June Health Update

Well now that I am back home from my recent hospitalization I figured it was high time to update everyone on my health situation.

Back in March right before our cruise, my parents, Jenny, Eliana and I got sick. However, I got the worst of it (along with my dad unfortunately). I was never tested but we are assuming that I got covid.

I had fever, chills, runny nose, sore throat, headache, congestion and coughing. I was miserable during the cruise and I was barely able to leave my room. It was unfortunate. After about ten days I started to feel better though. 

Unfortunately, whatever sickness that I had caused my symptoms to get worse. My facial paralysis got worse, my left eye stopped closing and my walking gait and general stability got worse. 

I went to the hospital here in Pamplona and they admitted me for a week of testing and observation. They did blood work, urine sample, xrays, CT scan, MRI and they even checked my eyes. Everything is fine for now with my shunts. 

I didn't lose any weight in the hospital. I was able to continue eating and drinking normally. Other than being extremely bored and getting no solid answers I was glad to get home in just a week. At least they were being cautious. 

After a week, they released me to go back home with an 8 day course of anti inflammatory steroids (which is what they would have given me, had I tested positive for covid). I am frustrated not to have a solid answer but I am happy not to have to have another surgery or extended hospital stay.

The doctors took out my IV after two days and they nener put me in a hospital gown. 

We will keep my in person appointment for November with my neurosurgeon in Barcelona who did my surgeries. I do not feel amazing nor terrible. I am holding steady. Hopefully, everything continues to work. I have one more consult pending with the neuro eye doctor. I plan to ask him if straightening my left eye will improve my balance or not. If it will be only cosmetic I won't bother with another surgery. However if it will actually help, I will do it once they finally authorize it. 

Well that is all for now. Til next time, Tyler 

The purpose of life

What is the ultimate purpose of life? That question has been debated since the beginning of time. I have no definitive answer. It is deeply personal to each person. However, I want to give you my humble opinion.

The meaning of life is different for everyone. You need to find your own why or reason for getting out of bed in the morning. Family, friends, your career and your hobbies should be part of the meaning that makes up your life. However, while it is good to have a well rounded life, in my opinion, you should not put too much focus on any one thing.

You should do whatever makes you feel happy (as long as it is legal and not hurting others). Well this is all that I wanted to say. Thank you for reading. 

Til next time, Tyler 

My blog about nothing

I wanted to try an experiment. I am currently bored on a Saturday morning before I we go to a concert later tonight. A live orchestra will be playing the music from famous movies. It should be good.

Every moment of life should not be filled with activities. Being bored sometimes is natural and healthy. I am a lucky guy and very grateful for my family and friends. I don't generally get super bored because any day that I am out of the hospital is a good day! If I could have this magically never happened to me obviously I would choose that. However, since I can't change anything and I have to play with the cards that I am dealt, I consider myself very fortunate. 

Anyway, I can literally not think of anything worth a full blog post. However, I am deciding to embrace my feeling of being bored. I am not going to doom scroll on my phone to temporarily distract myself. 

I will try finding something productive that I can do or learn. I will use this time, not as "dead time" but time for self improvement. That is all I wanted to share with you. Short and sweet.

Til next time, Tyler 

Getting Older

Being able to age is a privilege that not everyone receives. I have had a good friend die at the tender age of 17. I have had multiple friends who died between the ages of 17-49 for multiple different reasons.

My dad's father died at the age of 36. I am only 40 and I have outlined all of those people. I am the same age now as my parents were when Lucas was born.

I don't mind getting older, it is only natural. However, it bothers me that my parents are getting older right along side me. I want them to live as long as I do but I know that is unlikely to happen. 

I have been through a lot, especially in the past few years. However, I still consider myself lucky and blessed. My situation could be much worse. I have no idea how long that I will live, or how I will die. However, living until 89 seems like a good age to go out on. Not too young and not too old.

My only hope is that I can make it through my life without developing Alzheimer's or a similar disease which makes me lose my mind memory. Because I could fight a physical disease like cancer but a mental one would be terrible.

I waited so long to become a father because I was scared of the responsibility. I was almost 36 when Eliana was born. She is my pride and joy though. She will be my legacy and hopefully outlive me by many years. My parents were 30 when they had me. When I was younger, I considered them to be old parents. It is only now that I realize how young they were.

I still feel mentally like I am 18. But physically some days I feel 18. Other days I feel like my current age of 40. Some days I feel like I am 100.

I have a friend who died in a car crash at the tender age of 27 back in 2010. I am still in touch with her mom via Facebook. Unfortunately, she has never really gotten over her only child's death. Until Eliana was born I didn't understand the depth of her love and loss. I do now though. I pray that I never have to experience it. Every day that we are given is a blessing. This life is a miracle.

Til next time, Tyler 

Reading

I was inspired to write this random blog post about my hobby of reading, not for any particular reason but just because I wanted to get it off my chest. I hope you don't mind and don't find it too boring. 

My parents instilled a love of reading for me from a very early age. At first, before I could read, they would read books to me. However, once I learned to read, it was off to the races. 

I used to read anything that I could get my hands on. I would read dime store novels, kids books, fiction, non fiction, nature books, I would have even read a VCR instruction manual if I could have gotten my hands on one. 

I had a big green pillow that I used to support my head and back. Over the years, that pillow was permanently indented with the shape of my head. I don't know if they still do this, but when I was a kid, you could earn free tickets to the State Fair of Texas by reading. I used to read enough to earn entry tickets for my parents and my brothers. 

I love (and still love) the feeling of holding a physical book in your hands. I love the smell of it and turning each page. I love how you can get lost in a good book. The time can fly as you are transported to another world. As a kid I used to read for eight hours straight when we would drive from Garland, Texas to Orange, Texas to visit my grandparents (mom's parents). 

When I went through my depression I lost all my desire for reading. I didn't even have interest in looking at my phone. However, after I made it through the worst of my depression, my love for reading was reignited. It was just like meeting up with an old friend whom you haven't seen in twenty years. I am so very grateful and happy that I started reading again. 

These days, I am much more selective about what I read. I just don't have the time to read anything anymore like I did as a kid. Now, I read both physical books (still my preferred choice) and ebooks on the Kindle. Staring at a screen is not my ideal option for reading. Although, I will admit, 1000 books on an e reader weigh a lot less than 1000 physical books! I read mostly non fiction books. Inspirational, motivational and self help style books. Basically, anything that isn't a horror novel. 

I still do read the occasional fiction novel and the two best books that I have ever read in my life are Ten things that are good about the world by Hans Rosling and Picking Cotton. A true story about a woman who picked a man out of a police lineup as her rapist, even though he didn't do it. They later became friends after he was finally released from prison. 

I am trying hard to instill my love for reading in my daughter Eliana Valentina. I try to read to her every night before she goes to sleep. Oddly enough, while I do read the news in Spanish, I have never sat down to read a novel in Spanish. 

I have also listened to a few audio books. However, it hasn't been many, I prefer to read rather than listen. 

Well that's all for now. I know that this was random but I hope you enjoyed it if you made it this far. Til next time, Tyler 

A general thank you to everyone

I was just thinking today about how truly lucky and how fortunate I am. I have had some health issues and other struggles. I would not wish my current physical condition on my worst enemy.

That being said, I don't tend to pity myself and I am happy to have been able to push through my depression. I can't do everything that I once did, as easily or as automatically as before. I am not in a coma or bedridden. I still have a lot of life left (hopefully) and I have a decent quality of life. I have come a long way since all of this started back in 2020.

I have a beautiful and loving wife and daughter. My wife is completely supportive of me and pushes me hard when I need it. She has more faith in me than I do in myself. She has taken in sickness and in health literally. She has had plenty of opportunities to give up and walk away. 

To be honest, I wouldn't blame her. However, she has stayed with me throughout it all. I love her more than words can express and I am extremely lucky to have her in my life. Eliana Valentina Horton Mojica has been through so much in her four short years on this planet. She is kind, empathetic, loving and helpful. She doesn't treat me any different than any other able bodied father. I love her to pieces and having her was the best decision that I ever made. 

I have an amazing family (both close and extended). Both of my parents have been extremely supportive and helpful to me with everything. Both of my brother's as well. Not everyone can count on their family so I am extremely fortunate in that regard. I have been blessed with great in laws and an amazingly supportive group of friends. I consider myself much better off than some. I wish that this would have never happened to me but it did. I can't change it. 

It has allowed me to take the little victories as they come. This condition has been the hardest on me personally. However, it indirectly affects everyone in my life. 

I also want to give a special shoutout to my in laws and my brother in law and two sister in laws. I can't forget about my sister in laws boyfriend Fran either. None of them asked for this but they have all been helpful and understanding. They have taken care of me and Eliana and never complained. Ana's boyfriend Fran didn't realize that I had medical issues when he started dating Ana but he has been totally supportive and helpful. My in laws treat me like I was their own son and they have been amazing. Not having my own family close by, this has made me feel extremely lucky. Not everyone is as lucky as I am with their inlaws. 

I do not take mobility or life in general for granted anymore. I can only continue trying my hardest to get back to normal life. I am very lucky not to have a degenerative condition. My condition should only continue to improve with time and effort. I could be content with my current condition. I could live a passable life in my current condition. 

However, to do so would be leaving me more dependant on Jenny and Eliana than they deserve. Both of them have been through so much and they deserve a chance at a normal life. They can't take advantage of that chance unless and until I get back to normal life. They are my two biggest and best reasons to stay motivated and keep trying to progress to hopefully one day get back to normal life. However even if I never do, I still consider myself blessed, loved and lucky. 

Be sure to hug your family and friends tight. None of us knows how long that we will have on this earth. Every day is a blessing. So this is my general thank you letter to anyone that takes the time to read this. I love each and every single one of you. 

Til next time, Tyler 

Our cruise

I will attempt to chronically explain our recent cruise by destination. We flew into Milan Italy. By this time on our trip, I was already getting sick. I was cold, tired and wet from the rain. I had a fever, chills, a cough and a headache along with a runny nose. I ate a cold, soggy pizza and retired directly to bed. Genova was where we boarded the ship. I was still running a fever and now I had started coughing. I went to sleep early in our cabin. The cabin that we had booked for Jenny, Eliana and I was adapted for a person who used a wheelchair such as myself. 

There was a showerseat and a balcony. It was large, spacious and comfortable. I was too sick to do anything other than venture out of the room to eat. Jenny, Eliana and Jenny's family got to enjoy the on board shows though. In Napoles, I was feeling well enough to venture off of the ship (in my wheelchair) and got to see a famous fountain before it started dumping buckets of rain and we had to scramble for cover. We managed to get back to the ship without getting soaking wet. In Santorini, I didn't get off the ship because the terrain was too hilly for my wheelchair. In Heraklion, I was actually feeling better but I had managed to get everyone else sick. No one from our group was feeling well enough to disembark in Heraklion. Our final cruise stop was Estambul, Turkey. They cut our cruise short by one day because of a Turkish national holiday. They did give us a 50 euro onboard credit though.

Personally, I didn't enjoy Istanbul at all. It was dirty, crowded, poverty filled and definitely not friendly for people who are disabled. We were denied entry to various tourist sites. The tiny cobblestone streets did my electric wheelchair no favors. I spent the majority of my time inside the van we had rented (with a driver to show us around).

After leaving Istanbul, we were meant to fly to Madrid. Jenny is always paranoid about missing her flight. She convinced /forced everyone to go to the airport three hours early. This turned out to be a good decision because due to a miscommunication, our driver dropped us off at the wrong airport. 

He brought us to the national destination only airport. Since we were flying to Madrid, Spain the international airport was located an hours taxi ride away. Luckily, we found our own transportation, and because of Jenny's paranoia about being late, we had enough time to make our flight to Madrid. 

After arriving in one piece to Madrid, we managed to get on board a bus to Pamplona (after some delays and confusion). After a four hour bus ride (with one transfer). We made it back home to Pamplona in one piece. 

I am still sick. I currently have a cough and a runny nose. However, my sore throat, fever and chills are gone. I hope to be back to normal soon. It was not ideal getting sick right as I went on vacation. I feel bad that I was responsible for getting everyone else sick. I also feel bad that everyone had to modify their trip to accommodate my limited mobility. Additionally, I feel bad that Jenny had to take care of Eliana and I all while being sick.

We had terrible luck with elevators on this trip. In multiple different locations, the elevators were out of service. I was forced to walk down multiple flights of stairs. I was lucky to have the ability to walk (although not well).

I would return to both Italy and Greece for another visit. However, I have seen all that I want to see of Turkey. I have no desire to go back again. Being in Turkey, where their President /Prime Minister/Dictator is, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. I was slightly worried about us. However, we managed to follow all of the local laws and we had no trouble. Even in a dictatorship, all of the police and local security officers were very nice and friendly, especially to Eliana. They were very nice to her and curious about her life. It just goes to show that as long as you follow local laws, even in a dictatorship you can have a good time. 

We went on the trip with my in laws, Jenny, Eliana, my sister in law Ana and her boyfriend Fran. There were certainly some bumps in the road. However, overall I had a good time and I am glad that we got to go. 

Til next time, Tyler 

My Grandparents and Great Grandparents

I was just thinking today about my grandparents. Now that I am 40 most of them have been gone for many years. However, I am lucky to still have one grandmother going strong at 89 years old and hopefully many more.

She is my dad's mom and I love her more than words can express. She still drives, delivers Meals on Wheels to the old people as she calls them. Although, most of them are younger than her! She rides her stationary bike twice a day and she has medaled in the Senior Olympics in speed walking. She is in better shape than me! She still lives alone (albeit in a cabin on my aunt's property).

My paternal grandfather died in 1972 when he was 36 and my dad was only 17. I would have liked to meet him. My grandmother remarried in 1975. Grandad lived until 2013. My dad has 4 younger siblings and 3 step siblings.

My mom's parents lived until 2007 (her mom) and 2008 (her dad). They were amazing grandparents. I wish Eliana could meet them. I was sad when my grandmother died unexpectedly at only 78. My grandfather was lost without her and I was relieved when he followed her a year later. Mom is the 2nd oldest of five total siblings. 

I have too many good memories with all of my grandparents, to pick any to share with you. I have been truly blessed and lucky. I hope Eliana feels the same way about her grandparents as I do about mine.

This year mom's dad will turn 100. Her mom 97.  It is hard to believe how fast the time flies.

I was also lucky enough to get to know my great grandparents. They were my dad's grandparents. My great grandfather lived until I was 7. The clearest memory that I have of him, was him telling me not to pick my nose or my boogers would eat my fingers off. He lost 3 of his fingers in an industrial accident. 

My great grandmother died when I was 17. Now as an adult I regret not spending more time with her when she was alive. I am sure that she had some great stories to tell. However, I wasn't old enough to really care about that stuff. I am glad that Eliana has gotten to spend time with her great grandmother (my grandmother and my dad's mother). 

My daughter Eliana Valentina is very lucky because she gets to see her grandparents (my in laws) on a near daily basis. She also gets to see my parents in person on a yearly basis. I hope that she will grow to treasure this. She is the only little girl that I know of to call her four grand parents by their given names. My mom and mother in law both wanted a special title but they didn't stick. 

I was so very lucky to love and be loved by all of my grandparents and great grandparents. I know that my daughter Eliana Valentina Horton Mojica will be fortunate enough to have the same good luck. 

That's all for now. Til next time, Tyler 

My five year health anniversary

Now that we are in march of 2025,it has been five years since the vp shunt which controls my excess brain fluid failed. I have had it since birth. It lasted until I was 35 years old, with only a minor revision when I was 13 to give me a longer shunt tube. The tube runs from my brain to my stomach in order to drain the excess brain fluid.

In march of 2020, my shunt failed and my days of having a normal life were over. The doctors here in Spain initially tried to repair my original vp shunt but it was too old. I spent 9 cumulative months in the hospital before they finally transferred me to the hospital in Barcelona.

There I was helped by the wonderful Doctora (in Spanish you put an A on the end for a female doctor) Poca. She replaced my 2 shunts (I now had two shunts because one of my 4 ventricles in my brain blocked itself off from the other 3. So, I needed a dedicated shunt just for that ventricle. 

She gave me two new programmable vp shunts which can have their pressure adjusted up or down via special magnets. This allows the doctors to change the pressure without the need to give me yet another brain surgery.

The problem that I was having prior to Dra. Poca fixing everything, was that my programmable vp shunts were not communicating with each other. One would work and the other one would not. It was causing me a lot of problems. Luckily, Dra. Poca fixed the issue by given me two new shunts that had a technology that allowed them to synchronize together.

I was very sick for a while. I have survived 12 brain surgeries and 9 cumulative months in the hospital. My speech and swallowing have been affected by facial paralysis caused by the increased brain pressure. I now require a walker or a wheelchair to get around. I am not paralyzed thank God. I just have terrible balance now. I also require liquid thickener added to my liquids to prevent them from going directly to my lungs. I needed to have black eye patches on my eyes every night to sleep because I couldn't close my eyes fully due to the facial paralysis. This went on from about 2020-2022. 

Additionally, I had to use baby shampoo in the shower due to the regular shampoo burning my eyes since I couldn't close them. My mouth was also open wide for about two years due to the facial paralysis. Luckily now as of 2025 I can fully close both my eyes and my mouth. 

I was previously on a total liquid diet and I lost 25kg or 55 lbs of my body weight. I was unable to do anything except lie in the hospital bed. I went through a deep depression, not motivated to do anything and having no emotions except numbness. Luckily, I was put on an anti depressant (which I am no longer taking) which gave me back normal human emotions and potentially saved my life.

I have come a long way in the past five years. I have not had to be hospitalized since 2022 (and hopefully never again). I still need thickener added to my liquids. I still have limited mobility and need to use a walker or wheelchair to get around. I also still have speech issues due to the facial paralysis. I can eat whatever solid food that I want. I still need thickener added to my liquids but it is not too bad. Now that I am 40, I need to start watching my weight. I need to make sure that my belly doesn't get too big. However, I think that it is not a bad problem to have, considering how much weight that I lost. 

However, I exercise 14 hours a week (between my private rehab center and my at home exercise). My physical therapists tell me not to set goals too far in the future because that makes them seem distant and unachievable. However, I do have one future goal for myself. To be back to normal life in five years time.

I am tired of being dependent on Jenny and Eliana (who have been great) and I am ready to be a contributing member of society again. I am back to teaching English online again and I have completed an audio version of my written memoirs for my speech practice. Additionally, I have been reading more recently (I received an excellent book from my uncle titled The Glucose Revolution). I have also started a course to learn Microsoft office and another one to learn how to use AI. So I am staying busy.

I am nowhere near as independent as I want to be. However, I have come a long way in the past five years. I hope to be back to normal life in the next five years. I can do my daily stuff without too much help. My quality of life is not amazing but it could be much worse. 

I need to keep progressing in order to give Jenny and Eliana a chance at a normal life. They deserve it. I am so very grateful and thankful to all of my family and friends. To each one of you reading this. I am luckier than I deserve. While I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy, everything happens for a reason, I wouldn't change anything even if I could. 

To close out this novel, no doctor can tell me when or if these shunts will fail. I certainly don't want to start over with my recovery from scratch. However, having these conditions has made me grateful for everything that I have and every day in which I am above ground. Things are not easy or automatic for me anymore. However, I still have a lot of life left (hopefully) and I am better off than some people. 

Til next time, Tyler 

My premature birth

Last night Jenny was and I were watching a TV show on Netflix called Chicago Med. During the episode they showed a premature baby which weighed just over a pound at birth. Unfortunately, he died. Luckily, it was all fake on the show.

However, it got me thinking about my own birth. I was born in 1984, 3 months premature. I weighed in at 2 pounds and 3 ounces or just over a kilogram. I was given only a 10% chance of survival. I was in the NICU and an incubator for the first three months of my life. 

Because the doctors assumed that I would die, they gave my mom medicine to dry up her breast milk. She was on the medicine for a short time, then a nurse got angry at what they had done and stopped giving my mom that medicine thereby restoring her ability to produce breast milk. 

As of 2025, I have had a total of 29 surgeries. That is enough for anyone! Hopefully, I am now done with surgeries and hospitals. I have had some health issues and challenges. Especially, since my vp shunt failed five years ago.

I still struggle with my speech and mobility. I am nowhere near fully independent or recovered. However, I am not paralyzed thank God or in a coma. I can't do everything that I once did, easily or automatically. 

I still have a good quality of life though. I wouldn't wish my condition on my worst enemy. However, I wouldn't change anything even if I I could. I am truly grateful and a lucky guy. I hope to have many more happy years with my family and friends. Even if I don't, I am happy with the life I have had. 

I am very lucky to know that I don't have a degenerative condition which will only continue to get worse. Luckily, it is the opposite for me. My condition should only continue to improve with time and effort. 

I do so much physical exercise because I am trying to speed up my recovery for Jenny and Eliana. If I was alone I would probably be happy with my current progress. However, the girls can't have a normal life until I return to normal life. 

My progress day to day is slow and small. However, when I think about my total progress in the past five years, my overall progress has been huge. 

My parents are the strongest people that I know. They have been through so much in the past 40 years. However, they have always dealt with everything that has come their way with positivity and strength. 

I am very grateful to all of my family and friends and everyone that has helped me out in the past five years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

Til next time, Tyler 

I am finally back in control

Today, I reached 50362/100000 points that I need to earn my t-shirt from my DDP Yoga exercise program. So much of these health issues have not been my fault. It has been out of my control. I have no guarantee that I will ever fully recover. However, staying healthy and trying my best to recover is something that I can control.

Now that I am adding resistance bands and push-ups training on Fridays, that will bring me to 13 hours weekly of physical activity. My goal is eventually to be able to do 100 push-ups without stopping. I have handles/grips to take the pressure off of my wrists. 

I am in control of how long my recovery takes. I am trying to speed it up for Jenny and Eliana. I am also changing the order in which I eat my food and trying to avoid super processed foods. Nothing extreme, I am not trying to live forever. Just to generally be healthier. This will be a great benefit to my general health and life span, but I am doing it more for them than I am for myself. 

Thank you for your support and always keeping me accountable. I started this exercise journey in September. I think that I have been 95% consistent. It helps me that going to neurobidea, I am forced to exercise whether I want to or not.

I continue to feel that the decision not to enroll me in the adult healthcare facility /daycare was the correct one. I would have completely stagnated there.

Til next time, Tyler 

A look back on my life

I was just thinking today about the fact that I started this blog sixteen years ago. I started writing it when I first moved to Sydney, Australia.

I was only 24 years old. So much has happened to me (both good and bad) in the past sixteen years. However, I am so thankful that I have taken the time and effort to do this. 

I really enjoy writing about my life, especially since I struggle with speaking now due to my facial paralysis. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my life and my ups and downs, as much as I have enjoyed living it. 

Selfishly, I am continuing to blog more for my own memories than for you my dear readers. I wouldn't change anything that has happened to me, even if I could. Everything that has has happened to me, has happened for a reason. I am a lucky guy. I am also grateful for the time that I am given on this earth despite my challenges. 

Thank you to all of you. Family, friends and anyone else who reads this. Here is to the next sixteen years and hopefully many more happy years to come. Hopefully, I will continue to improve health wise and have no further health issues. However, even if I make no further improvements to my health, I will be happy with my life.

Til next time, Tyler 

An experiment with artificial intelligence

I was just thinking today about how far. I decided to do an experiment and ask it to write me a blog post.

Here is what it came up with. I didn't modify anything. This is not exactly what I would have written but it did a pretty good job based on the prompt I provided. 

Here is the prompt that I wrote: Write me a travel blog entry about a 40 year old man named Tyler who enjoys traveling with his dual citizen wife Jenny who is a dual citizen of Colombia and Spain. in addition, he enjoys traveling with his 4 year old daughter Eliana Valentina.

Lost in Translation (and Loving It): Family Travel, Colombian-Spanish Style

Okay, fellow wanderlusters, let's talk family travel.  Forget the perfectly curated Instagram feeds and the idyllic, tantrum-free vacations.  I'm Tyler, a (slightly) seasoned traveler at 40, and my reality involves a whirlwind of languages, questionable food choices, and the occasional epic meltdown (usually mine, if I'm being honest).  But I wouldn't trade it for the world.

My secret weapon? My amazing wife, Jenny.  She's a dual citizen of Colombia and Spain, which means our family adventures are a vibrant mix of cultures, languages, and seriously delicious food.  And then there's our four-year-old dynamo, Eliana Valentina.  She's the real boss, dictating our itinerary with the iron fist of a tiny human who knows exactly what she wants (usually ice cream).

Our latest escapade took us to… well, I'm not going to tell you exactly where.  Part of the fun of family travel is discovering hidden gems, right?  But I will tell you it involved cobblestone streets, the aroma of freshly baked bread that could make a grown man weep, and a surprisingly impressive playground that kept Eliana entertained for a solid two hours (a parental travel miracle).

Traveling with a four-year-old is an exercise in patience.  Forget meticulously planned itineraries.  Flexibility is your new best friend.  We learned this the hard way on day one when Eliana decided she was only interested in feeding pigeons in the plaza.  So, we fed pigeons.  For an hour.  It wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, but Jenny reminded me (in both Spanish and Colombian-accented English, because why not?) that these moments, the unplanned detours, are often the most memorable.

Jenny's dual citizenship is a game-changer.  She navigates the language barriers effortlessly, haggles like a pro in the local markets, and introduces us to the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants that serve food so authentic, my taste buds do a little salsa dance.  I'm slowly learning Spanish, but let's just say my conjugation skills are still a work in progress.  Eliana, on the other hand, is a linguistic sponge.  She picks up phrases in both Spanish and whatever adorable toddler gibberish she's currently inventing, creating a hilarious and often confusing family dialogue.

One of the highlights of this trip was definitely the food.  Jenny took us to a local market bursting with colors and smells I'd never experienced before.  We sampled arepas, empanadas, and some kind of magical fruit I can't even pronounce, but tasted like sunshine and happiness.  Eliana, of course, stuck to her trusty nuggets and fries (sigh), but even she had to admit the churros were pretty amazing.

Traveling with family isn't always easy.  There are tantrums (mostly Eliana's, occasionally mine), missed flights, and the constant struggle to pack light (a battle I'm destined to lose).  But it's in these chaotic, messy moments that the magic happens.  It's watching Eliana's eyes light up when she sees a street performer, it's sharing a laugh with Jenny over a language mishap, it's the feeling of connection that comes from exploring a new place together.

So, if you're thinking about taking the plunge and traveling with your family, just do it.  Embrace the chaos, learn a few phrases in the local language, and remember to pack plenty of snacks.  It might not be perfect, but it will be an adventure you'll cherish forever.  And who knows, you might even discover a hidden gem or two along the way.  Just don't tell everyone about it… some secrets are worth keeping.

Til next time, Tyler 

My Motivation

A common question that I receive from people is how do I stay positive and motivated?

Well, I will give you my answer. I stay positive and motivated because I have no choice. The only other option is to give up and not leave the bed. 

There are plenty of days where I don't want to get out of bed. However, I force myself to do it because Jenny and Eliana depend on me to do it. 

I want to give them both a chance at having a normal life. I can't do that while I have limited mobility and speech issues. The experts say that you need 2.5 hours of physical activity a week. Currently, between all of my various exercises, I am getting 12 hours a week of exercise. I have made it my job to try and get back to normal life. Exercise is one way of doing that.

Additionally, I have started teaching conversational English classes again online. It is hard for me, having speech issues but it is good for my practice. I am not charging much, only 2€ for 25 minutes of conversation.

I have my challenges both with my speech and mobility. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. However, I still have (I hope) a lot of life left and it is worth living. I wouldn't change a thing. This experience has taught me to be grateful for the little things in life. I try to enjoy each day that I am given. 

The most frustrating thing about having my condition is that I can no longer do simple daily stuff that a child could do, easily and automatically. Everything takes effort now. 

I am a relatively young man who is trapped in an old man's body. My body doesn't always obey my brain. My brain is healing faster than my body is. 

However, having this condition has forced me to not to take anything for granted. I am truly thankful for the quality of my life. I can't do everything that I once could. However, I can still do a lot of things (more than some other people). Life is still worth living. 

I didn't want to do it at first. However, Jenny didn't give me a choice. I will only get better through practice though. I still have all of my teaching skills, knowledge and experience. I know that one day sooner or later, I will thank Jenny for not giving up on me and not letting me give up on myself. 

My parents, Grandmother, Aunts and Uncles, Cousins, All of my extended family and friends have all also been amazing throughout all of this. I can't forget about all of Jenny's family either. They have been great. I appreciate all of them also. 

Til next time, Tyler 

My Health Anniversary

Today is February 1st, 2025. I got released from my hospital stay in Barcelona sometime in August 2022. I still have a long way to go to get back to normal life. However, I have made huge progress in the last 30 months.

I am nowhere near where I want to be but my day to day isn't bad. Things could be much worse. I hope to stay out of the hospital for good. No one knows how long that I will be problem free. However, instead of worrying about what I can't change, I will work on changing what I can.

I am blessed beyond measure. I am forever grateful for my family, friends and everyone who has supported me. I love you all and thank you for everything.

Til next time, Tyler 

Health and Fitness

I have never been a self starter who is motivated to exercise. In fact, if I am being honest with you, my default state is laziness and I don't like to exercise.

However, since I have been sick, I have made it my job. The experts say that the average person needs 2.5, hours of physical activity weekly. It can be anything you want as long as you get your heart rate up.

Physical exercise has been proven to help with depression and anxiety issues. Along with helping to slow down mental diseases and things like heart disease and diabetes. 2.5 hours a week really isn't that much.

Since I have made exercise my job and recovering from this traumatic brain injury is my goal, I exercise 12 hours weekly. However, my case is not normal and I don't expect everyone to be able to do that. Even when I finally fully recover, I am going to continue with my DDP Yoga program. 

It is low intensity and impact. It helps me to get my heart rate up. It is something which I can easily continue to do well into my 70s and beyond.

Even if I stop all of my other exercises, just doing the DDP Yoga Monday to Friday for an hour a day will be five hours a week. That is double the recommendations for physical activity. 

I am not doing this because I want to live forever. I am doing this because I want to get better for my family. I want to return to being a normal father and husband. I don't want to be dependent on Jenny or Eliana. 

Additionally, I have started reading an excellent book given to me by my Uncle Richard (mom's younger brother). The book is titled The Glucose Revolution. It is all about lowering and stabilizing your blood glucose levels in order to improve your overall health. 

In the book, she (the author) does not give you a super restrictive diet or ask you to count calories or do anything crazy. I am not finished with the book yet, but so far she is only asking me to make small changes to my diet to control the amount of artificial and natural sugars that I ingest. 

Many people assume that if a food is fat free then it must be healthy. However, from reading the book, I have learned that many fat free foods are filled with artificial sugar. So, you are trading one problem for another. 

I have experimented with taking a photo of the nutritional information label on my food and then uploading that photo to Google Gemini, the AI intelligence from Google. I then ask it to tell me in plain English, what is in my chosen food and whether it is healthy or not. 

I am not counting calories or doing anything crazy restrictive. However, using this method, I am able to make more informed choices about what I put into my body. 

None of this has been easy. However, I want to stick around with Jenny and Eliana for as long as I can. Now that I have turned 40, my waistline has been expanding. I need to work hard to take better care of myself. I have the exercise part done. I have finally found my motivation to keep moving forward. Now I just need to work on improving my diet. 

Til next time, Tyler 

My life in written form

Most people don't bother writing down their memoirs. Even fewer people write down every major event in their lives. However, I am not most people. I decided to write my memoirs.

I started on December 24th 2019. I wrote down everything that I could remember, organized cronologically by year. For the years in which I was too young to remember, I was lucky enough to be able to ask my parents.

I made it until 2020 and then I was too sick to continue writing. However, in 2024 I decided to restart it. I brought it up to the current date and I added in stories from each country that I have lived and worked in or traveled to.

I am so grateful to myself for doing this while I can still remember things. It is so nice to put my life down on paper. I have done it in electronic format so it will hopefully be saved forever. It can be printed out by those who are interested in that. 

I have done this for myself. However, more than for me, I have done this for Eliana. I want her to learn about my life and people that she has never had the chance to meet, such as my maternal grandparents. I plan on giving her a printed copy when/if she gets married. 

As of January 29th, 2025, my memoirs are 435 pages and 80,831 words and counting. I have been truly blessed and lucky to have had such a rich and interesting life. I wouldn't change anything even if I could. I am so glad that I started this before I got really sick. I am also glad that I restarted it. I plan on continuing to update it for as long as I am able to do so. Hopefully, I will continue to have things worth writing about. It is my hope that one day Eliana will appreciate the effort that I have put into this.

These memoirs are totally separate from my daily blog. I was inspired to do this after reading my grandfather's memoirs. He waited until he was 75 years old to write his. I am sure that he had forgotten a lot of things. 

I also inspired my mom to write hers. I am glad that she did. My memoirs are much longer than either my grandfather's or my mother's. I am under no illusions that anyone other than the people who are the most dedicated to learning about my life will read my memoirs from cover to cover. However, this is more for me personally and Eliana than it is for other people. Now that I struggle with speaking, I prefer the written word. 

Til next time, Tyler 

An honest look at my future

I have been avoiding this for a while now but I can't avoid it any longer. I am not mentally retarted thank God. However, I do have unique challenges.

I am more dependent on Jenny than I would like to be. I have issues with my speech, my mobility and my brain has been through 12 brain surgeries so it has endured a lot of trauma. This means that everything comes slower for me than most people. I might make some decisions that most people wouldn't and nothing is easy or automatic for me anymore.

I tried for 4 years to find a home based job where I could do the job without talking to anyone due to my speech issues and home based because it is hard for me to get up and go. 

I still rely on my wheelchair or walker to get around. I have faced the reality that I may never again walk or talk normally. I could use my condition as an excuse to give up. To say this is the best that I will be and accept my life as is. 

I don't think that anyone would blame me. However, I am choosing not to give up. I have to keep progressing for my family. I have a long way to go to return to normal. However, in two years, I have come a long way. 

My life is not ideal. I have no job, I have speech issues and mobility issues. I also have to deal with recovering from a traumatic brain injury. 

As bad as things are, I am still a husband and a father. I have two people who love, support and depend on me. So, I am not doing this for me but for them. 

I will continue going to my physical therapy four days a week, doing my DDP Yoga exercise program, doing my extra walking and I am working on a Microsoft Office course to learn how to properly use Microsoft Office. 

Additionally, I have started recording an audio version of my written memoirs. I have also decided to start offering speaking lessons again online. I am doing it almost for free. It is more for my practice and experience than anything else. After four years of looking for something else, I am going back to the only thing that I have done in my adult life that I have ever been any good at.

My challenges and current health condition is not ideal. However, I am extremely lucky not to have a degenerative condition and as long as these shunts continue to hold out, then I should continue to progress. Hopefully, one day being able to get back to normal life sooner rather than later.

I am tired of depending so much on Jenny. I am too young to retire. I am also not rich enough not to work. Ideally, I want to start contributing financially again to my family. 

My situation is not great. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. However, I am not bedridden or completely incapable of taking care of myself. Things are not as easy and automatic as they used to be. However, my quality of life is better than some others. Things could be much worse. I am grateful for every day that I am given. 

Til next time, Tyler 

Big News

I have some exciting news to share with all of you. Eliana is not getting a sibling, but Jenny and I just purchased and received our first brand new car.

We got a 2024 Peugeot 5008. It is a fully electric French made SUV. It can seat seven people. It has all of the modern bells and whistles like cameras, sensors, adaptive cruise control, Android Auto, Parking and lane change assistance. You can pair your phone with the car and use your phone hands free. 

It even has heated front seats and a huge trunk plus climate control in both the front and the back. It even has wireless phone charging and pull down shades on the windows. You can open the trunk just by waving your hand near it. It has a keyless push button start. There are huge touch screen displays.

I am sure that there are more features that I have not discovered yet. They will be installing our electric battery charging station in our underground parking garage soon. 

I can no longer drive because of all of my medical conditions. However, I am happy to be a passenger in such luxury. I don't miss driving at all. The only downside that I can see so far is that it is extremely hard to get our new car out of our tiny parking garage.

This is my first new car since 2009 and my first new car in Spain. The car buying experience in Spain is so much better than back in the US. Over here there is no stress or pressure to buy anything because the salespeople don't work on commission. They don't care if you buy the car or not. 

We received more or less a 60% discount off the sticker price. We bought a model 2024, right before 2025. We received a further discount for it being a display model. In addition, we received a discount for it being all electric and finally we received a further discount because of my disability status. 

Spain has decided that they will no longer sell gasoline powered cars after 2030. However, if you own a gasoline powered car by that year, you will be able to keep it. We are just getting on the all electric bandwagon five years early. 

That is it til next time, Tyler 

Trump's punishment (or lack thereof)

It is high time that I give you dear readers my opinion on the recent court decision involving Trump. It is your right to agree with me or to disagree with me, just as it is my right to post my opinion. I figured it was more appropriate to post it here rather than on my personal Facebook page. 

President elect Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Due to the recent outrageous (in my opinion) Supreme Court decision giving him and every following president near total immunity for basically any crime that they want to commit. Those are the facts. 

However, even though he is a convicted felon, he got off with zero prison time, fines or community service. This was a huge miscarriage of justice in my opinion. It is my personal opinion but I firmly believe that there should be no lifetime appointments for anyone who is in the government. There is zero chance that there will be any changes in my lifetime but I believe one key way to fight corruption and the brokenness and inequality of our current system is to limit everyone to ten years maximum. 

Had he been me or any other regular Joe, he would have had the book thrown at him. However, because he is rich and powerful and the president elect he gets off scot free. This makes me sad for the what this says about our justice system and how it works for the rich and powerful versus the weak and vulnerable. I am also sad for the message that it sends to future people who run for president. It allows them to effectively get away with any crime that they want. Hopefully, this will not be the law of the land forever. 

Til next time, Tyler