Mahalo :-)

Last summer my husband and I spent a week on the Big Island. It was 3 months after my first and only ambulance trip to the ER for my first public vertigo attack. Needless to say I was mortified to have so many people witness this not so lovely event. However, the attending paramedic was mighty good looking and that made the experience a little more palatable. Anyway back to the Hawaii story.

The main reason I want to share this story is to express my initial fear about going to Hawaii. I knew that the mixture of heat and humidity would not be a good environment for me and that I was taking a big risk. Our first three days in  Hawaii were filled with sightseeing and meeting the locals. Any concerns I had about the climate quickly faded. I was feeling great! Then on day four we decided to drive around the whole island, starting from our hotel in Hilo. All was going well....we went to Volcano National Park.....drove down to the southernmost  tip of the island......made it to Kona where we stopped for dinner.....then we headed  back to Hilo......by then it was getting dark. My husband and I were both exhausted , we were pretty much ready to strangle each other and we finally ended up not talking to each other. So as we are heading east on the north end of the island heading back to our hotel  it starts! Yup BAM! The vertigo monster found me.  The minute I said, "Oh no" my husband knew what was going on. He pulled the car into a parking lot and helped me to the backseat where I could lay down. He drove the remaining hour and a half back to Hilo with me spinning in the backseat and moaning " How much longer?". Once we got back to the hotel he helped me back to our room where I was able to sleep the worst of it off. The next day was a little rough but I was still able to get out to do more sightseeing. As the day progressed I quickly forgot about the vertigo attack and was back on track and enjoying the last few days we had left.

Our last night in Hilo we decided not to turn on the air conditioner because there was a lovely tropical breeze coming through the window. Big mistake! The morning of our departure arrives and we have to leave for the airport by 9am. I get up at 6:45am to get ready and just as I sit down for breakfast the room starts spinning BIG TIME! I crawl back into bed and shake my husband to wake him and let him know the vertigo is back. It is 7:30am. The clock is ticking, we have 90 minutes before we have to leave for the airport. Hoping this is just a minor setback I just lay still and hope the vertigo will pass.One hour later I am getting worse. The room is spinning out of control. We contemplated calling the airline to see if they could get us out on a later flight. It was at that point that I just decided I wanted to go home. Even if it meant having to use a wheelchair. Which is exactly what happened. I could now experience a vertigo attack in public for the second time. I will never forget the friendly and helpful porter at the Hilo airport that helped me and my husband. After we were all checked in and ready to go through security the porter says "Goodbye and good luck", then he knelt down beside the wheelchair and says to me, "Don't worry ma'am, plenty of people have left Hilo sick and in a wheelchair." Hmmmm not sure if he knew how that sounded or not. Anyway I had to use a wheelchair and airport assistance to go from Hilo to Honolulu and then on to Seattle. Now the good news is that by the time we got back to Seattle I was able to walk off the plane and felt like a million bucks! Go figure.

What I am trying to say is that even after experiencing some of the worst vertigo ever, I can honestly say I still have no regrets.For if I had not tried, I would have missed out on some amazing experiences.  My fondest memory will always be our journey to the top of Mauna Kea to see the sunset and to do some serious stargazing. I have never seen so many stars in the sky. Just thinking of that night still leaves me breathless.We had other adventures but this one will always be at the top of  my "favorites list" for Hawaii.. Looking back I now realize that if I had let my fears hold me back from going I would missed out on so much!

My advice to you all is that even if you are fearful, take that step. At least you tried! Mahalo :-)