midlife Archives | TRAVELS WITH TAM

Here are the Top Posts for Travels with Tam 2015

December 29, 2015 By Tam Warner 20 Comments

Here are the top posts on Travels with Tam for 2015! I hope you have enjoyed them throughout the year, and they continue to have relevance.

5 Reasons to Vacation in Cozumel, Mexico! travelswithtam.com/5-reasons-vacation-cozumel-mexico/
The evening began with a gorgeous sunset as we left Villa Coronado.
Close Encounter with a Great White Shark! travelswithtam.com/close-encounter-with-a-great-white-shark/
Amazing Women Wednesdays: Dr Andrea Marshall, Conservation Pioneer travelswithtam.com/amazing-women-dr-andrea-marshall-a-pioneer/
Andrea and I on the boat
A Hospital Bed in Place of a trip to Cozumel travelswithtam.com/hospital-bed-place-trip-cozumel/
UT Southwestern saves lives.
Transplant Challenges travelswithtam.com/transplant-challenges/

Wounded Eagle Ray Seeks Help from Divers

December 21, 2015 By Tam Warner 2 Comments

You can clearly see the fishing line trailing behind the Eagle Ray.

On a dive in St Lucia last week, our group had a visitor. We were all thrilled to see an Eagle Ray, but when we saw that it had a hook in its face and was trailing fishing line, the group went into action. Fortunately, one of the divers had a pair of scissors, and our dive master, Errol, managed to cut a huge amount of line off of the ray. The Eagle Ray made a second pass, trailing only 10 feet or so of line compared to the 100 feet of line it had just moments before. I only wish we had been able to help with getting the hook out, but the animal did not come close enough to allow that, unfortunately. However, the Eagle Ray will manage much better with only the short amount of fishing line left….and I hope somehow, that the hook comes out.

There aren’t the best photos, but from the distance they are the best I could do!

Errol, our Dive Master and hero of the day!

Lung Transplant: The Unexpected Continues

December 19, 2015 By Tam Warner 8 Comments

HA! I know how he feels!

My husband, Randy, is two years post a double lung transplant. A double lung transplant is a very serious surgery, and remains a very serious condition (for details, see Our Transplant Journey). The procedure, and a wonderful donor, saved my husband’s life, and I am grateful, but the unexpected can really catch you over your head in an instant! See what I mean?

Last week we discovered that Randy is having a rejection episode, and has e coli in his lung. Randy has had both conditions before, but this kind of news is always a shock. “Rejection” is never a good word…or condition.

More Christmas lights! — We love going out to see the Christmas lights every year.

On Wednesday Randy had a PICC line inserted so he can take IV steroids and antibiotics every 8 hours, along with breathing treatments through a nebulizer. The good news is he can be treated at home, which tells us that the rejection must be mild or they would have him in the hospital immediately.

There are so many things that can go wrong, and lung transplants have the lowest success rate of any transplanted organs. The lungs are exposed to the air, so the transplantee is always exposed to bacteria, germs, and viruses. It is, shall we say, a given. The unexpected is actually the norm when it comes to lung transplant…you can count on unexpected complications.

We should all strive to be children at Christmas! — We should all strive to be children, and to have gratitude, at Christmas!

I do my best to remain positive…relentlessly so. I know this rejection episode will resolve. It has been a long journey, and often a painful one, since Randy became critically ill in August 2013, but he is here, alive, and for the most part, doing well. These little episodes can be frightening…and sometimes they are not so little, but thank goodness he is permitted to stay at home for this one. It would be difficult through the holidays to have to go to the hospital to visit…but always better than the alternative! We are grateful this holiday season that Randy is alive and mostly well!

There are trials at every stage of life, and midlife has surprised us in many ways. We can plan, but we are always in the hands of fate. We count our blessings, and concentrate on the good things in our lives.

I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and remember, just breathing is a gift. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so for now, just breathe…and feel the joy it brings! It is the season of miracles.

Life’s Little Reminders

November 24, 2015 By Tam Warner 2 Comments

Brothers from different mothers and fathers. — Brothers from different mothers and fathers…before Randy’s double lung transplant (he cannot drink those margaritas anymore, and I doubt Tom should, either!)

Yesterday we discovered that a very close friend of ours had a “mini stroke”, and had to have his carotid artery operated on to clear it out. That news made our blood pressure go up (thank goodness we both have low blood pressure). The symptoms were worrisome enough that he and his wife, who is a nurse, sought medical care right away, and it is a good thing they did! The older we get, the more our bodies throw crazy, unheard of, health issues at us! My husband ended up with a double lung transplant two years ago (he was never even on oxygen!) and now Tom had a “Transient Ischemic Attack”, also known as a “mini stroke”. He is doing very well, and probably will get out of the hospital today or tomorrow. Scary, you know? I mean, this is the stuff that is supposed to happen to our parents, not to us! Of course, these things did happen to our parents…both of mine are gone now, but I still think of myself and our friends as young. Certainly too young for strokes and heart attacks and lung diseases! Get better FAST, Tommy Boy! We love you.

The symptoms of a clogged carotid artery are the symptoms of a mini stroke…apparently that is how most carotid artery disease is discovered. At your annual check up your doctor could pick up a “whoosh” sound in your carotid artery, but I’m really not sure how many men go for annual check ups. (I found this guide online for checkups every guy needs, for each decade of life, because once there are symptoms, the disease has already advanced).

Stroke and mini-stroke symptoms may include:

A sudden, severe headache with no known cause
Dizziness or loss of balance
Inability to move one or more of your limbs
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden weakness or numbness in the face or limbs, often on just one side of the body
Trouble speaking or understanding speech

So, I take this as another warning that we cannot take anything for granted. I’m always anxious to do everything NOW. My 90 year old uncle and 79 year old auntie have not been to Dallas in many, many years for a family event. I finally just bought them airline tickets and said, get on the f#%king plane! (Yes, I did use the “F” word.) I pick them up tomorrow. My uncle really wanted to come, he told my aunt, “this may be the last time we see the kids”. You know what? He could be right. So do it now, folks!

Oh, this makes me want to eat fruit and go scuba diving!

Scuba Dive with Me in Cozumel, Mexico!

November 18, 2015 By Tam Warner 24 Comments

Come on, scuba dive with me! So many of my readers say they could never dive, but actually…you can, at least vicariously! I am so happy that many appear to enjoy my photos and my endless enthusiasm for all things aquatic, but on this wordless Wednesday, enjoy the dive with me. Take 2 minutes and sit back. Relax. It’s all good, I guarantee it!

Beautiful Villa Blanca Reef in Cozumel

November 15, 2015 By Tam Warner 2 Comments

Villa Blanca is a reef north of the cruise ship port, and one does not see many dive boats in the area. Most of the “dramatic” dive sites are in the south, so Villa Blanca gets much less credit than it deserves. Villa Blanca is a wall dive, filled with sponges and soft corals rather than towering mountains of hard coral. There is abundant life on the reef…if you look closely!

Trumpetfish are so awesome to see and watch...they are always hiding. — Trumpetfish are so awesome to see and watch…they are always hiding.

2015-10-22 12.03.23 vb trump close up best — A close up of the Trumpetfish. See how well they blend in!

Scrawled Filefish were breeding...I have never seen so many of them! — Scrawled Filefish were breeding…I have never seen so many of them!

2015-10-22 12.25.43 rg files — Look carefully….how many Filefish can you count??

2015-10-22 12.25.40 rg filefish — Talk about camoflauge!

2015-10-22 12.35.44 rg anemone shrimp best — I LOVE these squat anemone shrimps!!!

2015-10-22 12.35.48 rg anemone shrimp2 — they are so tiny!

Honeycomb Cowfish change color also...I love their pursed little mouths. — Honeycomb Cowfish change color also…I love their pursed little mouths.

So don’t be afraid to venture out of the “usual” reefs…the dive boats like to go to the more familiar spots that everyone asks for, especially Palancar. I can assure you that Villa Blanca is worth the dive off the beaten path, and the best news? You’ll probably be the only boat there, and that is a rarity on Cozumel’s dive sites. Enjoy the leisure of this unusual wall dive…and by the way, it is an incredible night dive.

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