A Whole New World

Hi everyone! I know many of you are anxious to hear from us, and we are anxious to communicate with you too, but until just a little while ago, my computer was not set up to use the wireless connection, so I had to wait for them to help me with that. I was so excited to have them hand back my computer (they took it so they could set it up for me). I happily found an outlet (there are few in the room) and turned it on, started Internet Explorer and... what do you know. It's all in Spanish. Google, my blog page login screen, this page, everything, with the exception of what I'm typing. I'm either going to get that fixed or going to learn Spanish in two weeks.

I will deal with that later. I know many of you are anxious to know how it's going and what's going on.

Mostly, the flight down here was uneventful. We arrived at our hotel late and got up early for our ride. I was in a big hurry to get here and get started. Our driver picked us up at the hotel at 8:30, and within a half hour we were at the border, applying for our passes (we have not had time to get our proper passports). That went off with no complications, and soon we were in Tijuana. WOW! The way some people are forced to live in this world is unbelieveable! I have heard about and seen pictures of places like this, but to experience it first hand was a shock. Everything is very close together, buildings on buildings, and there seems to be a huge amount of undeveloped land, and it's all dirt. Where there's dirt, there's trash. Everywhere. Though I did see some trash in bags, so I know they do have trash pick-up. These people seem to have some kind of fixation with fences. There are fences everywhere, connecting everything. And where there are fences, there is graffiti. It's very colorful and well done, but such a far cry from the clean, cared-for appearance of our cities. It was quite something to see.

We came eventually into a nicer part of town, and just after we spotted the Pacific Ocean, we spotted the hospital. It is squashed right up next to two other buildings, on one side a newly-built high-rise white condo, and some old dingy building on the other. It sits right on a busy city corner, but does have a little bit of nicely-kept grounds. It looks exactly like what's in the picture, only I think we both expected large spaces and parking lots or something like we have back home. These buildings are truly on top of one another. Our driver was able to park literally at the front door, and he led us in to where our patient representative was waiting. Her name was Ruth and she was warm and friendly immediately, giving me a hug as she said hello.

As our driver went for our bags, Ruth took us up to our room, which was a little disappointing. I'm not sure why really, because everthing is exceptionally clean (and I've noticed that there are people here who clean all day long) and it contains a comfortable bed and a hospital bed too in case it is necessary. There is no decoration though, so it's rather stark, and our very large window looks out onto the construction site of the new condos going up out back. It almost looks like we should have a balcony, but I think it's just the top of another part of the building and our window doesn't open. Ruth gave us the preliminary info and some papers to fill out, and said she would be back.

After she left, Mike and I had a few minutes where we were really at a loss. I think it was different than we expected, and we had just seen so many unpleasant things to remind us that we were in a very disadvantaged area. We just looked at each other for a little while, like neither of us knew what to say. Then, somehow, we realized that we did not set out on this trip alone. Everything has fallen into place to allow us to come, and we have really felt the hand of God nudging us in this direction. The place comes highly recommended by many people, and the admission/registration process was handled so professionally. We spent a few moments in prayer and decided to go through with the treatment as planned. Moments later, Ruth was back for our papers.

Since that moment of trepidation there at the beginning, we are very comfortable with out choice. These people do not waste time (there's something the American system can learn!). Someone came to draw blood samples, then Ruth gave us a tour. Since she knew I was fasting for the blood tests, she then took us to the empty dining room and ordered our breakfast, which was FANTASTIC! They brought us this platter of fresh fruit that contained 6 or 7 varieties, bowls of hot cereal, two kinds of cold cereal, whole grain toast, and then two fried eggs each served with guacamole. Odd combination, I know. But, for those of you following my diet to the crumbs, I ate a whole piece of toast with most of (I know, Mom, I can't believe it either) a fried egg and some guacamole. Would have had more but I ran out of toast. I also had a whole bowl of hot oatmeal with strawberries and honey, and some other fresh fruit on the side. The food was great and these people are amazingly hospitable. Mike ate some kind of flaked cereal with strawberries and get this-SOY milk. Apparently they don't serve any dairy products here at all. Mike did not realize that his three meals a day would be the same as mine. He will be on my diet, and I am feeling NO sympathy at all! He might come back a bit slimmer.

After breakfast I met with a doctor, and I gave him a verbal history. He told me about my treatment plan which, for now, consists of a chemo-free regimine. I will have a baseline CT tomorrow morning, along with chest x-rays. I am also scheduled for multiple intraveinous treatments tomorrow and most of the following days, which I will tell you about when I can.

We have had lunch, which was mostly a vegetarian affair, and I have a pill case loaded with time-labeled supplements to take. Lunch came with a big handful that did not go down well, so tomorrow I will have to remember to actually take the pills WITH food. Maybe that will help. I will get to practice, I guess, with my dinner supplement selection. I'd better finish getting these down soon before they make me eat again. It is nice not to have to prepare my meals at all. That part will be a blessing. Mike is snoozing on the bed. He is going to be WAY bored. He'll deal. We aren't here for him. Oh, and there is a beautiful chapel where they have devotions each morning, an activity room where they have classes, a psychologist, patient lounges, and laundry service (for a charge). Now that we've warmed up to the place, I think we will really like it here. We have met people in various stages of disease from all over the world, and even one guy who was healed here ten years ago and comes back every year to volunteer around the hospital.

I guess that's enough for now. I feel better after communicating with you all, so I hope you feel better hearing about it. I will tell you tomorrow how the treatments go. Right now I'm going to rest some more, and then I'm going to have them fix my computer so I can read it. I've tried everything I can think of. Love you all, and talk to you soon!