August 8, 2018
My Thoughts
EAST OF PINE HILLS
by Michele Harvey
My Newest Medical Issue
by Kiki Skagen Munshi
Going through old papers a letter from mother, Virginia Skagen, then a first grade teacher at Julian Elementary surfaced. About a Christmas trip to Baja, it was dated Jan. 7, 1969. She went with Lewis Wayne Walker, then Resident Director of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, and his wife (and our Godmother) Melanie. This is how it was almost fifty years ago. — Jan. 7, 1969
My Trip Through Baja with Lew and Melanie or Hooray for the Bronco or Viva Bahia de los Angeles
Friday, Dec. 20, dawned cold and with a crust of snow but there was no more snow until about 7 so I put the car in 4 wheel drive and crawled to [Julian Elementary] school—so did the busses but by 8 “the authorities” decided to call it a snow day. I drove home in a blizzard and then it stopped. I did some chores as I was due to meet Melanie and Lew in Calexcio at about 4 or 5 in the afternoon. About 10, though, it began to come down in sheets—snow and ice—so I got Jose to help me load the Bronco and I crept out of here and down Banner Grade (just ahead of the police closing it, I heard later) and it snowed clear down to San Felipe. Then I was in cold rain showers. Got to Calexico, got gas and Mexican insurance and then checked into the Motel Holly Fiesta for a bath and nap. Melanie and Lew Came in from Tucson about 4. Their friends from San Diego who planned to come give us a farewell party were turned back at Alpine. Later we found that it got down to 9 degrees in Julian, with snow and ice breaking water pipes. The next morning we loaded the Bronco and it was full—all during the trip the folding cots kept sliding forward and hit Melanie and me in the neck but the case of eggs arrived intact. As far as Puerticitos the road is quite good. We camped the first night near the beach and froze. The next day we drove on. According to the books the road through Chapala Canyon is impassible even in 4 wheel drive but we did it in 2 wheel all the way. As far as I’m concerned, the part called the Devil’s Spine was scarier—7 grades— up and down, all narrow, all sloping outward, all rocky with crosses to mark where some poor soul died—and down the in the canyon, the wrecks. But it was wonderful going through them as Lew has ratted all of Baja for 30 years and, being a naturalist, could tell us the names of every bush and plant and animal and mountain range—we drove through miles of Boojum Trees and Elephant Trees and Carbon Cactus. About 8 that evening we rocked down the canyon into Bahia where friends, American and Mexican, were waiting for us. What a reception! Bahia de los Angeles is a most beautiful desert type bay— absolutely clean, many little islands, the water so clear you could see the sand dollars on the bottom of the sand and fish swimming. Antero and Cruz run a wonderful place. Most people come in by small planes—the cottages are simple but clean, the lodge has a great fireplace and big tables and the food is delicious. I had barbecued turtle, turtle steaks, fish, steaks, turkey, frijoles, tortillas. The Americans who go there are a wonderful group, people who really love the country and the simple life—many have their own houses. Christmas night was a great fiesta and we danced until three in the morning. The next day the children from miles around came in for their presents—somehow the whole trip was a fiesta… The afternoon before we planned to leave another couple had a cocktail party at their cabin. As we had a lot of food left over we were going to give Antero we decided to drive the short way up to the lodge. The front seat of the Bronco was full so Lew hopped in back and sat on the tailgate. As we stopped he was turning around to speak to Melanie and not holding on, lost his balance and rolled out on very hard dirt and—as we discovered for sure days later—broke two bones in his hand. Everyone rallied around, put on stints and gave first aid. A nice wealthy old Texan insisted, next morning, on loaning them his plane and pilot and they Lew and Melanie out, with plans for me to meet them in Calexico. Antero insisted on giving me his best ruck driver (he runs a regular route to Ensenada with cargoes of fish and turtles and brings back supplies and gas) and he was fine, a great driver. We made the trip in 13 ½ hours and the previous record was 15 ½. This was to Mexicali. The boy fell in love with the Bronco. Spent the whole trip raving about it—and he drives a $10,000 diesel truck on his regular run. So in the small hours of the morning I crossed the border and found Lew and Melanie waiting for me at the motel. Boy, that hot bath felt good. They only found out, two days later in Tucson, for sure that Lew had two broken bones in his hand because they couldn’t locate a bone specialist in El Centro or Calexico—all were on vacation or down with the flu. Lew’s doctor set his hand and my Auto Club Insurance will pay the bills. They aren’t that large. The next morning I came on through to Julian—all sunshine and dry. I’m now back at work and it seems a long gone dream but in spite of Lew’s broken hand we all thought it was a fine trip. -–— And, looking back on this letter we still remember how, fifty years ago, we had written at the end of a long graduate school sojourn in India. We had planned to mosey back to the U.S. through Asia starting toward the end of January but homesickness hit and hit hard. We wrote Mother that we could manage to arrive home in Julian in time for Christmas, expecting an ecstatic motherly welcome. She replied, saying not to come. SHE was going to Baja for Christmas and wouldn’t be there. O, the perfidy!
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I readily admit that I’ve not been physically active for many years. Even when I was physically active, I wasn’t one for playing sports. I built rock walls. I replaced sheetrock and insulation in my house, painted and wall papered and I laid linoleum tiles. I grew my own vegetables and built a chicken coop. These days I don’t have much strength in my body or in my arms or legs, so my physical activities are curtailed quite a bit. Add to that, about 7 years ago I smashed the side of my right knee and a year ago I broke my shoulder and had to have it replaced. My down time lasted for months. It’s taken me a year to get back most of my arm movement, meaning that I’m retaining less and less strength or ability to do very much to keep myself in good shape. I’m not complaining. The past few years I have been going to my doctor more regularly and he is doing his best to bring me to a healthy place in my life. My Grandmother became a diabetic when she was 89 years old. My mother became a diabetic when she was in her late 50s. Now my brother, my sister and I are all type 2 diabetics. Fortunately our doctor visits were often enough that we aren’t as bad off as we could be. My numbers are low enough that if I continue to behave myself, I have a good chance of never going blind or losing a leg because of my diabetes. My mother had Essential Tremors and I have Essential Tremors. This looks a bit like Parkinson’s but it’s treated differently medically because what works for one problem doesn’t work for the other. My doctor gave me a recommendation for a Neurologist and I saw him several times. First I tried one medication that he prescribed and then added another. I quit taking the first medication because I never felt much energy when I took it. The second medication sort of works enough that I’m too concerned about my tremors to quit taking it. Meantime, my head tremors which I’ve had for about 35 years aren’t getting any worse, but my hand tremors which I’ve had for about 5 years keep increasing. I have been adjusting my life accordingly, dropping some activities such as hand writing and eating soup with a spoon, and increasing others such as machine sewing. I have a wonderful woman who works with me named Gracie. Gracie has taken over doing some of the things that I used to take for granted. She does my hand sewing for me and when we get a soap and lotion delivery at my gift shop, she writes the pricing labels. This may seem like little things, but when Gracie hand sews on buttons to items that I have sewn together on my machine, she is a huge help. A few months ago I complained to my doctor that I was constantly tired and could easily sleep 16 hours each day. When I told him that I snore, he had me tested for sleep apnea. A woman came to my home one night and stuck probes all over my head and upper chest. She placed tiny tubes in my nose and hooked everything to a computer. Then I slept. The next morning she came back to remove all of the gear, the wires and the computer. A few weeks later I received a phone call telling me my results. Apparently I do have Obstructive Sleep Apnea. My snoring caused my throat to close often during my sleep which without my knowing would wake me up constantly. No wonder I was always so tired. While sleeping, I wasn’t getting any rest. One of my friends had her breathing tested during sleep and she found out that without her knowing, she woke up 86 times per hour. Yes, she was also tired until she found out what was wrong and how to fix it. A little over a week ago I received a CPAP machine and gear in the mail. CPAP means Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. We unboxed everything and looked it all over. Looking at all of what it entailed and the instruction books and papers, I felt totally intimidated. It sat on one of our living room tables for a whole week before I told husband Mike that it was time to begin. I carried it into our bedroom while Mike carried a small table in and set it up next to my side of the bed. My new CPAP machine is a computer. It comes with a single person humidifier, face masks and lots of rubber tubing made so that it won’t kink. The face mask is held in place by a sort of harness that keeps it in position on my head. This allows the machine to gently push air into my lungs which wasn’t happening while I snored. The tubing is long enough for me to sleep on my right side, my back or on my left side. The humidifier adds a small amount of moisture to the pressured air that flows through the hose to my face. The mask is very comfortable and mostly stayed in perfect place even when I tossed around in bed. This Air Sense 10 machine that I have has a screen that shows me whether my mask is on correctly, whether my humidifier is working and how many hours the whole process worked. Last night was my first night using my new CPAP system. I was told by friends that I would feel more energetic immediately. The healthcare lady told me it would take about a week before I noticed any results. Actually, when I went through my daily activities today, I
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didn’t feel more energetic. However, I also didn’t feel a need for a nap. That is most unusual. Now that my newest medical issue is getting taken care of, I look forward to getting my energy back and then maybe I’ll have enough energy to get more active. These are my thoughts.
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