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This is my first attempt at using 2 canes instead of 2 forearm crutches.  They are far less stable which means I need to put more weight on my feet and have better balance.  It went a lot better than I expected.  This is 11 months and one week after my injury.

Honeymoon with The Beagle

A couple weeks ago, Rebecca and I finally went on our “official” honeymoon.  I say “official” because we actually took a trip for several days after the wedding, but since there was no beach involved, that was not a honeymoon according to The Beagle Dictionary.  If you haven’t figured it out, Rebecca is the infamous Beagle.

As usual we were in a rush to leave on time.  We headed to the airport for Puerto Vallarta by way of Minneapolis.  It came down to the wire, but I decided to leave the wheelchair at home and force myself to walk everywhere.  I think it was the right move, even though it left me completely exhausted every night.  

I was in a great mood at the airport after also deciding against the wheelchair assistance there.  I walked to check-in, through security, and to the Delta Lounge where we had access thanks to Rebecca flying a ton over the years, despite the fact that she is terrified of flying.  The world traveler that hates the “travel” aspect of it.  Pretty funny if you ask me!

There was amazing weather in Mexico which made for a great escape from the worst winter ever in Chicago.  85 degrees and sunny every day.  No rain at all.  We managed to book most of our trip using miles, including the hotel, which turned out to be all-inclusive (we weren’t sure it would be).  The food and drink was so-so there but at least it was free.  It took us a couple days to realize the best deal at the bar was a shot of tequila since they couldn’t fudge on the alcohol.  

We took a couple day excursions to beaches only accessible by boat.  Since the trips to and from were long, the boats had the added bonus of whale-watching.  We were lucky enough to see several humpback whales breaching (jumping) out of the water over and over again.  It was truly powerful and in that setting it’s hard to not be in awe of God’s creation.  

The best part, aside from the amazing weather and beautiful views, was that everywhere we went, the people treated us better than anywhere I have been, yet.  The crew of the boat would hold me under my arms to make sure I didn’t fall when boarding.  The hotel staff brought me food from the buffet since it was obvious I wasn’t getting it myself (unless Rebecca was there - then she got it…).  The taxi drivers were always asking if I was comfortable or if there was anything else they could do.  I couldn’t believe it!  It made the experience that much easier for both of us. 

The second or third day I got extremely frustrated as we were planning the excursions.  I wanted very much to be able to go on the zip-lining tour or the jungle hike.  It was a crushing reality to one by one, cross out the tours that weren’t good for me.  It hit the hardest when, after I had selected what I thought was a simple tour about the history of the city on a bus, the guy told me that you could only get on the bus by climbing a ladder on the back.  Very frustrating!  They could have helped me, sure, but I didn’t want to make a scene or something.  I just wanted to relax and enjoy my honeymoon.  

It frustrated Rebecca equally, but she was happy with the tours we took. The whales were amazing.  One of the tours was to a beach accessible through a rock cave in the water.  From the boat, it looked like a island made of rocks.  But there was a cave you could swim through that opened up into a secret beach surrounded by rock on the sides and open on the top where the sun shone through.  The boat was anchored about 150 yards from the mouth of the cave and rocking with the waves.  People were getting off the back with life vests and snorkeling gear to snorkel and swim through the cave and onto the beach.  It was unclear whether I would be able to do this.  They started ushering Rebecca away from me and I decided to try it.  I got up, walked over to the stairs (no braces, just Keens that I used to use for sailing).  I almost fell forward down the stairs and said, “I don’t think this is gonna work, guys,” but one of the crew said he’d help me.  Very unsteadily, I walked down the stairs and to the edge of the stern.  I was scared!  I handed one of the crutches to the guy helping me and just kind of fell into the water.  Rebecca freaked out - not for my safety but because I had gone in with one of those very expensive crutches.  Of course I still had it and handed it back up to the helper.

This is the view from the boat of the cave we swam through.  You can barely see it there in the middle. 

The tour guide stayed with me as I started making my way to the cave.  ”Have you helped people like me do this before?” I asked.  ”No.  Never.  This is a first for me!”  When he later told me that he had been doing his job for years and they only got one day off every week, it hit me how crazy that really was!  But swimming felt great and with the life vest, snorkeling was a breeze.  We went to the beach where I didn’t have much of a choice but to sit there for a bit (no crutches or anything to walk with).  I decided to get back into the water and made my way to the cave, where a crew member was kind of keeping guard.  He kept me from going into the ocean and spoke with me for a bit, getting me to practice my spanish.  He asked about my injury, then about my faith.  He told me a story and then started praying with me.  Then he looked me dead in the eyes and said, “I believe in my corazon, my heart, that you will walk again.”  I thought for a minute and responded with “Creo tu Corazon.”  And then, thinking I spoke spanish well, he started talking quickly and I understand almost none of it.  

When we left the ship at the end of the tour, they took a photo with us.  Jose, who spoke with me in the cave, insisted that I take his necklace, which was fabric and had two square photos at each end.  On one end was the Virgin Mary and the other end, Jesus.  It was really touching and even though I protested, I ended up with the necklace.

They wanted to do a Charlie’s Angels pose I guess.  Jose is the guy I’m pointing to.

We had lots of other good stories there but that was one of the best.  The boardwalk was great for walking and watching the sunset, even though it made me regret leaving my wheelchair.  The restaurants were really top notch - we went to an awesome Italian place one night… wow!  Good stuff.  

Dressed up for fancy Italian.

Overall a great trip.  We were even lucky enough to get upgraded to first class on the way home.  And in retrospect, not taking the chair was a good move.  Immediately after the trip I was saying I should have taken it to better enjoy the boardwalk and trips to the marina.  But what I’ve realized is that all that walking (a quarter mile to the breakfast area each morning!) really increased my endurance.  I can go out multiple times a day without the wheelchair now.  It’s really great.  

That’s where we had breakfast each morning.

As for my therapy, I’m about to post a video for that.  It’s pretty exciting for me and a big step towards more progress.  I attempted to use canes instead of crutches and it went pretty well.  Much better than I expected, in fact.  The doctors say that the biggest indicator for more recovery is that I’m already experiencing recovery.  It’s a very good sign that I’m still recovering in months 10 and 11.  Everyone is saying that progress will continue, which is fantastic news for me.  So praise God for that.

Thanks so much for all your support and continued prayers.  I could write a novel on a lot of other stuff going on, but I’ll spare you… for now :)

A view from a boat as we left the city.

On the boardwalk at sunset.

G’night,

Chip