Hawaii, 2014 (part 2)

Our second day was kind of rainy, so we skipped out on our plans to go on a 4-wheeling adventure. Ryan and I were sharing a room with the girls, and in those close quarters I had noticed that Ella was always asking for water and woke up a few times during the night to go to the bathroom. We had recently had her well-child visit, and she had only gained a few ounces in a year. I thought the worried Pediatrician was probably getting the better of me, but the idea of her having diabetes crossed my mind more than once. I knew I was going to continue to worry about it for the rest of the trip, and we weren't doing anything that day anyway, so I called the hotel doctor (who knew such a thing existed!) and arranged for a lab to check her urine for glucose. Throughout the 14 years I've been in medicine, there have been many times when I've worried that I (or a loved one) have some crazy disease, and it always turns out fine. So I wasn't that worried. But I did have a dream the night before that we had Ella tested and it came back positive. So I was a little on edge. But not enough to keep me from taking a long nap in the hotel after we came back from the lab.

Around 3 pm, the hotel doctor called me back to let me know that Ella's urine had 1000+ glucose in it. I immediately knew what this meant--she had Type 1 diabetes. I was alone in our room when I found out, and went across the hall to Doug and Janet's room to let everyone know. I started to break down a little as I envisioned Ella's (and our) future. One filled with carb counting, glucose checks, insulin and careful monitoring of food intake. Ryan helped bring me back to the present--one in which my little girl did not need a weepy mother. Ryan gave Ella a sweet blessing, but I was still a little overwhelmed to really hear what he said. Janet remembers him saying that Ella would grow up to be healthy and happy. I packed a bag, and Doug and Ryan and I left for the hospital. Janet stayed with Anna, which was a gift--trying to keep her entertained would have made things much harder.

On the way to the hospital I called my dad and let him know what was happening. He was at Temple Square at the time (he is in the mission presidency of the Temple Square mission) and before we even left the hotel I got these texts: "Her name is on the prayer roll at all SLC and Bountiful temples. I love you all" (from my mom) and "She has 200 sister missionaries praying for her in 45 languages" (from my dad). I truly felt those prayers. From that time forward, I was amazingly fine. I felt peace and comfort. I was able to focus on Ella in the moment, and not worry about what this diagnosis meant for the future.

First IV

So glad we brought Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Nothing like some Oompa Loompa's to keep your mind off of things 

We drove the 45 minutes to the Waiemea hospital and went through the ER. Her sugar was 415 (even though she hadn't eaten anything for hours), which confirmed the diagnosis. The ER was great and awful. The nurses (Sue and Penny--how about that!) were wonderful, but it was there that Ella realized we had to spend the night in the hospital. Up until then she thought she was getting checked out and going back to the hotel. She lost it. Crying, wailing, so so sad. Then she found out she had to get an IV, an insulin shot and her glucose checked. Not fun times. Our saving grace was a stuffed pink flamingo they gave her. I dubbed him "Pokey" and we decided that whatever they did to Ella she got to do to Pokey first. It worked like a charm, and from then on she did much much better.

Pokey

We waited on labs for a while to decide whether or not we could stay on the Big Island or had to fly to Honolulu. Thankfully we caught it early enough and Ella was not in DKA so they let us stay. I think it helped that the Pediatrician in Waiemea did her residency at Primary Children's, and we knew all of the same people. She knew I was well-trained, and trusted (rightly or wrongly!!) that I would be able to take care of Ella without getting the full 3 days of parent training. The hospital at Waiemea had a rule that minors needed to be in a room with a window  and all such rooms were full. The next best alternative was a room in the ICU. Our bed was awful (self inflating and deflating all night long) but at least the nurses were attentive!

Dad and Grandpa brought gifts--crayons, coloring books, etc.

The next day we met with the dietician and waited for our doctor to come and send us home. I called the people at Primary Children's and they gave me a mini-refresher course in diabetes care and set us up with education when we got back home. Ryan had gone back to the hotel the night before, and away from Ella the reality of it hit him hard. I don't think he slept a wink. He was dying to come back to the hospital, but had to wait for Anna to wake up and get ready, and of course she slept in. But by noon we had seen our doctor, gotten our prescriptions are were ready to high-tail it out of there.

My "notes"

This is one of Ella's favorite pictures :)

Hospital grounds. It rained the entire time we were there, and cleared up as we were leaving. 

Hawaii, 2014 (part 1)

*disclaimer--all photos were either taken by Ella or from my phone. No high quality pics here.

Ryan's dad is in charge of a medical conference in Hawaii every year, and last year we decided to take a trip with the kids that coincided with theirs. It was so much fun that we decided to do it again this year. The conference was on the Big Island, which was totally different from the other islands. It felt like Idaho, with a beautiful beach. Kind of eerie but really beautiful and cool. We arrived Sunday evening and settled in. Monday we played on the beach, flew Ryan's helicopter and swam at the pool. We ate dinner at Tommy Bahamas and Ella was OUT midway through dinner. We blamed jet-lag, and looked forward to the rest of our adventure.

Thanksgiving, 2013

This year we shook things up a little. Instead of having everyone over for a big Thanksgiving dinner, Ryan and I skipped off to New York and my mom and dad stayed at our house, and had everyone over for a big Thanksgiving dinner. I felt a little guilty leaving Ella and Anna, but they had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa and cousins and aunts and uncles, and Ryan and I had a great time with Jamie and Taylor.

We started off our trip with another save from Grandma Sue. Bad weather in New York combined with day-before-Thanksgiving crowds made us a little nervous about our mid-day flight. So like it was nothing, my mom drove to our house at 9:00 pm, and spent the night so we could catch the 8:00 am flight. And of course, no flights were cancelled, but better safe than sorry.

We started off by eating at Ipudo, the sister restaurant to the one we loved in Tokyo.  It wasn't as good as the original, but still tasty.

This was a cucumber sesame dish. It was better than it looks in this picture

Part of the draw of Thanksgiving in NYC (besides seeing Jamie and Taylor) was that Duke was playing in the pre-season NIT tournament at Madison Square Garden. When we first thought of going, I used Ryan's fancy American Express Concierge service to see if they could get us better seats for the game. They didn't have anything great, but were very nice. Then the day before we left I got a call from a random number. I almost didn't pick up. Glad I did. "Mrs. Packer? This is so and so from American Express Concierge service. We are sorry that we couldn't help you with seats for the final game of the NIT conference. But if you would like, we have complimentary seats in our box for the semi-finals tomorrow night. Would you be interested? How many would you like?" Jaw. dropped. Even better because we didn't have a seat for Jamie, and now we had a free one. So we put our tickets on stub hub, sold them, and went to the game for free, in their floor level box. I have to say, I could get used to this. The seats were fantastic, and the attached box had food and drinks and even Magnolia cupcakes. This picture isn't great, but it's what I snuck as I was walking down the stairs from the short hallway connecting our seats to the box.

View from our seats. It wasn't a great game, but it was really really fun. (Despite the completely obnoxious New Yorker who sat behind us. I suppose he made the experience more authentic.)

The next day was Thanksgiving, and instead of slaving all day in Jamie's little kitchen we let the people at Whole Foods do the dirty work. All we had to do was heat and serve. I have to say, it tasted really really good, and only took us an hour start to finish. Whole Foods doesn't do cranberry fluff, though. That we had to do on our own.

We kept tradition and made M&M turkeys. Thank you Duane Reed loofah. 

Thursday night we drove up to Connecticut and spent the night with Chris and Thayer. It was great to see them and catch up. Thayer and I went on a gorgeous run Friday morning, and Chris graciously let Ryan use his trainer and bike so he could get a ride in.

We left CT and drove back to NY. We ate lunch at Eataly. We had some time to kill before that night's Duke game, so we went in search of a cronut. We knew we were too late in the day to get the original, but we thought an imitation would at least give us an idea of what we were missing. After hitting three stores we decided it wasn't meant to be. But I did have a chocolate carmel cake that was delicious. Really really good.

The second game wasn't quite as fun as the first. Our seats were good, but they were no floor-level suite. The game before ours was really close. I felt bad for the players, because everyone just wanted to move on to the Championship game, so when they made the bucket to tie and go to triple overtime there was a collective groan from the crowd. In the Championship game Arizona came up with the win. It's always fun to watch Duke play, but less fun when they lose. 

On Saturday we went with Jamie to look at the Christmas windows. It's so fun (for me--Ryan may not agree) to see what magic they've come up with. We liked the Bergdorf's the best.

yum.

Ryan and I finished off our adventure with dinner and a play. We saw Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays. It is his autobiographical one man show. It was really really good. We laughed. We cried. We loved it. 

We got dinner after the play and headed back to Jamie and Taylor's. We got up at 5 the next morning and headed home. Such a fun trip--thanks Grandma Sue and Grandpa Paul for watching the girls, and Jamie and Taylor for being such great hosts. 

Japan, 2013: Saturday (Kamakura)

On Saturday Ryan and I braved the rain to see the big Buddha in Kamakura. Pretty amazing, considering that it is 13 meters tall, and constructed in 1243. We visited a few other shrines, as well. Even rainy it was fun.

So friendly. My favorites.

These are in honor of miscarried, stillborn or aborted infants. 

Sometimes they dress them up.

Creepy or sweet?

We came back to Tokyo and had the most delicious Ramen I've ever had. The fact that the only competition costs 19 cents and can be cooked in the microwave should not lessen its deliciousness. It was amazing. And perfect on a rainy day.

We finished off the trip with a long nap in our hotel room before leaving for our 12:30 am flight. We tried to get a jump start on the jet lag. By the time we reached LAX 10 hours later, I was ready for bed. And the next morning I was excited to see my cute girls who welcomed us home with this.

It's good to be home. And it will be even better when I'm 100% back on Utah time :)

Japan, 2013: Friday (Fish Market)

Friday morning we made the early morning trek to the Fish Market with all of the Adobe folks. Near the entrance to the fish market there are 10 or 15 little (and I mean little) sushi restaurants. They open in the morning, and the lines only get longer as the day goes on, so sushi for breakfast it is. 

Waiting in line. You can't tell, but this line snakes around three times. There was a Japanese man ensuring that people moved in the right direction.

Outside, looking in. Waiting our turn.

The fish just kept coming. And I kept eating. I've never been a huge fan of Nigiri, but it was amazing.

Our sushi master

After we could eat no more, we walked across the street to the fish market. This thing's legit. No dressing it up for the tourists. In fact, they don't allow tourists until after 9:00, when the hustle and bustle is over. We got kicked out when we tried to go into the fish auction warehouse. The place is bustling. There are hundreds of motorized carts whizzing around. Ryan's only instructions to me were to not get hit. 

We got done with the fish market around 8:00. We had planned on taking the day together to sightsee, but things came up for Ryan and he went into the office. And I had a fantastic day at the Weston. A read a book (an entire book). I went to the gym. I drank my favorite tea (real mint +  hot water--I don't understand how it is so good but it is). I watched most of season 3 of Downton Abby. Ryan and I caught up for dinner at a great Italian place near the hotel. All in all, a pretty good day. Well, for one of us :)

Japan, 2013: Thursday (Tokyo)

There were two typhoons swirling around Tokyo on Thursday, and while they never got close enough to cause any damage it did make for quite the drizzle. A perfect day for indoor activities.

The Tokyo temple is within walking distance of the hotel where Ryan always stays, which is crazy given how big Tokyo is. Luckily for me there was an English session on Thursday at 11:00. I was surprised how few English speakers there were. Many of the people were Japanese and had headsets translating for them. I was one of 3 non-Asians in the session.

All bundled up

From there I went to the Tokyo National Museum. Well, from there I tried to go to the Imperial Gardens and Palace, but it was raining, and I wasn't sure if I was going the right way, and I decided I didn't really care if I saw it. So National Museum it was.

I loved this. Thankfully, I'd left my heels at home. 

I like some images of Buddha more than others. The angry ones don't appeal to me, but I dig the peaceful ones.

Every item is graded--not important (no label), Important, or National Treasure. At first I loved it because it ensured I would know which swords were worth looking at and which ones to walk on by. But by the end it stressed me out because I was afraid I might miss a National Treasure if I didn't scan every item for the red box.

I think Steve Jobs stole the design for the iPod from a thousand year old Chinese box. 

Cool building

I was a little scared to try sushi from one of the many stores in the subway. Turns out it is better than anything I've had outside of Japan. For $3. 

I didn't stand out at all with my pink sweater, green skirt and pink shoes.