Monday 2nd
August 2015.
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| My beautiful daughter Suzy |
Good morning
everyone this first Sunday in August.
It’s early in
the morning. From my desk I can hear my
Father shaving. Soon Eladio will bring him up the path in his wheelchair to the
dining room for his breakfast. No doubt
he will be thinking that today is “blog day” which indeed it is. Afterwards we will go for our walk with the
dogs whilst the girls sleep. Oh that
word “girls”! It makes me so happy to
have both my daughters with us at home.
We miss Suzy so much. She has
been here as I told you for tests but more about that later.
Last Sunday
when I left off I made a roast for lunch, chicken with all the trimmings
including sage and onion stuffing to the delight of Miguel and Oli, my Father
and Eladio. We spent the afternoon by the pool – the only place to be in such
heat. Whilst Elsa enjoyed playing fetch
in the water, Pippa only looked on without wanting to get wet. I caught her
here on camera watching Elsa. Isn’t she
lovely? No doubt you have guessed that
she is very spoiled. Well that’s what
general happens with the last of the litter or pack be that a puppy or a child
haha.
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| Pippa looking at the water |
Later we
played cards – sevens, that game that Sandra, Jeffer and Isiline taught me last
year in Santa Pola and which is very addictive.
As usual Miguel beat us. He is a
person with not just a winning streak but is also highly competitive; in a nice
way I should add. Whilst we were playing, one British man, one Colombian and
one Spaniard were celebrating their performance in the Tour of France on the
end day in Paris on the podium. It’s funny how the Brits seem to dominate
this race these days when it always used to Spaniards or Italians. In any case congratulations go to Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde.
I love cycling and was very close to the sport for many years but after
all the doping business I have lost a lot of the admiration I had for this most
difficult of sports. I was sad to read
that many sports critics were accusing Froome of “not playing the game” and going
as far as saying that he had a hidden engine in his bike. I can hardly believe the latter.
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| This year's TDF Podium |
At dinner that
night with Eladio and Olivia I told them I had read a report that day from The
Lancet (take that publication seriously as it is the most important medical
journal in the world) which puts Spain in the top position for healthy living
and life expectancy in Europe. This is
the report. The picture says it all.
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| Spain the healthiest country in Europe |
That didn’t
come as a surprise to me. We might not
have the best economy but we certainly eat the healthiest and most delicious
food, have the best climate and the best health system – more about that later.
On Monday I
fasted and after two meetings at Yoigo off I went to Barajas airport to pick up
my darling daughter Suzy. She was here for medical tests as she has been having
lots of strange pains which are unusual for her. The NHS in the UK was not doing a good job and
was very slow with the tests there.
Later we would learn they were barking up the wrong tree. Suzy had told me she didn’t like going to the
local health centre as many of the GPs there are Muslims and won’t examine her;
i.e. because she is a woman they won’t touch her. My school friend Brenda who
is a nurse commented to me later that they shouldn’t be practicing and I
totally agree. It’s unbelievable.
As the tests
were to be the next morning, we had Suzy all to ourselves that afternoon which
was lovely. She was shocked at the heat that hit her when she walked out of the
airport as of course she is used to London weather. It was very hot so we spent the afternoon by
the pool. Here is a lovely photo of her
with our beagle Norah.
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| Suzy with Norah |
Later we went
to pick up Olivia who was doing a live report from a village far away called
Valdemorillo. It was about a house there
where the owners had a huge marijuana plantation which is totally illegal. I often watch Olivia live on TV but very
rarely get to see her report on the street.
Here she is reporting whilst we looked on.
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| Olivia reporting live |
We had a
lovely dinner that night together, the four of us which is a totally luxury for
us.
On Tuesday
morning we were at the Hospital Fundación Alcorcón at 08.30 sharp where the
girls’ friend Rocio’s father is the head of Anesthesia. Every time we have a biggish medical problem
we abuse this friendship preferring to go this public hospital where he works
and opens all the doors for us rather than go privately. We could go privately
as I have a private company health insurance for all of us, but it’s so much
more comforting to go to a hospital where you know people. Juan spent the best part of the morning with
us. We started with the head doctor of the digestive system who came in half an
hour earlier than usual just to see Suzy.
From there we went to do an ultrasound scan and it was then we found out
she had a complex cyst on both ovaries, one of which measured 4cm (an ovary
measures 5cm). We then did a blood test
and as the problem was now obviously gynecological Juan made an appointment the
next morning for us with the head of gynecology, his friend Manolo. We felt in such good hands. The only problem
looming was that if Suzy needed an operation she was hoping it wouldn’t
interfere with the trip to Thailand she had long planned with Rocío and other
friends from 22nd August to 6th September. She was really looking forward to it and had
been saving up all year. In fact for her
birthday all her friends put money together for her as a present to finance part
of the trip. Remember the flower money
treasure hunt they organized on the day of her birthday here at home in
April?
In any case we
went home hoping she would still be able to travel and enjoyed the rest of the day
together. I had to get on with my work. I have been very busy this week working on
the financing of our summer party in El Rocío in September, getting our
suppliers to sponsor as well as getting all the lists together and sending out
the save the date and a long etcetera.
It is a very big project I can tell you.
Olivia was
home unusually early that evening at 06.45pm and she joined us by the
pool. Here is a photo of her with her
sister Suzy. I caught them unawares I think.
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| My two daughters together |
On Wednesday
morning Suzy and I were at the hospital again and Juan came to meet us at 9am
in the lobby. He took us straight to the
head of gynecology to a wonderful man called Manolo who at first sight made us
feel comfortable and in the best of hands.
He immediately did a scan and then a 4D scan and was able to make an on
the spot diagnosis. Suzy had something called endometriosis; a word I am still
trying to get my tongue around. It had
caused the cysts and the big one has to be removed. There was a debate about when to operate and
unfortunately in the end it will be on the 18th August which means
Suzy won’t be able to go to Thailand. Of
course health comes first. She will be
going back to London tonight and returning here for the operation. Meanwhile we decided to stay here with her
for the rest of her stay rather than going to Montrondo for the annual family
gathering. We shall now be going on
Monday morning.
I have to add
here that in just 2 days the Spanish health system was able to make a spot on
diagnosis whereas the NHS completely “f***** up” I’m afraid. They should have done a scan when she first went
to Guy’s and St. Thomas hospital but they didn’t. Manolo told us that endometriosis is very
common in women of her age and that any doctor seeing a young woman with sharp
pelvic pain and other symptoms she described should know immediately what it
was. Well they didn’t did they and I am
disappointed in the NHS and extremely proud of the Spanish health system. It’s true we went through the “old boys’
system” but I know that even if we hadn’t it would only have taken a couple of
days more for the Spanish doctors to diagnose her correctly. We are so relieved
we know what it is now.
In the evening
fed up with my new look (the dark hair I had done by mistake last week) that I
decided to go and have some highlights put in to make me feel a bit more like
me. It sort of worked although the
colour overall is still too dark but at least I am beginning to feel me
again. The hairdresser assured me that
over the next few weeks with each wash my hair should get lighter. I hope she is right.
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| The highlights which I think improved the new look |
Thursday was
busy. I worked most of the day by the
pool with Suzy nearby who was sending out her CV to various agencies for a job
as a dietitian now that she has the coveted HCPC card. Suzy had been told by both doctors that she
should abandon her vegan diet and begin to eat animal protein in time for the
operation as her iron level was very low.
Thankfully she listened and I was glad to see her eat salmon that day
for lunch.
That afternoon my Father had a visit. Olga, our ex Paraguayan home-help came to see him. Olga is very vivacious and a big extrovert. Of all the women who have come to live with us, she is the one who probably looked after my Father best in that she gave him a lot of love. Here is a photo of the two of them together. It’s quite amazing but whilst she lived with us, my Father used to teach her rudimentary English most evenings while he was having his dinner and she picked it up quite well. Thanks Olga for coming, my Father was delighted to see you.
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| Olga with my Father |
Friday was the
last day of July. Nearly everyone in
Spain would be going on holiday and most of the roads leading out of Madrid
would be packed with cars. Whilst Suzy
and I were doing the food shopping Oli was doing a TV report on how Spaniards
pack for their holidays. It happened to
be based on a study done by Volkswagen Spain.
I was so surprised when she posted a photo of her with Gustavo next to a
car. Gustavo used to be head of my PR
team at Ketchum. He then went to work
for a PR agency where he was to lead the PR team for Ford Spain. At that time by total coincidence, Olivia did
a TV report with him about how car makers adapt cars to be easy to use by old
people. She did this for her previous
programme for TVE, La Mañana de la 1.
Since then Gustavo changed jobs and is now the chief press officer of
Volkswagen Spain. Neither of them knew
on Friday morning that they would meet again to do another TV report together. I would have loved to be there. Isn’t the world a small place?
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| Oli and Gustavo meet again on TV! |
After lunch Suzy’s
friend Rocío and her black Labrador Inda came to commiserate with her on having
to cancel the trip to Thailand. Here is
Rocío playing with the dogs. I don’t
think she knew I took this picture and hope she doesn’t mind. The girls have known her since they were tiny
and first went to school together. Rocío
was in Suzy’s class and the friendship continued and today all three girls are
part of an extended group of friends they call “la manada” or “the herd”.
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| Rocio with the dogs on Friday afternoon |
Meanwhile in
Montrondo progress was being made on our house.
Pili, Eladio’s sister, who has been there all week, kept sending us
photos. During this week the railings
were put in on the terraces and on Friday the workers began on the shutters on
the windows. They were also laying the
wooden floors. It’s going to be quite a
shock to see so much progress on the house when we arrive on Monday.
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| Progress on the house this week in Montrondo |
Meanwhile on
Friday afternoon the kitchen/dining room tables and chairs arrived. Thankfully
Pili was there to receive them. This is what they look like. They are a combination of wood and white
which will match the kitchen furniture we are putting in as well as the beams,
floors and paintwork.
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| The chairs and table for the kitchen/dining room in Montrondo |
That night
Eladio and I went out to dinner to Gino’s, one of favourites as it offers great
comfort food. The girls went out that
night too with a lot of their friends from “la manada”. I asked for a photo and this is the one I
got.
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| The manada on Friday night |
Yesterday,
Saturday, was a day to be with the girls and at home, the same as today. Some of the “manada” came and I helped by
making a big Spanish tortilla. This was mainly
aimed at Suzy who was finally going to eat eggs – I went out to buy some corn
fed ones but was told by Suzy that they are not ecological. Even so she ate my delicious tortilla. The
girls had cut far too many potatoes and onion, so I made another one in the
evening for our own dinner. This is what
it looked like – I captioned the photo “Mediterranean diet” as it was
accompanied by salad and water melon – a great dinner for a summer night.
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| Mediterranean diet - my Spanish tortilla |
I spent the
afternoon by the pool too with Suzy, Oli and their friends. Elsa had the time
of her life playing with Juli and going in and out of the pool to play
fetch. I especially love this photo Juli
took of her swimming.
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| A great picture of Elsa swimming yesterday |
Pippa, as you
know, doesn’t like swimming but is happy to be held by me with her head out of
water. Juli took this photo too. Thanks
Juli.
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| With Pippa in the pool |
This morning I
was up at 06.40 and happy to see that all remains of the party had been cleared
away. Juli stayed the night and when I
came back from our walk I snapped him with the girls on camera. He is like a semi brother or son to us and is
always welcome here.
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| The girls with Juli this morning (and Pippa) |
And now when I
finish writing this, I shall start preparations for lunch. Salud, our home-help is off for the weekend
so I shall be cook. There will be more “manada”
friends coming so I am thinking of making 2 big pizzas. You will see pictures of today’s lunch in
next week’s post.
So there you
have it, the story of this week with its ups and downs.
I will be
writing from Montrondo next Monday.
Meanwhile have a great week wherever you are.
Cheers for the
moment/Masha
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