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Lobo and watching him as he swam in the Rio Grande. Renée baked cookies and bread while Chuck took care of the small maintenance and upkeep things that are necessary in an RV. On Monday the 4th we prepared to leave and on the following morning we left Caballo and drove in a southwesterly direction (see travel route) to Columbus, NM where we parked in the same spot at Pancho Villa State Park that we had left on June 30th. It had rained quite a bit since then and the surroundings were noticeably much greener. Shortly after arrival and before we had completely set up for our stay, Lobo wanted to take a walk, so Renée went with him. He did not want to follow her but instead would stop and look in a different direction. Finally, she decided to just follow him. He led her to an area of the campground where he had not been before where a lone camper was parked. As they drew nearer, she realized that it was the camper that belonged to Tillie and Puddles. Puddles is the 14 year old Chihuahua-Dachshund mix that |
was our neighbor here in June. The two dogs were quite happy to see each other and ran around like a couple of puppies. Tillie and Puddles had also been away from Pancho Villa Park for several weeks and when they returned, Tillie had parked in a secluded area of the park quite a distance away from where we were about to set up camp again. The way that Lobo knew they were there and went to that area of the park was an amazing demonstration of a dog’s ability to track by scent alone. The rest of the month did not go as we had planned. It began with the scheduled visit to the dentist on August 8th. One of the implants had shifted under the gum and had fused to the bone in a horizontal direction instead of vertical. Another operation was necessary to remove it and install another implant. This procedure lengthened the process for an additional three weeks. Although Renée did not have the severe swelling the way she experienced after the first dental operation, she did have pain for several days, particularly in the evenings. On the 10th we celebrated Chuck’s 65th birthday! Renée baked an apple pie (preferred over cake any day!) and in Palomas at the Pink Store Restaurant had an excellent steak dinner followed by a chocolate chip cheese cake for dessert, as well as a “flan”, compliments of the house. Tillie and Puddles left on the 12th to move to another state park. The limit at a state park in New Mexico is three weeks in a monthly period. Lobo would visit their camp site daily after they left to see if they had returned. Since we were going to be at Pancho Villa S. P. for a while we decided to make appointments at a local doctor's to have Renée’s periodic diabetic exams. When a person enters Medicare at 65 they are encouraged to have a physical exam so Chuck also needed to have an appointment. On the 15th we had an appointment and we were scheduled for several follow up exams with specialist (Ophthalmologist, Dermatologist, etc) in Las Cruces. A few days later the clinic called to inform Renée that she had a life-threatening level of potassium in her blood. She was immediately placed on a potassium-restricted diet, and then in a few days the lab tests would be repeated to rule out the possibility of a lab error. The following day Renée began to notice “floaters” in her right eye with a lot of black lines and dots. As she began to describe this, Chuck realized that he had experienced the same thing a few days before being diagnosed with a detached retina in January 2004. She contacted the doctor here in town who advised here to immediately go to the emergency room in Deming, 30 miles away. The emergency room doctor did not have the proper equipment or training and referred her to a retina specialist in Deming for the following morning. The specialist determined that it was a torn retina and that it would require immediate care. He suggested we go home and pack while he contacted the clinic in Tucson, AZ approximately 250 miles away, the nearest clinic that performs retina repair surgeries. We drove back to Columbus and filled several plastic bags with bedding, toiletries and clothing, and then drove straight through, arriving in the mid-afternoon. During the next four days Renée underwent two very painful procedures to repair the retina, where she was fully awake and the eye was only partially numbed. This procedure requires interaction with the patient and is the preferred method when it has not progressed to the point where an operation with anesthesia is necessary. Chuck believes that his own past experience caused us to notice it early enough to seek medical attention, thus avoiding a hospital stay. Ironically, we had planned a short visit to Tucson on that weekend to attend the 50th birthday celebration of our blind friend Bea Shapiro (see slide show). Renée wasn’t very active during the celebration. On the following Monday the second procedure was performed and the doctor released Renée with the understanding that we would return on September 2nd. That is next month but, as we write this, we can tell you that the procedure was successful! After returning to Pancho Villa and keeping a strict potassium restricted diet, further tests have shown that Renée's potassium level is now only one point above normal and she has appointments scheduled with a dietitian. We have discovered that a low potassium diet is high in carbohydrates. Renée is on a low carbohydrate diet to keep her diabetes in check and a low carbohydrate diet is high in potassium! This isn’t quite how we had planned the summer to be. On the bright side, it is fortunate that all has happened during the time that diesel prices were so high! To be continued…… |
Travel Journal August 2008
Our Motto: Home is, where our RV is.
| To view photos click on “Photos & Slide Shows August 2008” above. |
| Each comments entry box in the guest book is limited to approx. 250 characters including spaces. For longer messages please e-mail us at morton@rmortonc.com |
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