Safety Tips in Honolulu

Dr. James Pearce would like to hear from anyone who thinks he or she had surfer's myelopathy after the first time out on the SURF board. Call 808-522-4476.

Hiraoka, now 26, didn't have an accident during his August 2002 outing, yet he still suffered a rare spinal-cord injury that Straub Clinic & Hospital doctors have named "surfer's myelopathy."

"A person would have a surfing lesson the first time, go out in the surf and be out on the long side, one or two hours," he said.

While on the water or on their way back to shore, they started to feel pain in the back and weakness or numbness in the legs. Some collapsed on the beach, he said.

About 80 percent of the patients have recovered fully, Pearce said.But some, such as a vacationing medical student who is the son of a neurologist in Japan, remain paraplegic, he said. "It's totally tragic."

Pearce, who frequently works in Straub's emergency room, said he first noticed the unusual condition in one or two cases in the late 1980s. He began documenting what was happening and asked other doctors to keep an eye out for similar cases.

"In a year or year and a half, it became clear that we were seeing a very specific syndrome," Pearce said.

He and his colleagues reported on nine patients with surfer's myelopathy between June 1998 and January 2003 in the August issue of the SPINE journal. The average age was 25.

He has seen only about three local patients, including one woman.

Pearce believes the injuries to neophyte surfers are caused by repeatedly hyperextending or arching their back off the board looking for waves and preparing to catch a wave.

"They're not used to it. They hyperextend their back a lot of times and they happen to have the kind of build that predisposes them to a temporary problem with the blood flow to the spinal cord.

"They do it again and again and again, so the lower part of the spinal cord is impaired because of temporary but repeated problems of blood flow to that area."

"Paradise" would be nice, were it not for the people.
Problems include:
Anti white (haole) and black (popolo) attitudes.
Small job market for credentialed professionals.
Favoritism of "locals" over mainlanders.
High Cost of living, but low paying jobs.
Terrible traffic from Central, Western, Leeward, Windward and Eastern Oahu.
Inconsiderate and generally unaware drivers.
Pollution is rampant.
General thinking is provincial and slow to change.
Highschool is more important than college.
No National level sports teams.
Freezing indoors.
Mould everywhere.
Overcrowding.
Buses move on geologic timescale.
It is very expensive to fly back to the mainland when you finally can't take it anymore.

Following the events of September 11, 2001, much severer security regulations have been introduced.
No bags of any kind are allowed at the USS Arizona Memorial, USS Bowfin Submarine Park and Battleship Missouri Memorial.
The USS Bowfin Memorial Park operates a storage container, but only for items with carry-on size or smaller. The fee is $2.00 per item.
For larger baggage storage is not available and there are no alternatives in the local area for bag storage. Personal cameras without bags are allowed.

The best time to visit the National Park is early in the morning before the tour buses arrive. Shirt and footwear are required. Swimwear is not allowed.
The Park is open daily from 7am to 6pm.

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NOW SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN A LOT HERE IN HAWAII IS A 6.7 EARTHQUAKE...BUT IT DID THE OTHER DAY...10/15/06...WE WERE WITHOUT ELECTRICITY FOR ABOUT 12 HOURS...
IT IS SOMEWHAT OF SOMETHING THAT STILL NEEDS TO BE BETTER PREPARED FOR ..SO HOPEFULLY WHEN TOURISTS DO COME TO THE ISLANDS ..THEY DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH UNNECCESSARY HARDSHIPS........ALL THE ISLANDS WERE AFFECTED BY THE EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!HERE ARE PICTURES TAKEN ACTUALLY AROUND 7PM TO 9PM THAT EVENING..MY CAMERA SET TIME WAS INCORRECT..

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Beware of being impatient waiting for the buses on a weekend schedule !!!! IF POSSIBLE TRY THINKING ABOUT HOW NICE IT IS BEING AT SUCH A BEAUTIFUL PLACE AND THE TIME SEEMS TO PAST QUICKLY....AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT THE NEXT BUS HAS ARRIVED !!!!!!

Please be aware that large flying roaches are everywhere in Hawaii. Even if you're staying at a 5 star resort roaches can make their way in to your hotel room. I was enjoying sleeping in one morning in my room on the 20th floor of the Hilton in downtown Honolulu. I was shocked as I saw 2 huge roaches flying across the room. That was the last time I slept in on that trip!

Hawaii is a beautiful place and outside the city one can find the true Hawaii, but, as usual around the world with any law enforcement there are things to be aware of.
Honolulu Police are bullies- I am beginning to believe that they are very poor and short on money and need to find ANY minor or miniscule reason to pull someone over - bully them and write a ticket - usually for an outrageous amount ( j walking is $130 , missing a stop sign is $97, etc) - EVEN if you follow and obey the signs there will be some kind of trap which police will hang out and capture their prey- If you contest what they are charging you with, they get brusque, especially the very morbidly obese cops and try to frighten you- they are like bouncers in a sleazy bar!
When driving or crossing the street always be aware that Honolulu especially is like a banana republic/ soft facist police state and it is best to walk or drive with discretion.

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EVER SINCE LAST WEEK THE VOG.. (MUCH LIKE A FOG) BUT THIS IS COMING FROM THE LAVA FLOW FROM THE VOLCANO ON THE BIG ISLAND . .. .......THE SKIES OVER THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS HAS BEEN HAZY AND A LITTLE CRAZY FOR MANY LOCALS AND OF COURSE SADDENING FOR THE TOURISTS.... THEY COULD SEE CLOUDY SKIES IN ANY LARGE CITY ON THE MAINLAND...
HERE THIS WEEK THE TRADE WINDS ARE BLOWING MORE AND THE SKIES ARE CLEARING UP..