Days 7-8, 2010: LOTS to discuss, including 1st Lady's chest pains!!!!!!!

Oh my....where DO I begin tonight???? I am totally, TOTALLY exhausted but need to get a few words written on here to let some of you know what has happened in the past two days.

Yesterday??? We were up and going early....and by 10 AM we had picked up Doug and Diane and we were heading to the border. Well, as some of you know, this is NOT a lengthy drive.....only about 4 miles or so...NOT a major expedition. Before getting to the parking lot at the border, we made a stop at one of the large pottery shops along the highway. We walked through the rows and rows of different pots that are for flowers and shrubs......and tried to decide which one(s) would look good on our new RV property out in Wyoming. Not being sure exactly what we want, we just looked....and decided to keep looking since we will be here for two months.

Arriving at the parking lot, we had no problem getting a place to park this truck. And...then we walked across the bridge which spans the Rio Grande River which is the border with Mexico at this point of our country. A terrible eyesore and a point of big irritation with the 1st Lady and myself is that god-awful George W. Bush fence which has been erected along parts....yes, PARTS of the border. I need not express myself here again as I have give this same speech last year and it only upsets us both to even talk about the billions that have been wasted on this fence.......soooo brings back memories of the Berlin Wall!!!!!!

After reaching the Mexican side, we made a few stops at some of the MANY farmacias.....pharmacies.....to get prices on the meds which my mother-in-law and brother-in-law want us to purchase for them. OMG....they are soooooo damn much cheaper over here for the same amount of dosage......and the same meds!!!! We always check the dates to make sure they are new........and then we bought seveal packs of the ones we needed. Not enough for the upcoming year, but we will probably return to Mexico at least once per week.

We also checked on prices of eye glasses as the 1st Lady and I both need some new ones.....these are over two years old and I KNOW that my vision has gone down hill since then! Perhaps next week we will get serious about getting some!!!

A few shops later, we were then carrying two liters of liquor.....the incredible "1921" Creme de Tequila which we first bought in Mexico last year...and needed to purchase some more since there are only six...yes, I said SIX places in the entire USA where this can be purchased. I also purchased a bottle of "Tia Maria", a wonderful liquer that goes soooooo wonderfully when poured over Vanilla ice cream, and accompanied by a very warm dark chocolate brownie with nuts in it......OMG, I am getting hungry!!!

Then.....we decided it was time for lunch, so we went to one of our favorite places....Elsa's. When you stop there, it is on the right side of the main street as you walk south....and be sure and continue ALL the way through, veering left into the little bar and 2nd room of the cafe. Usually they have someone entertaining with live music, but yesterday must have been their day off......no one performing. We had the same waiter as last year.....such a friendly guy with a great smile. Ordering Margaritas all the way around........they were brought along with fresh, hot fried tortillas quartered into small pieces for dipping into the really spicy hot salsa!!! Again...my mouth is watering just writing about them. The Margaritas were just great....and we ordered another round with our lunches.......all were Mexican plates with various enchiladas, tamales, tacos, etc. dripping with goodness!!!! For the 1st Lady and myself, the four Margaritas and two large lunchs.....our bill was only $14.00!!!!!!! WOW...what a bargain!!!

Finishing with lunch....and just a bit tipsy as those Margaritas were stronger than we though, we came outside to a strong northern wind and quickly dropping temperatures.....sooo, we quickly made our way to the bridge, going through passport control and re-entering the states. Yes....you do have to pay Texas state taxes on each bottle of liquor....but that tax is only $1.25 per bottle.

We returned back at the Resort in short order......and the 1st Lady stated that she was really tired so she was going to go upstairs and lay down for awhile. About an hour and a half later, she came down, we ate a quick bite of supper, and then prepared to leave for a square dance on the western end of the valley. We went with Doug and Diane and had a great time. The hall where the dance was held was in the same RV park that friends of ours from F'town are staying in. Soooo, I called them and they came up and spent the evening with us.......Alma Asher and her friend Doyle. It was great to see them down here!!!! We also ran into friends from Ontario, Canada.....Jean and Dave Palmer, who are square dancers and we had not seen them since last year.

We head back and returned home a bit after 10 last night. We had no more than got inside when the 1st Lady sat down and told me she was having chest pains!!! Felt like something was pressing very hard on her chest!!! We discussed this a bit......I gave her a baby aspirin...the same type I take each day.....and I then began to look up med facilities in the area....and decided that the McAllen Heart Hospital would be the one I would take her to, if necessary. Well, after about 45 minutes, she was not any better, sooooooooooo, I got her into the truck and off we went up the valley to McAllen. My iPhone gps got me there without any problems.....and as I pulled up to the Emergency Room entrance, she got out and I went to park the truck.

Going inside I helped her sign in, and then she went back behind the closed doors. And....I began a wait.....which lengthened into over 30 minutes. FINALLY the Dr. came for me.....and he then told me that in the process of getting her wired up and IV's in her, that he bp began to go down and her heart rate became slower and slower.....and finally she bottomed out. They got her heart started again........and gave her stimulates and when I got to her bed...she was doing ok it appeared.....just seemed a bit weak.

Well......they worked with her, giving an EKG and other tests......and then the Dr said that she would remain there in the ER, but they would put her in a private ER room. Soooo, after they got her settled, her heart rate was up around 88-92 and her bp was ok in the range it was at.
They told me that I could go on back to the RV resort if I wanted to get a few hour sleep. They had called a Cardiologist who would see her in the morning. Soooo, she seemed to want to sleep, so I left around 2AM....and returned to the Resort.

This morning....I got up at 6AM......and was over at the Heart Hospital by almost 7:15AM. She was same, except her heart rate was down a bit. Around 9am the cardiologist came in and looked at her, her charts, etc., etc. ....and said that he was going to just bypass the normal stress tests and go right to the angioplasticy this morning. He also said that had that drop in her bp and heart rate happened at home or on the street she would not have survived.

At noon, they took her into the operating room.....and it took about 45 minutes to complete the procedure. The Dr came out and talked with me saying that everything looked really good....that she does have about a 25% blockage in one artery, but that was not anything out of the ordinary. He said that there was no reason why should couldn't return to the RV this afternoon......as to her bottoming out last night, he believes that it was caused by the stress of the moment, the emotion that she has when injected with needles.....has always passed out when she gets a shot....and that there is not problem with her heart. We still wonder about the chest pains......????

This McAllen Heart Hospital is the top heart hospital in all of Texas......so, I guess we should feel good that I did pick this one out of the others in the Yellow Pages. The people there were really wonderful, very efficient, and so considerate.

Soooo, to make this long story as short as possible, we returned to the RV Resort around 5pm this afternoon. She is to do nothing this weekend, we she can return to sq. dancing on Monday, if she wants.......which she does!!!!

I am dog tired....can barely keep my eyes open right now. Just the stress and being in a hospital, standing around ALL day has really worn me out. The cold weather will break some all time lows for this date ....and will will get down to the middle to lower 20's tonight. I have left the water dripping in each faucet to keep water coming through the hose to the connections and into the RV. Hope it works tonight!!!!!

And soooo, a very busy, fun, and STRESSFUL two days post!!!!! Think I will turn in before long....will try to get some pics posted this evening. As always.........

LIFE IS GREAT!!!!!....And, I hope it is for all for you, also!!!!!