dipping into un----reality

Hi all, well it has been quite some time since I wrote. I thought that I would have written sooner but life got in the way, and the inspiration to write was dampered. When faced with potentially dangerous medical problems, it tends to decrease the need to share with others and make your life more private as you deal with trauma. So that potentially dangerous medical situation we were dealing with was: my partner in life, Rob having a stroke. While we were hiking for our health in the mountains he had a strange episode. Normally, because Rob is way stronger and faster than me, he is way ahead and waits for me to catch up. But this time, uncharacteristicly, he was walking toward me after a particularly difficult hill. I was jogging to try and keep up and told him to follow me. At another designated catch up site, he was walking toward me with a distracted look on his face. He was chatting to me about how nice it was to live in such a beautiful place, and that it was like he was seeing it for the first time and that he felt it was like a re-awakening, but he was happy and not distressed. Then he looked in his pocket and found his water bottle, and asked how that had got there? Well this day there was quite a reason to remember the water bottle, as it fell into the dog water dish and splashed me. I realized then he was not remembering, so I questioned him further and found larger gaps in his memory and then I did some cognition tests, speech tests and coordination tests and checked his eyes and heart rate, what I could do on the mountain. The only thing that I found was the memory block, everything else was good. As we approached the city, 40 min later, he started to get concerned about the memory loss, though he remembered the kids but not the house guest etc. By the time we got home, his memory was coming back but he kept asking me if he had a stroke and I said I think so, but he asked me about 20 times and I finally had to ask him if he remembered asking me in the first place. Needless to say this inspired a full investigation of the man's brain box and cardiovascular system. We started off first with getting a ct scan in the neighboring city of Ambato ($130 and results in half an hour) to make sure that he could travel to higher elevation of Quito for the MRI the next day. Since there was no bleeder in his brain we felt safe and we went the next day and had the MRI ( $160, results in 1 hour) again nothing accept healthy brain. Went back to Banos and organized a doppler (checking the carotid and jugular blood vessels for integrity) a slight deviation there. Hmmmmmm that clinic suggested another exam and when we went there the price went up because of our I am sorry to say this......... extranjero--ness and they didn't even show up for the exam. We ran out of there feeling lucky indeed having not spent that kind of money and not feeling safe or taken advantage of. So then we went to Vozandes hospital in Shell, where we waited most of the day and had an angiogram and also told that doctor of the blood work that was done that showed his blood a little high in cholesterol. Overall, there he had a great doctor and since it was a missionary hospital, one that spoke in English. Next a referral to a neurologist in Quito for the first time, we had to wait for an appointment, 2 weeks. She was a very good doctor (unfortunately only spanish speaking but we worked it out satisfactorily thank god for google translate and having a med background) and requested a ultrasound, of his heart and a scan of his neck. Well finally some sort of showing, he has a fatty deposit in his neck that when the doppler tech was sliding around the wand, it interupted the results to show inconsistency and not a fistula of the carotid-jugular. However this still does not explain the memory loss with a man who has the heart of an athlete and the brain of a healthy individual, (I can't say Einstien as he had a smaller than normal brain size). As nothing else could be explained, the final thought would be artiosclerosis. But there is no evidence to support that either. Of course dealing with alopathic md means meds, meds, meds. But with no scientific support of artiosclerosis this means either more investigation on our part, and utilizing naturopathic medicine and being fully responcible for our own health through diet and exercise. So, when he goes to Canada he will visit his friendly and wonderful naturopath and they will deal with it. So after spending very little money for tests to be done with all the results done in hours of the tests, I feel pretty good about the health system of Ecuador. I am also glad that I have a med background to help and guide the process. I think that we made all the right decisions and found out everything way faster than if we had been in Canada. Sitting on pins and needles is not good for health or peace of mind and would have given me an ulcer!!!!! I did find that I was under alot of stress as after the test in Quito because in a restuarant a guy was about to try and steal my backpack and I had saved it and I was so annoyed chomped down on a bone in my food that I didn't know was there and broke my tooth. Wannnnnnn, so I had to go to the dentist and for $25 he fixed it. Where I met a fellow Canadian who was on a dental trip here to get a dental plate made (better than Canada and cheaper). It seems more and more Canadians are making the trip here for their medical concerns, I understand why.
So that is my excuse for not writing, and I feel that after this episode I will enjoy a nice relaxing break. I will continue with my fitness practices and watching my diet, I will try and incorporate raw again into my diet (as much to other people's opinion is yucky and tastes gross) but I love the flavors and how wonderful I feel when I am eating raw!!!!! I probably don't have nearly as healthy of a heart as Rob so I have to take care of it as I have an arhythmia.
I also hope to go back to painting and hang out in my studio again. My paintings are needing some shot of fun and also maybe some more abstract or even different approach. My mind needs an opening and loving kindness after this episode and home schooling commitment.
The garden looks amazing and filled with tropical plants and flowers. We have not had ANY snow, but nice weather with sun and occasional rain. I love going into the mountain and finding the different plants. If you can check out the flower from the taxo plant it is truely amazing, a flower in a flower.
be kind to each other, patient and rely on your instincts as they are usually correct although the occasional outburst of crankiness will help to release tension even if other people don't like it.
Robin