The 48th Annual Rivera Family Camping Trip

 

We are preparing for the annual Rivera Family camping trip at Indian River, Michigan.  This will be the 48^th annual trip that we have.  We have been going on family camping trips longer that that, but we, but we only started counting 48 years ago. 

 

We normally take the trip from Romeo to Indian River by going up I-75.  This time, however, we are planning on leaving Romeo a few days early and camping for a couple of days on the northeast cast of Georgian Bay on a small bay called Sturgeon Bay in Ontario.  Below is a map of the route we plan to take.

 

With Georgian Bay, Lake Huron is considered to be the second largest of the Great Lakes - if Georgian Bay were excluded, Lake Huron would be the third largest (after Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, but still ahead of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario).  There are tens of thousands of islands in Georgian Bay. Most of these islands are along the east side of the bay.

 

My original plan was to go see Hudson Bay, but as it turns out, there are no roads that go there.  One Canadian highway (road 11) goes within about 200 of the southern tip of Hudson Bay and there is a railroad route there.  But the only real option is to fly on a sea plane because there are no airports.   Henry Hudson (in the year 1611) is recorded as having made four voyages in search of a northern passage through the Arctic to East Asia; the first in 1607 and the last in 1610-11.  While none of his attempts were successful, he discovered two large bodies of water in Canada named for him — the Hudson Strait and the enormous Hudson Bay — as well as the Hudson River in New York.  On his final voyage in 1611, when he wanted to travel further west after wintering in James Bay, his homesick crew mutinied and set him adrift as they sailed back to England.  It’s said that Hudson attempted to keep pace with the ship in his rowboat until the crew grew tired of this guilty presence and let down their sails, leaving Hudson behind the horizon with his son, John, and seven of his crew members. They were never seen again. 

 

A Georgian Bay website:

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=georgian+bay

 

I Will Take and Enjoy My Pilón

 

It is hard to believe that 77 years ago I had my whole life in front of me and I was ready to go out and conquer the world. Well, now I still have my whole life in front of me (minus 77 years of it) and I’m still ready to go out and conquer the world. But now I have to be a little careful, there’s some clogging in the old ticker, there’s some extra cells growing faster where they should not ought to, the joints have lost some lubrication, the muscles don’t stretch as smoothly as they use to, the noggin don’t seem to calculate as fast, my vision hasn’t been 20/20 in a long time and getting worse by the day, the extra “muscle” around my waist don’t let me bend over like it used to, the medication I have to take to keep this fine machine working constraints certain body functions, but I still get up every day and I am impressed by the beauty of nature, I start my day determined to learn something new every day, I try to do something good for somebody and for the environment, I am determined to expand my contact with friends and family and try to document my life and thoughts so it may someday touch someone. In general, I live each day with the hope to make life meaningful and enjoyable.

  

I remember spending time with my father in the years before he died and to some extent, he had the same attitude toward life that I have.  Although he had more physical limitations due to his more advance age, he still had a clear mind when he turned 90, I don't think I will reach my 90s.  Even at his advanced age, he still saw each day with unbounded optimism and a great desire to do good for somebody.  His view of the life, however, was limited and bounded by his religious conviction.  I feel that his religious fever tighten and limited his view and understanding of the world around him and encapsulated him in a small space of existence.  To me, it was a sad state of existence, but he was happy in his limited knowledge – he did not know what he did not know.  His state of being worked for him and he was happy at the end.  He did not feel encapsulated in this bubble of faith since that what he had been taught and drilled into his being since childhood.  At first, I was upset that he never broke the chains of this philosophical enslavement, but I later accepted that his view of life and his limited understanding of the universe worked for him and did not challenge his belief. 

 

I always consider myself a scientist with inherent curiosity and trained in observation and ready to question everything I see and hear until I can explain it.  I know that I will not retreat to a universe of prayer and isolate myself into a never-ending contracting bubble of existence and limited knowledge.  On the contrary, I want to expand my horizons and my knowledge base every day of my life.  I plan to reach out to the world and try to understand it from a physical and philosophical point of view while rejecting the barriers toward knowledge that a faith-based philosophy promotes.  It is easy to reject understanding and explain the world around you with “God’s will” or “God’s creation” when you have been trained to believe in that manner and reject knowledge to explain a natural phenomenon.  Many of my relatives and friends consider my way of thinking as anti-religious, so be it.  However, I will never try to impose my way of thinking, but I will help those who want to open their minds.  I hope those are the values I tried to pass off to my kids, but I left it up to them to accept them or develop their own. 

 

My father got to live fourteen years longer than I am now and he was very active until the last five years of his life.  He was the focal point and glue that held the family together.  When he died, we began to drift apart.  From family cohesive factor, his life was a success as a father figure and family man.  To some extent, if I can assign a fault to my life it is the absence of having a family for whom I am a focus of a family structure.  Where as we all saw my father as the patriarch of the family, I feel I am only a footnote in my family's life.  Could that relationship be a trend of the "modern" family?  I guess I could interpret it as a success, producing offspring that have a strong sense of independence.   After all, my generation will be gone soon just as my father’s generation has passed.

 

I really did not give much consideration to the end of life until my father died.  Now I realize that death, with my ailments, is a high probability at my age.  I will continue to use the products of science and medical advances to prolong my life, at least while I have my physical capabilities to maintain a functional state of being.  I do realize the body is deteriorating slowly and there will be a point I will no longer be able to take care of myself.  I do not know when that time will arrive, but I estimate that I will reach that stage sometime in my mid-eighties.  Many of the Rivera family, my father side of the family, have lived into their 90s.  However, almost all of the Garzas, my mother side of the family, have died between the ages of 42 and 65 years, and most of the deaths, according to death certificates of record going back to the mid 1800s, were attributed to heart decease.  Given modern medicine and some influence of the Rivera genes, my hope of making it to the mid-eighties may not be displaced.

 

I have so many things I want to do, a couple of books to finish, advancing on the family tree and history, organizing and distributing family information and photographs, travel, meet and spend time with family members and documenting their stories, visit historical and archeological sites I want to see, spend more time with family, reconcile family differences, finish family websites, etc.  I also want to keep abreast in the advances in the fields of science, specifically in physics, AI, astronomy.  Based on family history, I can only hope for a remaining lifespan of seven to eight years.  That does not give me much time to finish things I want to do.  I guess I can hope that someone will be interested enough to continue what I started.  But that brings me back to original position on life: I still get up every day impressed by the beauty of nature, determined to learn something new, determined to do something good for somebody and for the environment, and determined to expand and continue my contact with friends and family until I can no longer can.  I will also try to document my life and thoughts so it may someday touch someone.  I will try to live each day with the hope to make life meaningful and enjoyable.  In México, the word “pilón” is used to mean a little extra.  It is akin to the extra piece that makes your purchase a “baker's dozen.”  It is something “extra” that a merchant might give you, in addition to what you bought, to thank you for your preference of buying from them.  Like when you buy 12 oranges, and they give you one more "de pilón."   Well, I think the time after 77 years is a pilón of life and I’m happy to take my “baker’s dozen.”

A Procedure From Hell

 

The cardiac catherization was scheduled for 12:00 noon, I got there at 11:00 a.m. and the preparations began with shaving of my chest, my wrists and my groin area.  I asked why the groin area since all indications were that the doctors were going to access the arteries through the wrist.  She indicated that she had to prepare both areas in “case.”  I did not bother to ask what “in case” meant.  The first thing I noticed was the reduction of staff since last time I was there.  There seemed to be less nurses and no orderlies.  I waited for an hour and finally an operating room (OR) nurse came for me (not an orderly) that normally take patients from the prep/recovery room to the surgical area.  Moreover, the OR nurse was upset that the attending nurse had not placed the IV and had not given me the proper releases to sign.  She had me sign the release forms and decided that the surgical team would insert the IV necessary for the procedure.

 

Four attending nurses proceeded to find my vein to insert the IV.  One female and two male nurses.  They could not find the vein in my arm and proceeded to search for the vein in the back of my hand.  They thought they found the vein and proceeded to “poke” me four times looking for the vein but could not find it.  They then decided to use an ultrasound machine to look for the vein.  It was like a comedy skit each trying to identify where the vein was and how deep it was using the ultrasound machine.  They finally called and “expert” phlebotomist who joined in the exploration for the vein in my arm.  He inserted what felt like a large animal syringe that hurt like hell a couple of times moving it up and down and back and forth trying to find the vein.  Finally, after seven pokes, they managed to insert the IV and began to strap me down on the operating table.  They placed two large patches, about the size of my extended hand, which seemed to be taken out of the freezer, and put one on my back and one on my chest. 

 

By this time, I was shivering from the cold, and they placed a blanket on my lower legs.  They informed me that the procedure was going to be performed from the groin.  I was not happy about that since I was prepared for them to access the artery from my wrist.  The doctors came in, some pleasantries were exchanged, and they informed me that I would be feeling the medicine being introduced into the blood stream and to inform them of what I felt at the time.  They gave me some medication in my IV to relax me, which did not seem to help, but the local anesthesia around my groin area did help since I felt very little pain.  I did sense the cables being inserted and could see the large monitor they were using to guide the probe to the proper artery in the heart.  It was difficult for me to see the monitor since the large sensor over my chest blocked most of the view.

 

There was a lot of discussion between the team of five people and between the doctor and me.  He asked me if I felt the dye being inserted and I indicated that I did, first in the left shoulder, then in my left wrist and then in my chest.  It felt like a very warm liquid was being injected.  I don’t know why I felt it in my left arm since all the activity was on my right arm.  At no time did I hear the word “stent” being uttered.  There was non-stop discussion about what seemed to be instruments and about forty minutes into the procedure I began to feel some pain in my upper chest and a sense of scrapping inside.  I told the doctor about this sensation, but he only indicated it was their doing. 

 

I then began to feel a sense of pressure, like the feeling I get when my blood pressure rises near or over 200/95.  This did not feel comfortable, and I informed the doctor of my apprehension.  He ordered that I be given some pain medication through the IV and a high dose of Plavix, I think the nurse mentioned she was giving me 150 mg in pill form.  She put the pills in my mouth and gave be some water in a small cup to help me swallow.  The pain medication had some effect, but I could still feel the cables that were inserted and being moved around, and I could sense the movement (scraping) of the instruments in my chest.  Although I did not feel the pain, it was not comfortable, and I was apprehensive.  After what seemed to be nonstop discussion and nonstop activity for about half an hour, the doctor gave the order to withdraw all the cables.

 

My cardiologist left the room and the other doctor, who was operating the cables, closed the opening in the artery in a very efficient way.  In fact, I felt very little pain during that procedure.  The main monitoring instruments were moved back and the team of three nurses (two men and one woman) began to untie the straps that held me to the operation table and remove the patches in my back and chest.  They half rolled me to one side, placed some sort of cardboard-like flat surface under me and slid me on the gurney they had put next to the operating table.  They took me back to the recovery room where I proceeded to be monitored for four hours and then the nurse released me.  They gave me lunch, roast, carrots, potatoes and a turkey sandwich.  I had not eaten since the night before.

 

The doctor never talked to me before or after the procedure.  But I later heard that he had performed Angioplasty.  Although no additional stents were used, this was performed up from the artery from where the stents were.   A balloon angioplasty is used to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atherosclerosis.  A deflated balloon attached to a catheter (a balloon catheter) is passed over a guidewire into the narrowed vessel and then inflated to a fixed size.  The balloon forces expansion of the blood vessel and the surrounding muscular wall, allowing an improved blood flow.  A new stent was not inserted so I suppose the doctor expects the artery to remain open.  The balloon is then deflated and withdrawn.  As I understand, one of the arteries was nearly 100% blocked and the other was 95% blocked.  Without a stent, I am not sure how long the arteries may stay open, but I may have to have the same procedure performed in the future.

A Cardiac Catheterization Procedure Tomorrow

Well, I’m scheduled for another Cardiac Catheterization tomorrow.  With luck, the doctors will be able to find the reason for a problem I have been having in the last seven months.  The problem is that I can’t do normal any physical activities.  It is very frustrating to have one’s physical movements constrained due to an unexplained condition.  It is a situation I find myself in and it has my team of doctors stumped.  I cannot pick up heavy things, I cannot walk at my normal pace, I cannot throw a ball or have upper body movements and I cannot go up stairs at a normal pace and have to climb stairs in very slow motion.  At rest, my heart functions well (EKG and heart rate), and my blood pressure and all other medical measures are perfect.  But with any physical activity, however light, results in a total breakdown of key body functions.  

 

For example, a simple activity of touching my toes four times (in about 15 seconds) elevated my blood pressure from 115/65 to 218/97, I developed pain in my chest and neck, my neck and the back of my head felt like they were going to explode, my knees and legs became weak, and I could not remain standing.  This also happens if I walk for more than 30 feet at a normal pace, or if I throw the ball for the dog three or four times, etc.  If I am not near a chair or bed, I have to lie on the ground until the feeling passes in about 10 to 20 minutes.  My heart rate does not seem to change that much, it might go from about 65 bpm to maybe 80 bpm.   I don’t think my cardiologist believed me when I told him about my symptoms, but we did this experiment in his office with me touching my toes four times and he became a believer.

 

I suspect that I may still have blocked artery that is triggering the condition.  The cardiologist did not see a link between the almost “instant” elevated blood pressure with slight physical exertion and a blocked artery.  Therefore, he has been reluctant to perform a Cardiac Catheterization to explore that possibility.   Although I did have blocked arteries, they were corrected with a bypass three- and one-half years ago and the insertion of four stents in the past year and one half.  I, however, still believe that there is at least one blocked artery, that was not detected in previous Cardiac Catheterizations, and that blocked artery is the source of my problem.  The cardiologist thought that the condition could have been caused by the adrenal gland and suggested I consult with a Nephrologist.   I did not believe it because the symptoms did not seem consistent with a chemical response from the adrenal glands.  The adrenal glands are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones, including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol.  They are located above the kidneys and in a way, do control the blood pressure.   I am now being examined by a Nephrologist, but I am almost certain that he will conclude that my adrenal glands are functioning properly and that their function is not related to my symptoms.

 

It has been over six months since I started having these symptoms of chest pains and high blood pressure “spikes” whenever I do any type of physical activity.  I have consulting with a cardiologist and instead of exploring the reasons for the problem, we have tried a variety of medications and at different dosages to see if that corrected the symptoms.  However, I am currently taking the maximum of two or three of the ten-plus medications and none of them seems to alleviate the condition.   Although two of the medicines, Metropolol and Isosorbide Mononitrate, seem to the principal ones in keeping the problems in check, they are not curing the problem.  I went in to consult with the cardiologist last week determined to insist that he do a Cardiac Catheterization to determine if there is a blocked artery.  I described my most recent episodes of chest pain, high pressure and the feeling of imminent explosion in my upper neck and the back of my head while resting in bed.  Before I had a chance to request the procedure, he recommended and scheduled the Cardiac Catheterization.  I am hopeful that he will be able to identify the problem, and if it is a blocked artery, that he will be able to correct it with a stent.  Moreover, I hope that if they find a blockage, it will not require bypass surgery to correct.  A bypass is a much more serious procedure and I prefer not to go through that again. 

 

The procedure I will be having tomorrow involves inserting a thin tube through a small artery in the wrist and or groin and guiding it to the heart.  This method is less intrusive and less risky than the traditional method of inserting the catheter through the groin (the femoral artery). It also allows patients to move around, eat, and leave the hospital sooner.  I hope the surgeons will be able to perform the procedure through the wrist instead of the groin.

 

Having any surgical procedure is concerning to me and this one is no different.  I trust the doctors and nurses to know what they are doing and minimizing potential accidents.  However, aside from the possibility of contracting an infection by simply being in a hospital, there is always the possibility of contracting infection from the procedure.  I guess we just have to trust the process, the medical people and hope for the best.