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 

My 40th Birthday

I turned 40 years old today. This is the first time I actually feel kind of old.  At 40 years old I can no longer consider myself a young man. I have now moved into middle age.

The crazy thing, is that I am now as old as my parents were when Lucas was born. Maybe it is because of my mobility issues but I certainly feel my age now that I am over the hill.

I hate getting older not because it bothers me personally to get older, but because my parents are getting older right along with me and I know that they won't be around forever. It just gives me more incentive to take advantage of every day that I have with them. 

Eliana is now 4 years old and growing like a weed. She is learning new things every day and getting more and more of her own personality with her own likes and dislikes. My daughter is becoming a great person and I am very proud of her. I only hope that she leaves this world (long after me) better than she found it it. She is my legacy that I hope will long outlive me. 

I have no idea how much longer that I have left on this earth. Hopefully, a long time, but even if I die tomorrow, I will be happy with my life despite my health struggles. I am truly a lucky guy and I have amazingly supportive family and friends. I wouldn't change anything even if I could. 

I am truly getting old. It is not only the gray hair coming in on my head and beard. Or the fact that I have outlived everyone in the twenty seven club by thirteen years and counting. It isn't the fact that I will be as old as my parents were when Lucas was born. It is the fact that my first students in Thailand are now twenty years old! I hope to have many more happy years left but I will continue to get older. 

I love each and every one of you. I couldn't do this without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I look forward to continuing my recovery in 2025. 

Til next time, Tyler 

Pity Party

I just noticed something today and I wanted to share it with all of you. I recently have had the feeling that the average person looks at me in my current condition and feels pity for me.

This is frustrating because I don't pity myself. There was a period of time where I was having a pity party for myself. I was very depressed and I was wondering why all of this had to happen to me. 

However, I no longer pity myself. I can't do everything I once could, and I still need help and accommodation with certain things. Despite that fact, I can now do the majority of the daily tasks independently. 

A lady came to deliver a package which I had to sign for. She looked at me (I answered the door in my wheelchair) and she told me that it didn't matter if my signature was messy. I do struggle now with my handwriting. She was only trying to be nice so I am not angry at her. 

What bothers me is that was the first thing that came to her mind. I hope this changes in the future.

Another thing that happened recently was we got our groceries delivered as usual. When I answered the door in my wheelchair the guy offered to bring all of the groceries to our kitchen counter. He was only trying to be nice. I cannot be angry at him. But would he have done the same thing for an able bodied person?

This was really all that I wanted to say. My life and current condition are not ideal. However, any life is better than none at all. I am hopeful that one day, sooner or later I will be able to return to normal life. 

Til next time, Tyler 

Be thankful for the small things

Today I was taking a shower and as I was putting shampoo in my hair, I started to think back to when I was using baby shampoo because the regular shampoo burned my eyes due to my eyes not closing correctly.

I also had to sleep with patches over my eyes for about two years.

I am so thankful that I can now use regular shampoo without it burning my eyes. I no longer have to wear eye patches to sleep. 

Having the ability to close your eyes properly is such a small thing but important. Like most of you, I took things like walking and talking normally for granted. Now I treat them like the miracle that they are.

Having these medical conditions has made me not take anything for granted. Progress is slow and small but it's progress nonetheless. I am in it for the long haul and I am extremely lucky to not have a degenerative condition that will get progressively worse. It will only get better with time and effort. 

Today, I was at neurobidea. That is my facility that I go to for physical therapy. I was talking to Lide my physical therapist, and I mentioned to her how I would love to walk again with a regular 4 wheeled walker and then progress to using a cane and then ideally nothing. 

I asked Lide how long she thought that it would be until I reached those goals. She told me that every person is different. She cannot give me a time line due to that fact. I could walk again normally or use a walker for the rest of my life. 

However, I can now walk for an hour with my walker and I can stand up unassisted for 4 minutes. Prior to a few months ago, I could only stand up unassisted for ten seconds.

Even if I can never walk again without a walker or a walking stick, I will still be grateful to be alive and able to enjoy my life even if things are harder than before. At least I am not paralyzed, bedridden or in a coma. 

Any progress is good progress. I will take what I can get. I only hope that I will be able to return to normal sooner or later. I am also very grateful for my super supportive family and friends. I couldn't do this without them. 

That's it for now, Tyler 

Eliana's 4th Birthday

Yesterday was Eliana's 4th birthday. While I didn't mark her actual birthday with a blog post, I figured that I would do it now.

I have said this many times before, but it bears repeating. My daughter is kind, loving, helpful and empathetic among many other good qualities. 

She is mature beyond her years, mostly due to my health issues. However, it is my goal to allow her to be a kid and allow her to retire from helping me so much. 

I love her to the moon and back and having her was the best decision I've ever made even if she does drive me crazy sometimes!

I hope both of us have many more happy years left together. She is growing up before my eyes. I know that I am going to blink and she will be a teenager. I am going to enjoy her younger years while they last. 

She is lucky to still have one great grandmother, her grand parents on both sides and all of her aunts and uncles on both sides. 

She will be my legacy and hopefully she will outlive me by many years. However, through her, a piece of me will live on forever. 

Eliana Valentina Horton Mojica I love you. 

Love, Dad

Thanksgiving

Since we just celebrated Thanksgiving back home, I wanted to write a short blog about what I am thankful for. I am for my family and friends and each and every one of you reading this. 

I am many things, both good and bad. However, lonely is not one of them. I am truly grateful for all of your support. I am one of the luckiest men alive despite my health challenges.

I am thankful for my beautiful, supportive wife and daughter. I couldn't do this without them. I am also thankful for my super supportive parents and brothers. 

I am thankful for my super supportive in laws and my super supportive brother in law and two sisters in laws. This would be much more difficult without them.

I have an amazing group of friends whom I can't forget to mention. 

I am truly one of the luckiest men alive. I have been blessed beyond measure. I wouldn't change anything even if I could.

Til next time, Tyler 

Something that I need to get off my chest

This is slightly morbid and I probably think about this more than most people do.

Given my health issues though I think it is understandable. I often wonder when and how I will eventually die. 

Of course, I can never be certain of how or when I will die. This is why I am so grateful for every day of my life. 

On the one hand, I am looking forward to my death and hopefully being able to be reunited with my family and friends who passed away before me. 

I don't want to live forever, but neither do I want to die tomorrow. 89 feels like a good age to go out. However, I will stay alive as long as I can be mentally and physically OK.

Unlike most people my age, I have prepared extensively for my eventual death. I am an organ donor, I have a DNR, I have made my living Will, my funeral and burial arrangements, medical power of attorney and I have prewritten my obituary. 

I will only accept euthanasia if I get diagnosed with a brain disorder where I would lose my memory and independence. 

I do not want to be a burden on my family and slowly waste away. Any other disease though and I would fight it until the end. I don't want Jenny to have to stress about anything. That is why I have prepared all of this in advance. 

I hope that both Jenny and Eliana outlive me but I am not ready to kick the bucket tomorrow. 

I don't know how or when I will die but I hope it will be quick and painless. I had an ex roommate of mine die suddenly at only 49 years old. He died alone in his apartment in Africa. Far away from his family in Canada.

He had no wife or kids and his parents outlived him. I am very lucky not to have that be my fate. Eliana will be my legacy and God willing, I will live to see my grandkids and potentially my great grandchildren. 

I hope that I don't die tomorrow, but if I do then I will be happy with the life I have lead. I couldn't ask for much more. The good and the bad have shaped me into who I am today. 

Even if I could change something about my life I wouldn't change a thing. Everything has happened for a reason. 

I just want to remind everyone reading this to be sure and take advantage of every day that you are given because none of us knows how long that we have left. 

Til next time, Tyler 

A new future goal : To run again

The doctors recommend that you get 2.5 hours a week of exercise (enough to get your heart rate up)

Currently, I am getting 12 hours a week of exercise. Considering that I am not working, I treat my exercise like a job. Trying my best to recover.

I am trying to get better not only for myself but for Jenny and Eliana. 

They both deserve a normal life and I don't want to hold them back from that any longer than necessary.

I have made the decision to start running for exercise in the future if I am physically able to. 

I have never enjoyed running, but if I regain the ability to do it then I don't want to waste it. 

I need to stick around for as long as possible and being healthy is a good way to do that. 

So, this means that I am getting 9.5 hours more than the recommendations suggest. 

I say  all of this not to brag or make myself look superior, but just to inform you.

A quick health update

It has been a a while since I have given you an update on my health.

I recently had blood work done. I have to redo my blood work as I had a 24 hour stomach bug during the analysis. So my stomach and intestines were enflamed.

However, my doctor did not see anything alarming. I also recently visited the nutritionist. My weight is holding steady at 74 kg /165 pounds. 

My blood pressure is normal. They measured my grip strength and five months ago, I got 21 kg/46 lbs and just yesterday I got 31kg/68 lbs of grip strength.

I am down to two packages of liquid thickener (per one liter of liquid) down from five packages per one liter of liquid. 

So, overall I am making progress slowly but surely. This is a long, slow process and my daily progress is slow and small but the important thing is that I am moving forward. 

I am still doing my daily exercise program at home. I am still going to my rehab center 4 days a week working on on my balance. I have also started walking an hour extra three days a week. 

I stay busy creating content for my English teaching YouTube channel. I use an artificial voice from Google to speak for me and I use chat gpt to make my scripts. All I have to do is to pick a general topic that I want to teach. 

I am not teaching English in the traditional sense. However, I enjoy it and it makes me feel productive and I am able to do the only thing that I have ever been any good at, albeit in a new and distinct way. 

I am also practicing my speech at home. Additionally, I have a podcast that I do with friends in order to practice my speech and allow me to catch up with friends. 

I can kill two birds with one stone. I record the audio and then I upload it to YouTube. Let me know if you are interested in being a guest on my podcast. 

Currently (and hopefully forever) all of my health problems are minor annoyances like dry, sensitive skin. I am very lucky to be alive and functioning much better than before. 

I am hopeful that I will fully recover sooner or later. Jenny and Eliana deserve a break. My daily grind is pretty boring, as I am looking for work but not currently working. 

A home based job due to my mobility issues and a job where I don't have to talk on the phone due to my speech issues. So far, it has not been easy to find a job which fits my specifications.

I had uncontrollable trembling in hands prior to 2024. I also had severe pain in my neck where the doctors implanted a shunt. Additionally, I had severe vomiting and weight loss. 

I also had a constant swaying feeling whenever I stood up. Thank God all of those issues are now gone. My hands only shake uncontrollably when I get very tired. 

Other than not finding any work I really can't complain much. I am focused on my physical training and trying to get back to normal while I continue looking for work.

I still need some help with my daily stuff but I am doing much better than before. I can shower alone (sitting down) and I can dress and feed myself. All of the basics I can do on my own. 

I am looking forward to the day when I am totally independent again. I am a lucky guy who is deeply grateful to my family and friends. Not everyone has the amazing support system that I do. 

Now you are updated. Til next time, Tyler 

Living with uncertainty

No doctor can guarantee that the shunts implanted on my brain will not need to be replaced.

They could last the rest of my life or fail tomorrow. Since I have two of them there is double the chance of failure.

I read online directly from the manufacturer of my shunts that the average time between shunt replacements is 37 months. It has already been 24 months for me.

I can't stand the thought of having to start my recovery over from square one. However, my first shunt lasted 35 years so I hope I will get a long time out of these.

Since this is nothing that I can control I try not to stress about it because no amount of stress will change the underlying facts. I can only hope that they will last the rest of my life and I will not have to start my recovery over from scratch. 

Something that I want to remember

I am putting this here for posterity sake. Just so I don't forget it. 

I found out this morning that my ex roommate from Canada passed away. He was only 49. I certainly hope that Eliana outlives me. No parent should outlive their kids. 

I feel bad that he died alone. Far away from family and friends. He moved to Africa after leaving Colombia. His family is located in Canada. 

He died without a wife or child unfortunately. Sadly, he will not have a long lasting legacy. I am a lucky guy who gets to hopefully avoid that fate. 

None of us know how long we have on this earth. So be sure to hold on to your loved ones tightly and take advantage of every day that you are given.

Til next time, Tyler 

My Mental Health

I have said this before, but I would repeat this a million times over if I knew it would help someone.

Two years ago, I went through a very dark and depressing period in my life.

I was really struggling health wise and doing much worse than I am now.

I was completely numb emotionally. Nothing made me happy, sad, angry, frustrated or annoyed.

The only reason why I even opened my eyes every day was because it was an automatic reflex from my body. I was not motivated to do anything. I wasn't living for anyone or anything. 

Then they put me on an antidepressant (which I am no longer taking)

It gave me back normal human emotions and I am very thankful for modern medicine.

I do not agree with the decision to commit suicide. You are selfishly ending your own pain but starting a ton of pain for the friends and family that you leave behind.

I do not agree with someone's decision to commit suicide but after going through my own depression I do understand it. Some people just want to end the numbness. 

I was very lucky to come out the other side, I was able to return to my normal life with those people who love me and whom I love.

If any of you reading this, ever find yourself in a dark place mentally, you can feel free to reach out to me and just know that you are not alone and things will get better.

I love each and every one of you. I hope to have many more happy years left and I hope to get back to normal life sooner or later. I have a beautiful wife and daughter to live for. I have amazing friends and family. 

However, even if I don't have much time left here on earth, I truly am one of the luckiest men alive despite my health issues. I would take away all of my health issues if I could, but since I can't, I wouldn't change a thing. 

Til next time, Tyler

Something that I need to repeat

I already posted this entry so some of the information may be duplicated but some may be new. 

I combined it all into one entry. My apologies for the confusion. 

I took this from my Facebook page but I thought I would put it here for posterity.

I have said this before, but it bears repeating. I would not wish my medical conditions on my worst enemy. But as hard as things are sometimes, I truly am very lucky. I don't have a degenerative condition and if I continue to work hard it will only get better.

I need to get better not only for myself but for my wife and daughter. I am not a vegetable, I still have a lot of life ahead of me even if I can't do everything exactly as before.

I am grateful for every day that I am given and I am so thankful to my amazing family and friends. I will continue to work hard until I get back to normal.

Having both my speech and my mobility affected has not been easy. However, it could be worse and it has forced me not to take anything for granted. 

My daily progress is slow and small but when I think about where I was two years ago, I have come a long way. The daily grind doesn't bother me because anything is better than being stuck in the hospital. Just being able to live life is a miracle. 

This will be long but please bear with me. I have said this before, but  I will say it again. 

I have been through a lot during the past four years.

I have had 12 brain surgeries, bringing my total surgery count to 29.

I have been through pain that felt unbearable. I have been on a diet of totally pureed food.

I have spent over six cumulative months in the hospital and I have lost over 30 pounds of weight.

My left eye went crooked due to my increased brain pressure. 

My depth perception got destroyed. However, my overall vision was not greatly affected. 

I had constant vomiting and couldn't hold any food down. I also had a constant swaying feeling every time that I stood up. 

I had severe neck pain where they implanted a shunt. 

Luckily, now all those problems have gone away. 

I wouldn't wish my balance or speech issues on my worst enemy.

However, as bad as things seem, I am very lucky to be alive and functioning for the most part.

I easily could have died multiple times but I did not.

I am not a vegetable and I hope to have many good years ahead of me.

I am confident that I will get back to normal life sooner or later as my condition is not degenerative and will only continue to improve with time and effort.

I have an amazing family and friends who have been incredibly supportive.

I have made a lot of progress, even if it has been slow and small. I can eat any solid food that I want and I use less thickener in my liquids. 

My speech is generally understandable after you have spent some time with me. 

I have not lost my ability to speak or understand Spanish. 

My short term memory is now terrible. However, my core long term memories have been unaffected. 

I had constant vomiting and I couldn't hold down any solid food. It was a major cause of my weight loss. 

I also had a constant swaying feeling every time that I stood up. 

Additionally, I had severe neck pain where they implanted a shunt. 

Luckily, all of those problems are now gone. 

I have to keep going not only for myself, but for Jenny and Eliana.

All things considered, I truly am one of the luckiest men alive. I wish this never happened to me but it did and I have to play the hand that I was dealt.

I had amazing doctors and nurses who gave me the best possible care with the information that they had. 

When you have a surgery in the United States, they always make you count backwards from ten and you are asleep before you get to zero. 

In Spain, they don't do a count down. Once, I was having an eye surgery and they were taking a long time to get everything ready. I angrily asked the nurse when we were going to start the surgery. 

She proceeded to tell me that they had already finished everything! I immediately felt bad for losing my temper. 

I am very lucky not to have to pay off medical debt for the rest of my life. I was also very lucky to leave the hospital without getting an infection or an addiction to pain medication. 

I am grateful for every breath that I am given in this imperfect world of ours.

Til next time, Tyler 

Something that I have said before

I took this from my Facebook page but I thought I would put it here for posterity.

I have said this before, but it bears repeating. I would not wish my medical conditions on my worst enemy. But as hard as things are sometimes, I truly am very lucky. I don't have a degenerative condition and if I continue to work hard it will only get better.

I need to get better not only for myself but for my wife and daughter. I am not a vegetable, I still have a lot of life ahead of me even if I can't do everything exactly as before.

I am grateful for every day that I am given and I am so thankful to my amazing family and friends. I will continue to work hard until I get back to normal.

Having both my speech and my mobility affected has not been easy. However, it could be worse and it has forced me not to take anything for granted. 

My daily progress is slow and small but when I think about where I was two years ago, I have come a long way. The daily grind doesn't bother me because anything is better than being stuck in the hospital. Just being able to live life is a miracle. 

Til next time, Tyler 

Our Trip to Texas

Now that we are safely back home in Pamplona, I thought that I would update you on our recent trip. 

In August of 2024, my mom came to Pamplona to stay with us. Then, Jenny, Eliana and I went back to Texas with her for two weeks. 

It was Eliana's first time in the US. We had a great time visiting family and friends. Eliana had the chance to meet my grandmother, her great grandmother. It was a special time. 

We traveled to (in no particular order) Austin, San Antonio, Athens, Sulphur Springs, New Braunfels, Little Elm and to my parents' place in Saint Jo. We were here, there and everywhere but we had a great time even with my limited mobility.

In Austin we stayed with my dad's cousin Tony (whom I have always known as uncle Tony even though he is not my true uncle) and his wife Susan. We had a great time catching up with everyone. 

We stayed with my brother Jason and his wife Lou in New Braunsfels. We then took a day trip to San Antonio and we did the river walk.

We also went to Athens and stayed with my uncle Richard and his wife Janice. Eliana got to go tubing and she had fun on Lake Athens. 

In Sulphur Springs we got the chance to visit with Nana (my grandmother and Eliana's great grandmother) I was very happy that they finally got to meet each other in person. That is a special thing that not everyone gets the chance. 

We were very lucky to see all of my dad's brothers and sister and their spouses. Plus most of my cousins and their spouses and kids. 

We also had a party in Little Elm with lots of my friends and their kids. Some people I hadn't seen in twenty years. There was a bounce house and swimming pool there. Eliana had a great time. 

Finally, we spent time at my parent's new lakeside cabin in Saint Jo, Texas. Eliana had a great time swimming in the lake and seeing all the animals. She also got to drive the golf cart. 

Overall, it was great seeing family and friends and spending time in Texas. Our two weeks went way to fast. We will alternate years between Texas and Spain so the next time we will be going back home for a visit will be in two years. 

Til next time, Tyler 

My Depression

I originally posted this on Facebook but I thought I would include it here for posterity sake. I went through a very dark and depressing period when I was at my sickest. I got no joy out of life and I was not motivated to do anything. I didn't feel sadness or anger or annoyance or happiness. I was just numb inside and going through the motions.

I got on an anti depressant (which I am no longer taking) and now I am back to normal. I hope to never go through that again.

I also hope that none of you ever have to go through it. Remember, if you ever need anyone to talk to, you are not alone. I am just a message away.

I do not agree with someone's decision to end their life. I believe everyone has something to live for. The good times are good and the bad times don't last forever. 

I believe that suicide is a selfish and egotistical decision because you are ending your pain but leaving behind pain for your loved ones and friends. I am glad I never got to that point, but now I can understand firsthand why someone would choose to make the decision to end their life.

Til next time, Tyler 

Progress Update

It has been a little while since I have given you dear readers a progress update.

In a nutshell, my daily progress is slow and small but when I think how far I have come in the past four years my progress is huge and I am very pleased. 

I know this is a marathon and not a sprint. I will take any little progress that I can get. 

The constant swaying and stomach issues are gone thank God. I am very lucky to have a condition that will only continue to improve not get progressively worse. 

I still can't walk without assistance (either someone holding me or a walker or wheelchair) but my balance is coming along slowly but surely. I am hopeful that I will be able to walk again unassisted in the future. 

I had established a goal for myself to be walking unassisted five years from now. However, my physical therapist told me that it is better to have smaller achievable goals that you can actually measure rather than a distant goal in the future that you may not be able to achieve. 

My speech is coming along as well. I am mostly understandable now in both English and Spanish once you spend a little bit of time with me. I still struggle over the phone when you can't see my lips moving. 

My hands still shake uncontrollably when I get overly tired and my balance gets worse when I get overly tired. As long as I monitor my fatigue then I am generally OK.

I still need thickener added to my liquids but I use less now than before. I can eat any solid food that I want. I can have ice cream again. I couldn't have it previously because it was too liquid when it melted and it was in danger of going directly to my lungs. This is a slow going war against my condition but little by little I am winning.

I still have not been able to find work. Ideally I am looking for a job that I can do from home where I don't have to talk on the phone. 

I am willing to get a job outside of the house but because my mobility is limited, I prefer a home based job. However, nothing suitable has shown up yet. 

I am going to physical therapy four days a week and working at home on my own. I was going to government sponsored speech therapy once a week but it recently ended. They have authorized four more sessions but they have not started yet. 

At my lowest back when I was on my liquid diet, I lost weight until I was down to 110 lbs/52 kg. I am back up to 164 pounds/74 kg. My maximum weight was 168lbs/76 kg. So, I plan to stay between 160-168 pounds.

That is all for now, Tyler 

Ten Years with Jenny

Today is not our anniversary. However, I was just thinking that come this August I will have known Jenny for ten years. So much has happened in the past ten years. 

We have had our ups and downs like any couple. Despite that fact, there is no one else I would rather spend my life with. I doubt there is anyone else that could put up with me!

We have lived in three different countries together and visited 18 different countries.  21 different countries if you count the airport transit only countries. 

We have survived 12 brain surgeries together and we have our little princess Eliana. I am truly one of the luckiest men alive. Jenny I love you and Eliana to the moon and back. I am looking forward to spending many more years together.

Til next time, Tyler 

Daily Life

Recently, it was 39c or 102f outside. We decided that because it was so miserably hot and we don't have air conditioning in the house (common in this part of the world) that we would have a picnic at the lake.

The lake that we go to is located about an hour away from us by car. At the lake there is a lot of shade and they sell ice-cream for dessert. It is a nice place to swim and relax. 

Really we did nothing special. However, Sayo, Neyda and Ana were there. We got the chance to chat catch up and just relax. 

I throughly enjoyed myself and Eliana had a great time. We didn't do anything special but when I die, and hopefully get to Heaven, I will miss those little moments of eating some good food and relaxing with family and friends. I hope it is not something I will long for while in Heaven.

Til next time, Tyler 

Modern Life

I was just thinking today about how lucky I am to be alive in 2024 (and hopefully a lot longer). I was extremely lucky to have been born in Texas in 1984.

I had access to great doctors and nurses who in turn had access to the knowledge and technology to save my life. Had a been born somewhere else or a few years earlier, I might not have made it. 

Thirty five years later I got lucky again to be in Spain and have the Spanish healthcare system save my life again. This has been a long, slow, difficult road to recovery. However, I will get there slowly but surely.

Living in 2024 we have tons of modern technology that our ancestors could only dream about. Daily life is no longer hard in the modern world.

We have access to all of the food, water, housing and basic necessities that we can afford. Gyms are such a huge industry because so many people are overweight and unhealthy.

That is a very modern problem. Due to modern medicine and healthcare we are living longer than ever. Until recently, people lived short, hard lives just trying to survive day by day.

These days we have the privilege of hopefully living until old age. Statistically, most of use will probably die from something related to old age, our bodies just wear out. We are lucky in that respect. For most of humanity we never had to even think about that. 

Due to modern technology, it is theoretically possible to have all of your daily survival needs met yet to not interact face to face with another human being. The Internet has been one of the world's most important inventions, but it can also be used to cause harm. 

One of the biggest threats facing humans are humans themselves. If global warming doesn't wipe us out, it may be nuclear war, A. I. an asteroid, a disease or something we don't even know about yet.

That is why I try to take advantage of every day that I am still vertical. Because none of us know how or when we will take our last breath. 

Til next time, Tyler 

The State of the Titanic Wreckage

I considered making this a status update on my Facebook page but I decided that I had more to say so a long format blog post would be better.

Today I was taking my daily stroll through Wikipedia. I read one random article a day so that I can expose myself to things that I would never think of looking up. 

Today's article was about the Wreckage of the Titanic. Everyone should know that it sank in April 1912 on its way to New York from London on her maiden voyage with the loss of over 1500 people.

The wreckage was found in 1985. So the location has been known for my entire life. I am 99.9% sure I will never visit the wreckage but it is nice to know that I have the option.

In the article, it said that scientists believe that by 2037 the wreckage will be completely gone. Eaten by time and bacteria. Provided that I have the opportunity to live until 2037 (hopefully!) 

It is strange to think that in my lifetime, they went from discovering the wreckage to it being completely gone. I wonder how many other things have come and gone within my lifetime?

My great grandfather (dad's grandpa) was born in 1903 and he died in 1992. That means he was born before the Titanic sank and died after they had found it.

By the time Eliana is 18 years old the wreckage will be totally gone. She won't be able to visit it even if she wanted to.

As far as I know I didn't have any relatives aboard the Titanic but for those who did, I wonder how they feel about it. 

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, Tyler 

Eliana Valentina

I know that I have mentioned my daughter Eliana Valentina before but I wanted to give her a special blog post dedicated just to her.

Jenny calls her Valentina and I call her Eliana. However, she answers to both names. Jenny and I couldn't agree on her name, so we decided to combine both names so we would both be happy. 

Generally speaking, everyone who speaks Spanish as their native language calls her Valentina and everyone who speaks English as their native language calls her Eliana.

She is kind, caring, loving, intelligent, funny, sweet, empathetic, loyal, helpful, determined, friendly, patient for the most part. Of course because she takes after me she is also stubborn. 

In many ways she is a typical toddler. She cries and fights with us and makes us crazy. However, her good qualities vastly outweigh the bad.

As I have previously mentioned, I waited a long time to have a child and now I regret that I didn't do it sooner when I was younger and healthier. I waited so long because I was scared of the big responsibility of parenthood. 

That being said, I love my daughter more than anything and I am so lucky to be her dad. I was worried that she would treat me differently due to my speech issues and my limited mobility. However, she has always treated me the same as any able bodied person.

When Jenny was pregnant, I was terrified that Eliana would be born with my medical problems. Luckily, nothing I have is genetic and she was born perfectly healthy. 

The worst thing she has had thus far, other than your typical flu and cold is hand, foot and mouth disease. Luckily, we were able to clear that up quickly with some cream. 

She has dealt with a lot in her short life, mostly due to me being sick in one form or another for the entirety of her life. I hope to give her and Jenny a chance at a normal life. They are my motivation to keep going. 

Eliana has been blessed with amazing grandparents (Jenny's parents) and my parents have been great. Even though they are far away and don't get to see her in person as much as they would like. 

My parents have given me an excellent example of how to have a good marriage and be a good father. 

She is looking forward to our visit home this summer. She will get to meet my last remaining grandma (her great grandma) and all of my extended family plus spending time with my parents. 

I like to joke that she is 3 going on 30. Sometimes, her maturity level shocks me. She is ready to be an adult. 

She is also completely bilingual in both English and Spanish. Even though she always responds in Spanish, I speak to her exclusively in English and she understands me completely. 

I am looking forward to watching her grow up and I hope to have many more years with her and Jenny. 

I wanted to quickly mention that I had a friend who sadly died in a car crash on Thanksgiving weekend 2010. She was in a car that was hit by a drunk driver who was also texting. He had a good lawyer though so he only got his drivers license suspended for a year plus six months of community service. 

Her mom sadly has never really gotten over her death (she was only 27)and I couldn't understand it really until Eliana was born. After holding her for the first time, I could finally understand the depth of the love she still has for her only child. I got a glimpse of her pain and I pray that it is something that I never have to experience. I could also understand the love that my parents have for me. 

Eliana is my legacy and hopefully she will live on long after I am gone. 

Eliana I love you to the moon and back and you are the best decision I ever made. 

Love, Dad

Summer Fun

I am very excited to announce that my mom will be coming to Spain to visit us from July 30th until August 28th and then Jenny, Eliana and I will be going with her for Eliana's first time visiting Texas.

We will stay in Texas until September 13th. Hopefully the flights will go smoothly for everyone. We will be flying from Pamplona to Madrid and then onto Dallas. It will be Eliana's second ever flight. She did well with her first time though. The flight from Madrid to Dallas is 10 hours though so it is not short. 

We are very excited to see everyone, friends and family. We have lots of fun stuff planned to see and do with Eliana.

I am sure that my dad will be happy to see his granddaughter again and my grandmother will be happy to meet her great grand daughter for the first time. My brother's will also be excited to see their niece. 

We are at the start of a big festival here in Pamplona called San Fermines. Everyone takes this opportunity to have a holiday and millions of people from around the world come to Pamplona. Everyone traditionally wears all white clothes and a red bandanna. 

We are excited for the future. Til next time, Tyler 

A more detailed look at my progress

So I recently had an evaluation of my progress at the place that I go to for my physical therapy. In a nutshell, I am making progress slowly but surely.

A more detailed explanation is that I am walking (still assisted by a walker) slower than a year ago when they tested my walking pace for a continuous six minutes. 

However, I am walking with more precision and control than a year ago. So the speed doesn't matter to me, I am not looking to win any races. So I'll take that progress. 

Secondly, I had to do a test where I had to move blocks from left to right (then right to left) across my body as fast as I could. I completed this test actually slower than a year ago but this time I had no back support. 

So I had to support my entire upper body. A year ago I did it faster, but they gave me a chair with a back on it. So again, that is progress that I will take.

Next, they made me push circular buttons which lit up with a specific color in a specific order and I had to tap the correct lit button as fast as I could. 

Then, they made me act like I was going to pick something up off the floor, but I was holding a metal bar that weighed sixteen pounds. It tried to pull me forward and I had to use my strength to fight against it. 

Lastly, I had to stand up (without moving) unsupported for fifteen seconds. Then, I had to raise up first my right foot then my left foot onto a stepper then back down again. I passed this test as well. 

I asked my therapists to rate my progress on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being no progress, and 10 being totally normal. However, they told me that it was too complicated to rate myself like that because there are too many different individual factors to take into account.

If I was forced to rate my progress from 1 to 10, I would rate myself between 4-6. I feel like anything less than 4 is unfair to myself and anything more than 6 is being too generous.

I understand that this is a marathon and not a sprint. However, I am a lucky guy who has a very supportive family and friends. Even if it takes me 5 more years to get back to normal, I am lucky that my condition is not degenerative and will not get progressively worse, only better with time and effort.

I go to physical therapy 4 days a week to work on my balance and walking. I also have speech therapy once a week to try and regain my ability to speak normally and get off the thickener that I have to add to my liquids. 

I have great therapists in both speech and physical therapy. I am extremely lucky to have the opportunity to take advantage of the services that they offer.

I am blessed and lucky to be alive and functioning for the most part. I look forward to the day that I can walk again unassisted and speak normally again and drink liquids with no more thickener. 

My hands still shake when I get overly tired and my fine motor skills are still lacking but the swaying feeling that I had (like I was constantly on a cruise ship) is gone. I am still relatively young mentally, but I am trapped in a body which sometimes doesn't listen to my brain. 

That is the most frustrating thing. To have my brain healing faster than my body. I am trapped in an old man's body. 

All of these things may seem simple to people who are without medical conditions but I assure you, they are not easy for me. However, it is good for my practice and my excellent therapists always have new and unique challenges for me. 

Overall though, things could be much worse. As long as I don't need anymore brain surgeries or to go back to the hospital I will consider myself fortunate.

Til next time, Tyler 

The Supreme Court Decision

I was reading the news on July 4th and I found out about the most recent Supreme Court decision. It is ironic on a day meant to celebrate our freedom, liberty and democracy that decision came down which will affect all of it.

I won't say that I was surprised by the decision but I was disappointed. Someone who is not disappointed is Donald Trump. Now the chances that he will be criminally charged with anything are slim to none. 

I am bothered by the fact that if Trump is reelected, he can now do whatever he wants without fear of punishment of any kind. 

Of course there are rules that say that a President may be prosecuted but they are so broad and badly defined, they might as well be non existent. 

What worries me even more than Trump doing something bad (which I expect) but that a future President will do something horrible without the fear that he/she will be punished. 

All the conservative judges voted for the new law and all the liberal judges voted against it but unfortunately they were out numbered. 

This decision is especially bad because it was decided by the Supreme Court. There is no one to appeal to. Now, we just have to hope that a person acting in bad faith doesn't take advantage of this giant loophole. 

Because now the President can literally kill someone in public and not be charged with anything only because he/she is the President. Scary. I am not happy with the new direction the USA is headed in. I am thankful to be living in Spain. 

Til next time, Tyler 

Common Knowledge

I assumed for many years that there were common facts or knowledge that humanity agreed upon around the world regardless of the culture, country or language.

However, that assumption was wrong. One day Jenny and I were talking, I don't remember how, but we stumbled upon the subject of how many continents there are in the world. 

Being American, of course I said that there are seven. She quickly disagreed with me. I remember laughing and calling her crazy. 

Then I asked her to list all of the continents in the world. She then said America was one continent. In Colombia and Spain they don't split North America and South America. 

In Colombia they also don't consider Antarctica a continent because only scientists are there for research purposes. In Spain, they don't split North America and South America but they do consider Antarctica a continent. 

For those of you keeping track at home, that is five total continents for Colombia and six for Spain.

Jenny and I laugh about it now but it was crazy to me at first. I will be very interested to see what they will teach Eliana in school. 

Til next time, Tyler 

Unavoidable Things

In English, we have a famous saying. It goes like this "There are only two unavoidable things in life, death and taxes."

We all have to die one day. None of us know how exactly we will die or when. My eventual death (hopefully a long way off) doesn't bother me. 

As I have previously mentioned, I am looking forward to my next adventure. What bothers me, is thinking about the eventual death of my friends and family. 

I don't want to live without any of them but I know sooner or later I will have to. 

That is the reason why I am such a big believer in living life to the fullest every day that we are given. Because none of us know how long we have left. Remember, you can't take your money with you when you die and dead people can't talk. 

Til next time, Tyler 

Travel Mishaps

I have had too many minor travel mishaps over the years to mention all of them. Luckily, they have never been trip ending or life disrupting. I have learned something from each one. I figured I would share the top ones that come to mind with you.

One time, in Thailand I booked a trip to a local island for a week. I was traveling alone at the time. I enjoyed my week there without any problems.

 However, when it was time to leave they messed up their head count and they forgot me on the island! Luckily, I had enough money to wait out an extra week for the next boat back to the mainland. I just considered it an extended vacation.

Next up is the story of how I met my good friend Simon from England. I was traveling alone again and I decided to take an overnight bus from Thailand to Laos as the two countries border each other. 

I paid for my ticket and the bus had little beds to sleep in overnight. They were not big and comfortable but they were good enough for the night. 

I climbed into my bed and proceeded to get settled in for the night. Suddenly, a stranger (at the time) came up to me and said that I was in his bed. 

I proceeded to tell him that I was sure that it was in fact my bed. We then checked our tickets, and the travel agency had given us both the same bed!

We ended up sleeping head to toe. We bonded and traveled together for three weeks. Fifteen years later, he is still a good friend of mine. Even though we joke that we slept together on the first date. 

Once, in Laos I paid 3 usd to ride in the back of a truck for eight hours. What I did not realize, was that I would be sharing the back of the truck with Old McDonald's Farm. I had to ride with pigs, chickens, goats, sheep and other farm animals. They climbed all over me. I was glad to get out of that truck!

Once in Colombia, before I was living there, I was just traveling. I failed to tell my bank that I would be in Colombia. So, thinking that I was a scammer, they blocked all of my credit /debit cards. 

At the time, I didn't speak any Spanish. But I managed to convey my problem to a nice local shop keeper. He let me use his phone for free. I called the only person who I knew at the time, my couch surfing host and he came and picked me up. 

Another time in Colombia, when I was living there but had recently moved there. My Spanish at the time was basic but passable. 

I got on the local bus intending to go to a local mall. The bus was on the opposite side of the road from the mall. I assumed that the driver would make a U Turn and pass by the mall. 

However, he did not. He kept going until I had no idea where I was. I didn't want to get off of the bus in a place that I was unfamiliar with. So, I stayed on the bus until I was the last passenger left. 

We were in the middle of nowhere, and the driver finally asked me what I was still doing on his bus. I managed to explain my predicament in broken Spanish. 

He was nice enough to buy me a coke and drive me all the way back to Bogotá proper. I just considered it a unique and cheap way to see places that I would have never seen. 

One time again in Colombia, I was alone again (notice a theme here) and I decided to visit a famous statue on top of a big hill in Bogotá. I took the bus to get there and got off the bus at the bottom of the hill. 

There was a large police station located at the bottom of the hill. A police officer ran out of the police station when I passed it and he told me in no uncertain terms, that if I visited the statue, there was a large probability that I would be killed, robbed or kidnapped. 

He then waited with me at the bus stop and sent me back to Bogotá proper. He possibly saved my life but I still have not seen that statue in person. 

I have been robbed more than once but luckily, never via violence just petty pickpocketing. One time I was out drinking with friends, not paying any attention to my things.

I had my 800 usd work laptop in my bag. Someone proceeded to steal my bag (I never saw them) and they replaced my black backpack with an empty black backpack. 

Another time in Colombia, someone spit on me. I thought it was gross but I didn't give it another thought. I did not realize until later, that when I moved my hands to wipe off the spit, they reached into my pocket and stole my wallet. 

It was after that I started to chain my wallet to my body. Another time, I dropped my phone in the bus in Colombia. I considered it lost. However, I decided to call it. 

A stranger answered, he told me that he would give me back my phone for a reward of 50 usd. That was more than my phone was worth at the time so I met him in a public place, gave him the equivalent of ten usd and got my phone back. 

I was bitten by a dog in Colombia. It broke the skin but luckily I didn't require a round of rabies shots. 

One time before my wedding in Colombia, I convinced my parents and my aunt and uncle to take a city bus instead of being stuck in traffic in a private taxi. 

Once we boarded the bus, it was jammed to the gills with people (as per usual in Bogotá) and my parents and aunt and uncle were horrified and vowed to never ride the bus again. 

Switching countries now, I was pick pocketed once in Argentina but I never saw them either.

To switch countries yet again, I once at dinner at a local no name restaurant in Bolivia and I was served undercooked beef and I got an intestinenal parasite. That was no fun at all. Luckily, I took some pills that killed it. 

Switching countries yet again, once in Surfers Paradise, Australia Ben and I had our rented camper van broken into. There were no cameras where we were parked but, the local police said based on finger prints, it was probably a child between 8-12 years old!

Ben had his laptop, passport and journal stolen. I however, was lucky to have all my valuables on my person. 

Another funny story from Australia, took place around 2008 or 2009. I booked a tour and I was traveling Australia alone. Our tour guide said that we would be passing by the American Embassy. I was the only American on the tour and at the time, I had never seen an American Embassy so I was excited. Then we passed McDonald's and everyone laughed at his joke. 

One story that comes to mind from New Zealand was the time my terrible couch surfing host (he was the only bad couch surfing host that I ever had in 90+ times Couch Surfing) left me at a party where I knew no one. 

However, I met my now good friend Natasha and she let me stay at her apartment even though we had just met. I ended up sub letting her apartment, and it turned into mine. There are still good people in this world. 

These are all of the stories that come to mind for now. I hope you have enjoyed reading them. I have been very lucky that all of these have been minor. I have been to 44 countries and lived in 7 of them. Overall, I have been extremely fortunate.

Til next time, Tyler 

Thanks Again

I know that I have already thanked everyone but I wanted to do it again to be sure everyone knows how grateful I am.

To all my family and friends, both distant and close, to those who gave financially, or in physical support, or even to those who gave me moral support, I will be forever grateful and I will owe you a debt that I can't repay. 

My dad has fraternity brothers from college that he has known for 50 years. I know some of them but not all of them. I am certainly not close to any of them. 

However, many of them donated to me without a second thought. One of my dad's friends in particular, is an insurance salesman. He received his monthly commission check and I am sure that he could have put that money to good use but he donated the money to me. 

I was very impressed and thankful for his kind and selfless gesture. 

No matter how small your gesture, I am thankful for it. I am lucky to have Jenny and Eliana by my side and to have an amazing family (both close and extended). I also have amazingly supportive friends. 

I am also thankful to all the doctors and nurses that have cared for me throughout this long journey. 

Thanks again. This has been and continues to be a long journey back to normal life but I will get there sooner or later. 

Til next time, Tyler 

The Memory Palace

Years ago, I was teaching an English class about memory. I shared with them a technique for remembering a list of items when you are unable to write down your list. 

My short term memory has been affected by all of the anesthesia from my various brain surgeries so I use this technique quite a lot. Luckily my long term memories and language abilities have not been affected, even if my speech has. Now I will share the technique with you. I hope that it is helpful to someone.

Firstly, you need to think of a place that you are very familiar with. I find it helpful to think about my house. However, if you want to choose another place, feel free to do so. 

So, imagine your house. Each individual room in your house. You need to place each item on the list of things that you want to remember, somewhere in your house.

It is important to make sure that it is unusual because then it will be easier to remember. 

For example, imagine that you want to remember your grocery list but you have nothing to write on. You need to remember to buy bread, milk and eggs for example. 

So, you place your bread on your couch in your living room. That is easy to remember because it is not the normal place where your bread goes. 

Next, you place your milk on the roof of your house. Again, that is not the normal spot. 

Finally, you place your eggs on top of your bed. Now all you have to do is to think of each location that you chose, and the item that you put there. Now you just remembered bread, milk and eggs all without writing anything down. 

One other tip, unless your memory is excellent, I would not suggest that you try to remember a list of things that is longer than rooms in your house. For example, if you can only think of ten locations in your house then limit the list of things that you want to remember to ten. 

Til next time, Tyler 

The Magic of the Human Body

I was just thinking today it really is a miracle, the human body. Whether it be from God, evolution or a combination of both, I have no idea but we really are an amazing species.

I am willing to bet that most of you, if not all of you reading this can walk and talk normally. You probably take those basic, simple things for granted. I know that I used to. 

Just the simple act of breathing is done automatically without any effort from you. Same deal for your beating heart. 

Our bodies are amazing machines. Just the simple act of standing up and walking requires input from your brain and a ton of different muscle groups are needed plus balance and equilibrium. However, I am willing to bet you do it without giving it a second thought.

Our brains are also amazing organs. They contain billions of neurons and allow us to talk, walk be creative and they control everything that we do. If you remove your brain, are you still you? If you switch bodies with someone else but you kept your own brain, are you still you?

Our brains are something like 10% of our body weight but they consume something like 80% of our nutrients. Don't even get me started on languages. Knowing one is amazing in its own right. I am lucky enough to know two. 

I don't know the answer to those questions. However, I marvel at how wonderful our bodies are and I am thankful to be alive and have a (mostly) functioning body and a healthy mind.

Just think, we all start out as a ball of cells. Just a mix of our parents DNA. However, if everything goes well, nine months later you get a fully formed human with their own personality. 

If everything continues to go well, that baby will eventually become an adult and the cycle of life will start all over again. 

Til next time, Tyler 

Average Life Expectancy

Today I was just thinking about the average life expectancy of humans in general. Obviously as technology and health care have improved, average life expectancy has been increased.

Here in Spain it is 84 years old and back home in the US it is 79 years old. Less than Spain but still pretty good.

For most of human history, the average life span was just 30 or 40 years. That would mean statistically I would die next year and my parents would have died 29 years ago.

I am very lucky that they are still alive (as is my grandmother who is 88!). I have no idea how long any of us will live but, I am thankful for each and every day that I am given.

If I could go back in time and visit the past I would do it. However, I would not want to live permanently without the comforts of modern life and modern medicine. 

That is all for now, Tyler 

The upsides and downsides of living in Spain

I wanted to give you my dear readers, a little insight into the life here in Spain.

Really I can't complain too much about the life here. Spain has good security, infrastructure, health care and education. 

The government helps those in need. While we do pay more in taxes, we receive more benefits. The health care and education are paid for by the government. Those are your two biggest expenses as a normal person so I consider us lucky, especially given my health situation. 

It is hard to be far away from my family and friends and if you don't speak Spanish, you will struggle here. But overall, the pace of life is slower here and people take the time to get out and socialize with each other. I like the fact that everyone is not so focused on working just to pay off credit card debt. 

Because when you die, it won't matter how much money you had, but it will matter how you chose to spend your time. Spend your time wisely with your loved ones. 

Til next time, Tyler