Keighty S.

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I started off my trip with a bang. I Left for Spain March 27th 2006 from San Francisco, Ca I live in Redding, CA the group I was traveling with include My Mom, My friend Richard (who had be to Spain) and myself. I had taking care of all my travel arrangements. I rented a 3 bedroom 2 bath Villa with a private pool in El Campello and a car from Avis in Madrid and planned out some sightseeing trips for after I was released from hospital. For off I forgot about getting my money transferred to euro so I had to be creative in figuring out how to get money to Dr B so. I e-mailed him my problem and he arranged for me to transfer 3000.00 and the rest I was able to have my Dad transfer it to me personal through a bank in Alcoy through Money gram. Anyways we go to the airport and of course they didn't have a wheel chair like I requested. So I had to sit over in the corner while my Mom and Richard checked in.  Then they had to find me a wheel chair and that took so long we started to fall behind. So long story short my friend got held up in security and we had to leave him behind. I was so stressed out he was the one who was suppose to help drive us around.  So this really sent my mom over the edge not only was this her first time flying but also going out of the country and then on top of the big pile I was having surgery. I don't know how my Mother (God Bless her soul! I love her so much!) Didn’t have a heart attack with all that stress and I was so sick I couldn't hardly walk you stand for more then a few minutes before I needed to sit down. So here we are on are way to Spain and not know if Richard will be able to make it so at that point I was ready to cry.  It was a nightmare when we landed in Amsterdam again there was no wheelchair and I was struggling to walk. I had to keep stopping to sit-down luckily we had about 2 hrs till the flight to Madrid. Amsterdam Airport was cool they had tons of shops and My Mom went into one and this proves the world is small. My mom who has never travel out of the country and hardly out of California is in this shop looking at hats  while I rested and she meet a lady she knew from Redding, Ca where were from. This lady wasIs that crazy the lady was on a business trip for her new company and this was her first time in Amsterdam. I was very cool. I really liked Amsterdam and I think I might take a trip back there in a couple of years. So after transferring in Amsterdam we flew into Madrid where I found out when they took Richard's baggage off they also took my off so after fighting with the Kilm customer service Lady it finally dawned on me what happened. So we decide to call Richard a let him call the airport in SFO and find out what happened to my Luggage and we got Our Car and headed for the Villa. My Mom did such a good job driving the car we rented in Madrid. I was so proud of her. For some reason all the car in Europe are mainly Standards so it was hard for me to drive since I was so heavy and my leg are so short I had a hard time driving. So we did get lost a few times and turned a 5 hours trip into 7 hours but oh well. So we arrived at the Villa at about midnight Spain time and immedialy went to sleep we had to be up in Alcoy about 45 miles from El campello by 1Pm to go over surgery and Labs. We were late because of course we got lost. We were going around and around in circles and my Mom started laughing hysterical which at the time made me mad, but now I can laugh at it too. I was pretty funny how lost we were and turns out we were only about 2 blocks from the clinica. So when we finally found the clinica. Dr B was in Surgery and we were going to have to wait a couple of hrs. I was so tired I actually fell asleep with my mom holding my head up. At this point my sleep apnea was so bad I would fell asleep at the drop of a hat.  After a while a nurse came into the waiting room and told us to go to room 225 so we went up the stairs and there was somebody already in that room so I went to the waiting room up stairs and my mom went back down stairs to find out why they sent us to a room that someone else was already in. After about 5 mins some lady came up to me who spoke English and said her name was Cookie and Dr B sent us up to that room to meet Tom who had surgery the day before(Tom is Cookies Husband). Cookie was called down stairs by the nurse because my Mom was so upset that she couldn't communicate with them she started crying. Cookie was an angel! My mom was able to calm down after that. Finally Dr B came to meet us and we went to his office and discussed the surgery and the type of results and post care I would need to commit too. Then I meet with the nutritionist Armando and he took my weight and height and BMI. After that I checked my message and found out Richard was on the flight and would be taking a train down from Madrid to Alicante and we would pick him up there and then I would need to be back in Alcoy the next Day at Noon for the Surgery at 3pm. So we somehow made it to the train station after and hour and a half of driving around. A wonderful couple who spoke very little English let us follow them to it. Richard had only just got there 10 mins earlier, My Mom and I were never happier to see someone in are lives. So we all went back to villa and ate dinner and prepared for Friday.  I was shocked at the fact I was able to get any sleep. I woke up at 9:00 am and took a shower and packed for my surgery. We arrived at clinica at about noon I went and took the rest of my pre-op test and was show to my room. We visited with Tom and Cookie and then Dr B came in to show me how to use the breathing thing for my Lungs. Then made me show him I could use it then told my Mom and Richard what he wanted me to do after surgery when I was back at the Villa. Then Armando came in and we discussed post-op diet. Then we took pictures with Dr B. After they both left I changed in to the gown and visited for another 30 mins with my Mom and Richard then they came to get me and off to the O.R.  I followed the guy to the blue elevator and then into O.R. Dr B and about 6 other people were already in there and I was taken over to the table that I had read so much about and told to disrobe. I was allowed to keep my underwear on. I disrobed and climbed up on the table then Dr B started talking to me while the prepared to put my under and I just remember saying Good Luck and that was it. I woke up still in O.R and I remember trying to talk to the guy in there that was cleaning up, But I couldn't say anything then I went back to sleep. The next thing I remember was waking up in my room and the nurse was trying to talking to my mom then out again. The first night was long after I woke up I was having problems with the sleep apnea and the alarm for my oxygen kept going off and that kept waking me up . I couldn't get comfortable my feet were swollen and I started my period which now I know is very common. So the first day was a blur and the second day was a little better it's weird even then I don't remember being in very much pain, But I had my lap. Then the dreaded blue dye the first day it wasn’t so bad but as time went on it got hard to choke down. The good news if you can call it that was the beds were so darn uncomfortable it made me want to get up and walk. I walked every chance I could. At first I could only make it to Tom's door which was only three doors down and then eventually I was able to walk all the way to the end of the hall and back. My mom was so good she just waited on me and read. I Love her so much! She’s such a good mom I know she was going crazy being away for so long. She really kept it together for me big time. At this point I was feeling better everyday and the pain was not really pain anymore but just pressure. On my last day I couldn't sleep and it was about 5am Spain time my mom finally was able to sleep so I went out and start to walk the halls. I heard Tom and Cookie in there room talking, I want to knock on the door and talk but was so chicken to interrupt. Just about then Cookie opened the door and was going to get Tom a Popsicle and ask if I wanted one too. That was the best Popsicle ever!!!! So they invited me in and we chatted till Dr B got in at 8 or 9 and I went for my leak test. I thought it was going to be worst then that. They gave me a drink that tasted like black licorice told me to drink as much as I could and gave me a straw so I down it. In fact the guy came back out and took it before I could finish it and said enough. Then they told me to hold still and that was it. By then my mom was up and her and I still need to go to the bank to get money for Dr B so the nurse called us a taxi and the driver great guy took us to the wrong bank then the right one. When we got there my Dad had given me the wrong transfer # which freaked me out so we had to find a phone to call him. It was about 2 am in California he had to get up and find it and we had to wait and call him back. My friend Richard went back to El Campello after I got out of surgery and was on his way back to Alcoy to pick us up. So we needed to get back to Clinica paid Dr B and have him cut my stitches. When we got back Richard was there and Dr B and Two Norwegian doctors were in my room Dr B wants to show them my incision. Dr B decided instead of having us drive all the way back to Alcoy on Friday My mom or Richard could pull the Drains on Friday at the villa. When he shows them what to do he tells my mom to put her foot on my side and count to three and pull. We all looked at each other then Dr B started laughing. Who knew he was so silly. I was also give medicine and heparin shots AHHH! Dr B wanted me to take two a day for Two weeks and one a day to two after I got home. I hate needle so that was going to be lots of fun. I already had some at clinica and they weren't painful but boy do they leave a bruise for about a month after I still had bruises. I wanted mom to do it but she was to nervous to do it so after Richard gave me one I did the rest. I was pretty good at finding numb spot on my tummy.  After Dr B explained how to remove the drains and what to look for on my vitals we were discharged, I was glad to finally leave the hospital and relax at the villa. We stopped a couple of place on the drive back. El Campello is about a 45 min to Hour drive Alcoy. We also stopped at the Carrefour European Wal-Mart of sorts. I went in for a little bit then got tired and went back to car and slept. Finally after what seemed like forever my Mom and Richard came back to car and we went to villa. Then next couple of day we lounged and went to beach in evenings for walks and then we would go to villa and my mom would read and Richard and I would watch a movie or T.V. Lucky Richard brought his Laptop so we could watch the DVD I brought for some reason Europe has a different write code on there DVD players the won't play USA DVD. Then on the weekend before we left we decided to checkout out a wildlife safari I found in the travel guide at villa. It was a beautiful drive about a two hour up into the mountains. We got there right at lunch time and the park was going to be closed for an hour but there was a petting zoo in the back and a cafe. I lady spoke English and told us we showed up at the best time because after lunch we were going to follow the feed truck which guaranteed we would see some animals. So we went into cafe to and got a bottle of water and three glass and some chips. The lady inside told us that if we decide to go around back to the petting zoo, bring the glasses back in because they had an escaped monkey! I asked if I heard her right and they said yes she said monkey. So were sitting out there waiting for them to open back up and out of nowhere this monkey come strolling over. Richard said he knew something was up when my eyes got so wide. The monkey came over to our table and jumped up in the chair next to me and stole my chips. I thought about grabbing them back but when I saw his teeth I thought. You know what you can just keep them Mr. Monkey. I was so cool following the feed truck we got to see all the animals and feed some of them. I got to feed and pet the elephant. The only thing that sucked was my battery for my camera died and so did Richards. So we had to buy a disposable camera and they only had one left and they wanted ten euros for it. So we bought it but were limited on the pictures we could take. After we went through the main zoo we went into the petting zoo. They had a bunch of babies in the including the cutest potbelly pig I ever seen. It’s was so tiny I just want to steal it. My mom actually got to feed it. Then there was a old tiger in one of the cage that had arthritis an couldn’t be in the cages with the other so he was off on his only and your not suppose to pet them but you can stand right next to the cage and it came right up to Richard and he reached in a petted it. Bad boy! The next day we went up to Benidorm and looked around went to the top of one of there hotel that was a hundred stories high and took pictures then went down to the beach and relaxed. The last couple of day we stayed around the villa and El Campello and then the day had come it was time to leave. I was glad to head home and finally be able to eat some good soup and yogurt. Also the time together was wearing thin my Mom and Richard got into a few spats and she was really getting home sick. Luckily when we were there Richard found us a cheap international calling center so we could e-mail and call home really cheap. So we left early Tuesday morning and headed back to Madrid. We stop at a few small towns and looked at cathedrals and castles and had one last meal before we left. Then on the way back we had to lay over twelve hours in Amsterdam so we got a hotel room and had a nice break. Then we left Amsterdam on are way back to San Francisco. The flight actually went by fast it was weird to have it be daylight all the way back. So we didn’t get very much sleep and there were a lot of kids on the flight on there way back from Italy. I tried to eat a little bit of chicken but it made me throw up. I’m glad I had a barf bag convenient. So as we got into California the weather got bad and our two weeks of sunshine was gone and it was wet and cold in San Francisco. My dad came down and picked us up and took us home. I sleep for twelve hours but was glad to finally be home. I have a few problems with diarrhea and eat to fast but I only throw up three times and learned to eat slower and the diarrhea and gas are mostly triggered but certain foods. I have seen lost 90 pounds and am now able to sleep through the night and have no back pain. The trip was hectic at times and very stressful but now we can all look back and laugh and be glad we did it. Especially my mom she was so nervous driving in Spain she almost had a heat attack and now she brags about it and laughs. I’m so luck to have her and we be forever thankful to her and my dad for helping me through this and also I’m thankful for Richards support and the support of my friend and family. I love you all. Thank you  the Daughter of a lady my mother use to care for!