Saturday 11/16- Typically, by this time of year the rain is pretty much done and we’re getting into the nice part of the year where it starts to warm up and dry out, but we don’t quite have the heat of February and March. This year is a little bit different, because the rain has continued. Since we aren’t having nice weather to do fun things, or even to work in the yard, I guess, here I am, working on the blog again to catch up on some more things that fell behind while I was sick.
Sunday 11/17- Happy Birthday, Ramie!
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| We think, based on our Costa Rica wildlife identification cards, that this may be a Red-cheeked Mud Turtle |
Everyone has a different idea of what they want to do to celebrate their birthday, but you’ll be surprised by Ramie’s “choice” for today. A couple of weeks ago he scheduled an upper and lower GI exam for tomorrow morning and today he gets to do the prep for that.
He’s been having some un-diagnosed issues for years now and he figures it's time to find out what might be causing it, but he didn’t really think about the timing of this when he scheduled the appointment. He had to fast all day today, so he didn’t get a special birthday dinner or anything like that. All he could "eat" today would be clear jello and clear broth.
Monday 11/18- The second round of the cocktail, just another glass of apple juice and another bottle of the solution, had to be drank very early this morning, so Ramie was up at 3:30am for this. He did go back to bed to try to sleep a little while longer before his alarm went off to drink the next 1/3 of the solution a half hour later, and then repeated again for the 3rd iteration.
The exam was scheduled for 10:30 at one of the private hospitals in San Isidro. We normally leave our house to go to San Isidro around 7am, so we had no idea how traffic would be later in the morning, and before long, Ramie was sick of waiting so we left the house around at about 8:45 am and would just wait when we got there. Truthfully, though, the road to San Isidro could easily suffer from an accident or other backups, so in case we got stuck in traffic we wanted to have plenty of time to make it, even though the normal drive there is only one hour. Traffic was not bad and we got there quite early for the appointment. Once he was checked in and we paid for the procedure, we were directed to the waiting area where we waited… and waited.. and waited some more. Ramie had not had anything to eat since 7pm on Saturday night and by this time may have been getting a little bit grumpy. After waiting for a very long time Ramie looked around and asked me “where is the sign that says if you’ve waited 15 minutes past your appointment time, please see the receptionist”. Yeah, that’s not a thing here, so we waited some more.
Finally, around noon, they finally called Ramie’s name. I tried to go with him, but they told me I had to wait in the waiting room and that they would call me later. At this point, I’m going to hand it over Ramie to tell you about what was behind door #1.
Hi ya, friends! So Costa Rica medical just isn’t like the medical that you’re used to back in the States. As we mentioned, this is a private hospital which is very different from the CAJA (public) hospital like I was admitted to when I suffered heat exhaustion earlier this year. If you missed that episode and want an eye opener of Costa Rica’s public / socialized health care experience, you can read that blog by clicking here.
Ok, back to today’s story... When I was called in to discover what was behind door #1, I was a little shocked to find out the room was probably no bigger than 15 x 20. To describe this room to you, as you walked in, on your left was a desk with a small TV behind it. Straight ahead, at the far back in the left corner of the room was a reclining chair and a bathroom. There was a wall mid way on the right dividing the little desk/TV area from small area that had two gurneys. They had those curtains that hang from the ceiling that you see in hospital rooms, to provide privacy for each of the gurneys. There was a lady sitting in the recliner who looked like she had just woken up, and a guy laying in the gurney closest to the door.
I was directed to the open gurney, a nurse followed me in and opened a cabinet, grabbed a gown and told me to change, then added that I could go change in the bathroom if I wanted. Well, the curtains were not closed all the way so I opted for the bathroom. As I was changing in the bathroom, to preserve my modesty, I thought to myself “I guess if this is where they do the procedure, everyone is going to get to see my better side anyway”. Once I was changed, I came back out, trying to hide my back end from the lady sitting in the chair right outside the bathroom door, and I scooted sideways past her back to my gurney. The nurse, speaking only Spanish of course, was talking to me telling me everything she was going to do. I apologized for my limited Spanish and she apologized for her limited English. Somehow, and maybe I understand Spanish better than I realize, I was able to understand everything and communicate back to her in Spanish. She prepped the IV, started some saline, gave me something that I think was like Pepto Bismol to drink, and had me wait some more.
About 10 minutes later she came back and started wheeling me out of that area. Ok, I guess they do this somewhere else, but where? She reached behind her and slid open a door that, when I first walked into that room, I thought it was a giant mirror. I guess it was, but behind that mirror, or Door #2, was the actual exam room. In the corner of that room was the patient that was before me, still sleeping. They wheeled me into the center of the room where another nurse took over. The Doctor came over and talked to me (thankfully in English) asking why I was there, what were my concerns, etc. He explained what he was going to do and said it shouldn’t take more than about 20 minutes. Previously when I was telling Loren that I’d be having this done he joked that he hopes they do the upper first because otherwise I would have shitty breath when I woke up. While I was listening to the doctor, that was all that was running through my head and I was laughing to myself. The doctor then asked me to lay on my side and they were going to give me the sleeping drug, he started counting backwards, 5…4…3…2…1… I laid there when he was done counting, I laughed and told him “don’t start yet, I’m not sleeping”, he laughed too, and that is all I remember.
I woke up in the same curtained area that I started in before they wheeled me into the exam room. After about 10 minutes of coming around, the nurse gave me an electrolyte drink and asked if I was ready to get dressed and then helped me to the bathroom, since I felt like I was drunk. I took my time getting dressed and when I came out she had me sit in the recliner outside of the bathroom as they brought in the next person. Eventually they asked me to go back to the waiting room and they would call me back in a little while to discuss the results with the doctor. We waited for about 2 more hours before that finally happened, and it was now almost 3pm when they finally called us back.
Remember that desk with the TV I mentioned at the beginning? Well, after I was told to go back into the waiting room with Dana, she told me that they called her back into the room while I was having the procedure done and she got to watch the whole thing. She did say that they shut the camera off until it was inside but once in she got to see it all. So, I guess now Dana really does know me inside and out!
I finally got my results, and they did find some things that concerned them.The doctor handed over two parting gifts. What were the parting gifts you may ask? It was two vials, one with a couple of biopsies from the upper GI and one of a polyp & some more biopsies from the lower GI. It was my job to take them down the street to the lab to have them processed. Ok, I will tell you this, its kind of weird walking down a city street full of people, stores, and restaurants with little parts from my insides in my hand. Thankfully, it was only about a block away. When we found the lab, I handed over the biopsies and paperwork from the doctor, paid for it, and then it was time to head home. It was about time, I was starving! It's been almost 48 hours since I ate.
At this point, since we had to wait so long, I was fully recovered from being put to sleep and could drive us home. Dana was very glad about this, because initially we thought that she might have to drive home if I was still groggy. She was really nervous about this but was willing to do it if she had to.
Just a short distance outside of San Isidro, we stopped at a new Texas BBQ place that’s right on the main road back to Uvita. We’ve been watching it get built for almost a year and now they were finally open. Everything on the menu looked great and the beer, margaritas, and other drinks sounded delicious, but with having such an empty stomach, I stuck with water and a brisket sandwich. This was some darn good BBQ, and if we ever decide to stop to eat on the way back from San Isidro again, we would consider this place again!
Now with this exam out of the way, we just have to wait for the results.
Tuesday 11/19 thru Friday 11/22- It's been another very rainy week again even though we are supposed to be on the tail end of this season. This month we have received an exceptional amount of rain, but thankfully the sun finally came out on Friday. It sure felt nice!
Saturday 11/23- It was just recently Marshall’s birthday and when we were still in Minnesota he told us that he wanted to go out on a private boat tour to celebrate it. When we told them that Ramie also just had his birthday, Marshall said that he would share and it could be a two-for-one celebration.
Val and Marshall arranged the details and booked a boat tour out of the Quepos marina, and invited a handful of their closest friends to join us. We’ve met some of them before, and others we would be meeting for the first time. The boat tour was scheduled for today. The plan was for everyone to meet at 8am at the Marina, but since there would be a few of us all coming from very close to the same place, we filled up Val & Marshall’s truck and carpooled. We all slowly trickled in, a total of 11 of us, and waited for the crew to prepare the boat. We would be out for a 4-5 hour ride around some islands, and would stop for a chance to snorkel and swim, plus, food and drinks were provided. Of course today was quite overcast and looked like it might rain again.
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| That's our ride for the day. |
After we boarded and paid for the day, the boat cast off and we motored out of the marina. We were free to go wherever we wanted to on the boat, so Ramie and I started by going up to the bridge, where the captain was driving from, to snap some photos while the rest of the group went up on the main deck to catch some sun.
After we got a few photos and our fill of the view from the top, we headed down to join the others. The crew was great, they started out by bringing us mimosas and continued the day bringing anything else that we may have wanted.
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| The boys hanging out up front while the girls all chatted. |
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| Jaqueline had a healing wound and couldn't get her foot wet, but she didn't let that stop her. Waterproof bag on her foot and she was all about having fun. |
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| Birthday Boy, Marshall |
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| This is a Pompeno. We cant wait to cook it up. |
The crew told him that our time was up and it was time to head to shore. Ramie wasn't going to give up on fishing quite yet and continued to cast the line, that is until something he didn’t expect to happen, happened. Ramie knew right away what he had done and yelled to a crew member… Yep, Ramie was “that guy”, and it turns out that the boat sucked the line up into the prop and wrapped itself up tight. He felt so bad, but of course the crew said it was not a big deal. They took the rod from him, snapped the line, and finished putting things away as we slowly motored to the Marina.
The party wasn’t quite over yet as we continued to enjoy the drinks and have fun on the way back. Once we were docked again it was time to gather our things and make the trip home. Even though it wasn’t sunny and hot, it was very fun day out on the water. Days like this make us miss the idea of living on a sailboat in the water all the time. (If you don’t know what this means, it means that you have to go back and read blog post #147 – Why did we choose CR
Once we got home we unpacked all of our stuff, rinsed off the saltwater, and played with the pup that just hates to be left alone all day.
That evening we got a delivery, but it wasn’t anything unexpected. We ordered another battery for our solar system because one battery just was not cutting it and, of course, Ramie found a good deal on it so we decided to buy it. Randall happened to be in San Isidro today and was able to pick it up for us, so he stopped by tonight to drop it off, now Ramie has a project for tomorrow and will get that all set to increase our solar usage ability.
Sunday 11/24- We woke up and enjoyed our peaceful weekend morning routine of coffee (and cookies for Ramie) as normal. Once he had his fill of playing his games on his tablet, Ramie was ready to unbox the new battery, and add it to the solar system stack. Since this part of the system is mostly plug-and-play, it didn’t take long for him to it hooked together and start charging it. Before we were able to use it, though, we had to ensure that it was charged up to 100%. Now, with another battery, obviously the setup is taller than it was with only one battery. With this additional height, it meant that I would have to rearrange my pantry shelves again. It went much quicker this time, though, and we were done with that project in just a couple of hours. The rest of the day we spent doing odds and ends around the house, cleaning, and all of that pesky stuff that you have to do as adults living on your own.
Monday 11/25- Skye, was exploring the yard, as she normally does, but she was barking frantically in some of the bushes we have. Worried that we she had corned something dangerous, Ramie quickly put on his shoes and headed down to check it out. Once he got Skye to back up, he carefully pulled back the bush and that's when he noticed another turtle. This one was stuck between two logs and was much bigger than the one we found a few days ago. Ramie picked it up and he noticed it had some really nasty claws on it that would easily slice him open so he placed it on a rock to take a couple of pics. After they weere taken Ramie carried it to a spot where he could safely crawl back into the Quebrada. Like father, like puppy-- turtle finders!
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| Here you can see Skye's nose in the upper picture for comparison for the size. |
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| We also had this little visitor that was on our patio furniture. We relocated it to a tree close by so it could continue its life.It's nothing scary, just a caterpillar!! |
Wednesday 11/27- There aren’t very many beach turtle walks left for this year, and all of Ramies group members were busy today and couldn’t walk with him, so being the good wife I am, I decided I would go with him for his morning walk. The team hasn’t found a nest since October 30th, and most of the other teams are in the same boat, since we’re nearing the end of the season. We didn’t high hopes of finding anything this morning, but you just never know! Regardless it was a nice walk on the beach even though we didn’t find anything.
After the turtle walk, Randall called on Ramie to come help unload a container that was delivered today. Ramie left shortly after we got home from the walk, but today’s container unload didn’t take long and he was home by early afternoon. A little bit later on in the afternoon, the call went out to the turtle volunteers that there was a batch of baby turtles to release and asked if someone would be available to do it.
Adam and Katie, the owners of the house next door, and their daughters are here visiting this week, and Ramie thought that it would be fun for us to do the release so that the girls could help. We made sure that they were available, and they were excited for an opportunity like this so they made themselves available, and the plan was set.
Ramie & I drove down to the sanctuary to pick up the babies, then met Adam, Katie & the girls at the beach for the release. There weren’t a lot of people on the beach this afternoon because it looked like it was going to rain, which is ok, because releasing baby turtles is sure to draw a crowd of whomever is around. As we walked to the release spot, Ramie let everyone that he walked past know that we would be releasing baby turtles, and that they could come watch if they wanted to. After waiting for a little while the crowd grew to a couple dozen people, and we let the babies out of their buckets. The girls were having a great time helping to herd and flip the babies back to their bellies if a wave knocked them over. After about 15 minutes of crowd control and baby turtle assistance, eventually all of them made their way out to sea, hopefully to become adult turtles that will someday come back to lay more eggs here. We finished talking to the tourists that were there watching until the rain did start and we were all soaking wet, then made our way home to start dinner and our evening routine.
Thursday 11/28- Happy Thanksgiving
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| Look at that smile from the back seat! |
I cleaned up real quick, and when Ramie got back from returning the ATV, he didn’t have long to take a quick shower and get ready before we had to head out the door again. Loren and Nancy invited us for Thanksgiving again, and Nancy always puts on a very good spread, so we really wouldn’t want to miss this. Plus, Loren always mentions how he never really knows whether I’m alive or not since he only sees Ramie, and I’m always stuck behind the computer at home, so I had to go prove that I’m alive and well.
There were a group of us that were invited, and once everyone arrived, we enjoyed the conversation and food. By the end, I think everyone was very stuffed and there were lots of leftovers for Loren and Nancy to enjoy for the coming week. I guess that's typical of Thanksgiving, though, right? We made it back home by about 8pm and it was time for bed, we had had a fun and exciting, exhausting day.
The Official Casa Costa Breeze end of November rainfall total was 36.76 inches
Sunday 12/1- Remember when we went to San Isidro shopping on Halloween and bought all that Christmas stuff? Well since Thanksgiving is over, we started setting up the tree (that’s a lot of holidays for 2 short sentences!). We started our day assembling the gangly tree and trying to make it look the best we could, added some extra green garland to fill it in, and then strung the lights. Next year it will definitely need more lights!! When we got to the part of hanging the decorations, we remembered that we didn’t have any hooks for them, and the thin little strings that came in the packages with them just were not going to cut it. We would need hooks of some sort, and even with all of his DIY stuff, Ramie didn’t have any thin wire that would work. Today is Sunday, so nothing was open to go try to buy anything, so I guess the rest of the tree is going to have to wait until Ramie can run into town to get some paperclips to turn into Christmas decorations hooks.
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