Wednesday, August 28th
Well today was supposed to be Surgery Day!
I slept ok and had a good part of the morning here at home, so I was able to water the plants outside before taking a shower and getting ready to go. Guillermo spent the morning at the gym. Ha-Ha, I had planned to go walk in the park again before coming back and taking the shower while he was at the gym but then thought that's crazy since I had hardly eaten anything since the evening before and had had no liquids since midnight. In the heat, that wouldn't have been a good combination.
We headed to the surgery center at 10:30am, got checked in and at about 12:15 I was called back to be prepped for my 1pm surgery. They told me that the doctor is running late so my surgery was going to be an hour late. I got an IV inserted (which I was actually glad for because at least with it I'd start getting hydrated again) but she messed around so much with the needle on that IV that by the time she was through, I was feeling like I was going to faint. They lowered my head some more, did the smelling salts bit and I quickly felt better. They also took blood for lab work. Then we waited. Plenty of other patients were waiting, too. It seemed like several doctors were late that day. Most amazing to me was the little girl that was across from me. She had to be about 6 years old and her surgery was also delayed for a LONG time, but she was so good the entire time.
Anyway, when they did an EKG on me, they did it 5 different times and I guess each time it came out abnormal. Seems like there were blips where there shouldn't have been, or something like that. So, they told us that the anesthesiologist would need to look that over before going ahead with the surgery. So, that was the first indication that MAYBE this surgery wasn't going to take place that day.
When the doctor came with the anesthesiologist, the anesthesiologist asked me tons of questions, like do I get chest pains or short of breath and stuff like that. He ended up saying that he had no problem with the EKG, but by then, there were plenty of doubts. My doctor said that if I don't feel comfortable about proceeding, that really, the safest thing to do was to be seen by a cardiologist before having the surgery. So, we decided to go the safest route. So, they removed the IV, I got dressed and we went back home!!
Afterwards, of course, all kinds of doubts continued to linger. SHOULD we have gone ahead with the surgery? Why didn't my doctor do an EKG or do lab work BEFORE I went in to the surgery center? Seems like that would have prevented a major waste of surgery center resources and a major waste of mine and Guillermo's time.
So, where we're at now - on Thursday, August 29th. I have made an appointment with a cardiologist. If I do get rescheduled for hernia surgery, it most likely will not be with that original doctor.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Weird day
Tuesday, August 27th
While we were in Tucson, I gave no thought to my hernia or to the surgery that was coming up. But the day we got back from Tucson was when I started worrying that the surgery was coming up. But it was nice to be able to tell myself that there were "6 more days before the surgery" or "3 more days till the surgery" which meant that the surgery was still a little ways off.
Tuesday, August 27th, (the day before the surgery) I thought I'd be really anxious about the surgery but as luck would have it, something happened to distract me from thinking about it. Guillermo went that morning to work out at the gym and I drove the Camry to a nearby park to do a little walk. It was a nice walk because the sky was overcast and the sun never came out while I was there. From there I drove to HEB and picked up last minute things to have at home to make things easier while I recovered from surgery. But when I got to the car with the groceries, the car would not start. It wouldn't even turn over. Nothing. I thought maybe something was in a position that it shouldn't have been but no, everything was as it should be and the car just plain wouldn't start. First thing I had to do was take my groceries back inside the store and ask them to put them in their cooler. Then I tried calling Guillermo's cell, which I figured wasn't going to work because I was pretty sure he didn't have it on him (and he didn't). So, no answer from him and car still not starting and now I was lamenting the fact that I didn't sign up again for AAA road service. I called Anderson Garage (where we usually take our cars), but they don't do road service. My only option then was to call a friend and ask her to pick me up and take me home.
Once back at home, Guillermo's truck was in the driveway - which was good! I thanked my friend profusely and then Guillermo and I went back out in the truck to HEB. We bought some jumper cables from HEB, but they didn't do a thing. Then we thought we'd call our insurance company to see if by any chance we had road service with them and they said yes so we spent quite a bit of time on the phone with them getting a tow truck set up to come out. We were told the truck would be there in an hour and a half so we decided to go to a nearby Taco Cabana to have lunch. When we were just about done with lunch, the tow truck driver called and said he was 10 minutes away so we finished up and headed back to the store.
The guy quickly got my car hooked up, we went with him to Anderson Garage and then went back home to wait for the car to be checked over. Turns out it needed a new battery. Which is weird because usually a car battery gives you a warning or two by doing some real slow sounding turn-overs when you're trying to start the car. This time we got no warning at all. Oh well, the car battery was the battery from when we bought the car back in 2009, so it was probably time for a new battery.
So, this incident with the car rearranged totally the plans we had for the day, which were to take Oma out to eat at the Culinary Institute's Bakery Cafe. We were so looking forward to that!
Instead, we drove over in the evening and had dinner again at Cracker Barrel which is what we usually do with her. I had a very small meal since that evening I was supposed to not eat or drink anything after midnight. My original plan was to only eat chicken broth that evening but going out to eat in the evening changed that.
While we were in Tucson, I gave no thought to my hernia or to the surgery that was coming up. But the day we got back from Tucson was when I started worrying that the surgery was coming up. But it was nice to be able to tell myself that there were "6 more days before the surgery" or "3 more days till the surgery" which meant that the surgery was still a little ways off.
Tuesday, August 27th, (the day before the surgery) I thought I'd be really anxious about the surgery but as luck would have it, something happened to distract me from thinking about it. Guillermo went that morning to work out at the gym and I drove the Camry to a nearby park to do a little walk. It was a nice walk because the sky was overcast and the sun never came out while I was there. From there I drove to HEB and picked up last minute things to have at home to make things easier while I recovered from surgery. But when I got to the car with the groceries, the car would not start. It wouldn't even turn over. Nothing. I thought maybe something was in a position that it shouldn't have been but no, everything was as it should be and the car just plain wouldn't start. First thing I had to do was take my groceries back inside the store and ask them to put them in their cooler. Then I tried calling Guillermo's cell, which I figured wasn't going to work because I was pretty sure he didn't have it on him (and he didn't). So, no answer from him and car still not starting and now I was lamenting the fact that I didn't sign up again for AAA road service. I called Anderson Garage (where we usually take our cars), but they don't do road service. My only option then was to call a friend and ask her to pick me up and take me home.
Once back at home, Guillermo's truck was in the driveway - which was good! I thanked my friend profusely and then Guillermo and I went back out in the truck to HEB. We bought some jumper cables from HEB, but they didn't do a thing. Then we thought we'd call our insurance company to see if by any chance we had road service with them and they said yes so we spent quite a bit of time on the phone with them getting a tow truck set up to come out. We were told the truck would be there in an hour and a half so we decided to go to a nearby Taco Cabana to have lunch. When we were just about done with lunch, the tow truck driver called and said he was 10 minutes away so we finished up and headed back to the store.
The guy quickly got my car hooked up, we went with him to Anderson Garage and then went back home to wait for the car to be checked over. Turns out it needed a new battery. Which is weird because usually a car battery gives you a warning or two by doing some real slow sounding turn-overs when you're trying to start the car. This time we got no warning at all. Oh well, the car battery was the battery from when we bought the car back in 2009, so it was probably time for a new battery.
So, this incident with the car rearranged totally the plans we had for the day, which were to take Oma out to eat at the Culinary Institute's Bakery Cafe. We were so looking forward to that!
Instead, we drove over in the evening and had dinner again at Cracker Barrel which is what we usually do with her. I had a very small meal since that evening I was supposed to not eat or drink anything after midnight. My original plan was to only eat chicken broth that evening but going out to eat in the evening changed that.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Back into our routine
We got home from Tucson Wednesday afternoon after a good drive from Van Horn, Texas.
On Tuesday, when we left Tucson, we left a little later than we had planned because there were some things we just wanted to do before we left. Once on our way at around 9am or so, as we were headed to I-10 on Houghton Rd., we could see to the east a HUGE plume of black smoke rising into the air. We figured it was maybe a structure fire or a grass fire or something. As we got closer to the plume, we noticed that there were no cars at all on the other side of the highway. And we started to see that the smoke was coming from somewhere down the line of the highway. It was hard to see due to little hills in the median, but as we passed the scene, we were able to get a glimpse of a big rig on its side and totally burned. Something somewhere in that scene was still burning because the smoke kept going from black to white to black again - that happened about 4 times. Maybe there were explosions or something. So, we first saw that smoke plume from about 40 miles away which means that the cars behind that accident had been sitting there, just sitting, for a LONG time. We stopped in Benson to have breakfast and even sitting in that cafe, we saw police and fire engines continuing to race to the scene. We felt so sorry for whoever was in the accident and for all the people in those cars waiting for that accident to clear. And very grateful that the accident hadn't happened on our side of the highway.
Our breakfast was good and filling so we didn't need to stop to eat again until we got to Van Horn at around 7pm. We entertained the thought of going on to Fort Stockton, but that's an additional 2 hour drive and we thought we may as well just take it easy and get a hotel for the night there in Van Horn. We had dinner at Chuy's Restaurant, which was very tasty!
The next day (Wednesday) was relaxed and easy. We had a good drive back to San Antonio, getting home around 3:15pm or so. Everything looked good at the house except for a few plants that just couldn't make it through the heat but all in all, our friends took good care of things while we were gone.
On Thursday, we had dinner with the friends who took care of our house. They enjoyed staying at our place and are looking forward to doing it again when we go to Japan. Yay!
On Tuesday, when we left Tucson, we left a little later than we had planned because there were some things we just wanted to do before we left. Once on our way at around 9am or so, as we were headed to I-10 on Houghton Rd., we could see to the east a HUGE plume of black smoke rising into the air. We figured it was maybe a structure fire or a grass fire or something. As we got closer to the plume, we noticed that there were no cars at all on the other side of the highway. And we started to see that the smoke was coming from somewhere down the line of the highway. It was hard to see due to little hills in the median, but as we passed the scene, we were able to get a glimpse of a big rig on its side and totally burned. Something somewhere in that scene was still burning because the smoke kept going from black to white to black again - that happened about 4 times. Maybe there were explosions or something. So, we first saw that smoke plume from about 40 miles away which means that the cars behind that accident had been sitting there, just sitting, for a LONG time. We stopped in Benson to have breakfast and even sitting in that cafe, we saw police and fire engines continuing to race to the scene. We felt so sorry for whoever was in the accident and for all the people in those cars waiting for that accident to clear. And very grateful that the accident hadn't happened on our side of the highway.
Our breakfast was good and filling so we didn't need to stop to eat again until we got to Van Horn at around 7pm. We entertained the thought of going on to Fort Stockton, but that's an additional 2 hour drive and we thought we may as well just take it easy and get a hotel for the night there in Van Horn. We had dinner at Chuy's Restaurant, which was very tasty!
The next day (Wednesday) was relaxed and easy. We had a good drive back to San Antonio, getting home around 3:15pm or so. Everything looked good at the house except for a few plants that just couldn't make it through the heat but all in all, our friends took good care of things while we were gone.
On Thursday, we had dinner with the friends who took care of our house. They enjoyed staying at our place and are looking forward to doing it again when we go to Japan. Yay!
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
A glimpse at Rebeca's house
Some pictures we took of Rebeca's house - where we had a most wonderful stay for the past 11 days.
This is the driveway to her house. This is the front of her house
This is the driveway to her house. This is the front of her house
This
So those were various views of her backyard and of the pool. We LOVED being in that pool. One night we were in the pool, there was a big moon and we could hear coyotes yipping nearby. It was magical! We had such a nice time with Rebeca and Jason.
So, this blog is being updated from Van Horn, Texas. We left Tucson this morning. We stopped in Benson, Arizona to have breakfast and then we drove straight through to Van Horn. We wanted to get as far as Fort Stockton, but were really too tired to go an extra two hours.
Trip is coming to an end
We head back to San Antonio tomorrow.
We finished painting the nursery completely today. All that was left to do today was a few touch-ups around the room. Here are some pictures of the finished room.
We finished painting the nursery completely today. All that was left to do today was a few touch-ups around the room. Here are some pictures of the finished room.
Guillermo putting up screws for lanterns.
Rebeca putting up the lanterns, being VERY careful on that stool.
The room is complete, for now. Rebeca is going to make some hippo wall hangings to put on the walls by the crib and the changing table.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Started painting today
Didn't get these pictures put on the blog yesterday but here they are today. We took these pictures when we went to lunch with Irene. She happened to mention about this huge Barrel Cactus and wanted to know if we wanted to drive by and see it so we did. It is quite amazing!!
Then took some pictures of the scene around the area.
Today we took Rebeca to work and then when we got back home did a little bit out in the yard again before we drove back out to buy the paint for the baby's room. We left around noon, ordered the paint from a company called Originate and then went to have lunch while they mixed it up. We had pizza and then went to an ice cream place where we got a nice table by huge windows so we were able to sit there and watch the people going by outside. So, later that day, we started painting the nursery. We started on the closet!
Gender reveal party!
Today was a big day for Rebeca - and for Jason!
The big presentation that Rebeca has been planning for during the last several days took place this morning. As of writing this blog, her company still hasn't been notified if they were chosen for the project.
This is how Rebeca looks right now and how she dressed for her presentation today. This picture was taken in her back yard.
Then, in the afternoon, Rebeca and Jason had a doctor appointment with the obstetrician - and they were going to find out if the baby is a girl or a boy.
But while all that was going on, Guillermo and I spent some time with Irene and we took her out to lunch. By the time we got back home, Rebeca and Jason were already home but they had told us that they weren't going to let us know what the doctor said until after dinner that evening. That they had a special way they were going to let us know what the baby is.
So, we had to wait all afternoon and practically all evening to know what they already knew! We had a nice dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and Rebeca spent some time making some special cupcakes. Ha-ha, the first batch she made was totally wrecked because as it turns out, the oven wasn't even heating. What a shock that was. So, fortunately she found another box of cake mix and we made up another batch real fast. When they were done, Rebeca hid behind a big box doing something with those cupcakes which we found out later would let us know whether it was a boy or a girl.
So, after dinner Rebeca set the cupcakes out on the table and we gathered around to have cupcakes.
The big presentation that Rebeca has been planning for during the last several days took place this morning. As of writing this blog, her company still hasn't been notified if they were chosen for the project.
This is how Rebeca looks right now and how she dressed for her presentation today. This picture was taken in her back yard.
Then, in the afternoon, Rebeca and Jason had a doctor appointment with the obstetrician - and they were going to find out if the baby is a girl or a boy.
But while all that was going on, Guillermo and I spent some time with Irene and we took her out to lunch. By the time we got back home, Rebeca and Jason were already home but they had told us that they weren't going to let us know what the doctor said until after dinner that evening. That they had a special way they were going to let us know what the baby is.
So, we had to wait all afternoon and practically all evening to know what they already knew! We had a nice dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and Rebeca spent some time making some special cupcakes. Ha-ha, the first batch she made was totally wrecked because as it turns out, the oven wasn't even heating. What a shock that was. So, fortunately she found another box of cake mix and we made up another batch real fast. When they were done, Rebeca hid behind a big box doing something with those cupcakes which we found out later would let us know whether it was a boy or a girl.
So, after dinner Rebeca set the cupcakes out on the table and we gathered around to have cupcakes.
We couldn't figure out how eating these cupcakes would let us know if the baby is a boy or a girl but then decided that there was probably going to be something inside of them. So, Guillermo and I picked a cupcake, peeled off the paper,
and this is what we saw inside
Jason and Rebeca are having a boy!!!
We had so much fun at this little "gender reveal" party - what exciting news and the cupcakes were delicious!
What's been going on in Tucson
Driving to Tucson to visit Rebeca and Jason on Aug. 8th! We had a good drive - neither of us drove for more than two hours at a time and that must have worked because by the time we got to Deming, New Mexico (where we usually spend the night) we were still eager to keep on driving. We stopped to have dinner in Lordsburg (the food wasn't that great but it was by a railroad track so it was fun watching the trains go by). We left San Antonio at 7am and got to Rebeca's house in Tucson at 8:30 pm. We were so glad we were able to drive all the way through. How nice it was to see Rebeca and Jason and to see Rebeca's little baby bump!
The next day, Friday, August 9th, was the day we were supposed to ARRIVE to Rebeca's so it was so nice to already be there - it was like getting an extra day with them. We took Rebeca to work, stopping to get something to eat at Starbucks before dropping her off. Then Guillermo and I went back to her house and spent the greater part of the day working in her back yard cleaning up the patio, raking up mesquite beans, mowing some grass and whatever else needed to be done out there.
On Saturday, Rebeca had to go in to work for a couple of hours. We dropped Guillermo off at Irene's house so he could spend some time with Irene and Charlie and then I dropped Rebeca off at her work. From there, I went to the Sprint store for help getting 3g back on my phone (because 4g just doesn't work most of the time) and from the Sprint store I went to a nearby mall to look for a dress for Rebeca. She needs something nice to wear for a BIG presentation she will be a part of this coming Tuesday. Once she got off work, we both went back to the mall to have some lunch and then we went to Irene's to pick Guillermo up.
The next day, Friday, August 9th, was the day we were supposed to ARRIVE to Rebeca's so it was so nice to already be there - it was like getting an extra day with them. We took Rebeca to work, stopping to get something to eat at Starbucks before dropping her off. Then Guillermo and I went back to her house and spent the greater part of the day working in her back yard cleaning up the patio, raking up mesquite beans, mowing some grass and whatever else needed to be done out there.
On Saturday, Rebeca had to go in to work for a couple of hours. We dropped Guillermo off at Irene's house so he could spend some time with Irene and Charlie and then I dropped Rebeca off at her work. From there, I went to the Sprint store for help getting 3g back on my phone (because 4g just doesn't work most of the time) and from the Sprint store I went to a nearby mall to look for a dress for Rebeca. She needs something nice to wear for a BIG presentation she will be a part of this coming Tuesday. Once she got off work, we both went back to the mall to have some lunch and then we went to Irene's to pick Guillermo up.
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