From Las Vegas, NV, 4/16/2010.
My last posting was on January 12, 2010. When I left off I was still awaiting the scheduling of a prostate biopsy. I went in on the 15th and had the catheter removed but by that evening was in pain again. My biopsy was schedules on Monday morning, the 18. So, I endured the pain until then. No biopsy, the catheter went back in and I got more medicine to take. Pain relieved.
On the 26th I saw my kidney specialist, finally some good news. My numbers were better and my Prednisone dosage was reduced to 10mg.
On the 28th it was time for more slicing and dicing. I had some skin cancer removed from my left cheek. Basal cells were all removed by the surgeon using Moh’s Procedure. I only had to have two layers removed. Of course this required some follow up visits, stitches out etc. A later visit to the dermatologist resulted in freezing many more spots and doing two more biopsies of spots on my face. And yes, I now wear a hat and long sleeved shirt, but it’s 30 years too late.
I finally had the prostate biopsy on 2/1/2010. The results came back no cancer but some abnormal cells present. As explained by the doctor my choices were surgery or keep my old friend the catheter. Not much discussion here, the operation was scheduled for Monday the 15th of Feb. but because of some other tests my primary physician wanted before he would clear me for surgery it happened on the 19th. I am glad to report that all went well, the recovery was painless. Of course I had my catheter during recovery. No matter how routine the doctor make it sound it still shocked me to see so much blood in my urine. This is probably TMI but I passed blood for four weeks, one after the catheter was out.
We had to cancel RV trips to Quartzsite and San Clemente because of surgery and recovery. But I was cleared on the 12 for a trip to Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico.
I enjoy Mexico but never look forward to flight there. I would rather drive a 1000 miles than go through the airport hassle and then turn my fate over to the pilot of a metal tube. Unfortunately the reality is it’s about 1300 miles from Las Vegas to Cabo and driving across the border and through the large border city of Tijuana is froth with danger. Of course I try not to drive through Chicago or Detroit for the same reasons.
Our first week in Cabo was at the Club Regina which is actually closer to San Jose del Cabo than to Cabo San Lucas. This condo/hotel complex is in a desert setting. Well, most of the Baja peninsula is a desert setting. Many of the other resort complexes have plusher landscaping. The Club Regina also has an adult pool area. As G’s we love kids, but it’s sometimes nice to be away from them. Our trips to Mexico wouldn’t be exciting to a lot of people, we don’t do clubs and nightspots. We play some of the games the hotel activities people sponsor and read a lot. As evidenced by my waist line we do enjoy dining out. Over the years we have been going to Los Cabos we have done most of the outdoor adventures and the tours.
We were at the Club Regina from 3/15 to 3/22 and then moved south to the Hacienda del Mar about six miles north of Cabo San Lucas. This is one of the plush landscaped resorts I wrote about. It also has a lot more usable beach area. I was never a big fan of the beach and will seldom go in the ocean, but it is a joy to sit and watch. It reminds me of the eternal God and his gifts to us. This trip we decided not to rent a car. Renting a car in Cabo is like buying one and leaving it there. We did rent one to pick up Curtis and his family at the airport on the 29th but only for two days. Other times when we needed to go shopping or to a restaurant we took a taxi. Per trip the taxi’s seem expensive but when compared to car rental they are cheap. $36 round trip compared to $75-140 a day depending on the size. And yes that is American dollars. Nothing is cheap in Cabo.
Like I said we did rent a car to pick up our youngest son, his wife, three year old and 18 month old at the airport. We also did some groceries shopping while we had the car. It was a Chevy Suburban, what a boat not many parking spots at the hotel were large enough. But it did haul us all and used nearly $400 pesos worth of gasoline.
In spite of any impression you may have gotten from my remarks about the adult pool at the Club Regina, we had a ball with the grandkids. I even played in the sand on the beach, but only near the ocean. Easter Sunday the resort had an Easter Egg hunt and bunnies passing out chocolate.
The flight home on April 5th was unremarkable except for the 7 hour layover in the airport in Mexico City.
More doctor’s appointments this month and preparation for our RV trip starting on June 4.
I am going to try to do updates more often and will try to do daily blogs during our caravan to Alaska. Of course that may depend on internet access.

Pictures of our Cabo trip are on Gerri's Facebook pages; http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=wall&story_fbid=425396163992&id=755083992#!/gerri.barker More pictures are posted on Dana Smith-Barker's Facebook page;http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000214358463&ref=pymk#!/album.php?aid=164986&id=636923757