5C's Que Pasa

……I was sitting here at my computer and Colin was sitting across the table from me sitting at his computer. He dropped his computer mouse. He bent over and picked it up.  We were tired and ready to go to bed for the night. Darn, it dropped again and he picked it up. The third time, I thought he was being silly, but this time was different. As he bent to pick up the mouse he slowly fell out of his chair onto the floor. I saw it happen in slow motion. Was he playing a joke on me?

He looked up at me and said ” I think I am having a stroke “! And so I went into action. I refuse to relive the details, suffice to say it was beyond real, more like a dream. A doctor was called, someone who had a car was called and someone else who was a strong person. Colin would need to be carried outside of the RV, transported to the lancha and carried onto the boat and met on the Mazatlan side by the Red Cross ambulance. I functioned on auto pilot. I did not go that night but made certain that he had bilingual friends with him and money. I spent the next eight hours online researching strokes and everything related and making plans.

I made arrangements for friends to care for the girls, feed them and let them out and give them some love. I had no idea when I would return from the hospital. I was broken to see Colin laying there totally paralyzed on his right side. He had no idea that he even had appendages on the right side of his body. And so began the beginning of our new life. Fortunately he could communicate. It was a horrific time when he realized what had happened to his body. A struggle to overcome and to start to move forward.

Sadly Colin sustained a serious third degree burn during an excessive session of electrical stimulation by the Isla physiotherapist.  It has taken many weeks to start to heal. Something that was not needed. Fortunately came to us on the Isla and here at Las Jaibas. An extremely nasty wound.

So here we are just past the three month mark. Some say that is the defining moment in stroke recovery. But now it seems that the six month mark has become that defining moment and even up to two more years past that.

Colin really does enjoy this part of his treatment.

Colin’s recovery began 12 hours later at 10:30AM and I was there to push and push and push. I will always regret not understanding more Spanish. Certainly a priority in such a situation. Never a day goes by right now that I am not leaning new words. I have learnt how to use my iPhone and do copy/paste and so many other things. My eyes were red and burning and often tearing. I was using both iPhones and a laptop and doing my best tech wise but I was such a failure. It was almost impossible to communicate. I also became unable to walk properly and my feet so swollen that one day I walked barefoot all over the hospital. So many were offering to help. Our Mexican friends and family were there for us 100% – someone even had a friend come visit Colin to make sure he was doing alright.  Essentially we were alone. And I certainly needed my Canadian and American friends. They were there for me. I spent the 30 –  40 minute Didi ride to and for the hospital everyday texting. One night a lovely Mexican lady who picked me up at 9:30PM suddenly handed me her cell phone. Her daughter who spoke English was there to chat with me. The driver understood that I was upset because my husband was dying – yes that night they told me that they might have to do brain surgery the next day or day after. She sensed that I needed to be distracted and just chat. I will never forget that when we got to the Isla Embarcadero, how she shut off her car and came around to help me out of the car and then she just held me in her arms for ever so long. I really wish I could reach out to her again but she did know how much she meant to me.

We recently added many supplements to help with the healing process as per the new doctor’s recommendation.  More blood work in two weeks.

The past 3 months have been quite the journey and Colin has never never stopped pushing himself. He exercises every moment that he can. We did have physio come to the Isla six days per week for one hour. We moved here to Mazatlan on June 29th. We saw the new stroke rehab specialist on July 2nd and he kept saying that Colin needs to take time off and let his body rest. Colin has fours hours of physio weekly at a clinic with a variety of equipment and one on one direction and likely does 3 -4 or more hours per day here in the RV.  He never stops. Sometimes I find new exercises for him and videos. Colin is very analytical and if a part of his body is not working he figures when needs to be done to get that part working. Even when he is just sitting his mind keeps working thru the various movements  and all these things combined have got him to where he is now.

Small, medium and large length socks. I think he has over 250 pair!  as well s a new shirt everyday results in lots of laundry for me. So nice to be able to dry it all outside.

Colin has come a very long way in the past three months. We have no idea what comes next but he does have three more months to work on getting his body to function properly. As well as the physical aspect, his mind is working overtime creating new pathways around the hole in his brain. Colin is trying to create new pathways to make his right hand and right foot and ankle to function 100%. Because he will only accept 100%.

July 22, 75th birthday dinner, first non medical outing.

Looking forward to next  three progressive months. We would like one settled on the Isla at the six month mark – October 28th.

Colin has been sleeping on a recliner since he came home from the hospital May 2 ( the doctor pushed him out of hospital as he did not want Colin to catch any of the ” bad stuff ” that was going around the hospital. I sleep in our bedroom and the girls at the beginning took turns, one with Colin and one with me.  The next night they switched. Now they both simply sleep with Colin. I of course continue to get up to check on him at least twice per hour.

They love the heat, but not for more the 3 or 4 minutes. Too hot even for them.

We both feel like it has been 3 months since we left the Isla but in reality just four weeks ago today.  Still working on a getting a daily routine. The heat totally affects everything we do. Plus living on the Island is so much easier than life here in the big city of Mazatlan.

We left the Isla four weeks ago today.

Difficult for Colin to not be driving his bus.

Craig said that we had one inch to spare!

The last set of electrical wires to be lifted on the way out of town. Thank you Bob and Judy, we really needed you on this sad day.

I have spent oodles of time sorting out getting data and we are making it work. Using my iPhone as a hotspot helps as well as something is ‘eating’ my data. Being worked on by an expert. Of course there have been blog problems and while they have not totally been sorted out I am doing this post which I have been delaying.

A visit to a dematalogist has had us both of a horrid face routine but it is a necessary evil. Most expensive medical service we have had to use.

The isthmus to Chivos on the Isla, eleven years ago before we all moved there.

Finally parked at Las Jaibas. That is a plumeria tree parked between our two vehicles. The Girard awning only worked two more times before the motor died.

We are restricted to getting around via Didi ( another form of Uber ). We are located way back ( not the final two rows ) at the Las Jaibas Trailer Park because that is where Erik was told to park us so he could have access to give us more electricity. And thank goodness for that. Because of the heat and the fact that our huge motorhome RV faces the sun from noon til sunset we are actually have to run three air containers from few hours midday. at one point #2 A/C needed too be repaired and then #3 A/C broke down. It is now fixed but running with only two air conditioners had us dealing with inside temperatures of 87F. Sadly air is a necessity here as much as we don’t like it. At least on the Isla we could open the windows and enjoy real air before shutting things up and using the A/C for the rest of the day.  Because we are at the back of the park I have to walk to the street to meet Didi and ask them to drive in to pick up Colin for his drive to physiotherapy. It wasn’t long before Colin figured that seeing as he was/is a two foot driver he could drive the Jeep to the front and catch his Didi there. However when I go out I have to do the long and slightly uphill walk. I am melted by the time I get to the road and them sometime I have to wait 8 minutes or so to get picked up. Lovely coming back to the RV as they will drive me to the RV door. And for a tip they help carry my groceries. Sadly the location here is far away from everything and not even Didi wants to come out this way to pick us up. Long waits. Worse coming back here from closer to Centro. I waited 40 minutes the other for Didi to pick me up after a medical appointment. I know many of you love it here and I think if it didn’t feel like 117 -120F most days it would be more pleasant.

After 3.5 weeks Erik finally fixed us up with a “custom” reflective window screen. Colin to the side doing stair exercises. There are 2 doxies in the window bed. That guitar appeared a few days ago when I can back from grocery shopping. It just sits and stares at us but it is in the room which is a start.

No matter how much I want to ( Colin just can’t do it yet ) take the girls to the beach it is much much much too hot to walk them there – never mind thinking about walking back. Plus I would have to do the walk and checkout the beach and steps down to it first on my own.  Not sure the I could even walk to the beach here on my own.

It has taken me a long while to discover something I like about being here. That would be the plumeria trees. Lovely sweet smelling white flowers that surround the park and will keep blooming until fall. Colin loves the mangoes. Both the small and the large sized mangos grow freely here within the park. Once can eat as many mangoes as you like all day long.

I do a new arrangement every few days. The fragrant sweet odor is devine.

Lots of lovely butterflies and a variety of small birds. And these social and very loud Rufous-bellied Chachalaca birds.

Pretty little guy known as….

We continue to have RV issues which is normal of any RV but in particular a new to us used RV.  We love this RV and hope to be able to live in it for at least one or two more years to come or many many more. The future is a huge unknown to us but no matter how much better Colin gets because of his daily therapies we will return to the Isla and continue living in the RV. We had hoped to be able to return to the US early fall but that is quite unlikely. Our plans did not include being stuck here for the summer and not being able to get some much needed provisions. I am hoping that some fellow RVers will be able to help us out by bringing a few things here for us this fall. If several brought just a bit it would make our lives much easier. Even those coming by plane can help. Because of the new tariffs and such, Amazon.MX now only carries so much. Plus most items are 4 -6 times the prices back in the USA or Canada. One lovely and very special couple who live here brought an extra suitcase of much needed dog food which was simply wonderful. The girls can keep eating. FYI we only buy the small 5 lb bags of kibble so not too heavy to carry.

All 3 A/C units needed serious vacuuming. When was the last time those filters were cleaned?  This was the last thing that restored our air conditioners to full capacity.

Two of the electronic window blinds died and we have made arrangements for someone who is flying out next week with an empty suitcase to drop them at UPS in their hometown for us where they will be sent to Apex Shade in another state. Also the 300 pound Girard Awning motor passed away. Fortunately the motor is only about 16 lbs and not too large but first Erik has to figure out how to get the motor out as we need the information written on the motor before we can order a new one.  As the front RV cap is only a few inches away from the cap of the Girard awning he needs to lift that 300 lb awning to get the motor out.  Then of course we need both the repaired blinds and the new motor shipped here. Possibly driven here by folks returning end of August. I am in the midst of arranging that. Lots and lots of details and all very time consuming.

The small distance between the awning end and front RV cap. Almost an impossible situation.

Broken blind over the passenger driving chair.

Building a shipping box from scratch for the broken blinds.

We did a great job and only used one pound of tape.

On July 18 we celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary. We simply stayed home and enjoyed a special meal from our dwindling food supply. Not sure how I am going to handle that. However I was able to find some frozen veggie burgers at a small Soriana store that came from South Africa of all places. We have had take out from the restaurant just outside the park and the other day I picked up shrimp tacos ( which were to die for and so inexpensive ) from another place near the farmacia.

Pretty good price and very tasty. Lovely surprise. We can’t be eating fish nor pasta everyday.

July 22nd was Colin’s 75th birthday. It was time – time for us to actually go out together to a restaurant. The first time since the stroke. We went to Mr Lionso here in Cerritos. Very quiet and only one other table was occupied but it was a Tuesday. The food was delicious and plentiful. We indulged and had two huge appetizers and each our own main. Left overs for the next night and they even packed my 2 for 1 margarita to go. Maybe a few more few photos next post.

It was beautiful but only made us miss our home on the Isla.

Just for you Sandy. My only sunset photo so far, taken from inside the RV. I think of all the years you and Rex stayed here.

The long road to the street.

The end!

…..especially with an air conditioner not working.

Today, July the 11th and this is real time. I had written this on July 6th and when I went to publish I ran out of data. Very long story, we can’t get TotalPlay here ( fibre optic  ) because this park does not have it underground, nor Telmex. And Telcel said that I needed to be permanente to get a mobile modem or find a Mexican to sponsor me. It took four attempts and I found a sponsor. Yet each time I was offered a different package. I now as of a day ago have internet but it is not going to last the full month. I am working on that.  I ran thru way too many GB’s in 12 hours to make using the iPhone as a hotspot logical. Much too many different things happening there. There’s the flooding than happens in Mazatlan when it rains and then the fact that our roof is leaking and one A/C unit died but that one has been repaired but not the leak yet. We also happen to be sitting on a massive very huge red ant hill – both the size of the hill ( 10 feet x 6 -7 feet ) and extra large red fire ants. Of course Ciela sat in the middle of them and got bit a few times…..thank goodness the vet came here and knocked her out for only 400MXN. Poor girl, she was in so much distress that she was trying to bite her own foot off, she even drew blood. So we have been kind of busy just trying to get through each day. You may have read about the US government trying to shut down three Mexican banks as they think they are dealing with drug money and the cartels. You guessed it, we have all of our money for the next few years in one of those banks. I know that there is much more that keeps happening, well for instance, I just deleted all 686 emails in my inbox in error!  It seems to never stop.

Now back to the blog I wrote……………….

Well not back to the blog…..I am unable to to add photos….no idea why.  So here is the written part and we may or may not get photos to you another day………best to have an update rather than nada……so sorry.

Last Sunday  ( June 29 ) we left the Isla. We did not want to but it had to be done, mostly so that Colin can be closer to a different type of rehabilitation and of course as a protection from the summer storm and hurricane season. We were very sad and even more so arriving at the Las Jaibas Trailer Park. I knew it would not be to my liking but it was even worse.

I was told that there was only once inch to spare.

Everyone spoke so kindly about Rafael, the now retired manger. The new manager is a ‘very young person’ who is the son of the park owner who is out of the country for several months. This person does not want anyone here as that means work for him which he does not want to do. Erik drove us here, parked us, plugged us in and did a basic set up re water and sewer. Then the dude shows up and wants us to move to a far back corner. I said no – not realizing that it would make no difference as Didi can’t come and pick us up anyway. Nor can I get Amazon delivery, nor water delivery and so on.

Very long story but we had 27AMPS, then no amps and ran the generator and then Erik came back. That night during the rain storm we lost an air conditioner. Sadly the site we are in ( and most of the others ) are west facing so we get full sun coming in the front windshield. We have been living with 85- 88F inside during the day running 2 A/C’s.  I have done all I can to block the sun coming in. Erik came back and miraculously got the broken A/C motor re wound ( it was burnt ). So now I can run the front 2 A/Cs at the same time and we are okay at 78 – 80 F.  Also Erik did finally get us extra air conditioning by doing some magic and we now are running 80AMP via 2 40AMP plugs. But we don’t need to run 3 A/C units. Yet!!!  We have been told that it is not even hot yet – it will get much hotter in the months to come.

Everyday we remind  ourselves that the reason we are here is for Colin’s rehabilitation. We moved here Sunday, June 29th and on July 2nd Colin saw Doctor Miguel Patino Hernandez, a stroke and rehabilitation specialist. Colin is now doing an hour daily at his facility on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He is supposed to rest to give his muscles a chance to rebuild but Colin continues pushing the rest of the time. New bloodwork was done and we meet the doctor again this ( last ) Tuesday to discuss decreasing his medication. It can be the reason for his constant fatigue. Dr. Miguel explained that each and every stroke is unique and unlike any other. He was surprised at the progress Colin had already made and is confidant that there will be further improvement, but time will tell.  I will update in a bit…..

We will be unable to use the pool here for Colin’s rehab as the current manger has it covered up and does not want the water to get dirty!! Also no one is here except a night watchman who is supposed to be here from 6pm – 6am but mostly is not. The rest of the time the gate is locked and the young dude with a huge attitude will not give me a key. I insisted that that we not be locked in, in case of fire or medical emergency. So they said they would fake lock the gate. I went out yesterday, Saturday, and could not get out – great fake lock.  Didi/Uber can’t get in because of the way the gate is set up. So Colin has had to learn to drive the car to the gate ( too far for him to try to swing his leg in a walk ) and open the gate and then get into Didi. I could not open the gate yesterday and Didi left!  So we are truly on our own here and it is most unsettling.

Of course we are sitting on a giant very large ( Mexican size ) red ant hill, about 8′ by 10′. Doxies are very vulnerable to ant bites, been there and dealt with that years back in Florida. Thanks to a good friend who did research, I am killing them bit by bit, day by day with boiling water but it has to be done multiple times per day.  I must be making progress as new ant mounds keep popping up.

So much to share but I am short on internet data. TotalPlay will not set us up here, nor Telmex or so says the dude. So sorry he said but I can’t help you. Erik suggested a mobile modem from Telcel. So off I went to the mall to the Telcel shop, they had closed the day before. So another taxi to another mall and they simply said no. I needed to be a permanent resident, not a temporal resident. We need internet, re doctors, re contact with the outside world, etc. Right now I am using my iPhone as a hotspot which died about two hours ago. Working on a situation. So as you can see, everything from water, to internet to transportation to security is an issue for us.

It is brutally hot and humid. The girls can only last about 7 – 9 minutes outside. I don’t think that we will ever get to the “close” beach. Too far to walk, even with driving to the front gate from our site here. Storms at night and we often wake up to a surrounding swimming pool. No sense setting a patio area as it is much too hot to be outside. Two wonderful things are the many lovely white flowered plumeria trees and the many mango trees. We have been eating free mangos since May and it continues here.

There are the 5 gallon garrafons of water here at the office here but I have to get them myself!  Like I can handle five gallons!!  Colin certainly can’t. So now the night watchman will bring them for a tip plus 40 pesos per jug. On the Isla we paid 18 pesos to have the water delivered to the front door. How I miss my Isla. Well as of today, July 11, I am not allowed  ( per the young dude ) to get an exchange until I empty both bottles and then he will replace them at the same time. I guess he does not want to create any extra work.

The worst was the sudden increase in rent from 11,000MXN to 15,000MXN. Reason from the dude was because we are big. Other than A/C we pretty much don’t use much electricity because of our battery system. I think I won that battle and only have to pay 12,000MXN. But he is going to check me in one month and run the numbers 🙁 I may have to pay more……

We have been here a week now and I can’t say that I am much happier. Yesterday  ( Saturday the 5th ) I went into Centro – took forever re the gate and Didi issues.  I needed to get to the ATM and my last hair cut was over 4 months ago. So that was done and I was able to get Colin his favorite muffins and a few things from the market.  We are ever so slowly settling into a routine. I even did laundry today ( that was the 6th ). We are still unpacking from the move and resetting up our home which we still love. To be honest we did talk about renting a place for the next four months but who has the energy to find a place and then to unload the RV.

We will stay here as far as we know and will make it work for us. The goal is for Colin to get stronger day by day so we can return to the Isla. Never thought we would be summering here in these sauna conditions.

https://web.facebook.com/reel/699359273014413

https://web.facebook.com/reel/1213910677147035

Counting down the days until we move. Erick is the first major hurricane – Category 3 or greater – on record to hit Mexico before July. The hurricane maxed out as a ferocious Category 4 storm with 145 mph winds just off the coast in the earliest hours of Thursday morning. Fortunately it was south of us but Mazatlan still felt the power of the storm.

We all had small swimming pools in our yards.

It rained for over 15 hours and remained dreary and drizzly all the next day. Needless to say it was 100% humidity.

We had the air conditioning on inside the RV and the temperatures matched at 74-75F. We could not get the inside humidity any lower than 59%.

First Damage of the Rainy Season: Very old staircase collapsed after very minimal rains since last night.  Photo and words by Eric Streit.

The depth of construction, combined with the upcoming rains may collapse Herradura, the street above Olas Altas, that is home to one of the the city’s most iconic views.
It will take inmediate action, clever engineering, and a lot of rebar & concrete to prevent a disaater. Per Eric Streit.

Typical street when there is heavy rain in Mazatlan.

Calle Chivos, right outside our gates.

As long as we don’t get any more rain we will be fine to leave next Sunday. Contessa’s Corner handled the storm perfectly.

This is the link to the FB post made by Eric Streit with more photos and interesting comments about the situation of the collapse above Olas Altas.

It was not by choice, it just came in the door!  It was dark and the RV door was open for the girls to go out to do their business. I was sitting at my computer, most of the lights inside were dimmed. Suddenly a four, yes 4 inch, critter was sitting on top of my computer!  It was a cockroach and a huge one at that. I stood and yelled for Colin – umm well what could he do – habit on my part I guess. Anyway it flew across the room towards the front of the rv.  I had no idea that they could fly and certainly not that quickly. NO it did not fly out the door but went up into the woodwork up high. We have no idea where it is but it is living here now. So that is how we added yet another “C” to the family.  I do my best to pretend it never happened but I know that one day it is going to come back and surprise me.

A few weeks ago the girls were screaming non stop and refused to stop. they were telling us that we had a critter up there.

It was a HUGE effort but we got the engine door opened. And sure enough there was cat lying just behind that round pipe above that red area. I was able to spray it with water. Thus far it has never returned – but the entire neighborhood went wild with the twins screaming.

Colin is spending hours everyday exercising. Some days are better than others when he makes good progress and then other days he feels like he will not get better. This past Monday, June 16th, was week six of when the stroke happened. There have been many tests since then and even a repeat of an expensive heart test. The good news is that Colin’s heart is fine. It has been established that his resting heart rate is 50 which is good to know as to many that is considered very low and not safe. The doctor came here to the RV and did a check. So at the moment we will just continue as we are. Today Colin had an excellent physiotherapy appointment and progress was made. Any improvement is a huge event for Colin.

DANG!! This fell right out of the fridge when  I opened the door.  Looking for a Corelle  Impression rimmed soup dish!!!

So much love.

In calmer times, Colin holding Ciela’s ear as they both napped. Notice how she had her tongue sticking out.

Our biggest concern continues to be the lack of stable electricity. Not a day goes by that we aren’t shut down, usually 3 – 4 times in a day.  It just began to happen at night as well.  At this point it is not looking hopeful for getting in our own meters. When the current owners father purchased this property years ago the paper work for the transfer of electrical power was not made. The rules are very strict and without that paper work there will be no power. Within a few days of Colin getting back here from the hospital the owner went to the CFE ( the electric company ) and asked for a meter based on medical reasons. That was early May and we still have no meters. Since the fall of 2023 we have been using borrowed electricity and I fear that is not going to last long. The entire Isla has been having electrical issues. Due to storms a few days ago we had no power for about 8 – 12 hours for two different days. And last night the power would simply shut itself down – sometimes for 10 minutes and sometimes for an hour.

Ciela is the main caregiver in this family. At night the girls take turns. One night Carlie will sleep with me in the bed and the next night she is with Colin next to him in the recliner. They actually are taking turns looking after us.

The two storms we had were what I called intense. Colin slept thru one of them. Our patio chairs were strewn everywhere and most other items as well. The second storm brought strong winds that had the RV rocking. I was surprised to see several of my plant pots turned over on their side. I am glad that we are moving to Las Jaibas on the 29th. The wind really shook me – in more ways than one.

Our current weather.

700 exotic animals evacuated from Sinaloa sanctuary due to cartel violence. Click on this article, written May 22nd, explains about how elephants, tigers, lions and many others have been transported to a new sanctuary in the Mazatlan area. Bioparc El Encanto is a new 50 hectare sanctuary which is supposed to open sometime in August. It is amazing that this is happening.

The girls are doing okay. They would be happier with their original schedule of walking the beach with Colin. Sadly the first dog walker did not work out for a number of reasons but surfing is her first priority. Fortunately a neighbors visiting adult children are happy to walk the girls but along the road rather than the beach. We have been having extreme tides and most days the ocean is right into the restaurants so there is no actual beach to walk along.

Helping Colin with his exercises.

Yes those are compression stockings.I don’t let a stone go unturned!

We just discovered last week that we are running out of dog food. We are good until the end of July. Sadly there is no way that we can purchase their particular food here not have it shipped here. I was beyond lucky to find someone who is going to bring me in 40 pounds of dog food in a suitcase. Hopefully I can find some RVers who will be a blessing to bring me more in the fall and again in January.  Many of you will recall how ill Carlie has been over the past two years. It took a long time to figure out her problem. It was so sad as she was often paralyzed with pain and could not move. In the end she was treated with a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) and now her diet can only be her special kibble. Even a bite of lettuce can set her off.  You can read about FMT by clicking here. So we are extremely grateful for this special delivery of dog food.

No it is my turn to do this, not yours!

So just about 30 minutes ago Erik dropped by with more diesel fuel for us. Apparently  the electrical system all over Mazataln is in an upheaval. We are very grateful for this special treatment. As I kept turning the generator on and off last night I did wonder about how much fuel we had left.

Watching for gato’s!

Another good physio session today but the onus is on Colin to keep pushing with his exercises. The exercises will be the key to further progress.

We had an injured pelican in the yard the other day. The girls escaped before I could stop them. I finally got them corralled and back in the yard.

Once the girls and their voices were contained, I simply opened the gate  and Pancho the Pelican simply turned around and waddled out the gate. He turned left and just kept on going.

Sorry I am taking forever to get back to your comments and / or emails but I have so little free time. I will respond eventually.  I only shower every 3 days or so and wish it was daily. It has taken over 4 days to get this written.

The girls got a quick walk to the beach by our new dog walker and both had a swim. They were so happy.

Going to publish this blog without proofing it – sorry but just no time.

Ciela loves to relax. But she is lying between two beds rather than rest in one bed.

Back up to 693 messages in my inbox.  Took on Telus ( Canadian telephone company ) today and won the battle of a $149.76CAD charge on my credit card made April 17th. We have not used them since October 2024. Between them and Shaw  ( internet ) I have saved just over $300.00 CAD by fighting these charges.  However it takes about a total of 4 hours of your life!  Hey my friends, be sure that you check all charges on your credit card statement.

I no longer have time to edit, as in crop photos at this point of my life. Hope you are happy with what you see, better than nothing – right?

We have non stop wave action.

Cargo ship waiting to come into port.

Like we did, someone is getting rid of the brush for a better view over the shipping channel. You have no idea how bad I feel about all the work Colin put into creating my personal viewing area and my not being able to use it. I can’t get up to it on my own. Despite all the daily physical things I now am doing, I still can’t get up there but then nor do I have the time.

What I noticed today is that – likely due to the constant wave action, the beach is different today.  The high tide is directly into the restaurants. There is no beach, only ocean.

There are no banana boats to be boarded and taken out by boat. In fact there are no small motor boats in the bay. Very few people in the water. Very different scenario for us.

~ I still have as of this very minute, 687 emails in my inbox to deal with. Some are very important but most require a reply that I have no time for. Two blockages by banks and a credit card have been over the top to deal with. In fact I have yet to go thru all the notes that I took while in the hospital on other issues of which I am certain some are important. My family just found out two days ago about the stroke. Much as I want to contact you all I just can’t.

The girls take turns being on Colin’s lap. 24/7! They change out every 5 -6 hours. They know something is not right and love their Dad!  Carlie is licking Colins wrist here.

~ I am now sleeping in the same sheets for 30 days, who wants to come and help me change my bedding? I am not capable of doing it on my own. I am still having trouble just getting in and out of the RV.

~ waiting for tropical storm Alvin. It has been cloudy since we woke up. Just in the past hour it is darkening. Light winds and at one point we had a mini Maui shower.

~ Octavio is pleased with Colins progress in the past 36 hours. Not quite back to where he was before his relapse. But to me Colin is looking more like his old self today.

~ 4:30PM and almost done my daily chores, have another poop pick up and trash run. Have to lock the gate which I hate as it is so rusty but it needs to be done. Only two visitors today but tomorrow we are expecting six!!  Once Dallas delivers the pizza tomorrow afternoon I plan to lock the gate until Monday morning. Wish I had more keys to hand out to people who come in daily, would make my life easier. No one does key cutting here on the Isla.

~ just an FYI, someone asked about us driving at night in Mazatlan & someone else about daytime driving – once we move to Las Jaibas. Neither of us will be driving, I can’t because I can’t see properly and Colin can’t make his right foot or ankle move so he can’t drive. For that matter he is unable to play the guitar. At least he now has his speech back.

~ I don’t understand why so many are telling us to go back to Canada? Please explain that to me! Okay so yes we would have to hire someone to drive the RV back. Colin would have to fly as it too much of a drive for him at this point. So who sets him up in the empty house we have back in Kelowna. Who would look after him. All of our things and that is everything we need to live and function with, are in the RV. Then who would unload all of that and re set up a home there. Neither of us ( Colin’s  primary decision ) want to live there. We love living in this RV – even if he can’t drive it anywhere – we love our location.  We still would need help buying groceries and getting transportation to a medical appointment. Then there is the medical system. My very special friend in Kelowna has waited close to 2 full years for knee surgery. Sadly this is the new Canadian system, we used to be known for our medical care, no longer. Here I can text a doctor and have him call us immediately. No wait to see a cardiologist or a neurologist, medical tests done right away. A top notch physiotherapist for only $40.00CAD per one hour visit who brings the equipment needed here to us. Blood work done here in the RV for only $20.00 CAD for that service.  Our own doctor coming to visit us here – tomorrow –  for only $43.00CAD for the visit. If we don’t want to go back why should we go? How will it make our life better?

All packed up for the storm and for the move to Las Jaibas.

Anything left will go into the RV or the Jeep. Except for the 38 plant pots….they will stay.

~ yes we have some unusual challenges such as the power being cut last Wednesday- because someone forgot to ay the electrical bill! It was back on within a few hours. The water truck stopped delivery because they thought we had gone – easily rectified.

Ciela does her own thing during the day but is glued to Colin at night.

~ still waiting for the storm.  Enjoying the cooler ( still hot and sticky but much more pleasant )  breezes!

This the very special sunset that I missed last night. Colin was right – he said that Dallas would be sure to capture it and he did. Gracis Dallas.

Thank you all for your wonderful messages on this special day. I plan to revisit them in the days to come when I hope to have more time.

Time passes so quickly. It is so very important to live each day to the fullest. Who knew that just a few minutes before we were retiring for the night that Colin would have a stroke on April 28th? Our lives changed in a nano second. Fortunately with extremely hard work all day long on his part and with the help of one of Mazatlan’s best physiotherapists, Colin will recover. We are hoping for a full recovery but all we can do is take it poco a poco.

I would love to email and chat with each one of you but I have no time. There is not enough time in a day to do what needs doing but always Colin is the priority. So this is not a blog but a bit of this and that.  Bits of blurbs I wrote here and there. Each paragraph stands on its own. Hopefully this will help you understand what we are dealing with. I often think of those old black and white films of past wars where soldiers were stuck at the bottom of deep trenches they dug to be safe and they never seemed to get out. We fell into such a pit and have been clawing our way out.

May 15th

Colin is happy and positive today. He walked to the bathroom on his own using a cane. MAJOR progress.

The gimpmobile ( aka a walker ) has been moved outside. The girls had a beach walk.

Good thing I am going over all of my pieces of papers and notes and official documents that came back from the hospital with me.  I totally missed an ordered heart test. So Monday the 19th ( I have hired a driver and private car ) he goes into be fitted for the 24 hour Holter test, 2500MXN. I will go with Colin. They do have wheelchairs at the door I have discovered. Getting him in and out of the car will be a challenge. I am counting on Colin being stronger by then.

We do realize that we must move RV for the security of our home but we will be back here in October. Meanwhile we will stay here as long as we can. Now that Colin is moving around a bit he is enjoying the view. And it certainly is an inspiring vista!    Las Jaibas, where we are planning on moving to is oh so very depressing compared to enjoying the movement of the ocean and all the activity around us including the ships coming and going. Right now I will take the inconvenience. I am so not looking forward to moving to Las Jaibas. It’s okay if you are active but……we will be there by the end of June if not sooner. Plus we are still waiting for the lost battery. It is going to take us 2 -3 weeks to pack up to move out of here and that is with lots of help. We will have been here for close to 8 months. Plus Erik the RV tech has to build us a special 50AMP connection over there and I have to get Totalplay to run us a private line as we will be too far from the office I have been told. There is a pool that I understand is well maintained thinking of physio for Colin.   FYI the missing battery is back and all 8 are now hooked up the the RV.

837pm:  For the first time in many dozens of years I was up and wide awake at 5:45AM today. I had the energy to get lots done. Instead as usual I had a few issues to deal online.

It was a no walking day but the girls seemed content – but just 30 minutes ago they somehow got out and were two yards over. I literally screamed at them ( no one is around ) and they did come back.

My day began with coffee for Colin and one for me while I texted his main doctor from the hospital. He will come to the Isla end of May to attend to Colin and discuss all the test results. So Colin only needs to go out twice to the cardiologist.

After his coffee Colin stated that it was time for his first shower since April 28th. Like right now I said? Yes!!! Okay, we can do this…..then I had to dump and flush the tanks.

I had an unexpected shower ( fresh water ) as one of the hoses did not connect properly, of course it was my own fault. Refreshing actually as it was very humid this morning. Picked up poop and unlocked the gate and took out the garbage. For some reason our can was rolled on its side in the road! About 3AM Colin was wide awake – I am up every 30 minutes to check on him. I suggested he move from the recliner to the sofa. As you can see he slept well.

Today was a huge day for us. I finally found a cleaning lady. She came about 10:30AM ( I was already worn out by then ) which only left me time to get him a second coffee and some juice but no fruit today – too much time to cut things up.

He did get some muffin with peanut butter. Katty does not speak English but we managed just fine. Only glitch was that she brought her 4 and 6 years old kids which does not work with our dogs. However she intended to let them sit outside anyway. We were unsure how to direct her as to what we wanted done but it worked out in the end.

We entered Mexico on October 24th and it was very dusty inside so she started by wiping down all the wood in the RV. While she worked both Colin and I did at the same time. I must say that we did a great job and the RV is sparkling once again. I was so happy to have the floor cleaned. It was in very bad condition with so many folks coming and going over the past weeks.

Once she left we had little time before Octavio was to arrive. I had some soup to heat up for his lunch which he ate and then rested. Meanwhile I was finishing the cleaning and putting the house back together. In the end I moved some furniture around so that he can return to his computer station when he decides to. I also arranged it so he can sleep in either location and move on his own.

Octavio soon showed up. He is happy with the progress that he sees daily. He got Colin outside and walking a few steps. Once Octavio left we collapsed and had a long nap…….now I must start making dinner….Only 7:37PM but I am ready for bed.

Monday May 19th – Ciela got into cacti. 
Not a good start to the day. Colin got off on time to go tot he cardiologist, only the driver has his own route and not the fast one. I am not going as I am unwell, more on that later. I may have had food poisoning last night. and then the girls got out…….vet coming in four hours….

Life had not been easy:

~The day has gone downhill. Colin is doing a 24 hour test. Nothing to talk about. Right now all of our ATMs are closed to us. That is what I am dealing with

~Another crazy start to the day today. Found out that my credit card has been compromised and it has been cancelled. Yet another thing to deal with and I will get to it in the next day or so. I did spend a full hour ( mostly holding waiting to speak to a human and got my Canadian debit ATM limit raised. While Colin was having his heart ultrasound I was taken to an ATM a mile away where I used 4 different cards and got enough cash to live for a few weeks. Octavio is here again with his machines and just said that Coin’s foot has been badly damaged but he is hopeful. Photo shows our drive today. I sat in the back seat working my phone the entire time.

~photo below is of his 24 hour holter test.

May 20th….changes due to test results….A very special thank you to Katia who just did a bike ride in the dark to get new medication that was just ordered tonight. Colin is good but there are some changes. Details tomorrow.

This photo shows a red square on the right side. This is where Erik thinks we will have to put the RV in this area so that he can rig us up to 50AMPS Backed into the wall to give us some protection from the winds and maybe from the heat. We would be happy to have input from Las Jaibas RVers.

TODAY:

Good Morning everyone! Thank you for your many birthday wishes. I have been on the phone now for 3.5 hours speaking to the bank about my compromised credit card. The fellow I spoke with Tuesday morning did not cancel, my card as he said he would and therefore I now have more charges not made by me that need to be disputed. I am now on hold with my 6th person today and give the same information over and over and then get transferred to someone else and so on. Despite explaining that I am with my husband who had a stroke and needs my help it seems not to matter. I woke up this morning wanting to have a cup of coffee outside with Colin before it got too hot and humid. Did not happen. My birthday treat to myself was to have a shower and hair wash and if I was lucky cut my toe nails. Exciting birthday stuff, eh! that has yet to happen as well. I haven’t even been able to pick up the dog poop and it is a not walking day for the girls. They were so cute last night taking turns laying on top of Colin in the recliner as he slept. I am up almost every 30 minutes to check on him. The banking person I am on hold with right now keeps coming back every 10 minutes to let me know she is still working on it and she did take my phone number to call back if we get cut off. That cut off thing happened this morning and I had to start from scratch. Yeah!!! New credit card will be couriered and should be here in 5 business days. Only thing is, is that I have to call in again in 2 -3 days to get the tracking number!! Off for my well deserved shower and hair wash.

So this is my gift to you, an update, not perfect but an update.

He had a good day.  Here it is 5:30PM and I need to pick up dog poop and lock the gate for the night. Physio came and went and Colin is doing a bit better every day.

I had really hoped that we could sit outside together today and enjoy our view.  It did not happen as I have been on the go all day. Perhaps tomorrow.

Colin had some outdoor time the other day. A first for him.

Thank you all for your thoughts today. I have to be very careful to not get too emotional or I might not stop crying. It is very difficult not having anyone around us right now.