A sip of margarita

The BioFit Center had made arrangements for the lab at the Stem Cell Institute to send someone over to our room Thursday morning to take John's blood. He had decided to go through the BioFit Center's evaluation program to find out what he should be eating and how much he should be exercising. At 8:30 the director of the lab at the Stem Cell Institute showed up personally to draw blood. I was happy that it wasn't my blood being drawn this time. Doctor Rodolfo Fernandez spoke English with a slight southern accent. He was Panamanian but went to school in the US and practiced in New Orleans for awhile. He drew John's blood and we talked for a few minutes. He has a coffee farm in Boquete that he seems very fond of and told us he would be there the same weekend we plan to go there to see our friend. He told us to give him a call while we were there.  We asked for a tour of the lab but he said that unlike Costa Rica, they were not set up to do tours and that we'd have to dress up in complete sterile garb to go in there. He said that when they move into their new facility people will be able to view the lab behind glass windows.


John had been fasting for the past twelve hours in preparation for the blood test so after Dr. Fernandez left we made a quick breakfast and then headed out to catch our ride to the BioFit Center. I went in the gym for my work-out with Ivan while John took the stress test. He said the stress test is the same test doctors use to determine heart health. John and I finished about the same time and we headed back to the hotel. The northern sky turned dark and rain moved in across the city. By the time we reached the hotel rain pelted the van. I was a good afternoon to work on the blog.

It rained hard for a few hours then the skies cleared late in the afternoon. We decided to catch a cab to another Mexican food restaurant we discoverd from an add in a magazine. The street that it was on was not far from here but we didn't know where on the street the establishment was located. We walked outside and found traffic backed up to a stand still in all directions.  John said we could probably get there faster if we walked and the rain had cooled the city's atmosphere to a comfortable temperature. We headed up the street in the opposite direction from which we usually take when going shopping. The sidewalks were uneven for the first few minutes of the walk as we passed by several construction sites then they turned quite managable. My bad leg is still functioning pretty much at the level of mobility I had before coming to Panama. My desire to see improvement is met with the dissappointment of no noticable difference and the hope that with time there will be good things to come. I held John's hand and used him to help keep my balance.

 We went up two blocks and turned right, guessing that this was the way to go. We passed a guy handing out leaflets for a new restaurant and asked him where Mrs. Mendoza's was. He told us it was in the direction we were headed about a five minute walk. It was a nice street divided by a median of grass and trees. We were walking through a residential neighborhood with nice apartment buildings and many people were out with their dogs or their kids. There were several restaurants and stores in the ground floors of the buildings and we passed a community park that was clean and populated with people enjoying the last of the day's light.

The restaurant wasn't as ornate as the previous Mexican place we visited but the menu was better, not quite Tex-Mex, but close. They had a salsa bar that had hot sauce that met with John's approval. We had a little coupon that offered us a free margarita and John ordered it frozen to help cool down from the walk. I took a couple of sips and it was cold and sweet but made me dizzy.  That's why I don't drink. We were there in time for happy hour and the place was populated with a younger crowd. A young man was setting up in one corner for live entertainment to play through dinner time.

The walk back to the hotel took twenty minutes and I managed well but my leg became fatigue and I stuggled to climb the stairs up to the Alba. Tomorrow I receive another spinal injection and my third week of treatment will be complete. During my counselling with the BioFit Center they broke the health cycles down into four increments according to age. The last increment is fifty-five and older. I've been thinking about entering this final stage and the changes that need to be made. It's like turning to the last chapter in a book, but I do not want to turn that page. I know there will be lots of laughs and good times in the chapter, but I also know there will be lots of sadness. The part of me that worries, worries that I won't be a useful wife or a productive member of society and I worry a lot about my Dad and the ordeal he is going through. I had a restless night.