Glad to Have J.J. Back at Hotel

Aloha Everyone,

The 3 of us had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. It is wonderful to have J.J. back with us. Dr. Espinosa came by to check on J.J.’s vitals, go over his medications with me and wrote 2 additional prescriptions.

Temporarily, J.J. needs to take 12 prescriptions plus his usual prescription medications from the USA. I am trying to  make a  chart to make sure I administer them accurately per schedule.

Jeff and I took Uber to Mr. Jeff to drop off our weekly laundry of 2 bags. We then walked back to the hotel enjoying the non-touristic side of Quito. Jeff’s “go to” takeout restaurant in Quito is Indian Tadka. I believe he tried nearly all of their curry dishes  Located about 5 long city blocks from out hotel, Jeff and I carried hot curry and Tandoori chicken back for our lunch.

Aloha -- Cathi

J.J. is Discharged from Hospital

Aloha Everyone,

It seems like forever since J.J. was readmitted to the hospital. With his inner fortitudes and positive attitude plus professional endeavors by his medical team and hospital staff, we have J.J. back with us.

Discharging process is time consuming. Having gone through this once, Jeff and I were prepared to spend 4 hours. We were pretty close: 5 hours and 20 minutes later, J.J. is very happy to be back in our hotel room.

He has 11 new prescriptions with dispensing instructions which we must follow. Additionally his diet for an immediate future must be modified to accommodate his 2 inches remaining colon.

Dr. Espinosa is scheduling for him or his assistant to visit J.J. at the hotel every other day. J.J. will also be seen by the surgeon to check on his healing progress.

Aloha -- Cathi

J.J. is on “Regular” Diet

Aloha Everyone,

J.J.’s surgeon instructed the cafeteria staff that he is to be served “regular” food.

His breakfast of black tea with sugar and nondescript sweet purée fruits was not too exciting. J.J.’s lunch and dinner were equally unimaginative of boiled chicken with all flavors removed, mashed potatoes, sweet fruits juice, peach or apple sauce and clear soup. Jeff joked that if J.J.’s hospital food are tasty and beautifully presented, he might not be so eager to eat the outside food :-)

J.J. is looking forward to eating Japanese Sushi. Sushi from Kobe restaurant were delivered to us via Uber Eats: This restaurant is rated one of top for sushi: it seems that Ecuadorean Sushi are fried: Jeff thought that ramen was tasty and passable but it arrived luke warm since there was a 20 minutes gap from the time the Uber Eats driver picked it up from the restaurant to handed the package to Jeff.

I dropped my iPhone in JJ’s hospital room and it is totally shattered: Until Jeff helps me figure a way to purchase a replacement iPhone and transferred the SIM card so I can continue using my AT&T phone services, I will have no WiFi phone access nor text messaging capabilities.

Fortunately, Jeff installed my personal email account to my iPad so  we could send and receive messages.

Aloha -- Cathi

More Good News, Uber & Uber Eats

Aloha Everyone,

Dr Espinosa has visited J.J. twice this morning before 10:00 am. Based on the latest lab report, everything is back to normal including his hemoglobin. This was not the pathological report which could take 10 days after surgery. Still something we are looking forward to celebrate.

How bad is the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ecuador. According to the latest US Embassy/Consulate office in Ecuador, Quito is Level 4. In other words, US citizens are advices not to go. When J.J. and I arrived 17 days ago, it was Level  3.

One thing we noticed is that health and safety guidelines are strictly enforced. For example, when we entering a mall, one walks through a plastic chamber. A guard takes your temperature and if permitted to go in, you must use hand sanitizer. On occasions, a guard would ask you for a permission to spray your leg, backpack, or package. Take a few more steps then as you walk into a supermarket, the process repeats itself. Ecuadorians follow rules. They follow directional arrows & where to stand in an elevator. One must use elbow to press elevator buttons and you must ALWAYS wear your masks except when you are eating.

We use Uber to commute to Clinica Pasteur and run other errands. With weekday curfews from 8 pm to 5 am and a total shut down from Friday 8 pm to Monday 5 am, we are happy to get our food and groceries from Uber Eats.

Aloha -- Cathi

Recovery

Aloha Everyone,

This morning J.J. stood up and shaved and said that his balance was very good.

Dr. Espinosa, his primary care doctor and the surgeon went to see him. Everything is looking good.

Diet of water for today, soft food on Monday. Possibility of being released from the hospital next week. 

Jeff and I have been busy buying  food presents. The doctors and residents received imported chocolates while the nursing staff and hospital security got boxes of Cinnabons and Dunkin Donuts. 

According to J.J., food worked like a charm. Today, at 5:30 am, there were four nurses attending to him. Even without food, medical service at Clinica Pasteur is excellent. US hospitals can’t offer something comparable because of high labor costs and high liability insurance.

Aloha -- Cathi