Hawaii . Hale Koa

We pulled the kids out of school a little earlier than their Spring Break so we could get to Hawaii to be with Mike during all of his testings and procedures.  The first week was spent in Waikiki at the Hale Koa so Mike could get all his testing done at Tripler hospital.  We slept in almost everyday, swam at the pool, played in the sand at the beach, and snorkeled in the ocean.  The kids loved taking turns riding the ocean bike with grandpa and burying each other in the sand.  We even saw a few of our friends from Japan while we were there.  The girls and I pampered ourselves and got our nails painted which was fun.  What is there not to love about swimming, eating, and relaxing in beautiful surroundings and eating at yummy restaurants like PF Changs and The Cheesecake Factory? The first week was rough for Mike but being in a warm and relaxing environment totally helped.  We were blessed to have Mike's dad there with us.  For the most part Mike was in good spirits and he tried to do as much as he could with the kids but I could tell that he was struggling.  The kids don't know how good they have it.  Their dad would do anything for them, including pushing through his pain and discomfort just to spend time with them on the beach.  Over the course of the week Mike had another EGD, a colonoscopy and a pill cam.  The EGD and colonoscopy put him back in the OR but he seemed to recover better this time from the EGD.  The pill cam showed that his bowels might have been perforated.  It's too bad that all they said he could do was wait until it healed on its own (6-9 months).