Return to Mexico

Hello from fairly warm and kinda sunny Mexico! We arrived at the hospital today for what turned out to mostly be a wasted day, but at least the weather was pretty nice. Looks like the rest of the week is supposed to be warm and sunny, so I look forward to getting out and around a bit each day. We will be here for a week this time, returning home on Monday.

Our flight yesterday was uneventful (though they had to hold the plane a few moments for us in Springfield, because we mis-read our tickets and hadn't gone through security when they called our names for final boarding!) and we arrived in San Diego by 6:30 local time. My sister and mom were already waiting for us in the hotel, and after settling in we walked over to a nearby seafood house for a wonderful (and yet, still on my diet as much as possible) dinner. This morning the van for Oasis picked us up at the hotel and brought us across the border to the hospital.

Now that I think about it, the theme for the day has been "wait", which Mike has had significantly more trouble doing than I have. Our van to the hotel was an hour late, for starters. We weren't really on any schedule, so it wasn't a big deal. Apparently there was also a pickup at the airport, and the plane was late. After we were in the van it seemed like no time until we arrived at the hospital. Once we arrived, however,we had to wait for our rooms to be ready. Our patient representative was there to greet us, but she had another patient, a brand new one, to get settled, so we waited for someone else to help us. This time. our rooms are down in the basement, or first floor, as it's called here. When we arrived at our rooms (we have 2, since we have extra people), the first one was occupied! We actually unlocked to door to find people who were supposed to be gone yesterday. So, we locked that door back up and the hospital rep took us to the other room reserved for us while they figured out what was going on. We looked around the new room, and it was not much different from what we had last time. A little better, maybe, but no place for four people to sit and visit. A quick decision was made to put us in the room at the end of the hall--one they don't use for patients because it's saved for the owner's family. It was nice--it had a recliner, a couch, and lots of room. So we settled in there and waited to see if they could remove the people who weren't supposed to be in our room.

Hospital people came in and out for various reasons, we filled out some paperwork, then they asked me not to eat so I could have a blood test. A lab tech came and drew blood, then a nurse took vital signs, and then we waited some more. A doctor came to visit, and a CT scan was ordered. It would be in the next few hours. Apparently I was not going to be able to eat lunch because of it. As we got settled, we discovered that the TV had no remote. A phone call was made to a representative, and we waited for that (not such a big deal to me, but it was to some people). I wasn't scheduled for any treatments, so we just waited for lunch. Mom and Kristi thought all the fresh food was great. We will see how long that lasts. I didn't get to eat, so I just watched. Then we went back down to our room to wait for the CT. We waited, and waited, and called to see what was going on, only to find out that the CT machine broke, and all the waiting was for nothing! At least I could go have dinner. So we waited for that.

During our wait for dinner, they resolved the room issue, and we had to move out of the room we were now settled into. That wasn't a big deal, except we had just THAT MINUTE gotten a remote for the TV (which , by that point, was pretty funny). So, now we are settled into two rooms. No couch, but a few comfortable chairs. We can all hang out in the bigger room, and Mom and Kristi will just retire to the smaller room for bed. While waiting for dinner, I started working on today's blog.

Finally it was time to eat! On our way to dinner I locked the door behind me, then immediately realized that I needed my supplements to take with my meal. I turned around to open the lock, and--wasn't this our day?--the key didn't work. We were locked out of our room. So, we had to wait for the nurse to come back to the desk, then wait for the patient representative to rescue us with a key that worked.

Finally we had dinner. It was NOT worth waiting for. Sometimes the food here is wonderful, but sometimes it is really strange. Tonight, nothing was identifiable. I was so hungry! I was very disappointed.

Now, as I write, settled in my room with the knowledge that I will have my CT first thing tomorrow (I'm first!), it seems like we have had a rather wasted day. Well, at least we got all that out of the way. Tomorrow should be much better. I have treatments all day after my CT, which should satisfy my mom's curiosity. She's been wondering what my treatments are like. Also, within a day or two, we should know if the tumors are regressing like they should. When I spoke to the doctor today, she asked me how it was going. I commented that it seemed to be going wery slow. She nodded her head and said, "Yes, it will seem very slow. That's because it's naturopathic. It works very slowly." I thought that was reassuring. Pray like crazy these next few days that things are going in the right direction!

As I read over this I realize I sound rather grumpy about this whole thing. Really, I'm not. It's just been a crazy day. I'm glad I knew my way around the place and who to call for what, or we would have run screaming from the hospital. What I haven't mentioned, is that I really feel pretty good. Compared to how I felt when we were here a few weeks ago, I think I feel stronger. Maybe it's my imagination, but yesterday's flights and treks through the airports seemed easier, and I was even able to walk to and from dinner fairly comfortably, even after a long day of travel. I am encouraged by this. It's so hard to see a change when I'm just sitting around at home. Speaking of that, even, I have been able to do more at home. It might just be that my pain control is better. Or maybe healing really is taking place. Keep praying! I need all the prayers I can get!

I'm going to wrap it up for today. I can't imagine that there's anything else to tell you all about. It's nice to hear the comments from those of you who post them, so keep those coming. I'll try to keep the blog updated all week. Talk to you all soon! Love, Sandi