also got the Hawaiian bread selection which we loved! It had orange-macademia nut muffins, coconut cream pockets, guava danishes and croissants. My favorite was the coconut cream pockets and Matt's favorite was the guava danish (they call them "fans"). I also order the POG juice (passion, orange & guava juice) and Matt got the tropical iced tea. Breakfast was very good and we had a great view. It was a nice moment in the middle of our crazy day to stop and remember that it was our 1st anniversary. 






After breakfast Matt wanted to try the pool real quick before we had to leave for the doctors, but we didn't know if we were going to have any issues with traffic since it's Monday, a work day, and we were headed into Honolulu. We would be driving at 11am so we didn't think we would have any issues, but we had no idea. So we just decided to head out early and maybe there'd be something to do near by. The drive was uneventful and pretty easy. The GPS worked great. We got there 45 minutes early. It was a sight to see. The doctor's office was right in the out-skirts of Chinatown. There was NOTHING around so we figured we'd just go in and see if they could take us early. Upon walking into the packed waiting room, you could feel the breeze from everyone in the room turning their head to stare at us white folk. I felt like announcing, "Yes, we're not from around here. We know.". We checked in and waited 50 minutes for Matt to get his x-rays and then we were finally in to see the doctor.


The doctor was quite the character. I don't even know how to describe him. He went to school in New Jersey, so he loved reminiscing with Matt about Jersey (yaaaawn). He asked Matt about his medical history on the knee. It felt like Abbot & Costello's, "Who's on First", because the doctor could not keep the dates of Matt's surgeries straight. I sat the in the corner trying not to laugh. After about a 15 minute exam the doctor couldn't find anything. He came to the conclusion that Matt would need an MRI and that we should wait until we got home. He thinks it could be his meniscus or a cartilage issue, but only a MRI would answer that. Awesome. So he gave us our instructions...he can swim, but shouldn't ever put more than 50% weight on it, stay on the crutches until we get home and the hot tub is okay. He also gave us a prescription for Vicodin that Matt did not want, but I took the prescription just in case. We don't have to fill it but it's good to have. The doctor and nurses were great and felt so bad for us. They were giving us tips on places to go and even helped jimmy-rig Matt's crutches so they'd be more comfortable, since they are already scraping up his hands. They only took cash or check, so THANK GOD, I had not taken out the wad of cash I had been unnecessarily carrying, like I was planning on. We had no idea how much cash we had on us. So I start counting my cash. Matt's insurance is terrible and he has a $2,000/year deductible and then it kicks in. Since we were paying out of pocket they charged us the absolute minimum they could for the visit and the x-rays and then they gave us an additional 20% off. They were awesome. So it came to $209.86. I had $190 in my wallet, Matt had $26. So I paid the bill and then we had just enough left to pay for the parking. We were left with $3. Ha! Talk about cutting it close.

On our drive home we stopped at Best Buy to pick up a new charger for our camera, since it was a half a mile up the street. Then it was back to the hotel. We had our anniversary dinner tonight at Roy's across the street from our hotel. The drive back was uneventful, we had no traffic at 2pm headed out of  Honolulu. Once we got back to the resort Matt was determined to finally get to try the pool and lazy river, which I've also been dying to do, but I had calls to make. I reluctantly sent Matt by himself to the pool, I was so worried someone would steal his crutches or something, while I went up to the room. My first call was to change our massage AGAIN to Wednesday so that way tomorrow would be a totally free day to go swimming. Next, I called and canceled Matt's surf lessons that was scheduled for Wednesday- that I already paid for with a Groupon. Ugh. Now for the biggie, to find a wheelchair rental for the rest of our stay. We both realized pretty quick how miserable it would be for Matt to have to use the crutches the rest of the entire trip. The cruise ship alone is daunting enough. So I found a company that would rent us a wheelchair for the rest of our stay. They're delivering it tomorrow to Aulani and then we just leave it in our cabin at the end of the cruise and they will pick it up. They only charged us $75 when the price on the website was $100. Nice. Then I had a moment to myself, so I sat in my hotel room all alone, laughing. What irony. Four years ago was my first visit to Hawaii. I traveled with my parents on that trip. My mom was about to have a total hip replacement just after our trip so she was completely wheelchair bound. That whole trip I pushed her around all of Hawaii and on the NCL Pride of America. I did enjoyed myself on that trip, but we missed out on a bunch. The whole trip I reassured myself that one day I'd visit again with my hubby and then we would get to do the adventurous stuff that I missed. Who would have thought four years later, I'd be back, married to a perfectly healthy man and still end up pushing a wheelchair in Hawaii. God's got a real sense of humor. After my laugh (if you don't laugh, you'll cry), I headed down to the front desk to see about getting a wheelchair in the meantime, then I headed to the car to get our camera that we had left in the snorkel bag. Matt got back to the room just after I did. We were going to open gifts but we didn't want to be rushed so we just started to get ready for dinner.

Our reservation was at 6pm. Originally, we were going to take a nice stroll to the restaurant, but I didn't not want to arrive to Roy's all disheveled and sweaty from my first go at pushing a wheelchair in four years. So I went and got the car and picked up Matt at the lobby and we drove across the street. Ha! Dinner was as amazing as all the reviews I had read. I was so happy we stuck with Roy's for our anniversary meal. I had been so all over the place with where to go and this was perfect. Originally we were going to drive to a restaurant in Waikiki. Imagine me driving thru Waikiki trying to make a dinner reservation and then navigating the sidewalks with Matt, in our nice clothes. Thank God I stuck with Roy's. We had a great waiter and the view really is pretty. We sat outside right on the golf course. It was really pretty and it finally started to feel like it was our anniversary. We took it all in and just tried to put the crutches out of our mind and think about our first year together married. We ended up having a great time and boy did we laugh. It was exactly what we needed. 




Dim Sum Appetizer
Matt's Honey-Mustard braised Short Ribs (OMG!)
My Macadamia Nut crusted fish-of-the-day.
Amazing chocolate soufflĂ©!! 
Macadamia Nut tart that Matt loved. 
Gift from Roy's- some sort of coconut amazingness.



After dinner we were going to open gifts and head to the hot tub. When we got back to the room Matt had roses delivered for me (so sweet!!) and then I ended up asleep immediately after that and Matt watched a little TV until he fell asleep. That's real life right there. Was it the most romantic day of our lives, in the natural view, no, not at all. But it really was. Our day was exactly what love and marriage is, "...for better or for worse, in sickness and in health.". One day we're going to look back on this crappy situation and boy are we going to laugh. 


3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow...what a memory...actually sounds like a perfect day (course, I wasn't there...).
All the food looks amazing, the flowers are beautiful (way to go Matty Wain), and you both look wonderful in every picture you post...
Have a great rest of the trip...hey, how bout those gifts - are we gonna hear about them???? lol
Praying pain lessens and the fun increases...
love ya...

Bob Sacamano's Mom said...

I guess I should keep commenting as "Unknown", so I reveal my identity:
Bob Sacamano's Mom

Bob Sacamano said...

I was adopted and don't know my real parents. Pay no attention to the looney toon above me...