Beginning this trip at DFW Airport . . .
He Said
I’ve given this a great deal of thought about what I would and wouldn’t share during vacation mainly because of recent developments and whether or not sharing very personally held beliefs with people I don’t know nearly as well as my wife -- judge as you may.
The background - last July 1 was diagnosed with diabetes and was put on Metformin to control it, that drug does help to control it but I had some fairly challenging side effects from it, mainly when I would start to exercise the lactic acid buildup was immediate and it would burn my thighs like I was into the 26th mile of a marathon 15 seconds in, if I knew what the 26th mile of a marathon actually felt like but it’s what I envision what it would be like. I hated it, I couldn’t even run a lap around the track before I felt the burning and itching at such a rate I had to stop just to scratch everywhere, I’m sure everyone who witnessed it thought I was some sort of crack head out there scratching all my skin off for no apparently good reason.
The next doctor’s visit I asked him how do I get rid of diabetes and more importantly Metformin. He told me two things that shook my world, first he said “Yes, you can get rid of diabetes.”, he then said “I’m not sure if you know it or not but your chances of having a heart attack go up by 4x now that you have been diagnosed with diabetes.” and then he finished his inquisition with “How much did you weigh in the 9th grade, get back to that weight and you won’t be diabetic.”
Now the back, back story, my dad passed when I was six at the age of 53 from his 6th heart attack. The minute he told me 4x the likelihood I said I’m going to solve this somehow.
Fast forward to September, I decided that there was absolutely no way for me to ever get to 170 lbs (my freshman high school weight) without some sort of professional help. I went to see the bariatric surgeon at DFW Bariatric, you know, where Nate Newton got his weight loss surgery (WLS) done. They said with my high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes they were fairly sure I could definitely benefit from doing it.
Fast forward to the endless doctors visits, the months of meeting with a nutritionist and sleep study, psychologist (to ensure I didn’t want to commit suicide after I had the procedure), a nuclear heart test and then a CT scan to confirm that there really was nothing wrong with my heart, then the EDG to qualify for insurance to cover the procedure. All done and boxes all checked, then two days prior to surgery I meet with the surgeon and she tells me that if I lose any more weight I’d be too light and she won’t be able to operate on me, yea that’s right, too light, I was down to 205 and that’s the very lightest from a BMI perspective to still be considered obese. I couldn’t believe it, the nutritionist told us that even if we gained any weight during our meetings that there were some insurance companies that would deny you so you needed to continue to make progress, apparently not that much progress. The surgery went off without a hitch and I’m not sure what it does physically to your body but it does amazing things immediately, I have never needed a single pill since the day of surgery, other than my vitamins that is and my protein mix to make sure I got all of necessities in but otherwise nothing at all, blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea (yea they said I had that too during the testing), cholesterol, everything back to better than exceptional numbers; it’s a miracle from my perspective but since it does have some challenges, especially since you eat differently and not very much when you do I thought I needed to come clean before our first cruise with this new body.
I had to tell you all of that so you would have the background on how things will probably change on a cruise ship for someone who only eats 6 ounces at a seating, hopefully it makes sense.
Now for the TMI section that I have to throw in, please skip this is you just ate, are thinking of eating, or ever what to eat again!!!
I get on the plane, all is perfect in our Delta “Comfort +” seats, I love the irony, if this is Comfort + does that mean economy is “Comfort”, I don’t think so!! It’s the same seat with 5 more inches of legroom (for Ami’s crazy long legs) and 3 more inches of recline, a VERY LONG WAY from Comfort + and then you don’t even get access to the sky lounge, they need some lessons from JAL, much more value for the dollar, probably wouldn’t do it again with them.
Anyway, we head out and all is going well, I’m still on my 3 to 4 day schedule for going to the bathroom since surgery but not for this flight, I suspect the stress of travel and making sure we didn’t miss our boat came to a head and I had to use the bathroom “TWICE!!!” on an airplane!! For those of you that I don’t know that well, I will drive across the metroplex to use my own bathroom, that’s just how important it is to me, and previous to this I had only used the bathroom on a plane once, it was demoralizing but all in all it went quite well and we made it to Amsterdam with just one challenge…
My seatmate, if that’s a term, asked if we could raise the arm between us to give us each another few inches for the 8 hour flight from ATL, I said sure but that it was odd; I’d never asked anyone to do that, nor had I ever been asked that previously. An hour in and I knew why she wanted to raise the arm, she was with a man next to her that weighed about 325 lbs and he didn’t fit into his seat, so she was shading over into mine for comforts sake, I got it and always said if possible do the right thing and do all you can to treat everyone the same, I took it for the team. She even said she was thinking that it was going to be a horrible trip because they were so jammed in but that it wasn’t too bad.
I got here quite early, around 5:15 and we hit the taxi stand after customs and fairly long wait for luggage around 6:30 (I think) only to be whisked away at 130kpm in a fairly new Tesla that the driver had to tell us was built in California, I thought well next he’ll be telling us about how their stock plummeted because of Elon Musk’s temper tantrum during the quarterly’s but I figured he owned one but he probably didn’t invest in one. We had to wait until 10:30 to check in so we had breakfast in the hotel next to the cruise port (thanks to Jeff K for the insights); the only oddity was that they only served coffee and croissants unless you wanted to go upstairs for the 25 euro buffet, are you kidding me, I can only eat a half an egg and a sausage patty and you want my cheap ass to dump 25 euros, coffee and croissants it is!! Ami said it was really good, it looked good but I wasn’t hungry.
We hit the cruise port check in line at 10:20 and we walked onto the ship at 10:33, 13 minutes to drop bags, check in, get pictures and boarding cards and clear security in 13 minutes, surreal!! That’s a new record, we went straight to the shore excursions desk to book a tour to Berlin with a stop at one of the first concentration camps in Germany. I really want to get a deeper understanding of how and why it all took place so I can’t wait to see it after having experienced Regensburg and all the pomp and circumstance. The rest of the day was setting up house and learning our new home away from home for the next two weeks.
At around 7p we were treated to a fairly impressive crossing of the Kiel canal on our way out of Amsterdam, if you aren’t familiar with it, it’s the canal that the Panama Canal was modeled from, it was built in 1860 I think but it’s not nearly as impressive as the Panama Canal though. I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to transit both of them though, it certainly is humbling when you consider what has to go into building some of these types of structures, very impressive all in all!!
The Lock...
We had the late dinner at 8:45, Ami had spaghetti bolognese and I had broiled salmon, both very good but I probably ate too much. But I had cheese and crackers for dessert too, always good to get in a bit more protein each day. All in all a great day with my BFF and wife, she’s such a great travel companion!! Tomorrow is a sea day and hopefully our first ever swimming lesson for her, yea that’s right, I’m going to try and teach her how to swim, hopefully so she can go scuba diving with me some day, wish us luck. Until tomorrow...
Now for the TMI section that I have to throw in, please skip this is you just ate, are thinking of eating, or ever what to eat again!!!
I get on the plane, all is perfect in our Delta “Comfort +” seats, I love the irony, if this is Comfort + does that mean economy is “Comfort”, I don’t think so!! It’s the same seat with 5 more inches of legroom (for Ami’s crazy long legs) and 3 more inches of recline, a VERY LONG WAY from Comfort + and then you don’t even get access to the sky lounge, they need some lessons from JAL, much more value for the dollar, probably wouldn’t do it again with them.
Anyway, we head out and all is going well, I’m still on my 3 to 4 day schedule for going to the bathroom since surgery but not for this flight, I suspect the stress of travel and making sure we didn’t miss our boat came to a head and I had to use the bathroom “TWICE!!!” on an airplane!! For those of you that I don’t know that well, I will drive across the metroplex to use my own bathroom, that’s just how important it is to me, and previous to this I had only used the bathroom on a plane once, it was demoralizing but all in all it went quite well and we made it to Amsterdam with just one challenge…
My seatmate, if that’s a term, asked if we could raise the arm between us to give us each another few inches for the 8 hour flight from ATL, I said sure but that it was odd; I’d never asked anyone to do that, nor had I ever been asked that previously. An hour in and I knew why she wanted to raise the arm, she was with a man next to her that weighed about 325 lbs and he didn’t fit into his seat, so she was shading over into mine for comforts sake, I got it and always said if possible do the right thing and do all you can to treat everyone the same, I took it for the team. She even said she was thinking that it was going to be a horrible trip because they were so jammed in but that it wasn’t too bad.
I got here quite early, around 5:15 and we hit the taxi stand after customs and fairly long wait for luggage around 6:30 (I think) only to be whisked away at 130kpm in a fairly new Tesla that the driver had to tell us was built in California, I thought well next he’ll be telling us about how their stock plummeted because of Elon Musk’s temper tantrum during the quarterly’s but I figured he owned one but he probably didn’t invest in one. We had to wait until 10:30 to check in so we had breakfast in the hotel next to the cruise port (thanks to Jeff K for the insights); the only oddity was that they only served coffee and croissants unless you wanted to go upstairs for the 25 euro buffet, are you kidding me, I can only eat a half an egg and a sausage patty and you want my cheap ass to dump 25 euros, coffee and croissants it is!! Ami said it was really good, it looked good but I wasn’t hungry.
We hit the cruise port check in line at 10:20 and we walked onto the ship at 10:33, 13 minutes to drop bags, check in, get pictures and boarding cards and clear security in 13 minutes, surreal!! That’s a new record, we went straight to the shore excursions desk to book a tour to Berlin with a stop at one of the first concentration camps in Germany. I really want to get a deeper understanding of how and why it all took place so I can’t wait to see it after having experienced Regensburg and all the pomp and circumstance. The rest of the day was setting up house and learning our new home away from home for the next two weeks.
At around 7p we were treated to a fairly impressive crossing of the Kiel canal on our way out of Amsterdam, if you aren’t familiar with it, it’s the canal that the Panama Canal was modeled from, it was built in 1860 I think but it’s not nearly as impressive as the Panama Canal though. I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to transit both of them though, it certainly is humbling when you consider what has to go into building some of these types of structures, very impressive all in all!!
The Lock...
We had the late dinner at 8:45, Ami had spaghetti bolognese and I had broiled salmon, both very good but I probably ate too much. But I had cheese and crackers for dessert too, always good to get in a bit more protein each day. All in all a great day with my BFF and wife, she’s such a great travel companion!! Tomorrow is a sea day and hopefully our first ever swimming lesson for her, yea that’s right, I’m going to try and teach her how to swim, hopefully so she can go scuba diving with me some day, wish us luck. Until tomorrow...
She Said
Welcome from the North Sea! We made it. It is a little after 9 AM Sunday, August 19. I write this as I sit in the Sky Lounge of the Celebrity Eclipse. The Sky Lounge is on the 14th floor on the front of the boat.
As I sit here looking out on the fairly calm ocean and overcast sky, I can see multiple boats. The North Sea is a bit busier than the middle of the Atlantic last year when we didn’t see anything for days.
Last night at dinner, I learned something new from Blaise - that when he was underwater welding, right after high school and before he joined the Air Force, he aspired to work in the North Sea. Something about a dive bell and being compressed for 20 days or some such. What I focused in on was the real reason of $30,000 a month! And that was in 1979/80.
Preparing for the Trip
As I sit here looking out on the fairly calm ocean and overcast sky, I can see multiple boats. The North Sea is a bit busier than the middle of the Atlantic last year when we didn’t see anything for days.
Last night at dinner, I learned something new from Blaise - that when he was underwater welding, right after high school and before he joined the Air Force, he aspired to work in the North Sea. Something about a dive bell and being compressed for 20 days or some such. What I focused in on was the real reason of $30,000 a month! And that was in 1979/80.
Preparing for the Trip
Anywho...after a Thursday of packing whereby I pretty much stood in my bedroom with clothes and shit everywhere saying “What do I do? What do I do,” we are finally relaxing. I just could not get it together. I really do hate packing. I think the weight limitation of luggage really screws with my head.
Here is the mess I somehow turned into packed luggage...
Getting to Atlanta
Our trip here was relatively smooth. Probably the easiest we have had in a while. Brandon took us to the airport and we arrived around 8 AM for an 11 AM flight. I think our only glitch in the trip was in the TSA Precheck line at DFW when Blaise had to go back and get a new boarding pass because his wouldn’t scan because of a smudge. I went through security just fine and waited for him on the other end.
The Atlanta Connection
We got to Atlanta a few minutes early which was good because we only had one hour three minutes to get to the opposite end of the airport for our flight to Amsterdam. We were in the South Terminal and had to make it to the international terminal, or the “New I” terminal. Maybe they just don’t have the proper signage, but there is absolutely no indication in the Atlanta airport for “Terminal I” or the “International Terminal.” Just for “International Baggage.” So as we were on the tram to this elusive “Terminal I,” we decide to get of the tram at “Concourse E” since our gate was “E12.” What the hell’s the difference between a terminal and a concourse? Are they interchangeable terms? Are there concourses in terminals or terminals within concourses? Can we just standardize this please?
The Atlanta Connection
We got to Atlanta a few minutes early which was good because we only had one hour three minutes to get to the opposite end of the airport for our flight to Amsterdam. We were in the South Terminal and had to make it to the international terminal, or the “New I” terminal. Maybe they just don’t have the proper signage, but there is absolutely no indication in the Atlanta airport for “Terminal I” or the “International Terminal.” Just for “International Baggage.” So as we were on the tram to this elusive “Terminal I,” we decide to get of the tram at “Concourse E” since our gate was “E12.” What the hell’s the difference between a terminal and a concourse? Are they interchangeable terms? Are there concourses in terminals or terminals within concourses? Can we just standardize this please?
Nevertheless, turns out we were right, E12 was indeed in Concourse E. Thus Concourse E is the international terminal? Who knows. But fortunately for us E12 was just about one of the closest gates once we got off the tram. Good thing because they were already boarding. Perfect timing!
We flew Delta’s Comfort Plus which is their coach with extra legroom and free booze. For me, the extra legroom was a Godsend and well worth it. I tried so hard to sleep but 4 vodkas, 1 Lunesta, and 2 Tylenol PM’s later, I only catnapped. Why can’t I sleep on a plane?!
Movies - I watched the documentary Three Identical Strangers (about identical triplets adopted by 3 different families at birth - which I highly recommend), Book Club, Gringo, and some other movie that isn’t coming to me right now.
At the beginning of the leg from Atlanta to Amsterdam, I didn’t think I would get the screen to work because the touchscreen wasn’t working. I thought I was going to spend 8 hours on a plane with no entertainment. I was kind of freaking out. Then I got it working only to have it spontaneously fast forward. But no worries (I know you were concerned) after a reset, all was well.
We had a lovely man sitting behind us, who, before we ever took off, decided he was going to ask Siri “What is the currency in Amsterdam?” Apparently Siri did not understand him. I know this because he asked Siri at least 7 times. Dude! Perhaps Siri didn’t want to tell you because you are the idiot on a flight to Amsterdam wondering for the first time, what currency you need in Amsterdam.
Blaise tells me this is the same man who asked EVERY time the flight attendant passed by for ice. I didn’t hear this because I had headphones on. I am glad I didn’t. That would have drove me nuts, as it did Blaise.
Amsterdam
We flew Delta’s Comfort Plus which is their coach with extra legroom and free booze. For me, the extra legroom was a Godsend and well worth it. I tried so hard to sleep but 4 vodkas, 1 Lunesta, and 2 Tylenol PM’s later, I only catnapped. Why can’t I sleep on a plane?!
Movies - I watched the documentary Three Identical Strangers (about identical triplets adopted by 3 different families at birth - which I highly recommend), Book Club, Gringo, and some other movie that isn’t coming to me right now.
At the beginning of the leg from Atlanta to Amsterdam, I didn’t think I would get the screen to work because the touchscreen wasn’t working. I thought I was going to spend 8 hours on a plane with no entertainment. I was kind of freaking out. Then I got it working only to have it spontaneously fast forward. But no worries (I know you were concerned) after a reset, all was well.
We had a lovely man sitting behind us, who, before we ever took off, decided he was going to ask Siri “What is the currency in Amsterdam?” Apparently Siri did not understand him. I know this because he asked Siri at least 7 times. Dude! Perhaps Siri didn’t want to tell you because you are the idiot on a flight to Amsterdam wondering for the first time, what currency you need in Amsterdam.
Blaise tells me this is the same man who asked EVERY time the flight attendant passed by for ice. I didn’t hear this because I had headphones on. I am glad I didn’t. That would have drove me nuts, as it did Blaise.
Amsterdam
We made it to Amsterdam, got through customs in about 15-20 minutes, not too bad. Got our luggage fairly quickly too. I tried to brush my teeth while waiting for the luggage but, I believe, every Asian woman (must have been a flight from some Asian country that had recently landed) in the airport was either brushing her teeth or waiting to brush her teeth in the bathroom by the baggage pick up. I couldn’t even wash my hands because of all the teeth brushing.
Our flight got in at 6 AM and we were at the hotel next to the cruise terminal by 7:30. Since check in for the cruise did not start until 10:30, we sat in the bar drank some coffee in hopes of not falling dead asleep right there. I am not a coffee drinker but by this time, I needed something. Thank you to Jeff Kaitcer for the heads up on the hotel next to the cruise terminal (or is it a concourse).
Oh, and we rode over to the hotel/cruise terminal in a Tesla taxi with the biggest screen in between the driver and passenger side.
Check in to the cruise ship was FAST! Less than 15 minutes from bag drop off to actually getting on the ship. After getting our cards for the boat, we were ushered to a waiting area and my butt was not on that seat for even 10 seconds before they called us to get on the boat.
Really the whole trip was quite smooth.
On the Ship
The boat is lovely. Our room is great. We are in Concierge class which is a balcony room with choice of pillow, afternoon canapes, welcome bottle of champagne, and extra Captain’s Club points.
Here are some pictures right after we got on the boat before we left the port . . .
Last night, about 7, we went through the lock that connects the canal leaving Amsterdam to the North Sea. Just one lock. Still interesting but once you’ve been through the Panama Canal, it is not quite as interesting. The Panama Canal has several locks but this just had one.
Blaise pointing out the ever elusively hidden lock...
Our flight got in at 6 AM and we were at the hotel next to the cruise terminal by 7:30. Since check in for the cruise did not start until 10:30, we sat in the bar drank some coffee in hopes of not falling dead asleep right there. I am not a coffee drinker but by this time, I needed something. Thank you to Jeff Kaitcer for the heads up on the hotel next to the cruise terminal (or is it a concourse).
Oh, and we rode over to the hotel/cruise terminal in a Tesla taxi with the biggest screen in between the driver and passenger side.
Check in to the cruise ship was FAST! Less than 15 minutes from bag drop off to actually getting on the ship. After getting our cards for the boat, we were ushered to a waiting area and my butt was not on that seat for even 10 seconds before they called us to get on the boat.
Really the whole trip was quite smooth.
On the Ship
The boat is lovely. Our room is great. We are in Concierge class which is a balcony room with choice of pillow, afternoon canapes, welcome bottle of champagne, and extra Captain’s Club points.
Here are some pictures right after we got on the boat before we left the port . . .
Last night, about 7, we went through the lock that connects the canal leaving Amsterdam to the North Sea. Just one lock. Still interesting but once you’ve been through the Panama Canal, it is not quite as interesting. The Panama Canal has several locks but this just had one.
Blaise pointing out the ever elusively hidden lock...
Interesting architecture as we headed for the lock . . .
Up Next
Today we are at sea. Tomorrow we hit Rostock Germany. Since Berlin is 3 hours away, we opted for an excursion through the cruise ship so we are guaranteed the ship will not leave without us. We will travel to Berlin by train, visiting the Sachsenhausen concentration camp along the way. In Berlin, we will hit the highlights - Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Berlin Wall and Holocaust Memorial.
Today we are at sea. Tomorrow we hit Rostock Germany. Since Berlin is 3 hours away, we opted for an excursion through the cruise ship so we are guaranteed the ship will not leave without us. We will travel to Berlin by train, visiting the Sachsenhausen concentration camp along the way. In Berlin, we will hit the highlights - Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Berlin Wall and Holocaust Memorial.
Dana’s Food Watch
Dinner - I had beef spring roll with some sort of spicy sauce, beef and veal bolognese spaghetti (disappointing), and dulche de leche custard with a crunchy caramelized sugar top (best part of the meal!).
Blaise had a salad with spinach, carrots, avocados, and a creamy yogurt dressing. For dinner he had poached salmon with broccoli, mashed potatoes and bernaise. (I had a couple bites of this and it was delicious). For dessert he had a cheese and cracker plate.
Where are we Going on this Trip?
Thought it might be helpful to know where we are going this trip so here you go:
Sunday Aug. 19 At Sea
Monday Aug. 20 Rostock (we are taking train to Berlin)
Tuesday Aug. 21 At Sea
Wednesday Aug. 22 Tallinn, Estonia
Thursday Aug. 23 St. Petersburg, Russia
Friday Aug. 24 St. Petersburg, Russia
Saturday Aug. 25 Helsinki, Finland
Sunday Aug. 26 Stockholm, Sweden
Monday Aug. 27 At Sea
Tuesday Aug. 28 Copenhagen, Denmark
Wednesday Aug. 29 At Sea
Thursday Aug. 30 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sunday Aug. 19 At Sea
Monday Aug. 20 Rostock (we are taking train to Berlin)
Tuesday Aug. 21 At Sea
Wednesday Aug. 22 Tallinn, Estonia
Thursday Aug. 23 St. Petersburg, Russia
Friday Aug. 24 St. Petersburg, Russia
Saturday Aug. 25 Helsinki, Finland
Sunday Aug. 26 Stockholm, Sweden
Monday Aug. 27 At Sea
Tuesday Aug. 28 Copenhagen, Denmark
Wednesday Aug. 29 At Sea
Thursday Aug. 30 Amsterdam, Netherlands
We will then be in Amsterdam until Sunday!
Happy to read this first entry! Blaise, I'm very impressed with your candor and details about your weight loss journey, and the reason you've taken it. I'm glad your results have been so medically beneficial!! Ami, keep the food blog coming!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the feedback. It is a it after 11 PM and we got back to the boat about an hour ago. Fabulous day in Berlin and a moving day at the concentration camp. Blog tomorrow
DeleteBlaise - that’s great longest backstory for having to poop on an airplane ever given. I love it! (I have a pathological fear of using airplane bathrooms and I feel ya, brother)
ReplyDeleteAmi - I just read where some lady fell off a cruise and tread water for 10 hours before they rescued her off Croatia. So please have Blaise teach you how to float and tread water first, please!!!!
And the food sounds awesome.
(‘Mom said to hug you so have Blaise get on that)
Oh, and tell mom I'd hug her back if I could and can't wait to see her again!
DeleteOf course you and Blaise have the same fear. Treading water would certainly be good to know. I am sure I am a certain level of crazy for not being able to swim and always taking cruises.
ReplyDelete