January 16, 2018. Playa Royale, Mexico. Sleeping.

We have 2 nurses each staying 12 hours with Ken.  A young lady, referred to us by Ken's Doctor, referred her to us.  Her name is Adriana and she is wonderful.  She orchestrated getting Ken over to the hospital yesterday and she has organized the nurses and house hold help.  Misa is a large strapping woman who works all day.  She bathed Ken this afternoon and helped him with his medicine boxes.  Fortunately, she is strong and can get Ken out of the chair and bed.

Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be able to sleep in the same room as a young man sitting in the corner close to Ken.  He is named Evan and is a handsome man.  After he settled Ken for the night and I was in my night shirt, I showed him the guest room, which is just across from Ken.  He looked at me aghast and said, pointing to the chair, "Aqui".  He intended to spend his night in the corner beside Ken while I was to sleep on the other side of the bed.  I was weary so I did not insist.  In fact, he was not budging from his chair.  So I did what I needed to do and went to bed.  Much to my surprise, I fell asleep. And I got the best sleep in days.  Ken is napping now, with Lisa sitting in the chair.  The moral of the story is that being watched while you sleep is not a problem, especially when tired.

January 16, 2018. Playa Royale, Mexico. Sara Lou.

Sara Lou came for some fun in the sun, but instead spent her whole time ministering to the ill.  She deserves multiple gold stars.  I had  just come home from the hospital at 12:30 on the same day as she arrived last Monday.  Ken was in the hospital right across the road while I was home but not yet at my best.  I spent most  of my time lying on the coach while she visited Ken 2 or 3 times a day.  She transported object back and forth.  And she did not complain even a bit.

During her whole visit here, she walked on the beach once.  She never did get to sit by the pool.  One day we took the shuttle to the golf club for lunch which was very nice.  And once we had dinner at The Riviera Grill but the rest of the time she just looked after us.  This morning, on the day she was leaving, Sara Lou walked across to the Farmers Market, and was able to purchase a couple of objects. She was a Godsend to us.  I do not know how we could have managed without her.  We are grateful.

Now she has gone back to the cold country.  Unfortunately, she is into another adventure, as her plane was delayed, which meant she was going to miss her connection in Houston.  Traveling by air is always subject to change.  She hopes she is able to catch the later flight.  I hope so.  She deserves good luck.  Her visit was fortunate  for us but not for her.  She is indeed a good friend.

January 15, 2018. Playa Royale, Mexico. What Happened.

On the first Monday when we arrived, Ken said he had a cold.  Every day he got weaker so by Thursday he was unable to get back to bed.  I asked a young man from the hall to help me.  Then I called the ambulance.  Ken thought he was dying.  He said that all the life energy was leaving him.  Fortunately, the hospital is excellent and the good doctors immediately started him on all kinds of medicine.  He was in the Intensive Carte section for four days.  Now his infection has gone but he is very weak.  So he must build back his strength.

I visited Ken in the hospital on the Friday at noon and then walked home.  On the way back my legs felt like rubber.  When I returned to see him that evening, I had a high temperature and a bad cough, so they admitted me to the hospital.  I had the flu.  After much medicine, I came home from the hospital on Monday afternoon.   Fortunately, Sara Lou arrived in the same afternoon.  She has  been looking after us ever since, making multiple trips to the hospital to check on Ken plus looking after me.

\Everyone has been helpful.  The concierge retrieved all our belongings from the hotel and brought them to Playa.  Kathy and Ted have been wonderful, shopping and bringing us goodies, even bring dinner the other night.  But it has not been easy.  Now we try to get  ahead.  What happened has  been unbelievable.   A true  nightmare in Paradise.

January 15, 2018. Playa Royale, Mexico. The Miracle.

Ken is sitting beside me at the table.  He has been able to allow me to access my wee blog.  It is pathetic but true, that I can only write my blog when Ken can get through the glitches.  I was not able to make it work.  Now Ken is here beside me.  He must build up his strength.  A physical therapist will come every day.  A household worker is coming every day for four hours.  We have a nurse staying with us.  Progress indeed.

A nightmare in Paradise, that is what we have been living.  At one time we were in adjacent rooms at the hospital.  Ken was in Intensive Care for 4 days.  Very ill.  Now he must gain strength.  A coordinator sent to us by his doctor has been wonderful.  The first thing Ken did when he was wheeled in was to go straight to the computer to fix my difficulties.  Now I am set.  Whew.  My blog will. continue.  What a blessing.  Hats off to Ken.  Wish him well. And me too.  I am not perfect either.

January 3, 2018. Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. The Hotel/Time Share.

Ken and I are staying for a week at the Hotel/Time Share.  We bought into the Paradise Time Share many years ago and have made good use of it.  Both families have stayed here.   The complex is large with three buildings full of apartments.  There are two big pools, one a quiet area for adults and the larger for children and families.  And there are multiple restaurants which makes life easier for us.  We have enjoyed this place over the years.  A couple of years ago Don and Doreen and Ken and I spent two happy weeks overlooking the marina, keeping track of the boats come and go.

We bought into the Paradise Village time share many years ago.  Bernie K. was running a continuing education trip to Puerto Vallarta, where we stayed in the Marriott in the Marina section of town.  Suzanne R. and Ken and I were walking back from lunch when a young man offered us a wonderful trip, if we would attend a time share discussion.  The trip was expensive so we agreed, as it was free to us  The trip was a wonder.  It took all day, leaving on the bus at 8:00 and arriving home at 9:00 at night.  All meals provided.  And we attended the presentation and bought some points.  We have never been sorry.

Then we bought the 10 weeks at Playa Royale and sold our points.  Both resorts are owned by Paradise Village.  We subsequently bought more points at  at the time share because we use it to stay here, both for ourselves or friends and family.   Now they call the time share The Hotel because ordinary people can rent units if as and well the units are not full.  It is convenient.  For instance, Robbie and Joyce's son Mile is staying in their place in Playa Royale.  But he wanted to leave on Sunday so after he checks out of the condo at Playa, he will stay the night at The Hotel.

Ken and I are staying this week in a one bedroom 2 bath unit in the main building.  Today for lunch we walked to the lovely bar in our building.  The ladies come and make our beds and clean every day, just like a regular hotel.  And we have a large balcony  so the doors are always open.  Our winter holiday has begun.

January 2, 2018. Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. The Elevator.

Our airplane was late so all the gates were full.  Our plane parked on the tarmac.  We had been asked to pull the shades to keep the plane cool so we could not look out the windows to see where we were sitting.  When I got out the door, I was confronted by a long steep set of stairs.  Ken was right behind me.  I turned to ask Ken about getting down.  We were both carrying backpacks and a rolling bag.  At the same time as we were poised trying to figure out what to do, two young men were on the top p[latdorm saying, "elevator".  The stairs were wide which meant holding on to both rails was impossible.  Not a good situation.

Finally, the young men convinced us to use the elevator.    Now the elevator is a freight elevator, with chains front and back and a railings on the side.  It looked old and rickety but we got on.  One man took Ken's cases down the stairs while I got on the elevator with my case.  One man held my arms.  The railing was about waist high.  Down we went, very slowly.  We made it.  The two young men greeting us at the door were the kind men who had come to push our wheel chairs, which they did, cutting lines everywhere.  They stayed with us until they put us into a taxi.   All's well that ends well but it was a rocky ride.

January 1, 2018. Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. What a Difference a Day Makes.

Many years ago, Ken and I and the boys flew to Austria  to ski.  We spent the night on the plane.   We rented a car and drove to another city, where we were spending the night.   Ken and I decided to take a walk before eating and going to bed.  The boys went to bed.  We were all tired.   When it was time to return to the hotel, we realized that we knew neither the name or the address of the hotel.   We were lost with no way to ask directions.  We stopped for a cup of tea and a pastry.  Ken finally figured out our route and got us back to the hotel.  That first day of a flight is not kind to travelers.  But the next day is better.

On Saturday evening everything was wrong.  The internet would not work, my blog was unable to access, my phone would not do anything and my shoe was unglued.    So we went to bed at 9:00.   But by the next afternoon, our world had returned.  In the middle of the night, Ken figured out the Wi Fi system,  and had my phone working.  My e mails were coming and I could respond.  And my shoe was fixed.   You would think that I should expect not to function on the day of travel, but I always get fooled.  In the future, I will remind myself to do nothing except eat and sleep on a travel day.  The next day is always better but what a difference a day makes in the life of a traveller.