Adventures in Medical Care (Parathyroid Madness!)

It's been a year, people.

Actually, it's been slightly longer, as bloodwork from January 2023 indicated that I have hyperparathyroidism (namely that my parathyroid hormone level is high while my blood calcium is also high; they're supposed to have an inverse relationship when all is working properly).

My calcium is just over the border of high, so I haven't needed any treatment for that, but we have realized since last fall that I do need surgery to remove whichever parathyroid gland(s) is(are) responsible for the misfiring.

During the past year, I've had further bloodwork, a couple of urine samples (including the 24-hour one I mentioned previously), a neck ultrasound, and two biopsies of an adenoma on my thyroid.

Everything keeps confirming hyperparathyroidism, and a bone density scan revealed that I have osteopenia, which is some loss of bone density but that can but isn't necessarily a precursor to osteoporosis. The problem is that the parathyroid is supposed to sense when your blood calcium is low, and it "tells" your bones to release some calcium to make up for it. Hyperparathyroidism is when your calcium is fine (or, in my case, borderline high), you're continually leeching calcium for no reason, thus putting your bones at risk.

Another risk is kidney disease, as the excess calcium can cause the kidneys to have to work harder to filter it out. My most recent urine sample revealed a lot of stuff that shouldn't be in this waste product: epithelial cells, protein, too-high ph... it's just a cloudy mess. 

SO... I was referred to an endocrinologist early last year and to an endocrinology surgeon months ago. I had an appointment schedule with the surgeon for March 25, but apparently the doctor ended up planning to be out of town and they rescheduled to June. 

This was an inconvenience but not a huge problem until recently. My first biopsy came back with no results, so we had to do it again. The second time, the endocrinologist took an extra sample to send off for DNA testing in case the "standard" assessment was inconclusive again.

It wasn't. It came back "suspicious as cancer" (of the thyroid; parathyroid cancer is extremely rare and you're not supposed to do fine-needle biopsy on the parathyroid as you risk "seeding" any cancer that might exist, since the gland is about the size of a grain of rice) and will likely result in my having to have half of my normally-functioning thyroid removed. That might fix the hyperparathyroidism, as it's right up against my left anterior parathyroid gland. But I'll find out more when I see a totally different endocrinology surgeon (one who is widely respected as an expert in this field) in TWO WEEKS (rather than two months; sorry, Baylor, Scott, and White... you just couldn't perform adequately this time).

It seems like during the surgery, they at least want to "visualize" all of the parathyroid glands just to make sure they're okay. Some people have more than 4; others have visualizations on only a few because one of them has moved into their chest somewhere. I don't think that's the case with me. I believe the ultrasound tech was able to find all of my glands.

Anyhoo, I have an appointment with my endocrinologist Wednesday and can't wait to tell her that I'm pretty disappointed in the care I've gotten so far. Much of what I've learned about my condition, best practices, and what is going to happen in the future has been from an online community. They're the ones who made it clear to me that I didn't understand what was happening, and who prodded me to read through the medical notes and imaging results to look for specific things. I feel like my doctor should have explained everything more clearly, since I know doctors don't love people consulting "Dr. Google."

In terms of symptoms, I'm not aware of any. I do experience GERD, and have for years before my numbers were wonky. Three weeks ago, I got off of omeprazole because it's not really for long-term use, and it runs the risk of both bone loss and kidney disease, and I figured my body did not need another threat to deal with. So far, I've been less-than-ideally comfortable, but I'm managing. I'm also hoping that maybe surgery will help a bit with that? Excess calcium triggers your stomach to produce more acid.

I might occasionally have fatigue and brain fog, but it's hard to know whether that's from perimenopause, having a 9-year-old as a middle-ager, or hyperparathyroidism.

What I'm saying is that I feel "normal," which is pretty darn good. But if I had surgery and felt even better, I would not be mad about it! I'm looking forward to getting it scheduled and over with, so I can fully recover before our trip to California for Mal's 10th birthday!

Food Freedom, Kids' Edition

The other day, Google photos showed me this li'l gem from 14 years ago.

This is D with their friend Morgan (in the background) at the Dallas Zoo. I noticed that D was holding a long twisted marshmallow (a much better choice than when we bought a popsicle in June at the San Antonio Zoo, and its rainbow immediately melted all over D and me, and then it just fell off the stick entirely), but what really struck me was the fact that Morgan also had one. 

Morgan's mom Susan and I were different in a lot of ways, but we got along well and I always thought she was one of the most genuinely kind and encouraging people I've ever met. This picture made me appreciate the ease of parenting in Susan's vicinity. One or both of these kids saw the marshmallow and wanted it, and we both got them. Simple.

Mal has so many good friends whose parents very heavily influence what they eat. If we're somewhere and Mal gets a bag of cookies, those kids also want cookies... and it turns into a whole "thing." They ask their parent, the request is declined, they beg, the parent gets frustrated.

I'm sure the other parent really wishes that I wouldn't let Mal get whatever he wants. But letting my kid eat intuitively is a parenting philosophy I decided on when D was very, very young. I didn't want my kids to have weird food stuff to unravel when they became adults (or if they did, anyway, I didn't want to be the cause of it).

The more I thought about the ease of feeding D and their friends when they were small, though, I realized that relaxed eating was the norm pretty much everywhere we went. When we had lunch at enrichment classes, people had all sorts of stuff, and no one really commented on what anyone else was eating unless it looked good and someone wanted the recipe.

In fact, I remember vividly the exception to that rule when I was watching D's friend's sister once, and she was hungry. I asked if she wanted a grilled cheese sandwich, and she said, "I don't think my mom would want me to eat that much sugar." I was flummoxed. What did she think was in a grilled cheese?

I've heard this from one of Mal's friends many, MANY times. The thing is, I'm very good friends with her mom, too. We just have different food philosophies. But it makes her and Mal's together times around snacks and meals more stressful.

Whereas another friend of Mal's would come over here and eat whatever regardless of what her mom might think, this friend will often reject certain offers by saying her mom wouldn't like it. The other day, after she said no to a banana, an apple, and string cheese, I offered her a Lunchable. She said, "Oh, no, my mom wouldn't want me to eat that. She said they're so bad that even the creator wouldn't let his kids eat them!"

Mal asked me if it was true that they're "bad" and I just indicated that we weren't going to talk about it. But I had to know if that was the truth, so I looked it up. First, I did find a couple of websites that indicated that Bob Drane, who was one of the Oscar Mayer employees who developed Lunchables to help them sell more bologna, didn't let his kids eat the kits (which are not enough food to be a full lunch, in my opinion, but they're adequate in a snack situation) but they were all URLs like "healthvalues" or "eatingcleanforlife," etc. Not what I consider reliable sites, with zero citations. 

I finally tracked down an article from Popular Science entitled "Industry insiders don't use their products like we do. That should worry us," It's a bunch of elitist crap, like the fact that Steve Jobs's kids didn't use iPads. Listen, if I could outsource my kids' every moment, what they do in a day might be vastly different. But this isn't an instructional article for me. It's just saying, "Wealthy people don't have to live the same way that most of us plebes do."

Furthermore, it doesn't say that Drane didn't let his kids eat Lunchables. It says that one of his two adult children doesn't let her kids eat Lunchables because they're "junky" and "awful," and "we eat very healthfully." Barf. Or high five. Whatever.

Here's why I don't really pay much attention to "nutrition" guidelines or diet fads: I've seen them change too much over my lifetime. Eggs are terrible. Steaks are death. Butter will murder you. No, wait! Those fats are good, and protein is great, and margarine is fake and IT is the real danger! Don't eat fat and you won't be fat. Nevermind. Fat is good and satiating, but added sugar is something to avoid. Processed foods and things that are ultra-palatable is what's causing the downfall of our food society! Heck, even salt, which has been vilified for years, has recently made a comeback when studies have shown that the recommended intake of sodium that the American Heart Association publishes is actually associated with WORSE health outcomes than consuming moderately more sodium. 

When D was a baby and couldn't breastfeed, I fed them a bottle of formula. We'd only been home from the hospital for a couple of weeks, but initially, D was losing weight and becoming jaundiced. They were also very frustrated because they were literally starving. I made a bottle, which they slurped right up and were so content. I had been contacted by lactation consultants who offered to come help me figure out the breastfeeding thing, but I was just exhausted and ready not to have to worry about my newborn's health. The threat of being re-hospitalized was too much. I just wanted to know that D was getting enough to eat.

We visited the pediatrician a couple of days into formula-feeding, and I sheepishly admitted that I didn't have the will to try too hard to go back to breast-feeding, and did he think that D would suffer? As he continued D's exam, he asked me, "Is your baby gaining weight? Does your baby seem content? Is your baby thriving? Then I don't care what you do. Keep that up."

I guess that's been my feeding philosophy since. 

Fundamentally, there is a difference between "nutrition" and "health." Nutrition is literally a measure of the nutrients in any given food item. You might say that spinach is more nutritious than a slice of cake, and that's probably true (if it's a real cake and not a fake "hide 'healthy' ingredients" recipe). However, calories are important to consume! And joy from having a treat is a mental health boost that goes a long way toward a total "health" picture. Health isn't just about maximizing every calorie for its narrowly-defined benefit to the mechanical function of your biological components.

Food is about joy and family and socialization and meeting your needs in a specific moment in time. I love a good salad! And I also appreciate a Cinnabon. There is literally no time when I could switch one out for the other. Nor would I want to seek out a "more nutritious" version of a cinnamon roll in order to biohack my body's performance. And I'm certainly not putting that weight on my kids' shoulders. When they're hungry, I want them to listen to their bodies, not to have my voice in their brains knocking around, nor to see my side-eye even if they can still that voice. 

So... here's to those two kids in the picture with uncomplicated relationships with the stick of spun sugar and corn starch that they're carrying around during a fun day at the zoo. They and their moms are my heroes.

Mom and Mal Cruise -- Day 6 - Cozumel

Once again, I was awakened by the ship doing its thing. I was able to watch the ship dock from our balcony, which is facing the port; then I walked up on deck and saw both the moon set and the sun rise. I wish I’d had an adequate camera and the skill to take a good moon-set picture. It was GORGEOUS in person. Oh well. You’ll just have to believe me.

Mal woke up earlier than he usually does at home, but lay in bed and played on his computer for a while before getting up and dressed. We still made it down to the gangway by 8 AM and walked 5 miles in Cozumel, soaking in the sites, before it got too hot. I thought, anyway. As it turns out, it’s been overcast as the day has worn on, so it’s nice and cool (mid/high-70s?) with a breeze. 

We were going to walk into old town but realized after we’d gotten a couple of miles down the seawall that the map I’d printed out originated from the norther port than the one where we’re docked. Oops! Regardless, we saw people swimming with rays, pelicans hunting along the shore, lots and lots of electric motorcycles (yay, Cozumel!), beautiful trees and flowers, and we even got boxed into a sidewalk by the most giant, twisted tree trunk that had supplanted the concrete (and the street side had two rows of scooters packed in too close to navigate around). 

We bought one of those ornamental signs made up of up-cycled license plates. Or so I thought. When we got back, I really examined it and think only the two edges are actual license plates. The middle strips have letters painted on white metal with things like parking stickers rather than what you’d get from an official government entity. Oh well once again! At least I can be confident that it’s a hand-crafted one-of-a-kind item.

I saw a pharmacy where the sign said they had Advair Disks. Turned out that they didn’t, but their Ventolin was $10 or 3 for $25. Man! I didn’t bring that prescription because it’s old, but that stuff worked for me and my insurance stopped covering it. The Advair works but it’s still $84 with insurance! Eeep! 

When we got back to the ship, Mal and I each drank one of our two last canned sodas (I really brought them for him and promised to buy him a Diet Coke tomorrow if he’d let me have his) then he got a hankering for a doughnut. We walked half a mile to try to find one (yes, on the ship) but it was 10:45ish and everywhere we ended up was switching out to lunch. 

We went back to the room and I started watching “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” (Whitney Houston movie) while I gave myself a “manicure” from those Lily and Fox stickers. Mal did some Minecraft stuff, drew an accordion in a paint program, and performed “Polka Face” for me acapella.

He decided he was hungry around 12:45, so we went up to the pool deck to get him some pizza. Once we were there, he decided that he really wanted to swim… especially since it would be six minutes until his preferred flavor of pizza would be ready. A practical eternity. So we walked BACK to the room, he changed clothes, and we walked back to the pool, where he’s swimming now.

We’re going back to our cabin in about 20 minutes to meet Nana and Pappy and see if there are any dock-runners. Not hugely likely, but the potential for live entertainment, if there are any!

This might get updated later; it might not! You can figure out the rest of the story from these pictures over on Google!

Mom and Mal Cruise -- Day 5 -- Belize City

I was awakened as we started the process of mooring about 5 miles off the eastern coast of Belize today. I watched from the balcony as we churned up a bunch of silt. I got dressed, drank my caffeine, and listened to a couple of podcasts as I took watched the sunrise and took pictures, of course.

I woke Mal up around 6:30 because we were supposed to start tendering around 7. When we cruised to Belize in 2019, the sea was very choppy and we didn’t eve try to get 4-year-old Malcolm onto a tender. This time, he was sure he wanted to go, water conditions be damned. Fortunately, it was practically glass out there and he was ready to step foot in Central America for the first time (for me, too!). 

We went down to the piazza to grab some breakfast, but spoke to a crew member and found out they were already boarding tenders, even though it was a bit before 7:00. We managed to get on one of the first two boats boarding simultaneously, and were on the mainland before 7:30!

Although vendors offered to braid Mal’s hair, call taxis for us, and give us their own private walking tours, we had our route planned out and only caved in when a woman approached us selling necklaces with a crystals on them. Mal got a red one, and thus we contributed at least a little to the local economy.

Across the street from the Belize sign and the li’l light”house,” there was a wooden playground that Mal enjoyed for a few minutes before we backtracked through the marina and made our way across the swing bridge into town.

Mal mentioned that his stomach was kind of hurting, so we ducked into a bodega to grab him a soda. He picked out a Pepsi, and I got a 2-pack of Oreos and another individual pack of some Mexican strawberry biscuit-type things just in case he was hungry. He wasn’t, but we hadn’t eaten anything so I wanted to be ready. We were there so early, not much was else was open yet.

When we got to the register, he rang it up, and it was $4 (the prices were on everything). I asked him if he took US dollars, and he said yes, “As long as it’s dollars” (I’m guessing as opposed to credit, because he didn’t even have a cash register, but was just writing down totals in a notebook). I told him I had cash and he said, “$2.” I had forgotten the exchange rate and really wish we’d loaded up with more stuff! That would easily have been $5.50 or more at one of the gas stations in Jonestown.

An interesting interaction in the store: Everything was pretty compact, so the walkways were extremely narrow. As we were making our way to check out, a man walking toward us reached across where we were to get something and Mal just kept walking, straight into the guy’s arm. I don’t know what Mal’s thought process or plan was, but it looked like he was playing Red Rover. I said, “Mal, you can say ‘excuse me.’” Mal did say it, and the man looked at me and said, “That’s why I stuck my arm out, to see if she [sic] would say ‘excuse me.’” Well, I guess we failed that test then!

We encountered several street dogs (and a couple of dogs with people making their way around town). There was one following me hopefully as we exited the store, so I broke off a corner of the strawberry biscuit and handed it to him. He took it gingerly in his mouth, the spit it onto the sidewalk. That dog didn’t want my stupid cookie! He wanted MEAT! Looking at him, I realized he was an older puppy, but not super skinny. People probably fed him better than what I had, enough that he was choosy about what he gulped down.

In our two-mile stroll, we got to see the Belize High (Supreme, depending on what sign you were looking at) Court; St. John’s Cathedral, the oldest church in the country; and the Belize Government House. We also saw a really old cemetery which opened in 1792 and closed in 1881. We passed two schools, a primary school and a lower school, and could hear classes going on. We also walked past a beautiful newish church building, gleaming whitewash and tinted blue windows all tilted open to allow the breeze through. We could hear the congregants clapping and whooping (on a Thursday morning, so Catholic mass?).

Mal’s stomach wasn’t a whole lot better, so we decided that two hours was a nice visit and we’d go back to the ship so he could rest. We got lucky in that a tender was leaving the moment we returned to the marina terminal (I did grab a cucumber water that the cruise line had as refreshment for people waiting to depart), and besides us, there was only one other passenger on the boat! There was also a ship’s officer, but this 100-person (minimum) boat was ours, like a private charter.

We got back to the ship before 10 AM, just as an announcement was sounding ship-wide informing passengers that the tender process was going smoothly and to enjoy their day in Belize. Too late!

We saw that Nana and Pappy were in the Princess Live! venue and went to tell the that we were grabbing some breakfast at the International Cafe. We somehow missed them, and saw that they were in their room, so we called them and left a message. Nana ended up coming back down pretty quickly; fortunately, they were on their balcony when I called, rather than resting. Pappy came down as we were finishing up and was ready to get a light lunch in the buffet. Mal said his stomach was bothering him enough that he didn’t feel like walking around or even swimming (which is how you know he’s serious), so we came back up to the room and have been hanging out for the past hour and a half or so. 

(Later) Near 4:00, Mal perked up and was ready for some food. Of course, since dinner was about an hour away! But we went to the International Cafe, his favorite, and he had a Chocolate Symphony. And then he had another one. We hung out there and listened to some music, and then we decided to try to get an early seating at our main dining room, since Nana and Pappy had a reception that started about an hour after our scheduled seating, and since I hadn’t eaten since brunch.

I enjoyed two appetizers: vol au vent, and a chilled ginger coconut soup. We all dipped after the main course, skipping dessert. We had to go back to the International Cafe for me to try a Chocolate Symphony before Mal exploded in excitement. I tried one of their gluten-free options, which was a vanilla mousse kind of thing. It was pretty; looked like it was covered in gems, which turned out to be Jell-o jigglers, basically. Meh. But the symphony was creamy and delicious and probably felt extremely elegant to Malcolm.

We went to the shops to see if they had postcards (for one of Nana’s friend’s moms — they didn’t) and ended up buying a tumbler for D and a keychain for myself. James and I both have pretty nondescript key chains, so it can be a challenge to avoid grabbing the wrong one when rushing out the door.

We went back to the room to unload, and Mal was telling me about a TV show idea he has. He walked me through several episodes as we sat on the balcony enjoying the cloudy moonlight. At about 7:30, he wanted to go to the kids’ club. I was able to finish the book I was reading and get some stuff packed. I went to visit with my mom the last hour the club was open because I was afraid that I would fall asleep and forget to pick Mal up!

He came back from the club with a chicken hand puppet he’d colored. We both went to sleep pretty soon after that.

More pictures, in case you're in to that type of thing.

Mom and Mal Cruise -- Day 4 -- Roatan

This morning, we woke up off the coast of Roatan. I got breakfast for Mal and me from the International Cafe, and we ate in the room before packing up to get off of the ship for the first time in nearly 3 days.

We stopped by Nana and Pappy’s room to tell them we were going to take off as soon as we got the all clear. They were going to take their time and not go quite as far in as we were planning to go.

Mal and I walked through the little commercial port area, stopping to pick up sunglasses for him because I’d left his in the room. Then we made our way to the beach. It was gorgeous, and after a bit of stepping our toes into the ocean (Mal barely did that; he’s not a fan of inserting himself into natural bodies of water), we walked further down behind their private cabana area and found a slightly more deserted area.

When we walked out onto a dock that jutted off of the island, a gust of wind knocked my sun hat right off of my head and into the water! The same thing happened to my dad on a cruise years ago. Oh well. I’d also dropped my phone on the pier, so I’m lucky my hat was what went flying!

I tried to talk Mal into renting a giant water tricycle but, again, he doesn’t really like being in water, even in an open vehicle, it seems.

We walked up a nature trail and found some fun places to rest: A bench in the shade, a “porch” swing, and some hammocks. 

We’d been ashore a couple of hours and Mal was ready to swim, so we re-boarded the ship, stopped by Nana and Pappy’s room to tell them where we were going, and I got into the pool with Mal, as I’d promised him I would next time he swam.

We had the pool to ourselves for about an hour! I started getting pruny and got out to dry off a bit after Nana made her way on deck. We chatted for a while and watched Mal swim, then Pappy came up and and we decided to grab our various lunches and eat in the shade by the pool. It was still practically deserted.

My parents had burgers (I’ll get one tomorrow, probably; they looked great!), Mal had a couple of slices of pizza, and I went to the buffet and picked out a couple of things. The cream of pumpkin soup was fabulous!

After hanging out a bit, Nana and Pappy went down to the cafe to enjoy one of their premium desserts (they got the Princess Plus package whereas we did ours on the cheap), and we came up to the room. I got a shower and Mal’s been building stuff on Minecraft. Right now, he’s working on making houses and other buildings that look like instruments.

Our plan is to go to my parents’ room a bit before all-aboard to see if we can spot any dock-runners. I think we’ll run by the library on the way (or out of the way) to pick up Taboo and play for a bit before we go down to dinner. The library is right by our dining room, so turning it back in will be convenient.

(Later)

Taboo was checked out, but we made it up to Nana and Pappy’s to watch the stragglers board. It looked like there was a Princess tour that was late, because they got to the dock well after 4:30, the “all aboard!” time, and we waited for them. 

It was time for dinner, which was fabulous, as usual. Mal was so full of energy, though, that we decided he should swim again to burn off some steam. He and another girl played together for about 2 hours while I read and then walked around deck for a while after my rear end fell asleep. 

We were both in bed by 9:30 because we had an early call on Thursday morning!

Interested in photos? Click here for the full album!

Mal and Mom Cruise -- Day 3 -- At Sea

This morning, I woke up a little earlier and actually got to get dressed before going on deck. Today’s sunrise was cloudy and gorgeous. I got to talk to a couple of people while we watched the sunrise. At some point, I looked at my watch and realized it was 7:30. I’d promised Mal that I would be back at the room by 7:15, so I hurried back. 

Mal slept a bit longer but woke up around 8, and we went to breakfast at the buffet with Nana and Pappy. Mal wanted to check back by the International Cafe to see if they had the chocolate mousse he’d had yesterday. They didn’t, but he got a doughnut and was pretty happy.

We went to the kids’ club at 9:50, but they weren’t open yet. They were supposed to be open at 9. We found a staff member and asked him about it… it was only 8:51! Apparently as we passed the Yucatán peninsula this morning, my watch reset to Cancun time, even though I didn’t have internet or cell service. I guess it just “knew” from GPS where we were. I reset my watch and turned off “automatic time set” and we “explored the ship” for an hour before trying again. 

While Mal was doing a scavenger hunt, I went to my parents’ room to visit. We did my mom’s hair and my nails (my first set of stickers started falling off yesterday). Now I’ve been in the room getting some things together and catching up on this. I’m going to get Mal and we’ll head up on deck for him to swim again. It’s time for me to try some of that famous Princess pizza, and my body is ready!

(Later)

Success! 

We were out by the pool for a couple of hours, while Mal swam and we watched the ice carving demonstration. The pizza was good! 

We came back to the room to rest for a while and get dressed after swimming. There was a kids’ club event in the piazza, which started at 2:30 PM. At about 1:50, I opened up my phone to see what the dinner menu looked like. The app said that the ship’s time was 3:01 and that the event was in progress!

After the weird time thing earlier in the morning, I was confused. If it had said it was 2:50 rather than 3:01, it would at least have made sense. But what the heck??

Mal and I got our shoes on and went out to look at the nearest display in the stairwell. I guess we could have looked on the television, now that I think about it. The display in the elevator bay said that it was 1:51. A man heard us talking and said he’d gotten some weird times in his app, too, so we just decided to go run around the ship for a bit. 

The family event was fun. They had face painting, glitter tattoos, a couple of games, and some arts and crafts. Mal made a ship out of modeling clay to enter into a contest. He played a game and won a sucker. And he made a button he can take home.

We got ready for and had a nice dinner, then Mal wanted to swim some more. He swam for a couple of hours, and we would have watched the water light show because we were in the vicinity, but the fountain seemed not to be functioning. They tried, and I could see the light show and hear the jets opening and closing, but… no water. Weird.

It’s looking like a bit over 5.5 miles and a couple dozen flights of stairs per day will be the norm. My watch has no idea how to handle tracking sleep on a ship. We’re near the stern, and I’ve always heard that you feel more of the ship’s “movement” at the stern of the ship. It’s not the rocking that’s been… interesting. It’s that it seems like I can feel the machinery running the ship from our room. It vibrates the bed, and because of that, my watch thinks I’m waking up every few minutes and getting no deep sleep. It had that I was awake almost 3 hours during the last night, which isn’t the case. Maybe Apple Watch should make a “cruise mode” to correct for that.

There are TONS more pictures in this photo album.

Mal and Mom Cruise -- Day 2 -- At Sea

This morning, I woke up a bit later than I meant to, thew on a wind breaker, and made it up on deck just in time for sunrise. We have a balcony, but right now the sunrise is on the other side of the ship. 

I walked around and enjoyed an empty ship, then got back to the room around 7:15, where Mal was just waking up. He got dressed, we found Nana and Pappy in the Princess app, and went to say “Hi” at the International Cafe. Mal and I went to breakfast at the Horizon Court buffet, then went back to meet up with my parents.

We walked to the library where we played some Taboo. At 10, Mal went to Club Discovery to make a T-shirt. I got to read some of my book before it was time to grab Mal. Nana and Mal grabbed a snack and came back to the room while Pappy and I did a Crab Shack pop-up. It’s the only thing on this cruise I’m paying extra for (except the 5-photo package), and it was WORTH IT! So much protein and so good. We had hush puppies, shrimp, oyster chowder in a bread bowl, lobster tail, crab legs, shrimp, muscles and clams (no, thanks), and a dessert. Highly recommend.

Mal was ready to swim, and we spent about an hour and a half out on deck. It was busy, of course, but the DJ was awesome, and Mal instantly got a tan because of the native pigment he definitely did not get from me (his late grandfather was 1/4 Cherokee, so Mal is 1/32 and although he is extremely light-skinned, when he gets in the sun for two minutes, it’s on).

We came back to the room to rest, and I read some more of my book. It was formal night, so I started getting ready an hour before, and somehow 45 minutes was over in 10 minutes! We got down to dinner 15 minutes late, which is something I never ever do (until now), but dinner was great, and Mal looked really cute in his suit.

He and I walked around the ship after we had a few pictures made. We weren’t interested in the Movies Under the Stars show, but it was cool to see the setup. We climbed up to the top deck and saw Orion and appreciated how quiet it is on deck when everyone is either at dinner or at a show.

On Monday, I walked 5.8 miles and ascended 22 flights of stairs.

If you'd like to see the full photo album, click here!