Thursday, December 27, 2018

I slept well last night, waking at 6am and getting up at 7:15.

After I finished my granola breakfast we were all out of milk.  Teresa called Exito next door and in 5 minutes a young guy brought 2 bags of milk for a service charge of 1,000 pesos (30 cents).  That service is called Domicilios and is common throughout Medellin.

We left the apt at 9:15 for Teresa’s 10:20 doctor’s appointment.  As we drove past San Lucas Plaza I noticed the Chicago’s pizza restaurant sign has now been replaced by a Tostao (coffee) sign.

We arrived at the doctor’s office at 9:35.  At 10:35 we were allowed inside.

Teresa’s drainage counts are down from 50cc to 25cc and the doctor removed her catheter.  Yay!

According to Dr. Andres Ossa, Teresa had 3 tumors on the side of her breast as expected.  The calcifications were also tumors but of a different type.  Unexpectedly there was also a tumor under her nipple.  The mastectomy the doctor performed removed all the cancer.  He also removed 3 lymph nodes and they tested negative so he didn’t have to remove any more.  No radiation therapy is required but we are waiting on the January 15^th lab results to determine if she needs chemotherapy.

I brought up the subject of the additional hospital charge and the doctor said yes I incurred the additional amount.  He explained why but I don’t recall if it was extra instruments, or extra time, extra tests or what.

As we were leaving, a mother and grandmother went inside.  I felt like saying “good luck” but I didn’t.  We made our next appointment for Wednesday, January 16^th.

We went to a quiet out of the way area in the mall where we had breakfast at a café called Santa Leña.  (Next door was a Tostao café in the rear of a Bancolombia.  Teresa talked to a worker at the door and the best I could figure out is that there is a café inside the bank for the use of their waiting customers.)  We had 4 lattes and 2 scrambled egg plates with tasty bread on the side for a total of 51,789 or $17.

After breakfast Teresa went shopping inside Zara and I waited outside checking my cellphone and reading my October Reader’s Digest.

She came out at 1:30 and told me she’s talking to another woman who also has breast cancer.  I told her not to worry that I was okay and she could continue talking to her.  She went back into Zara.

She came out 20 minutes later with Catalina, the same lady I saw entering the doctor’s office after us, and her mother.

We went into the interior of the mall where I had another coffee and the ladies had juice.  At one point I excused myself for a trip to the restroom.  You would think an upscale mall like this would have toilet seats, but no.

Later, back at the table, it occurred to me that I only have about 30,000+ pesos in cash and I was getting nervous I wouldn’t have enough to pay for our drinks plus the taxi ride home.  I excused myself again and withdrew 600,000 pesos from an ATH Banco de Bogota ATM for a 13,200 peso ATM fee.

I noticed a woman with a small white dog and I wondered if it was a small Samoyed.  I asked her what type of dog it was and she said a 5-month-old Pomeranian. 

I later learned that the 42-year-old Catalina had a double mastectomy and also has multiple sclerosis.  Yikes!  That nice lady has been through a lot.

When it came time to leave we learned that she lives in Envigado and she gave us a ride back in her newer model Chevy with A/C.

Teresa informed me that she has another doctor’s appointment at 12:30 tomorrow – this time with the plastic surgeon who did the breast reconstruction.

Since we only had drinks in El Tesoro I asked her if she was ready for some lunch.  She said we don’t have anything here and she wasn’t hungry so she told me to go out on my own.

I walked to the mall and took the gym shortcut to the elevator through the garage.

I walked around Calle Bistro (the restaurant area) awhile and then settled on Best Burger.  I had a classic burger (without fries) and a Coke while watching some golf tournament on TV.

I took my time and when I arrived back at the apt I found Teresa standing in the hallway talking to the neighbor across from us.  She said she went to throw some garbage down the chute and the wind blew our front door closed and she was locked out.  I told her I’d buy her one of those door jamb thingies.

Later in the evening Teresa ordered fried chicken from Frisby.  Included was a free pan of chocolate cake.  Teresa was going to throw it away – too sweet.  I told her no we’ll give it to some poor person.

About 9:30 Teresa pointed out a street person outside Exito.  She told me to give him the cake but by the time I got my shoes on he was gone.  I should have whistled first, got his attention and signaled for him to wait.

We discussed tomorrow morning and decided I would skip gym because timing would be too tight with gym, lunch, and leaving for the doctor’s appointment.

Joke of the day

A woman visited her plastic surgeon who told her about a new procedure called 'The Knob,' where a small knob is placed at the top of the woman's head and could be turned to tighten up her skin and produce the effect of a brand new face-lift.
 
Of course, the woman wanted 'The Knob.'
 
Over the course of the years, the woman tightened the knob, and the effects were wonderful, the woman remained young looking and vibrant.
 
After fifteen years, the woman returned to the surgeon with two problems. 'All these years, everything has been working just fine. I've had to turn the knob many times and I've always loved the results. But now I've developed two annoying problems: First, I have these terrible bags under my eyes and the knob won't get rid of them.' 

The doctor looked at her closely and said, 'Those aren't bags, those are your breasts.'
 
She said, 'Well, I guess there's no point in asking about the beard.'