Category Archives: MS travel

appreciate the good life, good life, happy life, introspection, isolation, life with MS, MS, MS travel, stress and MS, Uncategorized

A Screwdriver in a World of Nails

Cloudy or not, life's views are often still beautiful.
Cloudy or not, life’s views are often still beautiful.

There is a saying, “If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”  That’s a fine saying. For even a screw can pass for a nail, if one is willing and able to put in the extra effort to pound away. But what if one’s only tool is a screw driver?

As I look back on the week, I see many things which turned out well, but seemed so much harder than they should have been.  I find myself more and more having to throw effort and elbow grease at problems until they yield.  The thing is, I am not using a hammer to pound away at screws.  I’m using the handle of a screw driver as if it is a mallet, all the while ignoring the cracks and dents each nail imparts upon the handle.

Have you ever felt like you could solve problems only to find more and more problems for which you are not ideally prepared?  That has been my feeling all week long from having the wrong screws to rebuild a broken swing set to securing a computer at Miami airport only to find it could not load Adobe Connect.  I was able to solve both problems, but each took more time and effort while making me feel foolish for not anticipating the problem until it needed solving immediately.

This whole week has been exhausting and rewarding.  My work published our fourth publication of this cycle.  I went to St. Thomas and met with the Governor, and on the way back, I stopped in Miami airport to use the Ambassador’s club to participate in a webinar for the American Board of Internal Medicine.  To top it all off, I came home to family happy to see me.

I’m tired, but I still feel relevant, less isolated and more importantly, appreciated.  For a guy with a fairly aggressive MS, it reminds me how I should define my luck to appreciate what I still have. It has been a good week to remind me to use other tools as needed, and not to panic if the first tool grabbed does not work.

Not every problem is a screw.

I love talking with data driven politicians. This week, I was lucky enough to spend time with John de Jongh, Jr., the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
I love talking with data driven politicians. This week, I was lucky enough to spend time with John de Jongh, Jr., the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Exercise for the sick, family time, family vacation, MS, MS progression, MS travel, Multiple Sclerosis, Tysabri, Uncategorized, when kids won't sleep

Double Rainbow Days

On some days, a single rainbow just doesn't say enough. This day ordered a double.
On some days, a single rainbow just doesn’t say enough. This day ordered a double.

This past week, my family and I went to Jamaica, to FDR which is our favorite family resort (for what it worth, TripAdviser.com has had them as the top family destination in Jamaica for years). For a family with medically fragile children, this place is a life line. Their nannies take excellent care of the medical and non medical children, and the resort is the perfect size. It’s big enough the parents can do things without the kids and small enough parents and kids can find each other whenever needed. We went last year, and we could not wait to get back this year. It’s the land of double rainbows where the pots of gold are smiles and free moments with spouses.

We were a little worried when the passport request for K was denied 12 days before we were to leave. However, the Maryland Department Social Services (DSS) office in Baltimore city came through in spades. We called our worker when we got the package returned to us Saturday. Sunday she came to our house and picked up the package. Monday afternoon, she brought the package back to us with the requested paperwork signed by a judge and notarized and other paperwork approved by DSS lawyers to meet the requirements of the State Department’s letter refusing the first application. For all many rightly bemoan bureaucracy, Baltimore DSS did well by us to get the passport reapplication accomplished quickly.

When I look back, I cringe thinking how much K would have missed out. She had her own nanny on the trip, and she thrived. People were amazed after the first day whenever we said she had problems seeing. We all watched as the first day we had to tell her “step” whenever there was one upcoming, but she quickly memorized the place and took off. She loved the pools, the beach, and even the water-slide. Watching her go from scared of sand to crying whenever it was time to go back to the room was a joy. I have never seen her so happy.

As for the rest of us, we got what we wanted too. Whether it was A getting a group of adults (the nannies) to play Parcheesi, O getting to hunt hermit crabs and play Foosball, or J and I getting to have quiet dinners alone to reconnect, we all got a much needed break.

That’s not to say there weren’t bumps along the way. When are there not? I can not for the life of me explain why A loved the water slide on alternating days with fear being the dominant emotion every other day. I still have no idea from where our kids drew their limitless energy rejecting sleep half the nights there.

However, the good days were so good, and the ability to rest and relax let me enjoy physical activity levels I have not had in years. When a day can start pushing K on a 5k run through the hills followed by a longer bike ride after breakfast, then some thing is going well. To have both of those things not tire me out for the rest of the days activities is an awesome testament to the value of the workouts I do most days at work and the efficacy of Tysabri thus far in controlling the physical symptom progression of my MS.

I liked our date dinners on pier. J and I rarely get time to go out alone. Thank you FDR.
I liked our date dinners on pier. J and I rarely get time to go out alone. Thank you FDR.

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