It has been several months since we last posted from Uruguay and much has happened to us, both emotionally and physically. In late May we made a one week trip to Cuba with friends from Classical Tahoe, a classical and jazz performance organization in North Lake Tahoe. Here are some shots of our activities from the first 2 days we were there.

We also walked around Havana, attended two dance performances and went on a classical car “drive-about” the city.

On May 27th, about 9:30 the morning of the third day, the left side of my body collapsed and went numb. Fortunately, we were in our hotel room and had already had breakfast. Mark called the hotel nurse, who took my blood pressure. It was 180 over 90. She called for emergency services and in short order, I was in an ambulance with flashing lights and sirens blaring and headed for what we thought was the hospital. Instead, we arrived at a clinic where I spent 4 hours before the staff told us they could not help me and that I should go to the hospital. Back in the same ambulance with the same drivers, I finally ended up in the stroke ICU ward on the 8th floor of a 25 story converted bank building.

As it was a Saturday, there were few medical services and no English speaking MDs or staff available. I spent the weekend mostly sleeping as I was not allowed out of bed. The nurses were on 12 hour shifts and I experienced a few of them. The Sunday evening nurse was a young man, who invited his lady friend to stay overnight. The two of them spent the night together in the bed next to mine. By morning, she was gone. This seemed unusual, but this was Cuba, not the US.

Meanwhile, Mark managed to attend the farewell musical performance at my insistence and did his best to figure out how to get me home, but it wasn’t until Monday morning that the hospital staff got into gear and an English speaking doctor showed up, he was from Honduras. He immediately ordered an MRI and concluded that I should get to California as soon as possible. Mark then arranged for me to be taken back to our hotel, where I stayed in bed until the next morning when we began the journey home. Mark secured front row seats to Miami and first class tickets from Miami to SFO, but we had to wait in the Turkish Airport Lounge for 5 hours between flights. The lounge was completely packed, but we managed to get seats while we waited. Halfway to SFO we learned there was a strong tail wind and that we would arrive early. So, when we landed, we grabbed our bags, which had not been checked, and headed for the Uber pick-up site. By then I had given up the wheelchair and was walking with Mark. In an hour and a half, the Uber driver delivered us to our car at the SAC airport before the flight from SFO departed. All we wanted to do was get home and into bed, but our doctor friend, Scott Kellermann, had insisted we go directly to Mercy Hospital so we did. The ER was full of people when we arrived but we managed to get seen after half an hour.

Once in the system, there was no stopping the process. As there was no bed for me, I was kept in a small ER space and moved from one test to another throughout the night. After 12 hours I was finally delivered to a very nice private room and several doctors came in to tell us what had happened to me. Very high blood pressure, a stroke for sure and A-Fib too. I was put on lots of meds, stayed one more night in the Mercy San Juan Hospital and finally Mark took me home. After many days of rest and more doctor appointments, I began to feel better. Then Dr Ryan Smith , my Cardiologist, insisted I get a pacemaker to keep my heart beating at a minimum of 60 beats per minute. For many years my heart rate had been between 39 and 43 and Dr Smith had wanted me to get a pacemaker for several years. At his insistence, Dr O’Neil at Mercy General did the pacemaker implant surgery on July 31 and I spent another 2 nights in that hospital. Having spent 6 nights in three different hospitals I am determined to recovery and stay away from hospitals.

It is a good thing that we are retired or there would not be enough time to recover, plan adventures and actually travel. We have been planning a trip to Sicily for almost 2 years and at last we are about to embark on the journey, which has expanded to include Puglia (the heel of Italy), Malta and Florence. The next post will be from or about Italy, depending on when I have the time and energy to write.

Italy, Sicily and Malta–September-October, 2023

September 10, 2023

We left home at 8am and arrived at SFO after only 2 hours and 19 minutes with Mark at the wheel. Our friend Josh Scott accompanied us and drove away when we said good bye. Sure hope he drives slower that Mark did.

It was my first time through security with my pacemaker. I was pulled aside, had to take my shoes off, even though I am over 75, and received the most thorough pat down I have ever experienced. Sure hope that will not be my plight with every flight.

Today we fly on United from SFO to Munich, have a short lay over and fly on to Bari, the capital of Pugia Province in Italy. From there we will be driven about 2 hours to Matera. We are in for a very long haul.