RINA, PHILIP, LEAH & ALEX

We are nearing the end of our 2016 stay in Hawaii. Our last visitors have been our daughter Rina, her husband Philip and children Leah (4) and Alex (8 months). Philip was here a week. Rina and the children are with us for 16 days and they'll return home with us on March 16th.

Lots of,activities were fit in during their stay including:
Several days at the beach at lagoon #3 in Ko Olina
Several visits to the Paradise Cove Lagoon to see the sea turtles
A pool party and BBQ with friends Jonathan, Miriam and their children Jono and Isabel
A day at the Honolulu Zoo
A drive around Oahu's North Shore and East Shore
Several Happy Hour visits to the Monkey Pod in Ko Olina
A ride on the Hawaii Railroad Society's one and only train
Shopping at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet

Two days ago I went out for a walk in Ko Olina after baby sitting Alex for a few hours while Fran, Rina and Leah were out shopping. We'd had a day of very high winds resulting in quite a lot of tree debris on the sidewalk. Ten minutes into my walk I stumbled on some debris. My right hand went down to break my fall, but my momentum kept me going and I rolled right over my hand bending my fingers horribly backwards and dislocating the middle knuckles on my index, third and forth fingers. It all happened so fast that I'm sure I was suffering from a bit of shock. I grabbed my fingers and wrapped them hard around the thumb of my left hand, popping my third and forth finger/knuckles back into place. My index finger was a different matter. As hard as I pulled on it, I could not manipulate the bones back into their proper position.

I texted our Doctor friend Jonathan to see if he was home. He instantly called back to say he was working at his ER job at the Kuakini Medical Centre in Honolulu. So with adrenalin masking the discomfort, I carefully walked back home and got Fran to drive me into Honolulu. Jonathan ensured I got very timely treatment. An X-ray showed a tiny fracture on a bone in my third finger as well as the dislocated index finger. So with me lying down on a bed in the ER, it took Jonathan three attempts to manipulate the bones of my index finger back into place with a popping sound that we could all hear. As I'd hoped, I felt an immediate sense of relief, followed by a fair bit of aching in my hand. Over the next 36 hours I had a lot of swelling and bruising in my hand, but now, almost 48 hours later, the swelling has started to subside and my range of motion with my fingers is improving quickly. How very easy it is to take our hands and all they do for us, for granted.


All in all, a great holiday. Shortly, we will be back in Oakville getting reacquainted with our home and preparing for this upcoming summer on the boat. The weather forecasts from home indicate spring is well underway (fingers crossed), so our winter get away met its objective of helping us dodge most of Ontario's winter.