Patrick Visits
My good friend Patrick Borter came to visit his fiancé, Nyna (who also happens to be my sister-in-law). It was really good to see him, especially since he had some adventures getting here.
We really enjoyed having them to our house a couple of times, and just kind of hanging out together. When we did make it to Nádya's parent's house on a couple of occasions it was quite fun for the whole family to be together (Well, nearly the whole family. Jr. still lives to far away—in Parauapebas—to come visit for things like this. We missed him.) for a short time.
Patrick and Nyna are awaiting their fiancé visa, and the last time they were together was in September of last year.
What photos we have of the visit are here.
The Move
We have moved. We are once again living with Nádya's parents. It was not exactly our first choice, but with Nádya returning to work, and me going under the knife soon (keep reading for more info on that), we were running out of options for child-care.
Also, amerInglês has lost a lot of students in the last few months; mostly due to financial difficulties. So the student's financial difficulties became ours.
It is kind of comical, when one steps back from the situation, looking at us trying to fit the stuff from our house into our room. Ha! We might get the 3-D jigsaw figured out someday. More on this later.
Health
Some members of my family in the States has had some pretty serious health problems of late. Here are a couple, followed by my own situation.
Grandpa
My 93-year-old grandfather recently fell—I have not heard why, but my guess is that he was pushing the limits of his abilities. ;) He likes do live that way. Anyway, as a result of the fall he ended up with a blood-clot in his lower leg, and is in the hospital.
Grandpa is an old farmer; he does not go to the hospital for something minor (like cutting off part of a digit, or splitting his head open after falling off a ladder). He is an “It's only a flesh wound!” type of guy.
Rebecca (Karl's Cousin)
Rebecca was in the hospital for a few days (maybe a week—I lost track because of so many other things going on) because her platelets were so low. The diagnosis is “Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura.” Which is medical speak for “blood problems of an unknown cause.” (Okay, so that might not be an exact translation, but that is what it means to me.)
She is on the mend at home now (since last Thursday), but still does not have much energy, and is on chemotherapy treatments. Her platelet counts have been measured at six—when the low end of normal is 140-150.
Karl
For a couple of months I have been experiencing some abdominal pain. At first I thought it was nothing, but when it persisted I decided to go to the doctor. I don't know how much of the time since my first appointment we have spent traipsing around town going to one doctor and another, then to the insurance company to authorize exams. But it has been more than enough.
Long story short: I have a gall-stone, and need to have surgery to get it out.
That means that I will be in the hospital for at least a day, and who knows how many days of recuperation. We are waiting for MediPlan (our health insurer) to approve the operation, so I don't know when this will happen, but probably this week sometime. The doctor wanted to do it today, but MediPlan is dragging its feet.
We will try to let you know when we know more.
[composed and posted with ecto]
Technorati Tags: steps back | financial difficulties | short time | fiancé visa | Patrick Borter | Our Activities | Our Story | serious health | child care | been so busy | good friend | jigsaw | Life In Brazil | returning to work | health problems | Living Outside the US | pushing the limits
Grandpa was not exactly testing his limits. I heard that he was just trying to walk from the dining room to the livingroom and fell. I hope that your operation goes well.
ReplyDelete