The overlanders come and go. The latest is a solo Swiss man in Toyota four wheel drive but his English is not too strong and our German is nil so all we got so far is that he is going north so we probably shan’t see him again.
A French couple in a van have a rescue along with them. She speaks English, he doesn’t much and my French got swept aside. We talked to her a bit, a traveler in her own right and she is actually Swiss, but they are going north so…they had little Chico go soon. Rusty actually got along with Chico which surprised me.
Layne visits her surgeon every other day and he seems okay with progress. Her skin cancer sound has shown some redness but he says it’s not infected and she can start walking a little so that’s good. We’re still coughing but we’re on antibiotics do we should both be breathing easily in a few days.
I’ve had a check up too and the news isn’t great. I need some pills and I need to lose weight, no worries but altitude isn’t doing my ticker any good. The cardiologist said wait till you’ve lost twenty pounds so there’s the incentive. We’ll have to wait till we come back up on the way home to visit the mountains of southern Peru. It’s a drag but after Giovanni’s sudden heart attack I don’t want to annoy Layne by dying suddenly the same way. My age is catching up to me. Time to listen.
I didn’t a couple of days walking around with various battery powered heart monitors. Dr Bermitt is very though and she hasn’t finished with me yet but pills are in my future. The cool thing is my time in the hospital makes all the machines needles and noises don’t upset me. I’m resigned to the results so they won’t upset me either. It’s a call to action.
He needs me around for a bit longer:
Giovanni the cardiologist is to blame for all this. A decade ago we were riding motorcycles together in Amalfi and now he’s dead. The cardiologist who died of a heart attack. I have trouble accepting he’s gone.
The plan now is to go south after I get back from Florida, no Cusco, no Machu Picchu, no Lake Titicaca. Pass go and drive straight to Chile which is the richest country in South America with good quality roads, high prices and wilderness to camp in they say. I’m looking forward to it and Argentina. And aside from half a day crossing mountain passes from one country to the other most of it is flatlands. Cold windy and desolate but flat near sea level. Public dog water fountain, Arequipa:
I mention this by way of explanation. Life has a capacity to get in the way of travel plans. But on we go, more to see and places to go.
Our campground has been sold by the old owners who said nothing is going to change before December. However as of Monday they are no longer the owners. We’ve paid our bill through their ownership and next week they retire. Their family members wanted to sell the hotel and they had no choice.
Life changes and the earth abides.
On we go.
7 comments:
I also spent some time with the heart Doctor for a racing heart. They found nothing and pronounced me and my heart healthy. Since then, I have found that caffeine, (coffee and chocolate), Asian food, salted peanuts, and donuts make my heart race. Hope yours is good and healthy.
Same as Doug, except you have to add sex to the list of heart racing activities ! LOL
My first visit to a cardiologist was at age 60. He immediately put me on blood pressure medication and suggested I lose 20 pounds when I actually needed to lose at least 50 pounds to get into a normal range. 20 pounds is the start he said. He suggested I carry a bag of cement weighing 20 pounds to see the strain I was putting on my heart and joints. No more fancy 1000 calorie meals.
No one ever is to blame especially when it comes to diet and health!
Saw this in my Atlas Obsura feed today; https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/anashuayco-quarry and thought you might enjoy.
Sorry for the health problems.
Cool stuff. The quarry by Google maps is seven and a half miles away so we’ll check it out on our way out of town. Should be fun and I not heard of it so that’s a great pointer.
As to health it’s not uncommon as we age as you can see and what we tolerated as youngsters we don’t as old farts and we just have to adapt. I’m happy and that’s a big help too. Cheers.
Care for your health as you care for your van, your wife, and Rusty and you will transform yourself. That power is within you. Good luck!
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