More Update

First off, I had to set my older sister, Judith, straight. Chau in Argentina is spelled CHAU not Ciao. If you have ever had an older sister, you may understand what they are like. They assume that because they are older, they are correct.

The thing about Phi Beta Kappa was in remembrance of our mother who was a Phi Beta Kappa and never let my three sisters, all excellent students, forget that she was and they were not. The worst rub for my sisters, however, was that I, a terrible student, was also.

Today was a very good day. I was a little worried about Kelly yesterday because she had a low grade fever and looked a little puny. Today she has gone 24 hours without a fever and seems nearly her old self. We walked all over the hospital grounds and she didn’t wear out at all.

For the medically minded among you, she did have positive blood cultures for Staph aureus. She is being followed by and ID doctor or as they say here, an infectologist. I don’t know the sensitivities yet but she will need to be on antibiotics for a while. No idea why she got this. She had an echocardiogram that was completely normal today. It may have been related to the Imitrex injections that she gives herself in the butt from time to time for migraine headaches. Seems a stretch but nothing else jumps out.

If she goes for another day or so without a fever (and I think that she will), she can be released and come in once a day or so to get antibiotics by IV. I have rented an apartment close to the hospital for another week. If she does well with that after a few days she can come home and I will set up her antibiotics through our hospital at home. Best guess at this time is that we will be able to come home in another 5 or 6 days if everything goes OK.

I have spent the past two days searching for a place for myself. I moved out of our apartment yesterday into Che Lulu, a kind of hippy hotel just a step above a hostel -shared toilet and showers.

It has been fun here in that there are shared breakfasts with people to talk to. I had a good discussion about healthcare policy this morning with a German woman, who had also been hospitalized here in Buenos Aires and had a good experience, and two Canadian men. Unfortunately I have to move out of here tomorrow as this hotel and everywhere around is full for the New Years.

I was very anxious about finding a decent place (or for that matter any place) to stay on such short notice – all the hotels are full. I had images in my mind of finding nothing and ending up walking down the two foot wide sidewalks of BA wearing a backpack with my guitar slung over my shoulder, pulling two large roller bags. Fortunately, this morning, I saw a notice on BA Newcomers, a Yahoo news group, about an apartment for rent near Hospital Aleman. Its very modern, light, has internet and a phone and will work just fine.

So I’m feeling better. Yesterday I had decided that if we ever get home again I was going to pull the blinds, have everything delivered and never go further than the end of the block ever again. Now I may even consider going as far as Bernalillo 15 miles from our home – but not without travel insurance.

Chau