Thursday, March 16, 2023
general update
Friday, January 07, 2022
Fatherhood
Monday, January 03, 2022
2022
Now that we are well into the new year I figured I would write something. They (the doctors) decided to cancel my brain surgery out of an abundance of caution because they felt while I was ¨good¨ it was too risky to try it. I am frustrated because I feel like I will just go bad again with these two shunts but the doctors have promised if I do go bad again then they will operate. Who knows? This last fix that they did could actually last forever and I won't ever need to have another surgery (but I doubt it). The good news was that I got to spend Eliana´s birthday, my birthday, Christmas and New Years Eve with my mom and Jenny and the baby and all our family here.
It has been a difficult year for me. 2021 was not great but Eliana is growing like a weed and she is perfect and healthy so I am thankful for that. I have had a rough couple of years but I am feeling positive about 2022 and I hope it turns out better than 2021 did. I am hoping this is the year that we can finally put the pandemic in the rear view mirror globally. Luckily, Eliana is too young to remember any of this terrible stuff. We have been extremely lucky to stay healthy and not lose anyone close to us to this terrible disease. You never know when your time will be up so you gotta soak up every second to the fullest. I truly am one of the luckiest men on the planet and I am doing much better than some other people. Here's to hoping that 2022 will be the best yet.
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
My (hopefully) last operation explained
Many of you have been asking so I thought I would take this time to dive into a little more detail about my condition and my upcoming surgery. So I was born with hydrocephalus, just bad luck really. I was born 3 months too early and not ready for the world yet. It is Greek for water on the brain. I had excess fluid on my brain and it was causing pressure on my brain. However, I was lucky. I was born in 1984 and they knew about my condition and how to fix it. Had I been born any earlier and they probably would not have had the technology or knowledge to know how to help me.
The doctors decided to implant a VP shunt on my brain basically a one way check valve that was gravity fed that drained the excess brain fluid via a tube into my stomach lining to be absorbed. This setup worked fine for me (after 3 different shunts from the doctors!) until I was 13 years old and the tube broke. I started having headaches and vomiting and the pressure was increasing on my brain I knew something was wrong! The doctors went in and gave me another tube and all was well until I was 35 years old.รง
My original shunt from 1984 was designed to work for 10-15 years but it lasted me until 2020. In June of 2020 this whole saga started. I won't rehash everything but basically the old shunt broke and they tried to reuse the one I had but were unable too.
I have had 4 operations since June of 2020, and they decided to implant two programmable vp shunts to control the four ventricles in my brain. So I have one shunt and tube controlling three ventricles and another tube and shunt for the 4th ventricle.
The problem (in addition to my lazy eye) is that the shunts and ventricles are not playing nice. They are not talking to each other as they should and they are getting out of whack and everytime they do this I have to go back into the hospital and the doctors have to adjust the pressure of my shunts (luckily with these new shunts they can adjust the pressure via magnets and don't have to operate every time)
But for two years now they have not been able to get the pressure right and get me fixed on a permanent basis. It is extremely hard to work or have a normal quality of life when you are living with this uncertainty. I never know how good I will be or for how long. Every time I go bad again, I have to go back into the hospital and my speech and walking are affected. My whole life gets turned upside down.
So my doctors here in Spain finally decided to operate. Their plan was to remove one shunt, put in a stent and allow the four ventricles to talk to each other again. Basically restoring me to how I was before June of 2020. I was very happy that they had finally found an option to (hopefully) get me back to normal! Of course any brain surgery is scary, I was worried about losing my memories or my ability to speak etc. But it was (and is) really the only option left.
However, I found out today that they are delaying my operation. I am ¨good¨ since my last hospitalization/adjustment and they don't want to mess with anything if they don't have to. But I have been here before. I will probably be good for a month or so and then get all out of whack. Of course it is possible that this time they really did find the correct pressure and fix me for good. The good news is that I can spend the holidays with my family and not in the hospital. They have told me if I go bad again, then they will operate so at least I know that I do not have to deal with this forever.
I know this was quite long but hopefully if you made it this far you have a better understanding of my condition and what I have been going through. I tried to avoid technical language hopefully I did ok.
P.S. Even though I have had some struggles (had to go back to rehab and speech therapy) I am doing much better than some others out there and I consider myself the luckiest man alive to be alive and to get to hold my little girl every day and love on my wife and my family and friends. I couldn't do this without yall. Thank you.
Take care, Tyler
Sunday, November 28, 2021
November Health Update
Friday, October 08, 2021
Health update October 2021
So I will start with the good news first. Jenny and I are all moved into the new house and they are (almost) finished with all the updates they need to do. The baby is growing and happy and healthy. We have food in our fridge and a roof over our head. I am blessed beyond measure.
Now for the bad news. In late September, I started having severe stomach pain which I thought was dehydration but I finally broke down and went to the hospital and it turns out one of my shunts was broken again. I am so tired of being sick and have stuff break but this is the life that I have and what I have to deal with.
You know how your parents may have had an appliance that they got in the 70s or 80s and it is still running fine? Seems like it may work until the end of time. However, you buy a new washer/dryer (or whatever) and after like two years its totally broken and you need to get a new one. That is how I feel about my current health.
My previous 1984 era VP Shunt lasted until 2020 and gave me zero issues other than a small revision when I was 13 years old. However, I now have two of supposedly the newest and best shunts on the market and I have had nothing but issues since June of 2020.
I was finally getting back to work, I worked almost all of September for my job teaching the Colombian high school students online and I managed to get two new in person teaching jobs here in Spain. Everything was going swimmingly or so I thought. I was finally busy and able to provide for my family.
Then I got sick and had to spend a week in the hospital having one of my shunts and the tubing replaced. For me, a week only, in the hospital is super fast. But because I was still in my trial periods at those jobs, I lost them. They both choose not to continue working with me due to my health. It is extremely frustrating to be back at square one.
But I still have my 8 hours a week teaching the Colombians (for now) which is better than nothing. I will be back on the job hunt and trying to stay positive and healthy. I have missed my family and friends and I only want to be healthy again and not in the hospital. I currently still have stitches in my head and abdomen. However, I am at home and feeling pretty good all things considered. Now if I can just get back to work.
I am trying to stay positive and take the good with the bad. Yall take care, Tyler
Thursday, October 07, 2021
Global Inequality Part Two
Originally, I was going to write a quick status update on Facebook about this but I had like a week in the hospital to sit alone and think about this and yall know that this is one of my passions so this quickly spun out of control into something much longer and something I thought more appropriate for a follow up blog post about global inequality instead of something short on Facebook. For those of you who take the time to read my thoughts, I thank you.
This all started because Facebook helpfully (or unhelpfully) reminded me that 13 years ago when I was in my early 20´s I was making 12 dollars an hour working at a construction related job. It wasn't great but considering that the minimum wage at the time was 5.15 an hour and I didn't have too many expenses so I was doing ok.
Well once the recession of 2007-2009 hit, my company at the time told us that we could all take a paycut to 11.50 an hour or be released from our jobs. I was not happy but I accepted the pay cut. Then two months later our company was liquidated and I ended up being laid off anyway. That is what gave me the push I needed to move to Australia and start my world travels.
Well I am positive that the fat cat CEO of our company at the time, didnt take a paycut from the millions he was bringing in. When our company was liquidated, I was sure he got a huge retirement package or transitioned to another job without problems while all us little guys who were just struggling to get by were the ones that had to take a paycut on our meager salaries, all for nothing!
Global inequality has only gotten worse in the past 13 years and I am part of the problem as I continue to support a system that makes the rich, richer and the poor, poorer. If you are religious, atheist or agnostic, all of us should realize that the current system is broken. If you are a follower of any of the Abrahamic religions, a Muslim, Buddhist or basically any other main stream religion, your chosen God or Deity would never tell you that Jeff Bezos should have 200+ billion dollars while his workers have to pee in bottles because they do not have enough time go to the bathroom.
I am going to pick on Jeff Bezos because he is currently (as of 2021) the richest man in the world but he is by no means the only one or even the worst one. In fact, I can´t even fault him for taking all the legal options available to him to get as much personal wealth as possible. But he should share that wealth.
We should all understand that every human being on the planet deserves to make a livable wage and not have to struggle to keep the lights on or feed their family. It should be a moral imperative, for the religious and non religious alike, to want to help their fellow human beings. Everyone should get a shot at a basic decent standard of living.
I don't have any answers. I don't know how to fix this, I just know that it needs to be fixed. Recently a Saudi King paid 456 million USD for a painting. A painting! It costs roughly 13,000 USD per year to house one homeless person in the U.S., let's be generous and give them an additional 6000 USD per year for food and other expenses for a total of 20,000 USD per person per year. Using that 456 million dollars you could house and feed 4,385,964 people for one year. All that for the price of a single painting some guy is going to put on his wall and hide away from the world. I am ashamed of humanity sometimes.
Here are some stats related to Jeff Bezos.
The Columbia Journalism Review reported that it would cost just $9 million a year to fix pay inequality in its newsroom. Ensuring equal pay at the Post would be akin to sparing pocket change for Bezos, who would still have $199.991 billion.
2. World Hunger
For the sake of argument, let’s just say it’s a “good” year for hunger and the cost to solve it is on the lower end, let’s say $10 billion. Bezos could pay and still have $190 billion to his name.
3. Extreme Poverty
The World Bank classifies extreme poverty as living on less than $1.90 a day. To get above the extreme poverty threshold and into the higher poverty groups, you’d need to earn about $3.20 a day.
The math depends on location, but if 804 million people need a bump from $1.89 to $3.20, then $1.05 billion would be needed to close that gap. Bezos could front the cash and still have just about $199 billion in the bank.
4. Clean Water
Across the globe, 2.2 billion people do not have access to safely managed drinking water services. WRI research estimates that resolving the clean water crisis by 2030 would cost just more than 1% of the global GDP, or roughly 29 cents per person daily, from 2015 to 2030. That number would surely exceed Bezos’ worth.
But Bezos could manage the clean water crisis in the U.S. In Michigan, 140,000 Flint residents have been exposed to lead in their water supply. Replacing all lead pipes in municipal water systems could cost somewhere between a few billion to $50 billion. Even if it cost him $50 billion to replace lead pipes and open up access to clean water in U.S. households, Bezos would still have $150 billion.
5. Education
Perhaps getting the world an education is beyond the powers of Bezos’ net worth, but he could make an outstanding impact. Rescue.org states that $58 a year can pay for the education fees, books and school supplies of one child. Using this math, Bezos could cover this fee for 10 million children, for all grades K-12 at the cost of about $7.5 billion. He would still have over $192 billion.
6. Child Health
A donation of $39 a month to Save The Children can sponsor a child in the U.S. in need. That’s $468 a year. Hypothetically speaking, for $40 billion, Bezos could sponsor 5 million children for 17 years. He’d still have $160 billion.
7. Clean Oceans
The best way to stem the flow of plastic waste into the oceans — plastic pollution could be reduced by 80% over the next 20 years. The price tag on such an ambitious overhaul is $600 billion, which is actually $70 billion cheaper than not overhauling it, because of reduced use of virgin plastic, National Geographic reported.
8. Vaccines
Back in 2006, the study, “Worldwide cost‐effectiveness of infant BCG vaccination” found that for $1.8 million you could prevent nearly 300 cases of severe childhood tuberculosis worldwide, or 450 in Southeast Asia.
Factoring in inflation, that number today is more like $2.3 million. For around $23 billion, Bezos could provide TB prevention for 300,000 children worldwide, or 450,000 in Southeast Asia. He’d still have $177 billion.
9. Homelessness
A 2019 report released by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute determined that it would cost $12.7 billion to end homelessness Bezos could pay that and still have $187.3 billion.
10. Climate Action
The big picture of climate change is pricier. The International Renewable Energy Agency says $750 billion a year is needed in renewables over a decade. Then you’ve got the cost of carbon capturing and storage ($2.5 trillion), $ 2.7 trillion for biofuels — and the list goes on. All in all, you’re looking at at least $50 trillion to solve climate change.
All stats taken from https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-catastrophes-jeff-bezos-could-120012088.html
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
To Eliana
Thursday, June 17, 2021
My one year still alive anniversary
Thursday, May 20, 2021
Time
I saw that Dale Hansen will be retiring September 2nd and it inspired me to post this. For those of you who don´t know, he has been the local sportscaster for Channel 8 WFAA in Dallas for 38 years. I never really have gotten into enjoying sports but, I always have enjoyed his commentary/opinions about the social issues of the day.
You see, he has been a constant presence in my life for my entire life. I remember watching him as a kid when my parents would watch the local nightly news. (This was in the days before cable/satellite when we had limited options for TV channels). For as long as I have been alive, he has been doing his job. It is odd to think that he is 72 years old now and getting ready to retire. John Mccaa,Gloria Campos,Tracy Rowlett and Troy Dungan have all long since retired. I know none of those names will mean anything to you (unless you are from DFW) but they meant a lot to me growing up. They were my trusted news source.
Pete Delkus is the meteorologist who replaced Troy Dungan (Troy had been at WFAA for 34 years by the time he retired). I have never cared for Pete Delkus, he just rubs me the wrong way I guess. But now, he himself has been with WFAA for 16 years after replacing Troy Dungan who was there for 34 years. It is amazing how time flies.
I am constantly amazed at how old I am (and continue getting older!) Some days I feel like I am just 18 years old (even though that was nearly 20 years ago) other days I feel like I am 80. I don't know where the time has gone and how it has gone so fast. I have been blessed with an incredible life though. I have not gotten everything that I ever wanted, however I have gotten everything I ever needed and more. I have seen and done so much in my short time here. The old saying goes, you can't escape death or taxes and I believe that to be true. My grandmother is 85 years old and still going strong. I can't imagine how she must feel when she thinks about what has happened over her lifetime and where the years have gone.
I am currently 36 years old with a 5 month old daughter. I have kept this blog going in one form or another since 2009 so a lot has happened to me over those years (and will continue to happen) I am not afraid of death or getting older but I do hate the fact that time is unstoppable. Eventually it comes for us all. So you need to take advantage of every second that you are given. I cannot imagine what the world will be like when Eliana is 36 years old and beyond. What a journey this has been (and continues to be) for me.
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Policing in the United States
I wanted to vent about this because I have an opinion that maybe many people share. (or possibly no one else haha).
I think most people would agree that the police in the United States are far too militarized in general and kill far too many people of color. As a middle class white guy, I have never experienced discrimination or racism so I won't pretend to know what it is like. I do know a problem when I see one though. The problem of police killing unarmed people is a big problem.
I know there are good police officers. I have police officers in my family and I know the vast majority of police are good and honorable people trying to do a hard job with not enough resources and sometimes not being paid well.
However, there are also police officers like Derek Chauvin who murdered George Floyd. In my opinion, The problem is not that there are too many ¨bad apples¨ the problem is that the system encourages bad behavior by not holding police accountable and giving them qualified immunity in almost every circumstance they know that they can do whatever they want and get away with it.
There are also cases like the killing of Ma´khia Bryant, a 16 year old black girl who was killed for attacking another person with a knife. The case has drawn outrage because it is yet another killing of a person of color by the police. However, I do not have all the details. I was not there nor have I seen the video. I am unsure why she was shot instead of tasered but if the media reports I have read are correct, she was attacking someone with a knife (or trying to) and the police officer did what he thought was his only option to save a life.
I cannot and will not judge that officer for what he did as I was not there and I have no idea how I would react in the same situation. However, at the end of the day one life was ended and another saved. I have seen people calling for defunding the police nationally or, for abolishing police departments completely.
To me, this is absolutely ridiculous. Society cannot and should not function without police. They provide a good and necessary service to society. However, I have never (and probably will never) have to fear that the police will kill me. My perspective is one of privilege. I do recognize there is a problem and I truly hope for everyone's sake that my country can get it together and make some real changes. We most definitely should be funding more mental health workers and dispatching less police to situations that they should not be expected to cope with.
That's all. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Take care. Tyler
Friday, May 07, 2021
Nuclear Non Proliferation
Originally I was going to make this a short status update on Facebook but then I decided I would put it here because I had too much to say to fit into one status update. Yesterday, I was watching a short video on Youtube about the very real possibility of humanity going extinct due to nuclear war. In my opinion, nuclear technology should only be used for power generation and nothing else. No one should have nuclear weapons.
I believe this is reasonable (although unrealistic unfortunately to think that we will live in a world free of nuclear weapons) because humans have had the ability to kill each other since the beginning of time. However, only since 1945 have we had the ability to kill the entire planet and everyone and everything on it. No one should have that amount of destructive power. We as humans have the ability to kill many, many people in various different horrible ways without killing the entire planet as a side effect.
The worst feeling for me as a new father is that I am powerless to protect my daughter against this threat. Every parent wishes their child(ren) have the ability to grow up safe, happy and healthy. Unfortunately, our world is populated by fallible humans and human based systems to prevent nuclear war. Frankly, I am amazed that we have gone this long without an all out nuclear war or huge global accident/terrorist attack.
Currently, something like The United States, Russia, China France, The UK, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, Iran and North Korea control all of the worlds confirmed nuclear weapons. With the U.S. and Russia holding the vast majority. Just the U.S. and Russia alone, have enough nuclear weapons to kill everyone and everything on the planet many times over.
These few countries that have nuclear weapons want to tell the rest of the world that they can keep their nuclear weapons (or even produce more) without consequence yet they do not want to allow other countries to develop nuclear weapons. The U.S. is constantly fighting with Iran and North Korea trying to prevent them from getting nuclear weapons (or producing more than they already have) yet the U.S. is unwilling to destroy their own nuclear weapons.
If I was North Korea or Iran why would I listen to the U.S. if they are unwilling to do the exact thing they are asking of me, why would I want to listen to them? I am not anti American by any means. But what right do we have to tell the rest of the world what they can and can't do? I am anti destroy all of humanity with nuclear weapons.
Another way to look at this would be, if I tell my daughter that she can't have any chocolate ice cream but I sit there and eat some chocolate ice cream right in front of her and additionally I am the owner of an ice cream store so that I can produce more ice cream anytime I want and I can refuse to share it with anyone else. The situation that we have with nuclear weapons is exactly the same.
The idea that having a huge amount of nuclear weapons to prevent nuclear war is a bad one. Mutually assured destruction benefits no one. I cannot go back in time and prevent the invention of nuclear weapons. Nor can I destroy every nuclear weapon ever made or prevent their misuse. The current system we have of checks and balances to prevent all out nuclear war is not a good one and frankly I am surprised that we have not had a failure so far. We need to improve this system.
The best I can hope for is that my daughter can grow up in a better world than I have and maybe one day humanity will be free of the threat of extinction from nuclear war and we can worry about robots gaining sentience and killing us all. Sorry this blog post has been so depressing, I try not to think about this stuff too much because it just depresses you knowing that you can't do anything about it. Gotta live your life to the best of your ability with the time you have.
For all of the problems that we have in the world, there is still a ton of beauty and good things also. I try to focus on those. Thanks for reading my rant if you made it this far.
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Unpopular Opinion: Politics and the global economy are broken
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
My life in a nutshell
I recently finished up my memoirs (for now, it's an ongoing work in progress that I plan to continue) and I have had this blog since 2009. I will publish my memoirs at some point but, they are more a gift for Eliana (and just for my own sake) than anything else. I want her to know about my life, her family and where she comes from.
However, I realized that I haven't taken the time to sum up my life in short form before so I thought I'd try now.
I was born 3 months premature in 1984 with excess fluid on my brain and epilepsy (among other health problems) but against all the odds, I beat the doctors predictions and I was not in a vegatative state.
I had (and still continue to have) two great parents and a wonderful, normal childhood.
Fast forward to age 24 and after living a fairly conventional life in Texas, I decided to move to Australia in November of 2009 after getting laid off.
At that point, I think I had visited maybe 8 countries for short trips and I just planned on staying a year in Australia then heading back home.
Well one year in Australia turned into a second year in New Zealand then 6 months of traveling in South America.
By the time I was 26, I had moved to Thailand to teach English, I left there after a year and at age 27 I moved to Colombia which would be my home until age 34.
While in Colombia, I managed to get married and start living a real adult life. I had great friends and a great job (eventually) but all good things must come to an end.
When I was 34, Jenny and I decided to move to China. After living there for almost 2 years, we decided to make the move to Spain to be closer to her family.
I was 35 when I arrived to Spain. After about 5 months of living in Spain I had a problem with the valve that controls the amount of fluid on my brain. I ended up having 3 brain surgeries to correct the problem.
Prior to all my brain surgeries we found out that Jenny was pregnant. I was very happy, but during much of her pregnancy, I was in the hospital or in physical therapy relearning how to walk, talk, eat and drink again. My recovery was (and is still ongoing) but after 6 months of hard work I have regained almost all of the physical and mental abilities that I lost.
Eliana was born on December 14th 2020, since that point I have been motivated to get in the best shape physically and mentally that I can so that I can be the best father possible. She has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Now, in April of 2021, amid the corona virus pandemic, I am looking for work again and still working on my recovery. However, I consider myself one of the luckiest men alive. I have now visited or lived in 45+ different countries, survived various brain surgeries, gotten married and had a daughter.
I am blessed beyond measure and grateful for every breath that I get to take. I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for me. I married a Saint in Jenny who took care of me while 9 months pregnant and when I was in the hospital for 12 weeks and I have super supportive family and friends. I couldn't do this life without them. For all these reasons and more, that's why I consider myself one of the luckiest men alive.
Thursday, April 01, 2021
Motivation
I wanted to write a little bit about motivation. I have had a long, hard six month journey to get better since I had my brain surgeries. Some people have told me that I motivate them and they are not sure that they could go through something similar to what I have been through and still be optimistic about life. I am flattered and honored that people consider me an inspiration. However, I think it is just a question of finding something worth fighting for and keeping that in mind while you go through your struggles.
Everyone has problems that most people know nothing about. What I have been through has definitely been hard and I would not wish this on anyone nor would I want to repeat it. Although, there are certainly people fighting battles harder than what I have gone through. My motivation has been my wife and daughter. There were times where I wanted to give up, throw in the towel. The pain was terrible physically and mentally. I was unable to eat or drink anything and I couldn't even walk! I think anyone would be depressed in those circumstances. Especially with my facial paralysis that affected my speech, as an English teacher the ability to speech clearly is extremely important to me.
There were times when I was scared and depressed not knowing if I would ever regain the ability to walk,eat,drink or talk correctly again. But especially after Eliana was born in December of 2020, I made the conscious choice to keep fighting. I was only 35 years old when this happened and I reasoned that I still have a lot of life left to live.
I started off this journey six months ago unable to eat,drink,walk or talk. Eventually I was able to speak again and with intensive speech therapy and physical therapy I managed to regain my ability to speak and decrease my facial paralysis. I also managed to eat solid food again and drink water, juice and other liquids.
I moved from using a wheelchair to a walker. I set a goal for myself that once Eliana was born in December I wanted to get rid of my walker and walk on my own. At first it was very painful and I was very weak from all the muscle and body weight I had lost during my operations. But Eliana arrived on the 14th of December and I did get rid of that walker!
But I knew that wasn´t enough. I wanted to be independent again. So I set another goal for myself. I would run on the treadmill and do five pushups. I wanted to be an active father in my daughters life so I knew I couldn't give up. Now I am up to 42 (and counting!) consecutive pushups, 11 pullups and I can run a fair distance on the treadmill. I really have come a long way in six months. I am not 100% but I am getting closer. Really the only thing I cannot do is drive (due to my loss of lateral vision in my left eye)
I still hate exercise but after exercising five days a week for six months I am probably in the best shape of my life. Now, I really value the ability to exercise and work at a normal, boring job. I had those things taken away from me for a time and I know it could happen again. Now I place a lot more value on being healthy and doing something boring like going to work. There are many people who do not have that luxury.
I write you all this not to brag at how amazing my recovery has been, but to let you know that no matter what challenges you have in your life, there is always someone going through something and if you set your mind to it, you can overcome your challenges. You know who inspires me? ¨Team Hoyt¨ this was a father-son duo who ran marathons together (sadly the father passed away recently at age 80). The son was born in 1960 and his umbilical cord got wrapped around his neck and he had brain damage. The doctors said he would never walk, talk or be normal. But his parents refused to believe this. They eventually got him a computer that he could use with his eyes, to ¨talk¨ when his father was 36 years old and his son was 11, the son said he wanted to run a marathon. Obviously being paralysed he couldn't run but he wanted to experience it. His father had never run any long distances in his whole life.
But do you know what his father did? He trained for a whole year pushing a stroller full of concrete 26 miles. Eventually he started running full marathons pushing his son in his wheelchair and they ran marathons together until the father was 78 years old! They ran over 1200 marathons together. Prior to becoming a father I could never understand the love that a father has for his child, however now having Eliana, I can completely understand why he did what he did. Oh, the guy from Team Hoyt? His son who was supposed to be a vegetable his whole life, graduated from college and now designs customs computers to help paralyzed people like him. If that is not inspiring I do not know what is.
I want to end this, thanking all of you for your support. I couldn't have done this without you. I still have a ways to go to be 100% but i'll get there. Thank you for everything and just remember not to give up and keep on going.
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Exercise
Tuesday, March 09, 2021
Things are moving along
Now that we are in March, things have been progressing for me. Today is my brother Lucas´ birthday (happy birthday Lucas!) but I wanted to update yall on my progress so far. In the public rehab place, I have been released from speech and occupational therapy. I will continue with physical therapy three days a week (at the public rehab) and my physical therapy at the private rehab.
I have been approved by my neurosurgeon for my eye surgery (the Botox injection didn't work) to correct my lazy left eye. I am not looking forward to yet another surgery but hopefully this will solve the issue of my balance and headaches and be my last surgery. I am well on the way to normality! Eliana is growing like a weed and I have an interview for a job. I am so thankful to hopefully be working again soon. Jenny has also had an interview so hopefully both of us will be working soon and we can finally get our own house. The only downside is that we will have to put Eliana in daycare if we are both working.
I decided that in June I will do another skydive to celebrate my one year anniversary since my operations and if my parents get to come here to Spain to visit us, I might even convince them to jump with me! Well that is all that I really have to update you on but things are going as well as can be expected and I am a lucky man. Things could be much worse. Til the next time, Tyler
Thursday, January 28, 2021
January 2021 health update
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Baby Guide 20 parenting tips to help you survive
Monday, January 18, 2021
2021 so far....
Here is what I have written in my memoirs so far in 2021.
We made it to 2021! So far, this year has been treating me well
even though we are only two days into it. I am thankful for my daughter and my
health even though I still have a long way to go to get back to 100%. I am
alive and grateful to be in halfway decent shape. I hope this year turns out
better than 2020.
Jenny, Eliana and I made it to midnight on the 31st but
went to bed shortly after that. We will see what this year has in store for the
Horton Mojica Family. Hopefully only good things, I hope that both Jenny and I
will be working before summertime gets here.
Today is January 7th, 2021 and I went to see my doctor again. My
doctor at the local health center is a man and he is very nice and helpful. He
has helped keep my vomiting under control with medicine and has monitored my
progress. At Ubarmin, the rehab center run by the Spanish government, my doctor
is a woman and she told me that at least for one more month, my treatment of
physical and occupational therapy will remain the same. However, she told me
that she is seeing a lot of progress in my recovery.
Until and unless I start having worse symptoms again, I also think
that I will continue to get stronger and healthier. Currently, the only thing
that I cannot do for myself is drive. Basically, everything else I can do for
myself and by myself. My left eye is still crooked, and I am waiting on the
treatment for that. My speech is basically back to normal in both English and
Spanish.
My walking gait continues to improve, and I am no longer using my
walker. I still have a long way to go to get back to normal like I was before
the surgeries but after living in Spain for a year now and having such a crazy
2020, I am feeling more confident that unless something really bad happens and
I have to go back to the hospital, then I will continue to improve.
I can deal with occasional vomiting and headaches, even though
they are not pleasant, if that is the worst thing that I have to deal with then
I am doing ok. At the end of January, I will be eligible to take the test to
receive my Spanish Citizenship. I plan on doing so. Normally, you must wait
five years minimum of living in Spain but because I am married to Jenny who is
a Spanish (and Colombian) citizen, I am able to apply for Spanish citizenship
after living here for only one year. I look forward to having a passport from
the European Union and being able to work and travel freely in the European
Union.
I want to try and keep politics out of this book but, something
recently has happened back in the United States and I feel obligated to say
something. It saddens me that supporters of President Trump have assaulted the
Capitol trying to prevent the certification of Joe Biden as our next President.
It saddens me that so many people see others as the enemy and not as fellow
Americans. It saddens me that so many people believe crazy conspiracy theories
that have no basis in reality.
Our two-party system is broken. In reality, I believe that the
Democrats are just as corrupt as the Republicans and we should be allowed a
valid third-party choice. As it stands now, not much is going to change. The
rich will continue to get richer and the poor will continue to get poorer. I
can only hope for healing in our nation going into the future.
Unfortunately, as of mid-January 2021, both my parents have tested positive for Covid-19 (we think that my mom got it and gave it to my dad) even though they have been wearing masks and generally trying to protect themselves. We are very lucky that they had mild symptoms though. They both lost their sense of taste and smell but that is pretty much the worst thing that they experienced. Both of them are back to work now and doing better. I was super worried about them, so I am very relieved that they are OK.
Sadly, Jason´s wife Lou, her mom caught Covid and was in the
hospital for almost three months and she didn't
make it. She passed away due to Covid-19. We were very sad to hear that news.
Eliana also has not been doing great as of late, she has colic and
her stomach has been hurting her. The doctor tells us this is totally normal
and nothing to worry about. It should go away by the time she is three months
old. However, I feel bad that she is in pain and not sleeping well. I hope all
of this passes soon.
As of January 14th, 2020, Eliana is one month old! I
can´t believe that one month has passed already. She is growing bigger and
stronger every day. She now weighs more than four kilos or more than nine
pounds. She continues to grow in both weight and length. She is perfectly
healthy other than having a little colic. I am so thankful my daughter is
normal and healthy.
Being a parent is hard work. It is a sacrifice in time, energy and
sleep loss. However, I wouldn't change it for the world.
She is my little angel and I love her more than I have ever loved anyone in
this world. I cannot wait to continue to see her changes both physically and
mentally. I want to hear her first words, see her first steps and see what
color her eyes and hair will end up being. This world is a terrible place in
many respects, but it is also good in many other respects. I can´t wait to see
what this world has in store for her and how she will learn about the world. I
do not regret helping to bring her into it.
On
February 22nd the Spanish government informed me that they are finally going to
give me my Botox injection and fix my twisted left eye! I am not looking
forward to this procedure but hopefully I will be asleep, and it will be
painless, and I will finally be able to see correctly again.
As
of January 16th, 2021, I found out that my parents have sold their
house in Little Elm. After living there since 1997 they are getting ready to
retire and move to a smaller town to live out their retirement. They plan to
rent a house in Little Elm for two more years and then make the move to Saint
Jo, Texas where some friends already live.
They
plan to build a two-bedroom, two-bathroom cabin on some land and enjoy a slower
pace of life. I am slightly sad that the Little Elm chapter of our lives is
closing, since so many of my formative years were spent there. However, I am
happy for them and look forward to visiting a new smaller town. Little Elm is
getting too big and city like for me anyway. There are always so many changes
every time I go back home.
Spain, 2020 and 2021 to come....
I have started writing my memoirs and to be honest, I have updated those more than I have this blog! So, I will copy and paste everything I have written from 2020 and 2021. So much has happened to me in such a short time since we left China!
Well it looks like in 2019 I was
overly optimistic about 2020. This has not been a great year for anyone so far.
Our plan was that Jenny would leave
for Spain in September and I would stay until January 2020, to finish out my
contract and then I would fly to Spain to rejoin her. This four-month period of
time was the longest amount of time that we had been separated since we met
each other. It was not easy to be away from my wife for so long, but I was
staying busy working and getting ready to move. There were times that both of
us were lonely and missing each other and it felt like the days would never go
fast enough.
However, before we knew it January
24th had arrived and after finishing all the things I had to get done at the
university, I boarded my flight from Shenzhen to Madrid and then onto Pamplona
Spain. Finally, after four months I was able to be reunited with Jenny once
more and start my new life in Spain.
From this point forward, I will need
to arrange my working visa, we need to get a car, I need a driver’s license, or
a new apartment and all the basic things that one needs to start a new life.
We will see what happens for me (and
Jenny and our family and friends) in 2020 and find out what life has in store
for me and us. I look forward to seeing what happens.
As of March 2020, the biggest story
here in Spain and around the world is the Corona Virus (or COVID-19) that has
paralyzed the world. Everything has shut down here in Spain and worldwide. We
are in our third week of total lock down here in the house. We can leave (one
person only) once a week for groceries or to go to the pharmacy or hospitals.
Luckily, Jenny and I are still able to work online. Many people are not so
fortunate. The only people allowed to be out are the ¨essential¨ healthcare
workers.
As of March 31st, 2020, there are
801,061 cases worldwide with 38,748 deaths. These numbers will just keep
climbing unfortunately. This is unlike anything the world has seen in over one
hundred years at least.
Spain is currently third worldwide
in the number of total cases (94,417) and second worldwide in deaths with
8,189. Scary stuff. Luckily, so far no one that Jenny or I know here has been
personally affected but that could change. My sister in law works in the
hospital and many people are getting infected.
But Jenny and I now have jobs, an
apartment and a car so as of right now we are still doing ok. I am more worried
about my family back home in the U.S.A. than I am about us though.
The U.S. is generally much less well
prepared, and people seem to be taking it much less seriously there. Our
current President and administration are not helping matters. I truly hope that
things get better sooner rather than later.
Hopefully the whole world will have
learned something from this, and we can all come out stronger from this. The
only positive thing is that (at least for now) we humans are doing much less
polluting and general destruction of our only planet.
April 5th, 2020, a day that I will
remember for the rest of my life. This was the day that Jenny told me she was
pregnant with our first child. I still can't believe that we have created a new
life that will arrive in nine months. I am beyond scared, so nervous and
unprepared but excited. I have no idea what I am doing, and I know nothing
about babies but now I have something beyond myself. Someone who will live
beyond me.
I have a legacy, someone to pass on
not only my genes but also my ideas, parts of my personality and more. Of
course, I am not the only person involved in this process, in fact, I have the
easy part. Jenny has the hard part! Our child has 50% of her as well.
We are partners in this new adventure and many years from now, maybe my future child will be the one reading these words.
Now we have a responsibility to try
and give the best life possible to our child. I hope Jenny and I are as good at
parenting as our parents have been. I couldn’t ask for better parents and I
know she would say the same.
We will have big shoes to fill. As
of May 25th, 2020, we are in week twelve of our pregnancy. We still
do not know if we are going to have a boy or a girl, but we are super nervous
and excited either way.
In three days, we will go for our
first sonogram and hopefully be able to find out the gender of our little one.
As soon as Jenny told me she was pregnant I felt a change inside of me. I
became extremely emotional and excited at the thought of becoming a father and
to have done my part to help create a new life on this planet. Creating a life
is one thing, raising a child is a completely different matter!
However, I am positive that Jenny
will be a great, loving, caring and involved mother and I only hope I can do
half the job that my dad did to raise me and that I will be a good father as
well. I sure am going to try my very best to give our child the best life
possible.
I already feel more love than I ever
thought possible for him/her and our baby is not even here yet!
I am excited every day to see and
feel the changes in Jenny's body, knowing that our little one is growing inside
her and I cannot wait to hold my child in my arms.
This is unlike any experience I have
ever had, and I have never experienced the feelings that I now feel with anyone
or anything else in my life.
This is a new and exciting
adventure! I got to feel Eliana kicking in Jenny's belly. That was an exciting
day for both of us.
We are very happy and excited and
can’t wait until she is in our arms. We are hopeful for a smooth and uneventful
delivery so we can see our healthy baby.
After arriving to Pamplona in
January, I got a job at the public university until March but then we went on
lock down and we were basically locked down to the apartment until the end of
June so we didn’t get to do anything outside of the apartment and then I ended
up in the hospital. In June 2020, I started vomiting and experiencing
headaches. This started my eight-week journey at the hospital in Pamplona.
Spain. My mom has come over from Texas and Jenny´s family has been great. I
ended up having three brain surgeries.
The first surgery, the doctors tried
replacing the shunt tubing. After that didn't work. They decided to take out
the shunt tubing for a week to monitor the flow of liquid.
Well that didn't work either, so
they ended up taking my thirty-five-year-old shunt and giving me two new
programmable shunts. These shunts can be adjusted with magnets without having
to open my head to do another surgery. So, I survived three brain surgeries,
but I have a lot of recovery ahead of me.
Unfortunately, I have lost weight
and mobility and I am still weak, and I have some facial paralysis with a wonky
left eye that needs correcting (hopefully it will be self-correcting with time,
but eye surgery is an option for the future if needed)
So, I have lots of rehab ahead of me
to get back to 100%. But I am hopeful that with time and some hard work I can
fix my left eye and get rid of this facial paralysis.
I know that physically I will gain
my weight and stability back, so I am not worried about that. But it has been
nice having my mom here to help and give me some good Southern food. Of course,
we will get to see them again in December when Eliana is born. I can’t wait to
hold her in my arms and hopefully both of us will be 100% healthy in December.
Now I have been out of the hospital
for just over a month now and I have started rehab five days a week. I do both
private and government funded rehab. I have physical therapy, occupational therapy
and speech therapy. I have gained some weight and noticed improvement in my
eating, drinking and speech luckily.
However, I still have a long way to
go to get back to the way I was before the surgeries. I know with time and
patience it will happen though. Both my mom and Jenny and her family have been
a huge help to me during this trying time. Hopefully by the time Eliana is born
in December I will be better though. At least I am out of the hospital and not
in too much pain
I had a relapse in the beginning of
October, and I had to go back into the hospital for ten days. I feel like my
speech is worse and my balance also but everything else remains the same. I can
still eat and drink whatever I want, and I have restarted my rehab and hope to
gain back what I have lost now that I am back at home.
Today is November 9th,
2020 and I am slowly but surely regaining my strength and balance. I am still waiting on the doctors to fix my
lazy left eye and I am still going to rehab (both public and private) Monday
through Friday. I am working on my balance issues and improving my speech, but
overall things are not as bad as they were previously.
I have stopped vomiting, nor do I
have bad headaches anymore. I can lay flat on my back for a longer time than I
could previously. My neck is still weak where they put the new shunt in, but I
have been gaining weight since I can still eat and drink whatever I want.
Things could be better, but they could also be much worse. My full-time job now
is going to my rehab and trying to get better.
I have had a job offer for a job
that I can do from home so hopefully I will get that job and I can start
working again. It will not be the perfect job, but it is better than doing
nothing. Luckily, I feel like I have progressed faster after this most recent
hospitalization. I have been out of the hospital just over a month now, but I
can shower, shave and dress myself. So, I am slowly but surely regaining my
independence.
I have more movement in my eyebrows
and with my smile. I still have a lot of facial paralysis, but things are
getting better slowly but surely, and the muscles of my face are activating
even if it is just a little bit.
Little Eliana Valentina will be here
in less than a month! I still cannot believe that I am going to be a father. I
am very excited and nervous to meet her though. Currently, Jenny is 36 weeks
along.
Our daughter will be here before we
know it. I still feel unprepared, but I hope that both Jenny and I will be good
parents.
Jenny is getting big and our daughter
currently weighs 2.5 kg or just over five pounds. She will continue to gain
weight in the last four weeks of this pregnancy. I am nervous about the labor
and delivery, but I cannot imagine what Jenny is going through and I will try
my best to do my part and help where and when I can even in my weakened
condition.
Luckily, Jenny so far only has some leg pain and pressure from the weight of her stomach. We are lucky that she has not experienced horrible pregnancy symptoms that some women go through. From this point forward through, every time jenny wakes up in the middle of the night I am going to freak out and think that she is going into labor.
I should also mention that The
United States just recently elected Democrat Joe Biden as our 46th
President. He is not my preferred candidate, but he is better than the
previously President and I wish him all the luck in the world. He will need
luck to work with our dysfunctional government. The average joe is being
crushed in America unfortunately.
It is now Friday December 11th
and Eliana is five days overdue! She does not want to leave Jenny´s belly. I am
very nervous and excited to meet her though. I hope she is perfect, and I still
cannot believe that I am going to be a father. I helped to create a new life
that will come into this world on or before December 18th (that is
Jenny`s induction date)
I am nervous and feel unprepared for
parenthood, but I know that Jenny and I will do the best that we can even when
we make mistakes. I cannot wait to show Eliana the world and watch her grow and
learn. My heart is full of love for her and she is not even here yet. I get a
huge thrill out of talking to her in the belly and feeling her move when she
hears my voice.
Being a parent is an incredible
responsibility and I have felt a huge change within myself since I found out
that I was going to be a father.
Eliana Valentina Horton Mojica was
born on Monday December 14th at 9:08am. After fifteen hours of labor
Jenny ended up having to have a C section but now after three days in the
hospital,
I have both my girls back home with
me. It was hard for me not being able to be there for the birth (we decided to
have my mother in law go with Jenny due to the chances of me catching Covid
from the hospital with my weakened immune system. I was very nervous waiting at
home for any news. I did not sleep well at all! But luckily other than a C
Section Jenny is OK and so is Eliana.
Being a parent is a huge and awesome
responsibility. I still feel unprepared but ready to take this on. The first
time you hold your child in your arms is an amazing feeling.
I felt her grow for nine months in
Jenny's stomach and now she is here in my arms. She is the most beautiful
little girl and there is nothing more special than being able to hold your own
child in your arms. I love her more than I have ever loved anything in this
world, and I want to keep her close forever. Both mother and daughter are
perfect.
Today is December 30th,
2020. This terrible year is almost over. As of today, I turn thirty-six years
old. I can´t believe that I have made it this far.
Sometimes I still feel eighteen
years old and other times I feel like I am sixty-six years old. This has been a
challenging year for everyone, to say the least.
However, I survived three brain
surgeries and went on to have a healthy baby girl. This year has not been all
bad since Eliana was born.
Being a parent has been an
exhausting yet rewarding experience. Every time I look at my daughter my heart
is filled with love and I know all of the struggles are worth it. She is just
now a little over two weeks old and sometimes she sleeps well and sometimes she
does not sleep at all (then Jenny and I don't either) but I know this time will
go super-fast and soon we will be wishing for it back. Eliana is perfectly
healthy, and I am so thankful that none of my health problems were passed on to
her.
I can't think of anything else that I have
ever done that is as fulfilling as becoming a father. I have visited over forty
countries and had a wonderful blessed life, but nothing compares with holding
my little girl in my arms. My life is far from perfect.
I do not have everything that I
want, yet I do have everything that I need. There are people much worse off
than me in this world. I am hoping for a corona virus free and better 2021 now
that we have the vaccines available. I hope that Eliana will be able to have a
normal healthy and happy childhood free of the fear of another pandemic. My
biggest hope is that this world will be a better place for her than it has been
for me.