Thailand. Day 8. Thursday.

Yesterday started off with a lazy-daisy morning. Nothing out of the ordinary. We took our time getting ready at the hotel and had to hurry up to the Lounge for breakfast before they closed at 9am. It was super busy and loud in there for breakfast- note to self. Melanie and I both felt like we were intruding on a conference room full of business meetings, lol. After breakfast, we headed to the hospital with no problems and when we got to the hospital, we visited with Eric. His pain had not really improved overnight, and he remembered having some strange dreams in the night where he woke up and felt like he was jerking. He did it twice, but didn't think much of them- besides that they were strange dreams. He was extremely tired and couldn't keep his eyes open. He would be in the middle of a sentence and his eyes would start rolling back in his head, so we told him just to sleep- we would go out and let him get some rest and be back soon. We walked down to the Ploen Chit shopping center again- passing the Pakistan Embassy again. I didn't see my little girl.

We walked around and found a little Malikali Thai Massage shop that looked nice and clean, so we sat down for our 1 hour Thai foot and leg massage. It was awesome. A quiet room, comfy chairs and relaxing- amazing massage. They worked over our feet and legs and even did a head and neck and shoulder massage that moved down our arms and even included our hands.

We have a thing for getting a little more than we paid for lately! haha. The little ladies would gossip amongst themselves in Thai and giggle and it made us feel like they were laughing at us. I finally made eye contact with one of them while she was giggling and I smiled like- "I know you're laughing and if it's at me- that's not very nice ;) lol" She just smiled and the giggling stopped after that.

Melanie and I both spent our nice, quiet relaxing hour thinking prayers in our hearts for our family and especially for Eric.

We came out and paid for our massages- 300 Baht- so $10 for an amazing massage. Awesome. When we were finished, we went downstairs to the food court and ate something called Roti Spring Rolls for lunch at Lee's cafe. Neither of us were very hungry, so 3 springrolls each was more than enough to fill us up. We weren't entirely sure what was in them, but it resembled a white cheese, ham and seaweed. Surprisingly, I couldn't taste the seaweed- it was just more...stringy...and kindof "Gaggy"...is that a word?

Anyway- after lunch, with our Coke- in a can- with no ice and seaweed spring rolls, we stopped at a street vendor and bought some Mangosteen to take back to Eric. Then went to the Tajmahal custom tailor shop to pick up Monty's shirts and order Justin some custom shirts. I felt bad that I hadn't thought to order some for him the first time but without measurements I didn't think they could make any. Well- I asked-- and they said they would. Cause Sonnee is awesome. So I picked out some rad colors (babe, you're going to be so proud ;)) and they said they would have them ready the next day.  Super cool.

At this point in time we thought that with some pain management, we might be breaking Eric out of the hospital early and getting him on a plane back to the US with us as early as Saturday. So we thought we would need Sonnee to hurry on the shirts.

Well- I paid for Justin's custom shirts- I'm so excited to see how they turn out! I hope he loves them. I'm kindof worried one of them might be too "Kablam! on the color, but we'll see!

We headed back to the hospital. We passed the fish tank full of dead fish again. Grody. I took a picture this time. I'm sure they fed those fish to some poor unsuspecting people too! (Not really...it's actually customary in Thailand to allow customers to pick which fish they want to eat- like we do with Crab or Lobster- so they know full well that their fish was already dead- and they don't care).

We passed by the Pakistan Embassy again on our way back and our little girl was there again, so Melanie gave her some of the Mangosteen she had bought for Eric, and the little girl giggled her little shy giggle again and it just pierced my heart. I just love her.

We got back to the hospital and Melanie and I settled onto the couch- as usual- I would do my writing and visit with Eric and Melanie cut up some fruit for him and would catch up on E-mails. Eric was still incredibly tired and wasn't feeling or looking very good. He kept saying that he felt disconnected and we couldn't get him to finish his sentences very well- like he would get lost in thought.

He called the nurses in to help him to the bathroom- like he usually does- and when they came to help him up, he got super dizzy- like you feel when you stand up to fast- and that's just what we thought he did, but he was super shakey. The nurse got him over to the bathroom but it took a long time and he was moving extra slow. We worried that he hadn't been eating much because of his lack or urgency to use the bathroom- he wasn't havin much of an appetite. He came back out of the bathroom and it took 2 nurses to steady him to get him back to the recliner by his bed. Melanie decided to heat up some soup for him so we could try to get him to eat and he sat in his chair half asleep while she was in the other room.

She brought his soup out to him and put it on the table in front of him and came over and sat back down by me. I looked up at him and he was slowly taking a bite of soup. I looked back down and back up a second later and he had his arm out to his side- not a normal "eating position" and he had glassey eyes and a confused look on his face. I asked him "Eric! Do you know what you're doing?" and that's when IT happened.

We ran over and took the spoon out of his hand and sat him back in his chair and his eyes started to spin and the right side of his body started to shake like he was having a seizure. I had Melanie hold his head to the chair while I ran and told the nurse to get a doctor. I went back to the room and Melanie held his hand while I held his face in my hands and tried to help him focus. His eyes were bouncing all over the room and he was getting frustrated and confused and tears started to roll down his face. He had no grip in his left hand and couldn't control the shaking in his right, and he was struggling to keep his eyes from rolling back in his head. Time stood still while Melanie ran out and demanded that the doctor come NOW. I just had to keep his eyes open and keep him talking. He couldn't muddle more than a few words, but that was good enough for me.

The doctor came after about 5 minutes. Felt like 5 years, and his tremmors had slowed down and he was starting to relax, but the shaking in his right arm and right side of his neck didn't stop completely.

She assessed him and asked him some questions. He could respond when she asked him to, but had an elevated heart rate and couldn't stop shaking and couldn't focus his eyes or attention. The nurse gave him an IV injection of a strong muscle relaxer/sedative that knocked him out and stopped the shaking.

Dr. Prinyurat (his neurologist- who has been primarily treating him since his diagnosis) called the ICU and they came and had to shove a blanket under him to lift him from his chair to his bed. They moved him downstairs for monitoring, and EEG, and an MRI.

We packed up the room and went down and talked to him. He wasn't very coherent and didn't understand where he was or what was going on. He kept waking up saying "This bed is so much more comfortable than my last one." We finally told him enough times to get him to understand where he was and why- what was going on and what they were going to do. He was frustrated and exhausted.

They called in the specialist who deals with seizures, and he assed Eric and said that he did not think this was a seizure for several reasons. Eric could control the muscles in his hand to grip the doctors fingers when she asked him to- and that's not typical with seizure victims, he was also coherent and responsive during his "episode" and that is also not typical. They have diagnosed it as a rare side effect to the pain medication which is affecting his muscles and causing them to spasm uncontrollably. He's also experiencing extreme fatigue and cottonmouth- which are other side effects of the medication.

They ran the EEG while we were there and it came out clean, and they kept Eric sedated for the rest of the night.

10 O'clock rolled around and they told us visiting hours were over so we had to leave. It was hard to leave him, but there was nothing else we could do for him, so we headed back to the hotel and tried to sleep.

*** I really wish I could post some of the pictures I've been taking** If you're like me- you don't like to read posts without pictures- haha, but I don't have any camera cords or SD card readers...so, you'll have to wait.

Sorry friends

Pray for Eric.

Thailand. Day 7. Wednesday.

Yesterday morning, we got up early and rushed through getting showered and ready. We condensed our purses and backpacks as much as we could since we knew we would be carrying them all day and didn't want them to be super heavy. We got breakfast in the Lounge so it wasn't so crowded and it was great as usual. After breakfast, we hurried to the lobby and changed our cash for smaller bills. We met our tour guide in front of the Concierge desk. Her name was Chenya, and we were so glad to find that she was a young, fun, English speaking (mostly), clean girl. She escorted us out front to a little car, and there was an nice little gray haired man driving.
They loaded us in the car and we took off, heading West out of the city, before we would evenutally turn South. She informed us that we would pass through 3 Provinces on our way to the Floating Market.
As we passed through traffic, we learned that Bangkok is home to 12 Million People and about 8 million cars. In just the city. Thailand itself is home to about 68 Million people and that the word Thailand means "land of the free." Until about 30-ish years ago this was the Kingdom of Siam. We also learned that public school in this country is free- for a Primary education. Secondary Education and Private... {Pause- Eric just had a seizure. I will tell more about that in a minute} Educatoion have to be paid for separately, which means that very few kids get private or secondary education. English is now the 2nd national language for Thailand, and is currently required in all schools. The previous Prime Minister did not believe it was important for the children to learn English, so he didn't support the programs being pushed through schools. Now tourism is one of the largest industries for Thailand, and the older generations that do not know English are at a huge disadvantage.
Chenya also told us that Thailand is divided into 77 Provinces, and those 77 are divided into 4 sections, like counties in states. 77 counties/4 states.
The largest industry for the first province we drove through (I wish I knew the name), was Sea Salt production, or Slat Flats. They basically dug large shallow rectangle "pools" and laid pipe from the Andamans Sea into each "salt flat". Each piping system was powered somehow by being connected to a large industrial sized windmill, which would pump the water from the sea into the pits. Once the water evaporated from each pit, they gleen the salt from the pits, bag it, and sell it on road stands, or export it to neighboring countries. i.e. Malaysia.
The next province's industries were Fishing hubs, honeycomb production and crab catchers (very technical term huh?) lol. We passed lots of stands on the road sides with Sea Salt and Mackerel fish for sale.
Once we drove into the village that we thought we were going to the floating market in, we were driving very slowly through what looked like a large market. We passed a cart full of little brooms- which the street sweepers use, and I have thought are so cute, so I wanted to stop and buy one. We asked Chenya if we could get out of the car and just walk to where we were going, and she said yes. She did the negotiating for us, which was very cool, and we bought some brooms. Maybe weird- but I think they're cool.
As we kept walking, Chenya explained that it was a "locals market" that was over 100 years old. Each vendor would come each day and sell their foods/goods to the other locals, and it had originaly been like a trading post. People used to come and exchange goods or food with other villagers, I thought that was awesome.
We found one sweet old lady whose eyes didn't track together, who was selling really cute little wooden carved spoons out of different kinds of wood- coconut wood, bamboo and pineapple tree wood. I wanted to buy some, so I got a few medium sized ones, and Melanie decided to buy some from her too. She bent down and told her that she was a beautiful lady, and I pointed to show Melanie how cute some of her tiny tiny spoons were. She saw that we liked them so she gave one to Melanie "free for you madame" and we laughed and told her "Thank You!" and everyone around us laughed (it was very crowded) and she thought it was funny when we laughed, so she handed me a "free spoon" too, and this went on a few different times. About 4 spoons later- we handed her the change from our pockets and moved on. It was funny and sweet.
After we came out of the locals market, Chenya took us over to some train tracks, and told us that there was a train that came every day, and the vendors usually sat right on or next to the tracks, until they heard the train, then some would move back, and move their stuff out of the way, and others would sit right still and move their stuff. Chenya said "they not scared of train, it could touch their noses, they sit so close and they no care."
So- apparently this was quite the touristy place to be because a large group of people gathered right on the tracks, and the railworkers came and hand-lowered the crossing guards and had to 'shoo' the dumb tourists off the tracks.
Here I am expecting this loud, roaring, fast moving train to come by? And here comes a 5-6 car, going 20 mph- maybe, little blue and orange passenger train. Pppft?? What?
It was fascinating to see how the vendors just flocked back to their original positions though- as if nothing had ever happened.
Life went on.
After we witnessed "the train," we walked to the car where Chenya told us we were going to visit an Elephant village. A What!!!?? I had no idea we were going to an Elephant village. I instantly got my hopes up. Once we got to the village, you could see the "stalls" on the East side of the road, and the actual "park" on the West side of the road. We pulled in and they said we could buy an Elephant ride for 600 Baht, and we could buy a basket of bananas to feed the elephant for an extra 100 Baht. Of course, it didn't take long for us to shill out our money, and climb up what largely resembled an oversided tree house, to "load up" on our elephant.
They called to him over a large microphone in the tree, and here they came, out of his stall, crossed the road, and up to our 'tree house'.
Can you imagine if a car drove by. There should be a sign that says "Elephant x-ing"!!!
So cool.
They had built a seat for us, that was just a bench mounted to a saddle that looped around his tail, around his sides and back around his legs. The lady loading us into our seat told us that we were extra lucky because our Elephant had Ivory tusks, and not many of them did anymore. Chinya told us the only condition to riding an elephant was that we had to make a wish. So cute.
His name was Bou Bam, and he was 10 years old. His "driver" said he eats over 700 lbs a day, and all he does is "eat, toilet, eat, toilet" haha..
We rode around the swampy park area for about 25 minutes. We stopped at one point and the "driver" climbed off and asked for our cameras- he took some pictures for us, and Bou Bam put his trunk up on his head, between his ears- right in front of us, and we fed him the basket of bananas we had brought. He was funny and when the man came over to climb back up, he said something in Thai, and Bou Bam bent down so the man could climb back up. He balanced by keeping his toes behind Bou Bam's ears, and he steered him with his heels. Like a really big, leathery horse, lol. Right before we were about out of the park, our "driver" stopped Bou Bam on some quiet little corner and brought out a little tin of hand carved little ornaments- elephants, beaded necklades- all very white and "ivory looking". Melanie asked him and he said "No Ivory Madame" and was really pushy about us buying some so we got the smallest cheapest trinket, and moved on. The driver kept saying "To feed Bou Bam- to feed," I'm not sure if I believed him or not, but it was interesting. They wanted it to look like ivory-- just capitalizing on the appeal.
After our Elephant ride was over, Chenya had cold waters waiting for us, which were just little plastic bags full of water, with what resembled a canning lid on the top and a straw poked through the top. Very interesting. Our driver took us to the loading dock for a Canal Tour on a motorized long boat. We asked why the canal tour- we thought we were going to the floating market- and Chenya told us we would take the canal for 35 minutes, and it would take us to the floating market. Awesome! We got more than we bargained for. Our long boat ride through the canal was interesting. All the little shanties along the canal were neat to see. They were built in the original Thai style out of Teak and painted all sorts of funky colors. There were some that were beautifully kept, and some in terrible disrepair.
The water in the canal was filthy- and it was hard to think that the people that lived along that canal used that water for everything- cooking, cleaning, bathing, drinking, sewer- everything. I just don't know how everyone that lives there isn't dead or very sick. It was pretty gross. We even passed a lady hanging her (maybe) 1 year old boy off the side of the Canal in the water to bath him. He loved it and was playing in the water. He just doesn't know any different, and I had to remind myself of that. These people are resourceful and use what they have, and are grateful for it. It helps me to appreciate the ugly things- because they are what help us to seek out the beautiful things- and appreciate them even more when we find them.
About half way through our long boat ride, we stopped to see a very large bronze/gold looking statue along the canal, and there was some sort of large lizzard- a cross between a snake and an iguana, sitting on the sidewalk in front of our boat, just staring at us. Chenya said we must have really really good luck to ride an elephant and see a lizzard all in the same day. Go us!
We finally got to the floating market and they unloaded us from the long boats, and we walked through the many markets set up on the sides of the canal- where the merchants gathered to create the floating market. They had all sorts of little handi-crafts, just like the locals market. We bought a few things- with the help of Chenya and then she loaded us into a little paddle boat, which took us up and down and around the different streets of the floating market. We kept finding really cute (fake) Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Hermes knock off purses, and kindof looked at them- maybe wanting one and Chenya stopped us and said Very Quietly "If you like- I know better place. Better quality and good price- but tell nobody. Us secret." Hmmm..okay?
Chenya told us that the canals had become a major tool for transportation and trade in that part of the Province, and had been expanded to include over 200 different "canal streets". Incredible.
We bought a few things, and rode along and enjoyed all the unique sights, then went back to where we started and unloaded.
We made our way back to the Car and drove back towards the city. We were both tired and hungy, and about 20 minutes outside of the city, the driver took an exit that took us back into the city- just through a different part than our hotel. Chenya explained that she had a friend that ran a souvenier shop and he had the purses in the upstairs, butu they would take us since she was with us. Melanie asked if they ever had trouble with the Police and Chenya said "Yes- but only for locals if no pay taxes- not for foreigners," She told us that her friend had already paid the taxes on these bags so we shouldn't have any problems taking them back to the US and wouldn't be causing trouble.
We did it. Maybe we shouldn't have- but we did. And it was fun and exciting..haha. They snuck us through the back door of the Souvenier shop and up 3 flights of dark stairs to what I expected to be a dimly lit dusty little room- and it was better looking and cleaner than the souvenier shop was. They had put a lot of time and expense into making it look like a high dollar showcase.
Melanie and I each bought a few fun little finds-- They accepted Visa ;) And decided we better go back to the hotel before we caused any more trouble. Oiy.
We went back to the hotel and unloaded our bags (our many many bags) and walked across the street to the Holiday Inn and ate lunch at their little Cafe "Cafe G". I got a wok fried chicken with Vegetables and steamed white rice and Melanie got a Soup she knows and likes called Tom Kha Gai and steamed white rice. It was really good. We grabbed a taxi and came to the hospital.
Eric had been feeling much better that morning and had walked down to the nurses station in the hall and back a few times, but since he had gotten back to the room he had started feeling a lot of deep aching pain in his hip and leg again and was suffering a little bit. We visited with him and tried to joke, but he still wasn't feeling well. He hadn't had much of an appetite and since he had a laxitive induced bowel movement 2 days earlier- has had no other urges since. It was becoming concerning, so we tried to get him to eat something substantial and visit, but he was in pain, so he took his pain killers and went to bed early. They had increased the amount of the "pain killer" they had given him called "nytriptoline" (sp?) which is actually a antidepressant that they were using to suppress the pain in his nerves. He had been taking about 15 mg, and they upped it to 35mg. The docot had said that they have used up to 200mg on patients- safely-before, so we were not concerned.
We headed back to the hotel and had an early night.
We had experienced a very long and very entertaining day.

Thailand. Day 6. Tuesday

Yesterday morning, we got an E-mail early saying that the servers were still down for the body scan, which was what we were waiting for, so we slept a little later than usual. After getting up and showering, we went down for breakfast on the Mezzanine floor again, and we realized why Eric liked going to the Lounge for breakfast if it was after 7am. It was super busy. There were people everywhere, but we decided to brave it and eat down there anyway instead of going back up 37 stories to the Lounge. The staff was incredible and there was hardly any waiting for us to get our breakfast- with our "custom cooked Omelettes/Eggs" again. It is incredible that they put on such a high quality of breakfast for so many people at one time. Everything is clean and decorated beautifully and well arranged. These people impress me.

After breakfast, we headed to the concierge desk to book a tour for the next day. They gave us a pamphlet of options and we decided to do the floating market the first day, so we had to be ready at 7am the next morning for our tour. Then we got our usual-green cab to the hospital. Eric had continued to improve and they had finalized the diagnosis as immune mediated luticulitis of the t-10, and were treating it with a final day- day 5, of the IV steroids.

He was getting tired and frustrated from laying on his back for 7 days straight, so we rolled him over and took turns massaging, and I popped his upper back for him. It sounded like dominos. Once one popped, the others followed. I bet it felt good ;)

After that, the nurses came in to help him shower (super painful right?), so we went out on our adventures, yet again. This time we took a taxi to Central World. Its crazy how, in this city, it takes between 10-20 minutes to go a single mile. It's also crazy that it's so oddly named and twisty between roads, and so filled with crude men that we would rather pay the 80 Baht cab fee (almost $3) to drive 5 blocks.

I don't know how to describe Central World, aside from saying that it occupies half a block, and is at least 15 stories tall. It is filled with all different kinds of shopping. It's absolutely obnixious, and massive and mind boggling. There are different towers and each are named different things- i.e. Zen, and each tower has halls that connect to the other towers, it's an absolutel maze. Talk about overwhelming.

We walked through a few different sections- Jewlery, Clothes- etc. Then we found the food court and got some lunch. There was a little sandwich shop called Sweet Molly's that looked good, so we sat down to order, and low-and-behold a man/woman (he/she-it) came to take our order.

It's different in Thailand, but transvesdites are commonplace, and even accepted as a "3rd sex." So this- professionally dressed-dolled up- man dressed as a woman came and took our order and made our food and served us. It was just weird- and hard not to grimace. His voice was deep and you could tell he wasn't even trying to sound "feminine"? I just didn't get it...

Anyway-- I got a regular club, and Melanie got a Ham and cheese sandwich. Even though they sound the same on a menu, the food is still different. The breads here are thinner and have no crust. Each slice is perfectly square, and sliced boiled eggs are on almost any sandwich you order. They don't typically use Mayo/Miracle Whip like we do- and the only place you see butter is at the breakfast buffet at the hotel.

While we were eating our lunch, we noticed that kitty-corner from our little sandwich shop was a little Gelato shop called "Ge-la-te". The different containers were dressed up so pretty, we just couldn't resist. I got a mint chocolate chip scoop and Melanie got a Ferrero Rocher scoop. We noticed that in some of the fruit flavored Gelato's the tags were marked with a picture of the king and said "The Kings Projects" on them. Melanie explained that the king had created projects that would help the locals and homeless work to earn food, like farming fruits to sell to the local shops to use to make different foods out of- such as the strawberries used to make the Gelato's. I thought that was cool.
He encourages his people to be industrious and work for what they have and help one another. The Gelato was delicious also.
 They had the coolest little spoons too- they had like...traction bumps on them? Weird, but I loved it- haha.

We got to stop at the Okley Shop that Eric frequents and see his Personal Collection that is on display in the store. We bought some things, then decided to walk back to the hotel and explore the little shops that were in the "Arcade" down stairs. I had been looking for some fresh water pearls and found some at a quiet little jewlery counter, and I was thrilled. We found a ring that Melanie and I both just absolutely loved, but it was big enough that it would match the "flinstone pearls" (the huge pearls Monty got her for her Anniversary a few years ago) perfectly, so I talked her into buying it. I'm sure she won't regret it ;)

After our Pearl adventures, we got a taxi to go back to the hospital. The traffic was terrible and it took us almost an hour to get 3/4 of the way there, before we came to a deal hault and didn't move for almost 20 more minutes. The people in the taxi's in front of us all started to bail out, so we did the same thing. We were right in front of a school and had been having fun watching all the school kids walk out in their uniforms, eating their afternoon snacks. We walked past the school and walked the other 4 blocks to the hotel. We got to pass some pretty rough and smelly street stands, and we were only 1 block away from our turn into the hospital, when we saw almost 30  police trucks and motorcycles that had the entire street blocked off. They were riding in a formation and were making everyone stop in their tracks. We wondered what was going on, if it was a protest? or a parade? or a demonstration of some kind. By the time we had walked up the block, the cops left and let the traffic go again, so we turned and came into the hospital. When we asked Eric what he thought was going on, he said that anytime a member of the Royal Family had to come through town, they shut down every street 5 blocks in front of and 5 blocks behind the car, and the entire city comes to a hault.

They love and revere their king and royal family so much. We learned that the current king has been reigning for 66 years. The longest ruling monarch in the history of the world. Longer than the current Queen of England and King of Spain.

After we got to the hospital, we contacted Destin and he said that the Servers should be up at 9am Utah time, which was 10pm our time, so we caught up on our E-mails and visited with Eric. He decided he was hungry for something Salty, so we got (terrible) directions from him on where to find a 7-Eleven, and went exploring out the back alley ways of the hospital. The 7-Eleven's here are not the same as back home. At all. No coffee/hot chocolate bars. No Dr. Pepper. No crackers. We had to try to decide what things were from the pictures on the containers because none of the writing was in English. We found him some Salted Cashews and some Sun chips and headed back. I took a nap until it was time to do the body scan, then I woke up and got it running.

Destin connected to us and ran the scan and confirmed that the Immune Mediated Luticulitis was in full effect, as well as having Lime disease fully fledged and attacking the nerves. They discussed how it was problematic because the treatments were cotradictory. Suppressing the immune system to stop the attack of the antibodies would allow the Lime disease to run wild, and pumping him full of antibodies to fight the Lime Disease would only compound the problem with the Hyper Active Immune system.

After discussing what we had discovered, Melanie and I headed  back to the hotel. We had the concierge at the hospital get us a cab, like we always did, and this time the driver was a skinny, lurpey little guy. He saw me in the mirror and kept telling Melanie "You have very beautiful daughter. I have no beautiful daughter. My daughter Fat. She love to eat. Like wife. She Fat. She like to eat and she talk too much. Eh? I no lucky. I never have son in law. I no lucky."
He was cracking us up. He asked us through very broken English why we were in Bangkok and if we had been there before. When we told him that we had a son/brother in law in the hospital, he asked "Why here? Good doctor but good doctor study in America to come be good doctor here. You have better doctor in US huh?"
We just laughed and explained that Eric was here when he got hurt so he couldn't go to the US, he had to stay here until he was better. The guy kept saying "Lucky us- we take your money, good for Thailand. Good for me. Good luck for me- maybe my good luck find me a son in law cause me no lucky. My daughter fat. She like to eat. Like wife. She fat. She eat too much and talk too much."
It was hilarious.

 It was nearly midnight before we got back to the hotel and showered and to sleep. We had an early morning so we could be on time for our tour!

Thailand. Day 5. Monday.

Monday morning we got up and Melanie was feeling better. We got dressed and ready and went down to breakfast with the "normal people" on the Mezzanine floor. The selection was bigger on that floor. They had everything the Lounge had, but they also had a Noodle grill, a No-pork egg station, and things like baked beans, stir fry, Fish soups and "stone" waters.

They were waters that had been stored with certain rocks in them for different qualities- Amethyst, for example, was used to give people strength of heart and soundness of mind. So you basically drink water that has rocks in it. Some people are crazy.

After breakfast, we did our usual- get a green cab- go to the hospital- check on Eric. He had been improving since they started him on an IV Steroid. They had been speculating that what was causing his weakness and pain was an autoimmune response triggered by surgery that they were calling Immune Mediated Luticulitis, which meant that the Immune system was being hyper active and the excess antibodies were attacking the nerve bundle around the T-10 vertebrae, causing the pain in the hip and weakness of the intestines.

Not fun.

After we visited and struggled to get the Body Scan software downloaded, Eric got tired again, so Melanie and I decided to go on another outing. We walked down to Sukumvit road again, passing by the Pakistan Embassy again, and the same little girl was there with an elderly lady this time. She was sitting crosslegged on the ground in front of the lady, and was smiling this time. I saw her while I was walking so I grabbed the packet of Starbursts out of my purse so I wasn't digging through my purse right in front of them. She saw me coming and her eyes lit up, and I bent down to hand them to her. She put her head down and her hand out, so I bent over and looked her in the face and smiled when I handed them to her. She was so shy, and so happy- but she let out a little giggle and it completely broke my heart. I just wanted to pick her up and bath her and feed her and give her a warm bed to sleep in. She was darling.

 We found some change in our pockets to give to the toothless elderly woman and she sang to us as we walked the rest of the way up the street. Once we reached Sukumvit, we walked East this time, instead of West, like the day before. Eric had given us directions to a new shopping center called Terminal 21, so we decided to go check it out. We walked about 7 or 8 blocks before we found it.

Walking the streets of this city is just repugnant. The smells and transvesdites and crude cab drivers are just crazy. There were a few really fun and cute street vendors that had fun trinkets and toys that we had to stop and buy some. The little handicrafts were fun and the merchants are always wheeling-and-dealing you. From the second you walk in-- "Madame- 500 Baht/ no I give you 350 Baht- special price, just for you." They were fun.

We found our little trinkets and walked back out onto the street and walked past a tall Arab man who was "guarding" the entrance to his little shop. He saw us coming and just shook his head and kept saying "Very lucky ladies, Very lucky ladies." Almost like he wad disgusted at us.

We got to Terminal 21 and it was really neat. It was 9 stories tall and each floor was designed after different parts of the world. There was London, The Carribbean, San Francisco, Tokyo- etc. They had miniature light houses, a miniature version of  the Golden Gate bridge, Sumo Wrestlers, Trolley cars etc. It was really cool.

Melanie and I found a little grocery center on the ground floor and bought little brownies and sodas, and we bought some Red Velvet cake for Eric. The steroids made him cranky, and I love lifting peoples spirits with treats :D

We walked through a few more floors and found a little noodle shop and decided to stop for lunch. Melanie got a Carbonara Fettuccini and I got regular old Spaghetti with meat sauce. Ya can't go wrong with spaghetti in my opinion.

After lunch, we walked back down to the hospital, passing the same Arab man again, and he told us the same thing when we walked by "Very lucky ladies, Very lucky ladies." On the corner across from the road we had to turn North on to get back to the hospital, we spotted the Custom Tailor shop that  Eric and Monty use for their trousers and button up shirts. We decided to go in and talk to the man and order some shirts for Monty for his birthday. His name was Sonnee and he was an Arab man that wore a purple Turbin, but he had excellent English and he remembered Monty and Eric perfectly. He described Monty (Bless his heart) with his hands around his belly section to suggest Monty's belly.

I loved their shop becauses the walls were lined top to bottom on both walls with rolls and rolls of different fabrics. You got to walk around and choose the different fabrics for whatever it was you wanted made. They were measuring out a British Man while we were there and were so specific in their measurements, it was really cool to watch- down to the 1/4". They also had a lot of really neat Old fashioned wooden yard sticks on all the counters. They were triangle shaped and I wanted one so bad. I figured they would think I was crazy if I asked if I could buy their yard stick from them.

After we ordered the shirts, we passed back by the Embassy  and the little girl was gone this time. The same elderly woman was there and recognized us and sang to us again as we walked past.

When we got back to the hospital, a few of Erics friends had stopped by, so Melanie and I sat in the other room and visited with a few of them while the others sat in and talked to Eric.

We were still fighting to get the body scan to work. We had finally gotten the software to download, but now were having problems connecting to the Servers, so we had to wait until it was business hours in Utah to call the technichal help line, so we waited...

A little while later, we got hungry and decided to brave the food court on the Mezzanine floor, and found a neat little soup station. I got an Asian style (of course) chicken noodle soup, but it was made with the vermecelli noodles instead of larger- spaghetti sized noodles, and Melanie got a fish/sprouts soup. We brought Eric back a Green Tea Iced Latte', since he hadn't been able to eat much, and after we ate our dinner, we both crashed for an afternoon nap again. We woke up in time to go down to the Garden Floor with Eric in a wheel chair because he was going stir crazy. While we were there it started to drip a little rain on us, so we came back inside, and by the time we had gone up 5 floors to his room, it was a torrential downpour. I couldn't believe it.

We waited for the rain to stop, and visited a little bit, then we headed back to the hotel for the night.

Another day down in Bangkok Thailand.

Thailand Day 4.

We woke up early Sunday morning and were both starving. We hurried to get ready- without a flat iron for me is kindof tricky. The voltage is different over here so Eric told me not to even bring it with :( Needless to say, I had to scrunch my hair. I re-wetted it from the night  before and before I even turned on the blow dryer, it was curling and frizzing all over the place. Wowza. Anyway- after the Hair-Fiasco, we headed up to "The Lounge" on the 37th floor. Since we are staying in a Suite connecting to Eric's {He's kindof a fancy-pants} we got access to the "Private Lounge" - awesome huh? lol We got off and the receptionist already knew we were coming. Eric had called her, and knows her well, since he stays often. Julia- helped us get our seats, with an incredible view and we got to eat and eat and eat. This place has one thing going for it- you can eat amazing, fresh, delicious fruit until you think your mouth will fall off.

They also made your eggs fresh- however you order them. Something strange to me though- They do not serve traditional breakfast meats, (Ham, bacon, sausage- etc.) There were sliced Deli meats, fresh fruit, Home made Yogurt- Which sounds gross but was super good, fresh baked croissants, French Breads, Dried Fruits, Sticky Rice, Coconut jelly, Fresh honey comb....Ummm...I could go on forever.

It was delicious.

We walked around and around looking at all the buildings for a while. It's just city as far as you can see. Sky scraper- upon- Sky scraper. And traffic- and layers and layers of city. Up high- they have the sky train- their version of a subway-kindof. Then there are the air walks- that are like bridges over the streets and they connect to the upper floors of a lot of the hotels and malls and shopping centers etc. Then theres the actual Ground that is jam packed with street vendors, and taxi's, and street scooters, and motorcycles and busses and vans. There is a person on every square inch of the ground, and under them are the bums and homeless- sitting/laying and begging for food, water, money, or candy. Under them are the street dogs and street cats, then the rats and the garbage. It's just a Big. Huge. City.

We got change from the front desk- we had exchanged our American cash for some Baht in the airport the night before, but they had given us all large bills. The exchange rate is about 30-1, but Eric told us to carry 20's because the cab drivers would notice Americans and claim not to have change.

The Concierge got us a taxi, and we Headed to see Eric at the Bumrungrad International hospital.

I had noticed the night before that the steering wheel was on the opposite side of the vehicle, but I had been tired enough that I did not notice that they also drive on the opposite side of the road. It was scary to me every time we made a right hand turn because there was always a car coming towards us.

When we got to the hospital, we visited with Eric and met most of the doctors and got an update on how he was feeling. They discussed different causes to the problems he had been having and different diagnosis'. He got worn out pretty fast from the morning, so he took a nap and Melanie and I walked down to Suhkimvit Road, to find the Phloen Chit shopping center. To get to there from the Hospital, we had to walk in front of the Pakistan Embassy and through all the street carts and bums. It was intense. In front of the Embassy there were a few beggars, one naked man- passed out in a tree planter, and a little girl. I wanted to give her something, but I couldn't tell if she was a beggar or not. She didn't reach towards the passers-by like the others, she hid her face in the cracks in the wall and wouldn't look at me, so we kept going. We walked through the shopping centers, and decided we were hungry. We stopped at a little Lebanese shop and ordered some Garlic Hummus, Nan bread, and Lemon Garlic Chicken 'pieces' and Pita cheese pies {smal pita rounds with cheese melted on top} for lunch. We have to make sure to ask for bottled drinks everywhere we go- so we don't have to drink the water from the ice when it melts.

The server was Lebanese man and was rude and obviously did not want us there. When he would walk away from our table, he would make rude references towards our table- but I could see his reflection since all the walls were lined with mirrors. Not very smart.

We  ate our lunch and finished walking through the shopping center. The funnest part of it all was on the floor below the ground. It was where the locals set up their booths of all their Handi crafts, and there was a small local grocery store. I'm certain the store clerks thought I was insane because I just wandered around in all the fruit and vegetables looking at it all. It literally took up 50% of their store and they had So many cool fruits and vegetables and roots and sprouts....I just loved it.

We bought some little trinkets from the little shops and walked back to the hotel. It was hot and humid, but not unbearable.

The hardest part of the heat was that it just carried all the smells. That is one thing I couldn't ever get over if I lived in this country is the smells. And the rats. Don't forget the rats. Walking by the street vendors was difficult for me to do without gagging. One of the many street carts we passed had two fish tanks rigged up and they were filled with big dead stinky fish- still floating in the water. The gross part was that the fish were there when we walked by the first time, and after lunch- when we walked back they were gone. That means they fed those stinky dead fish to someone. Grody.

When we got back to the hotel, we visited with Eric for a little while and it got to where it was all I could do to stay awake. I finally gave in and went and took a nap on the couch in the other room of Eric's Fancy-Dancy two room suite ;)

I must have been tired because one of Eric's friends came and brought dinner in for us and Melanie visited with her and they clanged around trying to wake me up for dinner and I never knew she even came.

I woke up while Eric and Melanie were eating dinner, and I went and tried to eat, but I just couldn't do it. After sleeping so irregularly and all the smells and the filth of the city fresh in my head, I had absolutely no appetite. Not to mention the food was all pretty weird. I ate some Rice and sauteed vegetables, but that was it. I ended up getting lucky though, because Melanie ate dinner and by the time we got back to the hotel after dinner, she got sick.

When  we left the hotel though, we got in a pink cab- which we learned later- the hotel only approves of the green taxi's for the tourists because they are the quality drivers and they run their metes honestly. This guy was a complete jerk and a terrible driver and took us to the back of the hotel so we had to go in the service entrance instead of the front door. Then he tried to charge Melanie 60 Baht for the same drive that cost 45 baht that morning. We finally just got out and left, so I guess he got the brunt of that deal.

Once again we were off to bed. Well-- I was off to bed. Melanie was sick for most of the night.

Not fun.

Thailand Day 2/3

Friday morning, after getting up and enjoying the awesome breakfast at the Embassy Suites- where their chefs would cook whatever you wanted for your breakfast- right in front of you. After breakfast we both crammed our carry-on's as full as we possibly could and headed to the airport. Melanie had to hand check the medicine again, and it wasn't as big of a pain as it was the first time, but it was still an extensive process. We made it to our gate, after a quick stop at the Ghiradelli store near our gate to buy some treats for the trip. We made it on our plane rather uneventfully, and flew out around 11:39 am. Business Class was awesome. There was a ton of room. It was more than 4x the space, but they are usually 4x the price also. Thanks again to Monty! We dozed in and out, then they served us dinner-- Warm cashews and our drinks before our meal. Then salad and Mozzarella balls and Olives. Then cold shirmp and a California sushi roll stuffed with crab and avocado. I tasted the sushi- it wasn't all that bad- but had to give the cold Shrimp to Melanie- I just can't do the texture! Bleh.

She had steak and I had chicken for dinner with rice and mixed vegetables- followed by delicious Ice cream sundaes!!

After dinner, we fell asleep, and I woke up to the sound of Tinking dishes. They had served breakfast, and I looked and we only had 58 minutes of our 8 hour and 52 minute plane ride left. I woke Melanie up and we asked for our breakfast. We got Quiche, sausage, egg and cheese omelettes, mixed fruit, yogurt and a croissant with some amazing straberry jam. It was delicious.

After we ate, we got ready to land in Tokya/Narita. We landed at 2:06 pm on Saturday- Japan time. Which meant it was close to Midnight Utah time. Once we were off the plane, we had to go through yet ANOTHER security check, where Melanie had to keep the medicine out and hand check it- yet again. This time was the easiest of all our attempts and they didn't tear anything too terribly We found a kiosk and our gate was #57. We had to walk quite a ways to get to it, and we had to pass all the high end shopping centers, in the airport to get out. they were funny. There were ceramic cats and odd shaped confections in boxes.

We passed a lady handing out samples of whiskey to the general public on the way to our gate. I remember thinking "That would never happen in the States." Once we found our Gate, Melanie walked around trying to find the Lounge, and ended up runninng into our 2 friends from SLC. They had survived their flight and were headed to find their connection also. We both found the Wifi and sent out some E-mails to let people know we were alive and Melanie took a quick nap while I went in the bathroom and washed my face and hands and tried to become presentable after our very very long flight.

It was interesting because they had stalls for Bidet's and stalls for regular toilets. I had to remember when I brushed my teeth that I couldn't use tap water. We had to go and exchange some $$ for euro's and buy a water so I could brush my teeth.

We boarded our flight at 17:25 and were supposed to fly outo at 17:50 but were delayed for almost 30-45 Minutes because of a "foreign object" on the runway. I honestly didn't even notice because I dozed off, but Melanie woke me up when we actually took off. These seats-although amazing- were not as big as the flight from San Fran. to Tokyo. We still got to recline and nap most of the way though. We woke up long enough to eat dinner. They served us an Amuse Buche' that was super interesting. There were 4 petite servings of: Mozzarella Ball and Olives, a Mini Lemon muffin, Some Sushi of some kind with Caviarre sprinkled on top and some Tofu/brown sauce/Edomame thing that I tasted and immediately wished I hadn't.

We landed at 11:35pm Saturday nigiht in Bangkok Thailand. We {slowly} got off the plane, and walked off the ramp and the Humidity just stuck to us. It was incredible. As we entered the Terminal there was a little guy in a bright blue coat jacket and white pants with pointy white shoes named "Top" holding a piece of paper with our names on them. He worked for the airport and escorted us through Immigration and the baggage claim, then Customs and finally took us out to the curb where the hotel car was waiting for us.

We rode for about 45 minutes up a well lit interstate, there were billboards the size of football fields and Buddist Shrines and beautiful temples everywhere. There were also nasty boarded up Shanties and abandoned farm houses and beautiful sky scrapers. There was so much contrast in one square block, it was just....amazing.

We got to the Intercontinental Hotel, and they escorted us up to our room and checked us in. They even brought our bags up for us. We were being spoiled, and it was so cute. Eric had made all the little arrangements to make things super easy on us, and after our long 2 day journey- it was fantastic!

We got unpacked and showered and tried to sleep. It was hard since it still felt like 12 noon to our bodies, but we managed.

Somehow all the sleeping we did on the plane rides didn't feel very restful- but it was fortunate!

Thailand. Day 1.

Tuesday afternoon, while at work, Justin called me and said that his brother, Eric, was getting worse. He checked into a hospital in Thailand on Sunday for severe pain in his right leg/hip area. Justin said that his mom was getting more concerned since the usual tests and explainations weren't panning out and he was alone. She was trying to find a way to get to Thailand to be with him and she didn't want to go alone, so he asked if I would go with her.

I said- I will if I can.

Well, the next day, she got the call that the plane tickets were booked and we would leave the next morning. We wouldn't be back until July 4th, which meant 14 days total.

So, after a busy day at work and a long afternoon of packing, shopping, and softball, and 3 hours of sleep, I woke up at 4am Thursday morning. Melanie picked me up at 5am, and we hit the road. We had to stop at Justin's Uncle Morris's house to pick up a fed ex package. After getting the package we had to navigate through/around a wreck, we finally made it ti diamond parking. We valet parked the car and took the shuttle to the airport. When we got inside we eralized Melanie's carry on- with all the homeopathic medicine she wanted to take to Eric, was still on the shuttle. We called them and had them loop back around 15 minutes later with the bag, and we were on the way again.

Once we got to the counter to check in and get our boarding passes, they informec us that our flight to San Francisco was delayed by 30 minutes. They tried everything they could to re-route us to make sure we didn't miss our International flight to Tokyo. They couldn't find any other way to get us there, so we decided to chance it and headed through securty.

Now- the homeopathic drops Melanie was bringint to help Eric can not be exposed to X-Rays so we had to talk to 7 different agents to finally recieve a hand check for the medicine and met the most Ronchy cow of a TSA Agent you've ever met in your life. After a full cavity search of her person and hand checking her bag and the medicine for "explosives" we finally made it to the gate.

Justin called me as I was watching this happen from afar off and asked me what was going on. I more accurately described it to him as her "being she-raped on the other side of a glass cubicle." It was intense. We finally made it to our gate, and it didn't take long for our flight to be delayed again- and again- and again. Our plane was supposed to leave @ 11, and we finally departed at 2:24. While at our gate we met two middle aged ladies who were traveling to Thailand also.

They visited with us about what was going on with Eric and were friendly. We all missed the connecting internation flight to Tokyo for sure, so Melanie booked a hotel and we flew over to San Fran.

Walking off the plane there was a sweet little agent named Lilly who hwas holding a sign with our named on them. She had been notified as a global support agent of our situation because of Monty's status as a premier meember which was what landed us the great flights in the first place. She had already issued us new tickets to depart the next day, hotel rooms, meal vouchers etc.  She was an angel.

We didn't have to run to see if the plane was still there- hoping it had been delayed because of weather also. I was so glad to see her.

After she helped us, she also helped our two little friends from SLC, she change dtheir flights also and Melanie gave them the reservation she had made for us since we now had new ones.

We got our shuttle from the airport to the Water Front Embassy Suites where wee were staying and got checked in. We were both staving and so we ate at the hotel restaurant for dinner. Grilled Salmon for Melanie and Penne pasta Marinara for me. Their artichoke spinach and cheese appetizer dip was to die for. After we filled up on that we got back on the shuttle and went back to the airport to find the BART station, which is San Francisco's version of a subway.

We rode from the airport down to Powell street where we got on "the nations oldest moving monument" which were the calbe trolley cars that are sitll a major part of the city's transportation syste. While we waited in the long line, we watched brake dancers in the street and differen't homeless men playing the "drums" on 5 gallon buckets, wine bottles, frying pans- etc. They were actually really good.

Once on the trolley it got crowded really fast, but we would still see out the windows behind us. We headed down the city of "rolling hills" towards Pier 30 and the Fishermans Warf. All the hills and "bookshelf houses" reminded me of something you would see on an Italian country side. It was so picturesque. There were beautiful- and not so beautiful wrought iron gates over all the doors and windows. We passed one shop owner closing down his store and we counted him lock 4 different padlocks on the gate before he left. It was unique and creepy and beautiful at the same time. Once we got to the pier, we had to stop and buy extra jackets because it was freezing cold outside, and the cold breeze made it so much worse.

We walked around the Pier and saw the Berdidi store where they made all different kinds and shapes of an amazing french bread. We didn't go in, but walked by as Melanie told me all about it. We walked out to a lookout to take pictures of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge. Then we went to the Ghiradelli store and got Ice cream and looked through the galss at the old original 1832 equipment that explained the process of making their chocolate while we got to see it in action. After ice cream, it was getting dark and cold and late so we went and stood in another huge line to catch the trolley back down to Powell street. We passed Lombardi street that time, which is the crookedest street in the world, and also passed China town. We landed right bck where we started and ran into the 3 story Forever 21 store to bouy me some clothes for today since my checked bag got forwardedto the international flight for the next day. We made it back to BART then back to the shuttle at the airport and finally back to the hotel. We were both so so tired. Neither of us remembered laying our heads on our pillows.

Just 3 simple things...

My tomatoes are growing! Yay!

Justin wanted to donate a quilt to the Hit-Run-Score all night softball tournament that we are playing in in 2 weeks- so we went and chose this bad boy last night. It's going to be awesome!

And I'm going to kill me some dogs...this is the 4th hole they've dug in the last week. {Cuss words!}

Busy Weekend...

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

 



Cause



Effect....



Effect....



Effect....





Effect....



We finally hung my super cute clock that I bought months ago for the basement bathroom.

We have a hummingbird that has decided our front porch light is going to be the home of her nest.

Gotta Love Bountiful Baskets

It Cures what Ails ya.

Very rarely will my hair curl. I promise- it went flat 5 seconds after this picture.

Hope everyone had as productive of a weekend as we did!

It's been One week...

Monday

Goat Show

 Ace's Birthday- took the dogs to the lake.

Tuesday

 Jensen ward Youth Auction

OOOh Boy. Cupcake!

Bought this cool stool-- Happy Fathers Day to my Dad!

Wednesday



 Tiffany did a Craft show with some friends.



Hailey wanted every crumb out of that Oreo Cup!



 Softball Jerseys' finally came!

Thursday

Babysat Natalie so Hailey could go Interview for school. Fingernail Polish and Oreos. Works like a charm

Tried  new recipe. Chicken Ranch Tacos. It was yummy.

Friday



Workin, workin, workin!

Date night tonight too! :D



This weekend:

I'm pretty sure I'm going to build this under the East side of my porch now that the West side is growing by the day!


Have a Great Weekend Everyone!

June!

6/1- Softball Tournament in Duchesne Friday Night, took 3rd, and didn't get home til 3 am. Youch!

It's tradition to get Ice cream after the Temple. My cousin Blake got to go do his Endowments Saturday night before he leaves on his mission. He's going to Nashville, TN mission and leaves tomorrow. He gave a great talk the next day in Church too!
We will be sending cookies! lol

Lookin Good!

Over the weekend, we also got our garden planted and the drip system all redone (Thanks to the dogs for chewing it up for us), but now everything is watered and happy! I'm super excited for it to grow! I love fresh garden food! 

Hailey and Natalie showed "Tinkerbell" in the Pee-Wee Goat Show yesterday

Natalie took 4th in her class and 15th overall in Showmanship. She did fantastic! Especially for her first year!

Hailey took 13th in her Class for Market, and she showed wonderfully too!

After the Goat Show, Justin and I loaded up the dogs and hauled them to Steinaker. We thought they would love the cool water after it being in the 90's for most of the day. Turns out- they don't love it. We had to bribe and coax them into the water. They've got so much hair that when it all gets wet- they get super heavy and kindof sink a little bit ;)

Yesterday was also Ace's 1st Birthday! I can't believe it's been a year since that long stressful night, but he's such a sweetheart! We love having him in our family!