Colon, Portobelo, and the .45

 

December 27, 2008 – Last Day in Panama City

Today's our last full day in Panama City.  But yesterday was probably the signature day for the journey, primarily because we knocked out so much in one day, and because I got up close and personal with the Panama Canal.

Of course, nobody hates getting up early on vacation more than I, but it had to be done if were going to catch the Panama Canal Railroad train that leaves at 7:15 AM.  Fortunately, the Radisson Decapolis room service team cooperated, and we were all able to have a real deal meal before heading out towards Miraflores to catch the train.

The train itself was a classic, complete with two diesel engines on either end (one for going to Colon, and the other for coming back to Panama City), a number of passenger cars, and even one club/viewer car that has big windows for the turistas.  On the way to Colon, I ended up opting to go outside between the cars, where I could get some amazing videos of the roughly hour-long ride.

Having just read most of "The Path Between the Seas" didn't hurt.  As the train hurled through the jungle, I could only imagine what it must have been like for the French, the Americans, the West Indians, and everyone else involved in the enterprise, hacking their way through that jungle, and worse, digging a big trench through the middle of it.  You can read about it in a book, but until you've seen it live and in person, it's awesomeness fails to be truly realized.

Once we arrived in Colon, clueless turistas that we were, we had no game plan other than to try to find a cabbie to take us up to Gatun Locks and to Portobelo.  Fate, however, intervened, presenting us with a large, friendly black gentleman named Dino, whom it turned out, also spent quite a bit of time in Brooklyn, NY. 

Dino explained that for a mere $120, he would take us around the entire day, covering the Gatun Locks, Portobelo, lunch, a tour of Colon and the "Zona Libre" (the free zone) before heading back to the train.

Done.

So Dino's driving out towards the Gatun Locks first, when he pulls out a .45 caliber pistol.  He explained that he doubled as a security guard, and the gun was always useful to have while traveling through Colon.  O-kayyyy.

The Gatun Locks were my favorite part of the Canal experience.  There were a number of large vessels lined up to head south (they head south from sometime early in the AM until around noon, before reversing direction), and we're talking LARGE.  Like, there's no way that big ass ship is going to fit into that little lock large, but the Panamians move that sucker through with their 440 volt mules (small trains with large cables attached to the ship and the mule) with the finesse of a fine surgeon cutting out a brain tumor.  It was something to watch, and again, no description of it really does it justice.

I asked the nice lady providing color commentary how much these ships were paying to go through the Canal, and she indicated it was around $300K.  If you think that's high, start figuring the cost of labor, gas, time, etc. to go around South America, and you start to realize why the Panama Canal is so strategic, and booked up months in advance.

I took lots of video and pics of the locks, and will try to link to those at some point.   But once we were done with that, Dino also took us by the "School of the Americas," the former U.S. military based where we "trained Latin America monsters" (Dino's words…and I wasn't going to argue with him…he was the one with the loaded .45) like Ortega and Somoza.  Today, it's a nice 5 star Melia hotel.  Go figure.  From dictator training camp to the finest of 5 star hotels, complete with zip lines (or were those left over from the School of the Americas???)

From there, we started off to Portobelo.  The drive along the coast was quite nice, if you mostly looked left at the Atlantic Ocean tide rolling in.  Otherwise, it was a whole lot of reminders of what third world poverty looked like.  Shanty housing with tin roofs, small cervezerias here and there, a whole lot of trash amidst a gorgeous natural landscape.  I just wanted to suggest maybe cleaning up the place a bit?

Once we got to Portobelo, a sleep little town that has been noted as a "World Heritage Site," it started to rain.  But that didn't stop us from our historical rounds.

Portobelo was founded in 1597, and from the sixteenth to eighteen centuries was an important silver-exporting port in New Granada on the Spanish Main, and one of the ports on the route of the Spanish treasure fleets.

Portobelo was also visited by Captain Henry Morgan, when in 1668, he basically came through with a fleet of privateers raping and pillaging along his way.  Despite Portobelo's good fortifications, he stripped the city of nearly all its wealth over the course of two weeks.  I know, not nice, but that's what privateers did.

In 1739, the Portobeloans were attacked again, this time by a British fleet commanded by Admiral Edward Vernon. The battle and subsequent British victory demonstrated that Spanish trading practices were vulnerable and lead to a fundamental change in their approach, with the Spanish switching to a new strategy, one in which the Spanish had small fleets visiting a wide variety of ports so that they weren't as exposed.

So, with that historical backdrop, we saw the remnants of the last fortifications built by the Spanish in the 1800s which, as it turned out, they didn't really need, because everybody was SO over the territory by that time.  And until the building of the Canal, Portobelo remained a very sleepy little town.

Judging from what I saw, it's still pretty damned sleepy, and its inhabitants and their dwellings could probably stand a home makeover.  However, the fortifications themselves were pretty cool, complete with the original cannon.  And, allegedly, Sir Francis Drake was buried out there in the bay somewhere in a lead coffin, although his remains have never been found.

Looking up at the hills above the bay, one can just wonder what it must have been like to start hacking through that jungle to cover the 60 some odd miles across the Isthmus.  Thanks, but I'll take Air Panama.

Once we finished our Portobelo tour, Dino made a pitstop at an authentic tourist trap restaurant that had an authentic thatched hut roof and everything.  Though Ginger or Gilligan were nowhere to be found, we had a nice meal of fish and shrimp creole and coconut rice and, para me, Balboa beer. 

From there, we made our way into the Zona Libre, the free trade zone next to the city of Colon.  Basically, the Zone is a clearinghouse for goods from all over the globe, and a place where buyers can come and buy beacoup stuff in bulk at discounted prices before shipping them on to their intended destination countries, and all with no tariffs.  To me, it looked like a really big ass flea market with storefronts.

Little did I know that you're not supposed to buy anything for individual consumption, because Dino was in search of a bike for his two year-old tyke.  So, I found a very cool GelaSkin for my MacBook, and only as we were leaving did I discover that one wasn't supposed to take merchandise out of the Zone.  Fortunately, Dino's brother was head of security for the entire Zone, so he was quite friendly with the seguridad at the perimeter.

From Zona Libre, we drove right into the heart of Colon.  I can only describe Colon as something of a real shithole.  It certainly has its history, particularly with the Canal, but they really haven't kept the place up, and in many ways, it seems the ass end opposite of Panama City.  It's importance as the Atlantic front end to the most strategic waterway in the Western Hemisphere is not supported in the ack streets of Colon.  Now I could see why Dino carried the .45. 

The streets and buildings were extremely run down, many with tin roofs and exteriors that were mildewed and pockmarked.  Clearly there was a large poor population, so it gave me no small pleasure to see all the young kids scooting around on their new rollerblades they got for Christmas.  Those were some happy kids, and we're talking 4 and 5 year-olds, zipping around the cars and buses like true pros.  Apparently in Colon, when they say go play in the streets, their parents mean it! 

That was basically the end of the tour.  Dino dropped us off at the train station and explained he'd be happy to take us to see some real live Indians in the middle of the Isthmus the next day, and to the Gamboa preserve.  We told him we'd certainly give it some consideration, but it was readily apparent to me that Saturday was going to be a day of semi-rest, one in which we would be vacating to prepare for the end of our vacation.

More on the last day later…

Christmas at the Panama Canal

Christmas Day, December 25^th

I'm still here.  So that means the Otter must have taken off and landed just fine, which is a good thing.

We arrived in Panama City in the late afternoon, and promptly made our way to the Radisson Decapolis. Turns out, George picked a very South Beach hotel.  I didn't remember what a Decapolis was, so I checked in quickly with the Wikipedia brain.

"A group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in Jordan, Israel, and Syria, and The ten cities were not an official league or political unit, but they were grouped together because of their language, culture, location, and political status. The Decapolis cities were centers of Greek and Roman culture in a region that was otherwise Semitic (Nabatean, Aramean, and Jewish). With the exception of Damascus, the "Region of the Decapolis" was located in modern-day well, one of them located west of the Jordan River in Palestine (modern day Israel). Each city had a certain degree of autonomy and self-rule."

So, it has nothing to do with the original Decapolis, which I'm also sure didn't have its own sushi bar for those late night Unagi cravings, nor its own fourth floor pool overlooking the breakfast nook through several circular portholes situated at the bottom of said pool.

I'm expecting Jennifer Lopez and Mark Antony to walk in with their entourage any moment.

After we checked into our swanky accommodations, we headed out for an early evening's walk to get a sense of the city.  Basically, Panama City has lots of tall buildings.  In fact, I heard a tour guide say today, it's the 3^rd most spectacular skyline in all of North America, behind NY and Chicago.  Not sure what happened to San Francisco in that count, but whatever, it's pretty spectacular.

For dinner, we found ourselves at another seafood restaurant.  This time, I had sea bass with black butter and capers.  It was quite good, and George and Leslie also had some nice seafood dishes.  But my favorite part of the meal was watching the Panamanian diners.  It was good people watching.

This morning, we had a shee-shee breakfast at our shee-shee hotel before we embarked on a taxi ride out to the Miraflores Locks, the last set of locks on the Canal before reaching the Pacific ocean.  I was bummed because no big boats were coming through until 2:30, and we got there around 11, so we had to make do watching a small tug boat and a tourist boat make their way through the first set of locks.

The whole thing was very impressive, especially considering the fact that it's been in continuous operation since 1914 (well, I heard we shut the Canal down for a short while during the American invasion and overthrow of Noriega in 1989, but you get the point).  Also, if you've read "The Path Between the Seas" (HIGHLY recommended) by David McCullough, or any other history of the Panama Canal, you know what a huge engineering feat that was, especially for its time.  And let's not forget the 25,000+ folks (most West Indians) who lost their lives building it, through disease, accidents, etc.

So, the Canal did not let me down.  I took a boatload of pictures (Ha!), and will be putting some select ones up on Facebook, and the full set will end up on Picasa.

After the Canal, our taxi driver who was supposed to have waited for us didn't (amigo, we were happy to pay you for the ride out and wonder what happened to you!), so we caught another and stopped by an outdoor mercado to check out some "molas" first, some very cool embroideries made by hand by Kuna Indians who live up near the San Blass islands on the Caribbean side of Panama.

Then, we went for a tour of the Casto Viejo, the "old town" of Panama.  When we pulled up to the stop, the cab driver pointed behind us and then in front of us, and said in so much Spanish I couldn't really understand, but completely got the gist of: "Go that way (backwards), and you're f----ed.  Go forward, and you're fine."  Yeah, thanks dude, Feliz Navidad!

So, we went the way we were supposed to go and saw all the other folks from the estados unidos whose cab and bus drivers probably told them the same thing, and we walked up and down the boardwalk, hotter than Hades out, just dying for something to drink when George finally found the one outdoor café open on Christmas café.  I ordered a Balboa, which I much prefer still over the other Panamanian beers, and later a shee-shee drink, some kind of limonado pina colada drink.  I had to pull out my mini-umbrella from the pina colada in Contadora, so I would have the appropriate ambiance about me while I drank it.

My favorite story from the PM hotter than hell walk?  We're cruising down the boardwalk when a tour guide points out a bombed out building with no roof.  The tour guide basically goes on to explain the building was bombed by the Americans in 1989, and that it has now become a very shee shee place, where they even threw a fashion show recently for Hugo Boss.

Okay, that is just so wrong on so many levels and in so many ways, and even I had to laugh.  He even observed that one of the shells from the bombing still remains and was featured somehow in the fashion show.  And you thought the Victoria's Secret fashion show on TV was on the margins???

Finally, once back at the Decapolis, I was hanging out at the pool and have decided that someone, somewhere, in Panama is making an absolute killing in breast implant surgeries.  The boobies here are absolutely immense and everywhere.  I feel surrounded by boobies.  George even commented that there were huge boobies on the mannequins at the mall.  Panama is obsessed with boobies, I'm just sayin'.

Okay, that's it.  We're off to find a chiruscarria where we manly men are going to eat much manly steak carved by manly men trying to not cut off their hands as they slice through the large chunks of meat while trying to ignore all the fake, somewhat womanly, boobies.  Hasta la vista, baby.

Leaving My Exile

Wednesday, December 24

I laugh at myself.  I re-read the previous post and thought, man, you had no idea.  This place is so uninhabited that I fear big city dwellers might go into complete and utter shock upon their visit here. 

What day is it again?  Oh yeah, Wednesday, Christmas Eve.  I think we ran out of stuff to do on Monday.  It became readily apparent that the diving was going to continually pretty much suck.  Of course, this crew and I are spoiled.  We've dived in some pretty amazing places.  So this wasn't one of them. Not even close.  Fortunately, it was just interesting enough to give us another on a very short list of things to do, other than reading, sleeping, drinking, and laying on the beach.

 The beaches here are spectacular, so for that reason alone I can recommend Isla Contadora.  I think it makes for a great honeymoon spot.  For me, I'm just SO very glad I downloaded the first full season of "The Wire."  I need more intellectual stimulation than a small island can afford, even if I am on on vacation!

We tried to get out of here on the early flight today, but it was full.  So, instead we headed back down to the beach to kill 90 minutes, taking one last snorkel (upon which George saw two stingrays).  Me, I saw some fish eating on the bottom, but I was "masking" instead of "snorkeling."  Masking's just as fun, but you have to come up for air and you wear no fins. 

We came back to the hotel and cleaned up, and now we're going to be checking out, supposedly.  Check out time was 10 minutes ago.  That's how laid back it is here.  Not sure what we're going to do for lunch, but I do have some plain bread cookies I bought for $1.25 which I've been feeding off of for 3 days now.  Talk about value!

Please pray for us as we take off in the Dehavilland Twin Otter.  So far all the planes have made it off that short runway just fine….

 

 

The Divers in Panama

Sunday, December 21

Contadoras Island, 2:22 PM

Well, we arrived in Contadora yesterday morning around 10:45-ish or so.  The day before had been filled with mucho travel.  For me, Austin to Dallas to Miami to Panama City.  I left Austin around 8:55 AM and arrived in Panama City around 7 PM   George and Leslie left earlier but arrived around 4 PM, giving them much time to go down to the Balboa Yacht Club for dinner.  I, on the other hand, didn't get to have dinner, save for some Funyons that were available at the B&B La Estancia.  That's okay, because they had cold beer for $1 and some bananas. 

The trip was painless save for the part about hanging out at the Panama City airport for an hour waiting for AA to get our bags on the carousel.  Oh, and the part where nobody bothers to tell you you need a $5 tourist card UNTIL you've waited 30 minutes in the customs line.  Then you find out and get to wait all over again.  Hey, it's Panama, WTF did I expect.

Yesterday, the travel escapades began again.  Our flight was supposed to have left at 8:25, then they pushed it back until 9, then 10.  It left sometime around 10:15 I think.  Most people I know who are sane and who flight a lot wouldn't probably have gotten on the airplane we got on.  It was a Dehavilland Twin Otter, circa 1960s, I think.  I didn't see any duct tape but there were definitely some worn patches here and there.

But the best part was that they wouldn't let us take a lighter or matches on the plane.  I snuck a single lighter through anyway, and once we got in the Dehavilland at the other Panama airport (the one near the canal), I laughed really hard when I saw we could rush the cockpit no problem, because there was no door between we and the pilots.  But, please, DON'T bring any matches or lighters. 

When we came in for the landing, I've already put on Twitter that there was a serious pucker factor on the approach.  We made the turn back towards the north into the wind, and I laughed a little to myself : "Oh, we're going to land there?!" (More exclamation than question.)

No sooner had we gotten off the plane than we saw the dive shop.  How convenient.  We hooked up with Guillermo (8 years on the island, originally from Patagonia), and told him we'd brought our own regs and masks, but would need everything else.

Our friends from Perla Real drove us to our hotel/motel, whatever you wish to call it.  It's very nice…quait, I think they call it…and we've opted to walk most everywhere instead of renting a golf cart.  For lunch, we went to the Punta Galeon, I believe it's called.  Great ceviche, and the local brew I fancy is "Balboa" (Go for the "Panama" if you're more of a lager person).  I had an excellent club sandwich as well. 

In the PM, we borrowed some fins and went down to the beach that sits below the runway.  It's a gorgeous beach…straight out of "Lost"…but if a plane does ever land long…well, that's gonna ruin somebody's day on that gorgeous beach.  I checked out the snorkeling, and saw a few parrot fish and a few angels as well.  The coral head was mostly black, and relatively shallow (10-15 feet).  We spent the rest of the day reading on the beach.  And just for shits and giggles I threw on some Jimmy Buffet on the iPod.  I kept waiting for someone to show up with a rum drink with one of those little umbrellas, but they never did.

Last night, we had dinner at the Romantico, a gorgeous restaurant on the south side of the island.  The food was pretty good (I had curried red snapper), and we were one of four seatings they had the whole time we were there.  So, we basically had the place to ourselves.

This morning (Sunday), we woke up and had to eat quickly to get down to the dive shop.  We left around 8:30 to head out to the first dive site (I forget the name of the small island to the north).  Because of my lingering head cold, and despite 2 Sudafed, I had a hard time clearing on the way down on the first dive, and no sooner had I gotten back on the boat that I decided to share all my breakfast (toast and corn flakes) with the fish.  I shared about five times, before having to lay down during the surface interval.   I was very dizzy.  I shared some more of my breakfast about five minutes before the second dive, and feel confident I contributed to helping draw the substantial sea life on that second dive.

The highlight was a White Tip shark.  That SOB was hanging below a rock reef when Guillermo saw him and pointed him out.  Then, the shark zipped out of there, and not knowing what kind it was at the time, kept looking behind me.  But the visibility was only 25-30 feet, so if he had decided we would make a good lunch, we wouldn't have much warning.

We also saw a spotted eel, a spotted manta, a scorpion fish (which a few million years of evolution made butt ugly but with great camouflage – and, apparently, very lethal…one touch and…well, put it this way, you probably wouldn't have to worry about breakfast again), lots of angel fish, some puffers, some frog fish…definitely NOT the best diving I've ever done, but it IS the Pacific side of things, and the rest of the scenery makes up for the lack of good reefs and vis.

I'm glad I made the second dive.  Until I let go that second round of lunch, it was iffy.  I was very dizzy and my sinuses were -----ed.  But, I also know we were only going about 40 feet max on the second dive.

The currents were quite strong, unlike anything I've experienced.  In Cozumel, you typically drift in one general direction.  In Contadora, you kind of get thrown back and forth.  It's cool, but you tend to kick a lot, especially to keep up with Speed Racer (Guillermo, the dive master).  Slow the --- - down, dude, I'm on vacation!!!

Net Turbo Take to Date: This place doesn't suck.  If you need lots of entertainment and stimulation, it ain't for you.  If you like to be out in themiddle of ----ing nowhere on a minimally inhabited island, it's just what the doctor ordered.

 

My last post was from Beijing। I never made it to Tokyo. The flight got cancelled at the last minute.

The reason? The earthquake.

So I instead jetted back to the U.S.

Since then, I've been on a couple of other trips, one to my hometown of Denton to play in my dad's annual "Member/Guest" golf tournament. Despite a rousing start where I shot 80 in 30 MPH cross winds, we ended up in fourth place.

As mom and dad set out on the road in their RV (first to Ruidosa, then Albuquerque, then Colorado, then Utah, then...?), I got back to work after that long enough to get on another airplane.

This time, I set out for Paris, landing just in time for the Fêtes de la Musique, Paris' annual music festival, and later that week for Madrid, just in time for Spain to play its final matches and take the EuroCup 2008 soccer championship. It was an exciting time to be traveling in Europe, if tres chaud.

I sweated in the subways, in the taxis, in the tapas bars, in my meetings.

In Paris, we had the opportunity to dine -- as I always try to do in Paris -- at a favorite little restaurant off the Champs d'Elysses called "L'appart." I've been there each and every time I've visited Paris. The food is excellent and the atmosphere homely. Literally, as each of the restaurant's rooms imitate the rooms found in a common flat.

In Madrid, we attended numerous meetings and had several social business meals, but I was able to hang around for part of the weekend to check out the city.

My colleague Michael, from Paris, and his wife and I had the opportunity to see the "Goya Goes to War" exhibit at the Prado museum. The exhibit was superb, and included a nice balance between Goya's famous portraits and his more obscure "Disasters of War" sketches. Both visually drew me in, but it was the "War" portraits that I thought were most socially and politically relevant for the times. Sort of a muckraker journalistic commentary in pencil drawings.

After Michael and his wife had to leave back for Paris, I visited the Plaza de Toros (the bullring) and took the official tour, since there were no bullfights on Saturday (outside the fiesta). I also visited the Royal Palace, but didn't go in due to the heat and the fact that I'd already walked miles that day.

Once back in the U.S., I held my annual 4th of July party before fleeing Austin again on my birthday, July 22, to head to New York City for some meetings. I stuck around for the weekend, staying with my friends Ed and Lisa who live out in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, having some great meals with they and also my NYU college roommate, Gary.

Yesterday, I went to see "August: Osage County," the Pulitzer and Tony-award winning play by Tracy Letts, produced by Steppenwolf Theatre Company (the acting company founded by the likes of Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney, and others, and which has included more well known actors like Joan Allen and John Malkovich).

Steppenwolf continues to be in rare form: The play was 3 1/2 hours long, but Estelle Parsons and Amy Morton (two of the main characters) carried the show with ferocity and wit, and though an exhausting ride, it was Southern (or should I say "Plains") gothic at its wicked incestuous best.

As I joked on Twitter afterwards, that play coulda been about some of my relatives.

For now, catching up on email and heading to the airport for the flight back to Austin. But I won't be able to rest for too long, as I leave for meetings in Silicon Valley early Wednesday afternoon.

Earthquake in Beijing

Well, it's the third time I've experienced an earthquake while traveling on business for IBM.  Somebody's trying to tell me something!

Around 2:30 PM local Beijing time, about 15 of us in a conference room in the Pacific Century Center building where IBM's offices are located here started to get a sense of dizziness, then realizing we were undergoing a powerful earthquake. 

We were situated on the 20th floor, and the quake lasted for a good 30-40 seconds.  We immediately started filing out of the conference room and down the stairwell to get out of the building, and while the evacuation was calm and orderly, it was nervewracking nevertheless.

We waited for about an hour before going back into the building and gathering our things, before heading back to the Beijing Hilton for a much needed cocktail.

The quake now seems to be widely reported in the major media, including CNN, The New York Times, and other news outlets.

No damage seems to have been reported from here in Beijing, but in the southwestern province of Chengdu they seem not to have fared so well, with a high school building having collapsed and trapping some 900 schoolchildren. 

I hope the Chinese are able to come to their rescue soon.  Meanwhile, we pray for no significant aftershocks here in Beijing.

This is all really compelling evidence for more videoconferencing!

Off to China

Well, I checked in with mom, and she's doing well, so I'm off to
Beijing and Tokyo for a weeklong business trip.

I leave tomorrow early, fly to D.C. and then catch a 14 hour or so
flight to Beijing.

My time will mostly be consumed by work, but I do hope to check out
the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, which is apparently near my
hotel, and the Pearl Market, during my stay over the weekend.

I'll be in meetings and staying in Beijing until Wednesday, at which
point I'll have a 4 hour or so flight to Tokyo (my fourth visit
there). I'll be in meetings in Tokyo until Friday afternoon, at which
point I'll be headed back to Austin by way of Dallas. Fortunately,
the flight back is only 11 hours from Tokyo to Dallas -- no problem!

Feel free to write me at todd@turbotodd.com to say howdy while I'm on
the road.

Mom's Mini Stress Test

The other day, Mom had to go in to see her cardiologist for the first
time since the surgery, which was three weeks ago Thursday (hard to
believe!).

The doctor had her do a "mini" stress test where she spent three
minutes on the treadmill to check the condition of her heart, which he
indicated was looking good.

Of course, the test wore her out and the next day she had to
recuperate a bit.

But all in all, she says she's feeling well, and she'll be starting
her "heart rehab" regimen soon (where she goes in to a clinic and they
help her exercise to get her heart back into a better condition).

She indicated that she'd also stay on her heart medicine for a while
longer.

As for me, I'm getting ready to go to China and Japan later this week,
so I'll be keeping in touch via Skype and email while I'm away.

Mom's Off the Oxygen

I checked in today after Mom had her first visit with the surgeon
since her surgery two weeks ago tomorrow.

He said she was doing fine, and was ready to allow her to stop taking
oxygen.

Mom said she was feeling a little better, and would be going back to
see her cardiologist next week for her first check-up with him.

So far so good!

Mom's Back Online

Mom's back on the computer, so you know she's feeling better.

All week she didn't feel like getting online, and then today I walked
in and she was chatting with her AOL buddies. So I'm not telling any
of you anything you didn't already know.

Today, she had a hankering for Domino's pizza, so we went and got her
one, although I'm sure that's not on her diet. After low-salt and low-
cholesterol all week, though, and after making such progress, she
definitely earned it.

I'll likely be heading back to Austin tomorrow. She's in good hands
with my sister and dad, and though I worked a full week here this week
from their homestead, it'll be good to be back in the home office.

Thanks again for all the well wishes and for the feedback on the
blog. Glad folks found it useful and that they could keep up with
what was going on during mom's recovery.

I'll try and post some dispatches now and again once I'm back to
Austin, but I have a feeling she'll be keeping most all of you
informed directly herself via AOL.

And thanks again for letting her know you were out there and thinking
about her. It meant a lot to all of us.

Week One -- Whew

Mom just passed her week one milestone yesterday after the double bypass surgery.  

This morning, when I checked in on her she was talking on the phone, and a little while later when I checked back in, she was sitting up in bed. 

That's a new one, because until just I guess a day or so ago, she couldn't sit up in bed without one of us pulling her up, so the pain from the breastbone incision must be getting at least a little better.

She's also eating very well -- last night, she had some chocolate ice cream to top it all off!

My sister Khristol has been helping out during the days while I work remotely for IBM in the motor home, and especially covering while Dad runs into town for errands, groceries, etc.

Very busy at work, so will make this dispatch short.  But suffice it to say Mom's doing very well, and she very much appreciates hearing from all her high school buddies, chat friends, and others who send along their well wishes.

Finally, her good friend Linda will be in our prayers today as she undergoes her own surgery.  We will have our fingers crossed and you in our thoughts today!

Not Quite A Week

Well, it's been not quite a week since Mom's surgery and she's making
great progress.

She's been home since Sunday, and though she's mostly been in bed,
she's been able to move around a bit. Yesterday, she was even walking
around the backyard with my dad and sister keeping her aloft and
making sure she had her oxygen as she did so!

She's also finally regained her appetite, which is great, as she
didn't eat much of anything the first 2-3 days after the surgery.
Must be the difference between dad's and the hospital's cooking.

She did have a little trouble with her sinuses and the oxygen nose
gear, so the respiratory therapist brought her a facemask to use as
well. I think she's already decided she prefers the nose gear.

In short, Mom keeps on keepin' on, and each day brings improvement.
To all her chat friends, she once again thanks you for prayers and
well wishes, and misses you all.

She also apologizes for her son's falling down on his communications
job the last 48 hours. However, he should be forgiven if only because
he has returned full time to work (remotely from the Watson ranch) and
has not had as much time to write these dispatches!

Mom is Home

Well, great news. Mom was able to come home around 2:30 PM CST this
afternoon (Sunday).

She made a lot of progress overnight -- and, also, I guess the
insurance company didn't want to pay for another day (I would have
preferred she stay one more night).

Although, as anyone will tell you, it's very difficult to get any rest
in a hospital!

So, the hospital had some oxygen machines delivered -- one sedentary,
one portable -- so that mom could still take in some additional oxygen
while she was home.

Dad cooked her some potato soup and half a turkey sandwich, which she
chowed down late this afternoon. We were getting concerned, as she
hadn't been eating much.

She's resting comfortably in her bed, and my dad, sister and I will
all be here throughout the week making sure she has what she needs and
taking good care of her.

Thanks again for all the prayers and well wishes. They continue to
help and are of great comfort to mom.

The Third Day After Surgery is Always the Worst

When I walked up to Mom's room this morning -- the third day after her
double bypass surgery -- the curtain was closed on the room. Not a
good sign.

There were three nurses surrounding her bed, and one of them was
reapplying a heart monitor. (Never mind why they ever took it off in
the first place!)

She had gone into atrial fibrillation (sic?) -- essentially, her heart
was beating at near 200 beats per minute. The nurse explained that
this happens in about 95% of heart surgeries, and that they had
applied a "bolus" (some kind of heart medication) to help keep the
heart rhythm closer to normal.

Her heart rate is still up and down at the moment as we watch the
monitor -- between 140 and 160.

Needless to say, she won't be getting out of the hospital today.
Probably more like Monday.

Despite the scare, she's doing okay, although she had a lot of pain
with her back overnight, and she doesn't look nearly as well rested
today.

Back to a Regular Room

Mom was moved out of the ICU and back to a regular room earlier this
afternoon.

They also took out many of the tubes and IVs (although there's still
an IV line available in her neck in case she needs it).

She was able to walk all the way to the new room. The nurse did
explain that she needed to continue focus on her breathing exercises,
and to move around when she could. That's how she'll earn her way out
of here!

For now, she's resting and has been sleeping intermittently. They
just brought her her PM pain pills, which she asked for as soon as she
awakened. So the pain's still there, and as the nurse explained, to
be able to fully do her breathing exercises and take deep breaths, she
needs to keep that pain to a minimum, which is why the pills.

She did have some lunch, focusing on the roll and some peaches (which
she ate all of). She'll likely do some more walking later on, and by
tomorrow she could be well on her way to getting out of her. Although
dad and I expect it will likely (and more sensibly) be Sunday.

The Day After Surgery: Mom's Doing Great

Well, I really have nothing but good news to report this morning,
which is precisely the way we like it.

Overnight, Mom had to take in a couple of pints of blood, just to get
her back to even after the surgery. But other than that, it's all good.

She ate her first solid meal this morning since about 36 hours ago:
Delicious hospital scrambled eggs, potatoes, and decaf coffee (she
skipped the blueberry muffin, or perhaps is hoarding it for later).

Most unbelievably, Mom informed me that this morning she had walked to
the end of the hall and back, a pretty good ways. I was amazed she
had even been able to sit up, which was exactly where I found her when
I walked into the room this morning.

She explained that when they first made her sit up, after Dad and I
left last night, she didn't even have that much pain, and actually
refused some of the pain meds from a nurse later on in the evening.

So, she continues to amaze and says to tell everyone out there -- in
AOL chat land, friends, family -- that she's feeling much better but
wishes they'd start removing some of those tubes (IVs, catheter,
etc.). LOL

And, she wanted me to thank everyone for the well wishes and prayers
-- they seem to be working so please keep at it!

No ETA on her departure from the ICU...possibly later today. The
doctor had previously indicated she would be ready to go home
tomorrow. As well as she's doing, I think that unlikely, but then
again, at the rate she's progressing, it may very well happen.

More later as the day goes on, but we're very happy with her progress
so far!

Mom's Now In ICU

Dad and I finally got in to the ICU to see Mom around 1:30 CST.

She looked really good, all things considered, although it was clear
she was in horrible, horrible pain.

She was able to eat a few ice chips (she'd been fasting since
midnight, of course), and despite decrying the pain, she was very
lucid and alert. I don't think I could have been nearly that alert
after such an ordeal.

But we already knew she's a fighter.

Her blood sugar was a little low, so they gave her some insulin, and
the attending nurse also asked mom to keep breathing...in through the
nose, out through her mouth. Slow and steady. This is apparently
critical to ensuring that she stays off the breathing machine and
breathes on her own.

They're going to get her to sit up later this afternoon. My dad
indicated he wanted no part of that. LOL There will likely be
yelling involved.

Much as it pains me to see her in pain, I try to take it as a damned
good sign: She survived, she's feeling it, and she's ready to get it
the hell over with.

Finally, like a lot of people, I don't much enjoy spending time in
hospitals. But as they go, this one's been very good. The staff are
very attentive and most kind, and in such situations, that kindness
goes a long, long way.

For now, mom is resting...I'll be checking back in a bit later.

Surgery Went Great

Well, Dr. Cai, the surgeon, was in and out so fast that my sister and
I didn't even get to hear from him.

But, Dad spoke with him and said the surgery went great, that they
already de-intubated her (took out the breathing tube), and that she
had a little pain but was doing very well.

We expect to be able to go in and see her around 1 PM CST in the ICU.

Surgery's Just About Done

The surgeon is just about finishing up, and is expected to come and
talk to us around 12:30 PM CST.

We are eagerly awaiting his arrival in the family waiting room.

As soon as we get word of any details, I will share them here.

But apparently so far so good.

Mom's Surgery

For those of you awaiting updates here, I've been having some
technical troubles, but once again my good friend Ed in Brooklyn
helped me find a way around them.

Mom went into surgery around 9:35 AM CST this morning (Thursday).
She's going to be having a double bypass, and we don't know if she'll
be "on-" or "off-pump" (i.e., on a heart/lung machine).

She was mostly in good spirits, if a little cranky. They woke her up
early to take an X-ray, and we had bad storms overnight here in north
Texas that woke a lot of people up.

We expect the surgery to take between 3-4 hours, and am hoping to see
her in ICU in the early afternoon.

She wanted to let all her AOL chat friends know that she very much
appreciates all your prayers and well wishes, as do we her family.

Khristol, Dad, and I are firmly parked in and/or around the family
waiting room here at Presbyterian Hospital in Denton, Texas. We hope
to get an update soon from the OR.

Thanks again, and I will keep you all posted here as we learn more
details.

God Bless.

Todd Watson