Monday, January 31, 2022

Last night I went to bed at 10:15, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 3:30, woke up at 6:30, did my Kegel exercises and got up.

I informed Teresa I still hadn’t received any emails from Dr. Gómez’s office. She promised to call again later.

I left the apt at 7:45 and walked to Parque Envigado. (Teresa was going to take a taxi to eps to pick up her medicine.) I had calentao and scrambled eggs with coffee for breakfast in Carbon de Leña for 9,500 pesos ($2.50).

I told the waiter I didn’t want an arepa but I forgot to tell him to skip the cheese (that they usually put on top) too. For the first time when I ordered a latte I was asked if I wanted more coffee or more milk. I went with the more coffee option butt next time I’m asked I’ll try it balanced.

In Todo Drogas I bought my medications for the month. (I’ve been taking 500mg citicoline daily for the past 6 months which is supposed to be good for the brain synapsis or something like that. Don’t know if I’m smarter or not. Anyway, I’ve been paying 128 mil ($32) for 30 500mg tablets.) Today I asked for 1000mg and found they are taken orally. They had a 3 for 2 special for 141,800 ($36) which helped bring the unit price down a little. Still not bad considering my “drugs” cost me $50-$75 a month.

I stopped in a health store and bought another bottle of Omega 3 and one of Potassium.

In the copy center/paper store I bought a small red highlighter and had some chess notes printed. Around the corner at a supply store I bought 3 Pilot G-2 07 pens

In the used bookstore I exchanged a small paperback I didn’t like plus 3mil for the hardback copy of Patricial Cromwell’s 500 page Scarpetta. I checked online and it was on the New York Times Best Seller list so it should be a winner..

I walked back to the other side of the park where I caught an Envigado bus back to La Buena Mesa.

I found Glenn having breakfast in Ganso y Castor.

When we left we stopped at Eduardo Madrid where he bought a few items and I looked for a blueberry muffin. They had a box of 6 small muffins but I passed. I also saw boxes of 6 small cinnamon rolls that I might come back for before the weekend. I think Laura leaves to return to the US on Sunday.

Teresa and Laura left to go to another doctor’s appointment for Laura.

I walked to the mall where I printed a couple .pgn files that the paper store wasn’t able to print.

I made a 2-million peso ATM withdrawal and paid the apt rent for February.

I had nachos and a Coke in Sport Wings. When I got up to leave my ankles were stiff and sore. (I recall the same thing happened last month when I walked to Parque Envigado then Viva Envigado.)

I tried to make another 1-million peso withdrawal to pay my remaining bills and it declined with the message, “exceed cupo disponible para retiro”. I think it was trying to tell me I’ve reached the maximum withdrawals for today. I tried again with other ATMs but no better luck. I wonder now if USAA has blocked my account.

I bought 2 9V Energizer batteries for my TENS 3000 unit.

I had coffee in Todo Fresa and bought milk in Exito before returning to the apt by taxi.

I finally received an email from my surgeon, Dr. Gómez’s office. He stated I will have a

CORRECCIÓN DE DIÁSTASIS DE RECTOS ABDOMINALES POR LAPAROSCOPIA MÁS REPARACIÓN DE HERNIA VENTRAL

Which google translated to

CORRECTION OF DIASTASIS OF THE RECTIUS ABDOMINALS BY LAPAROSCOPY PLUS VENTRAL HERNIA REPAIR

Additional information from an article I found…

…surgery, either open or laparoscopic, and both surgical approaches have high success rates. The surgical approach includes different plication techniques. The recurrence and complication rates are low, complications are minor, and repair improves low back pain, urinary incontinence, and quality of life. Robotic assisted surgery might become a possibility in the near future, but data are still lacking.

The surgeon’s fee is 8,000,000 pesos ($2000) and the clinic’s fee, including anesthesia is 8,540,000 ($2,135). The surgery will be performed at Clinica Medellin but it didn’t specify which location nor the date. The fact the quote is good for 30 days suggests it will be performed sometime in February. (I requested between February 15^th and February 28^th so we’ll see.)

I logged into my USAA account and their chat line allowed me to confirm my debit card has NOT been blocked.

We had supper in Chiclayo. I went for the pollo saltado and Laura asked me why I didn’t get the lomo (beef) saltado. I told her I thought the beef might be too chewy. She gave me a taste of hers and it was good so maybe I’ll try that next time.

Last week when Teresa sent me to buy laundry detergent I mistakenly bought the liquid instead of the powder but today she told me she liked the powder better. (I told her sometimes accidents can have good consequences.)

Today was another beautiful day with a high of about 86 degrees. That’s about a week in a row now with only 1 rainstorm that I can remember.

 

The New York Times’ 7-day average of new daily infections and deaths has the US with 534,782 ð 522,965 ð 469,931 new cases and 2,486 ð 2,526 ð 2,581 new deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of yesterday, Colombia has a total of 18,450 ð 16,119 ð 15,284 new cases with 272 ð 247 ð 221 new deaths. Medellin has 976 ð 1,090 ð 955 new cases from January 30^th to 31^st. Envigado has 45 ð 47 ð 108 new cases from January 30^th to 31^st.

 

T-shirt of the day

Enjoy WHERE you are now.