Month: January 2023

Carlie continues to do well with us cutting her breakfast into two servings, served 60 – 90 minutes apart.

As you know that after getting my MRI and x-rays I  sent them to my family doctor. The first time she referred me the orthopaedic ‘committee’ but they refused the referral saying that they needed to see the actual film online. I made that happen. Then the committee ( this is new to me, what happens is that all referrals in BC are sent to a small orthopaedic committee ) then decides how to handle your referral, how long can you wait to see a doctor, etc. not to mention the actual surgery. Well they refused my referral for a second time. They insist now on only seeing X-rays and the tests done in BC and within a certain amount to time prior to your referral.

So now I have to wait to contact my doctor and ask for an x-ray referral. Due to the shortage of medical techs, never mind nurses, pharmacists and doctors, everyone has to wait a minimum of 4 weeks before they can have their xray. Then that is sent in another referral by my doctor to the orthopaedic guys and then I can wait up to a year to see someone. Then another long wait for surgery. We did pay for my knee surgery here three years ago but we are not in a position to do that again this winter.

In the good news department, Eric our RV tech here in Mazatlan, has taken apart our Blue Ox tow brake and was able to replace the battery and all is now working properly. It was a very common inexpensive battery. Blue Ox said that when it stops running there is nothing we can do but purchase a new one at about $2000.00USD. That the battery cannot be replaced. They sure have a great business/scam going.

My knee is still a bit swollen but not as bad as before. However it hurts every time I go up and down the stairs. I chanced a beach walk today and I had a bit of pain but it was so wonderful to be back on the beach. Yes I am still doing my kinesiology exercises daily. I have another online session tomorrow.

*****Someone contacted me about photos and beach access from both parks here at Tres Amigos before Christmas. I have the photos done but I just can’t sit at the computer too long. That is also the reason that my posts have been sparse. I have lost my contact information for you. Send it to me again either by email or make a comment on this post.

Wish you were here as I am once again organizing the Carnaval fireworks cruise. I did not want to but Colin really wanted to go one more time. We still have some spots remaining.

 

We are now dividing Carlie’s breakfast into two portions about an hour apart. The kibble is soaked in water for 20-30 minutes. It seems to be working for her. She is moving normally after her first portion but she does like to have a 30 minute snooze.

My knee is only very sightly swollen but I have been babying it this past week. However when I sit at the computer to write a blog or do emails or online research it begins to ache. I am still using ice packs throughout the day and limiting my walking. My referral to see an orthopaedic surgeon back home came back requiring a CD or similar online version of my Mazatlan xrays and MRI. I called the imagining centre and asked and for 100MXN/5.30USD they did that for me and sent me the link. So the referral is now in the works. I do know that I will need something to happen to make me whole again but meanwhile I will pace myself. I am not taking any extra medication.

 

We seem to be on a very happy merry go around of life. All four of us are happy, well not the girls as they would prefer to spend all day on the beach chasing birds. I have no idea what we will do when we get home. They have become expert swimmers.

Colin and I are having happy hours here and there. We have created a Saturday night game night. The round table I got from the Swap & Shop in Holiday Park is just perfect. Best $25.00 I have ever spent. How did I manage without one?

We seem to keep busy but are working on a balance of individual relaxation time ( guitar, books, visits with friends ) naps when we feel like it, etc. There is still not enough time in each day. The Isla is truly paradise. Hard to believe that our time here is almost 50% over. We are thinking that next year we will stay longer or arrive earlier. Some days we have a revolving door with lots of visitors, other days we are quiet 😀  Life on the Isla truly is paradise. We have five sets of friends her in Mazatlan and we are looking forward to seeing them all.

Our house taxes back home came in with an increase of 42% 😯  So Colin is appealing that but seems to be happening everywhere in British Columbia. A government tax grab. perhaps 😥

I think about blogging everyday but then I get distracted.The other day it as a nap.  I think that the format of the new blog is bothering me. Just a personal thing. However I do need to post often as this is the diary of our life. We both use the search engine on the old blog  to look things up. I will wrap my head around it – eventually.

We left about 8:40AM for our 10:00AM vet appointment. Carlie had a rough morning even though Colin only gave her a 1/2 serving of her breakfast. Again she could not walk and her back was slightly humped and she did not want to move.  She sat on my lap in a dog bed as we drove. We took the new autopista which worked out really well.

We arrived at La Jungla twenty minutes early and he took us in right away. We were there a full thirty minutes and at no time did the girls make a peep, whimper or any noise. We could not believe how good they were.

Dr. Rafael was ever so patient and listened to each of us separately as to how we described the problem. He was extremely thorough, manipulated Carlie’s tummy and other areas, used the stethoscope and listened as he manipulated her all over. She made not a peep and stayed still. Bottom line Carlie is totally healthy, her lungs. her heart. She has a tiny bit of tarter on her teeth. He said it was important to brush her gums which will help keep the teeth healthy. Colin asked him to check her anal glands as well and all was normal. Then we asked him to check Ciela out and she was also 100% He never said a word about cost when we were getting ready to leave. I looked him in the eye and asked how much, he is so humble. Finally he said 700MXN which is $49.60CAD, the cost of one anal gland expression back home. He is the best and most kindest of vets that we have ever had. Our other girls have seen him in the past as well. We now have two 100% twins. He even commented on the great job that Colin was doing with their toe nails.

So what caused Carlie’s problem? We have no idea.

It takes a long time for the acid in the system to break down dog food. Of course every dog is different. Ciela has no problems but Carlie does. He told us that the extreme soaking of her food is a great help to her digestive tract. He suggested that we seperate her breakfast into two servings with time between. The strange thing is that she is fine after lunch and after dinner. So perhaps a late night snack will help.

I asked if it was possible that eating dinner at 7 PM and breakfast at 9AM might be a problem. He said possibly. I suggested that perhaps some snacks at bedtime might help fill her stomach. He said to try it, great idea. The girls only eat breakfast at 9AM because they like to sleep in. We get up and they keep sleeping. We might have to work on that as well.

Our goal is to prevent Carlie  being in pain after she has her breakfast. The thing is that she hops out of the bed with tons of energy. Then she eats and she suffers. We are extremely happy that it is not a physical thing. So now we now have to try a variety of things to help her out.

 

This was to have been published 24 hours ago, somehow it did not.

This past Sunday afternoon we saw a motorcycle being stopped by the first lifeguard but the motorcyclist thought he could get away and ride around the lifeguard, We saw the lifeguard physically try to restrain him as he drove the bike. Ouch! So both guys on the bike were detained and the police came on an ATV. After a lot of discussion both fellows were sat in the back of the ATV with a policeman sitting facing them with the other officer driving the four of them away to the police station. The lifeguards then delivered the no longer working ( water damage? ) motorcycle to the police. Never a dull moment around here.

Sadly we had yet another experience with folks leaving their puppies for us to find. Every night before lock up Colin goes around with a large flashlight and checks the perimeter, the beach out front etc. This same Sunday night he found four black very wee ones. They could barely grunt and were certainly less than two weeks old. I only saw them from a distance. Colin spoke to our night security who said he would move them somewhere for the night where they would be warm and would be fed in the morning. We have already saved 13 puppies in the past few years and just could not take in four more right now and pay for their care at the animal shelter, 17 is much too many puppies. We were very very unhappy about the situation but somehow they were delivered to us and now they have been moved to another place where hopefully they will thrive. We did not ask about them the next day. Is that natures way or just the cycle of life?

I promised you an update on Carlie. We have not resolved the problem and will be taking her into the vet first thing tomorrow morning. She is so delicate right now. I have mentioned it before that she guzzles her food and does not chew it. Even as a puppy she did this and would regurgitate what she had eaten. Not every day but a few days per week. Once she eats she starts to shake and can’t walk. So she spends the next 3-5 hours in her crate  ( her choice, she loves her crate ). We have held her, sat beside her, gave her love and pats and whatever we could do.

Colin has always softened her food and we feed them three times per day instead of the usual two. About 3 days ago he decided to soften her food even more.

Colin hoped that the ‘wet’ kibble would be more easily absorbed into her system. It seems to be helping but we are concerned that there might be another reason. She has had a few smaller reactions but does seem a bit better. Remember this been happening since she was a puppy and we have discussed this a few times with our vet. We even tried digestive enzymes for a full month.

We are off to our Mexican vet in the morning.

We are having a really wonderful winter but that means lots of visitors and activities. We are not complaining.

I am still doing my exercises and have been walking the beach. My last physio appointment is tomorrow.  Every visit takes about three hours out of our day. Happy to say that the girls are doing very well being left alone. They only bark as we drive back intothe RV park from the lancha and they see us park.

Last Tuesday my knee became swollen all over again. Personally I think that the Mazatlan physio exercises were too much for me. I haven’t ridden a bike for at least 30 years but they wanted me to do five minutes on the stationary bike. First time I managed almost two minutes. The Nordic bike was very hard for me and hurt so after 4 times I said no more. Colin and I think ( and hope ) that the recent swelling is because the exercises were not directed to an almost 70 year who is not at all active. However I kept going and finally when the swelling began again I said no more exercises ( I am still doing my kinesiology which is now aimed at strengthening my knees) and just had the electrical stimulation done and the ultra sound treatment the last two visits to physio and will have the same again tomorrow. I also decided to stop walking on the beach since last Thursday to do all I could to rest my knee.

Of course I called my Mazatlan orthopaedic surgeon. I had sent messages but he claims he never received them. Glad I just called him. He was driving and pulled over to speak with me. He was very surprised about the swelling. He explained that I have two choices, get arthroscopic surgery to go in and clean out the knee and see what is happening. Dr. Cervantes claims that that would last 6 months to three years. After that I would need a knee replacement. However I am not bone on bone or anywhere near that yet. Needless to say I was very shocked. So I made a phone appointment with my GP in Kelowna.  As of Friday a referral has been sent out to an orthopaedic surgeon back home. Hopefully it won’t be a one year wait to see the doctor. I asked Dr. Cervantes here if I could do another set of the special mix of anti-inflammatory meds and he agreed. The swelling has gone down perhaps 50%. Hard to tell. But I am on top of it. I really miss walking the beach and hope to get back to it in a few days. We also have several sets of friends in town this month that we want to visit with. So I am hoping that my knee will go back to normal all on its own and stay that way for a few years at least!

So lots of little changes happening and I am adapting day by day. Carlie had been having physical issues and has been in pain for part of the day ( 4 days ) this past week. We think we may have resolved the issue. It all has to do with how fast she eats despite her puzzle bowl. More on that next post. How do you teach a dog to chew?

 

 

It was difficult enough getting photos with the sunglasses never mind adding sombreros to the situation. They certainly look older and wiser.

Thank you for your comments and emails re the current drug cartel situation. We are very safe and we certainly enjoyed a quiet beach day yesterday – no banda 🙄

As I mentioned in my post yesterday you all have much more information of what is happening than we do. The airport opened at 10AM today and shortly thereafter the Culiacan/Mazatlan highway did as well. We have been able to piece together that the reason for shutting down the airports by the drug cartel was to prevent Chapo from being flown out by by the military. The Mexican forces had anticipated this and had him flown out on a helicopter. He is believed to be in Mexico City. As of noon today the burned out vehicles blocking the Isla entrance and the road to the airport were still sitting along the road. The cartel has given the Mexican government 72 hours to free El Chapo’s son or face the consequences. It should be an interesting few days. Very difficult fo us to get current news online, so If you gave any breaking news send me a comment or an email.

Very little current news here in Mazatlan, you all pretty much know more than we do.

Sandy please let me know if you have landed here, worried about you both.

A drug cartel is creating chaos in Culiacan, Mazatlan, Los Mochis and Gusave. The airports, schools, many businesses, most restaurants and sporting events have all been cancelled until further notice. The Canadian government has asked us to stay home until further notice. Even the local lancha between the Isla and Mazatlan was shut down for several hours today. Burning trucks blocked the entrances into Mazatlan as well as to our airport. There was shooting from the airborne government airships to the bad guys on the ground at the Mazatlan airport ( per King David ).

Click here for a concise update on what is happening. Another article here. This is the latest information I can get.

We are more than safe. We are no where near any fires or gunshots. We did see a few military helicopters fly over earlier in the morning. We all feel very safe. However there were a few from RV1 who had gone into Mazatlan early in the morning and of course they could not get back.They did get back mid afternoon once the launchas started operating again.

Colin even walked the girls twice today on the beach.

Life certainly is interesting.

 

 

 

 

Thursday, December 29th started out with an amazing sunrise.

That certainly was the best sunset this trip. What can I say? We are all still talking about it.