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Hola to all,
We hope that everyone are keeping their sanity and their good health in these uncertain times.
We'll start with Jean's health. She had an in-depth abdominal CT Scan on April 2nd. Normally the cost would have been covered by our insurance, but all that bureaucracy has almost stopped entirely and, as we wanted it done with minimal delay, we decided we would cover the whole cost ourselves. This came to the equivalent of NZD380 which apparently compares to an approximate cost of NZD2000 in NZ. The full written report was emailed to us within 3 hours of the procedure and a DVD was given to us at the completion of the test.
Fortunately nothing really serious was revealed, but Jean has a small hiatus hernia which may be a part cause of her sometimes serious digestive problems and a concern is that she is slowly but surely losing body weight due to her inability to eat properly. Her other issue is that there is still some deep-seated infection in her left lung, which is residual from when she was diagnosed with Pneumonia in Miami last November.
The sad thing is that the digestion problems have been around for some years, although to a lesser extent than presently, but in hindsight we feel that they would have affected her health for quite a few years and would have impinged on her ability to enjoy her time on the boat. And it was never diagnosed in NZ, Malaysia or Thailand.
But of course she is in a much better position now with being permanently domiciled and able to pursue tests and consultations on an on-going and permanent basis with local health providers, and health food supplement providers.
She had also been having intramuscular antibiotic injections for the lung infection at Clinica Campestre and we are hopeful that we can organise an Endoscopy to examine and hopefully fix the hernia.
She is on oxygen at night as she does not retain sufficient blood oxygen levels when asleep when breathing is usually shallow. That's been a mission in itself with machine malfunction at times although that seems to have settled down now.
Further developments - on Easter Monday after a miserable Easter weekend, Jean was really feeling low and unable to eat almost anything as it immediately upset her digestion. She stated that she felt that she was on the way out as she was losing weight and could eat only a miniscule amount. So, we decided to go again to Clinica Campestre where the duty doctor took one look at her and booked her into the Clinica Rosario Tesoro. They made her comfortable and calmed the situation down, but it appeared that our Sura insurance did not cover her there. So an ambulance transfer was arranged to their sister hospital in town - Clinica Rosario Centro. At about 9pm we set off with yours truly following behind the ambulance. Flashing lights but a slow trip. Once there she was admitted and she had a good room with a bathroom to herself on the 5th. floor - but no towels and no prospect of any!! They obtained another sheet and told her to use that after a shower! At least there's low humidity here!! She was put on a double drip and all seemed well so, as yours truly was totally knackered by this time, it was decided that he would go home and come back in the morning. By then it was 1230 in the morning. Well, that's when the fun started. For some reason the Waze GPS was changing its mind every 15 seconds or so and the result was a mild case of being lost. In the rain and, being barely awake, Jim managed to drive down a one-way street the wrong way. Didn't matter because no traffic but two motorcycle cops saw him and stopped him in a very unsalubrious part of town with prostitutes and other unsavoury night dwelling denizens wandering about.They started making noises about impounding the car and at one stage Jim was working out how he could start the car and get going home again, regardless of the police and having sorted Waze in the meantime. They were holding Jim's licence and all the car's papers but Jim was prepared to leave all behind because there was absolutely NO WAY that the car was being impounded with him being left on the roadside at 1 am!!! The keys were in the ignition and, although the driver's door was open, it would have been quite simple to simply drive away. Then there would have been a police chase through the mean streets of Medellin, but Jim was really prepared to risk it and was on the brink of putting his escape plan into practice. However, probably fortunately the conversation (by Google Translate) took a more optimistic turn and it seemed that if money changed hands, all could be forgotten. Obviously an exercise in intimidation by very corrupt (and armed) cops - but that's fairly typical of Colombia unfortunately. Corruption from the top down is ruining this country. Anyway, after a few more fraught minutes during which they handed back all the car papers plus Jim's Colombian licence it was agreed under duress that a payment of COP 200,000 (NZD84) would suffice. He tried 100,000 but it was not enough. So, with much relief the miscreant was allowed to proceed and they even escorted him to the Autopista with lights flashing. At around 1.30 am home was reached and the first order of business was a VERY large Scotch Whisky with no ice or water into which yours truly sank his teeth with much relief and gusto. That was the least fun that either of us had ever had in Colombia. Then slept like a log.
The next day after sleeping in, it was another trip to Clinica Rosario. That morning Jean was having an Endoscopy and was out of the room when Jim arrived. She duly returned and the Endoscopy also found nothing to be concerned about. So what was going on? Why couldn't she eat? By this time her weight had dropped from the usual 64 kgs to 56 - a decline of 12.5%. However, she was stable and much more comfortable due to the IV's which were soothing the stomach.
The following day - the 15th. - she was due to be discharged after seeing the Internalista - a specialist doctor. She gave us an order for a Colonoscopy and a further examination of the small intestine which the endoscopy had been unable to see. Then they decided that Jean needed oxygen in the car for the short trip home - about half an hour. So we had to wait and wait for this bit of bureaucracy to materialise with Jim threatening that we were leaving without it if it hadn't arrived by 4 pm because he wasn't risking another encounter with the Medellin mafia after dark again. To cut a very long and infuriating story short, it did arrive in time with its own trolley - but it was only half full - and off we set. No problems, unlike the other night!!
Since then Jean has obtained the same drugs in pill form that were in the IV's. She is showing much improvement but still the whole situation is inconclusive. Jean, with typical thoroughness and diligence in the meantime has been wondering whether the basic problem is an infestation of parasites -possibly from our time in SE Asia - although parasitical infection is not uncommon in Colombia.There is one in particular which infests the intestines and then can migrate to the lungs where it can cause pneumonia, but not actually damaging the lungs. All starting to sound eerily familiar as Jean had pneumonia in Miami last November and we thought it had been fixed but..........
Our friend's doctor sister in Cali has recommended another medication to deal to the parasites. Jean has taken some but cannot take any more for 15 days so we'll see. But she is starting to eat again, which was our main concern so we are cautiously optimistic. We were certainly beginning to get fairly desperate with no diagnosis at all and it seemed everyone running around in ever decreasing circles. The Colombian medical system is competent at the EPS Sura level, which is where we inhabit - although much infuriating red tape and of course it's much worse right now with the Chinese Virus. But they don't seem to think outside the square which is often necessary when treating someone difficult to diagnose successfully. Jean's cured herself before when the medical system has failed her, so we hope she's on the right track again. She also had some blood tests (3 x A4 pages) and our friend's doctor sister in Cali pointed out 2 markers which were showing higher than normal and that is a fairly reliable indication of Parasite infection. Now we will get another blood test in about 10 days and if the markers are reduced we can be fairly confident that parasites are/were at least part of the problem.
It should be noted here that when Jean first went to the Clinica Campestre over a month ago, Doctora Catalina later confided to us that she was very worried and really thought that Jean had terminal cancer - probably due to the rapid weight loss. However, that scare which at the time we were not fully aware of, has been largely laid to rest.
Jean has recently made Sauerkraut and it is having a great beneficial effect on her digestion. It is full of pro and prebiotics and has worked!! The cabbage is organic.
Jean has recently made Sauerkraut and it is having a great beneficial effect on her digestion. It is full of pro and prebiotics and has worked!! The cabbage is organic.
The latest is that after a 2 hour in-house chiropractic/osteopathic treatment the other day, Jean is now much better again and is now able to deep breath after doing some lung exercises. She also feels that some of her problems are due to holdover issues from some fairly horrific accidents she suffered in years past. Her past medical history has been fully documented by us (in Spanish!) for the information of any practitioner she may come across. But the digestive and oxygen retention issues remain, albeit to a lesser extent. She now has an appointment to see a doctor at Comfama Envigado (at 6am next Monday the 27th.!!) and she will be insisting on fast-tracking a Colonoscopy and another invasive procedure to check the small intestine. Clara has offered to accompany her to translate and also to push for what is needed. Clara can be quietly authoritative and insistent when required!! She has been wonderful to us with advice and translating messages and making phone calls and sending emails when necessary on our behalf.
And now to the only other matter on everyone's mind - the Chinese Virus (otherwise sometimes referred to as the Coronavirus!). We shall continue to refer to it as the Chinese Virus, because it originated in Wuhan, China and that's what it is.
First, could we please recommend that you read our draft letter to President Trump which you will find on our website (www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com) dated March 26th. and which sets out all the matters which have happened before and since our world first became aware of the Chinese Virus. We should emphasise that this is only a draft because we discovered that a) the email address didn't work and b) it was too wordy for the White House website!! So, we have sent a vastly truncated version to the WH, but with the meaning exactly the same. We're sure that the President has taken it all to heart!!!!
The "lockdown" in Colombia which started on March 20th. is becoming very complicated. It was supposed to end at midnight on April 26th. and the President has now issued a decree that construction and certain manufacturing, and strangely, gambling kiosks (!) can re-open with suitable precautions in place. And we are now allowed to walk around the block!! Whoop-de-do!!!! Unfortunately the Chinese Virus has exposed more of Colombia's notorious and rampant corruption. A couple of weeks ago the entire medical staff of two hospitals in the public sector walked off the job because they had not been paid for months and masks etc were nowhere to be seen.The President issued a decree threatening them with severe legal sanctions if they did not return but the staff refused saying that they were not prepared to commit suicide! Duque (the President) quickly withdrew the threat.The problem is that money earmarked for these salaries and PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) to the tune of USD1.5 billion just disappeared and all manner of other financial "irregularities" have been happening too. The Health Minister along with several other criminals are currently being investigated. The same thing has happened with funds which were supposed to support small farmers and instead were diverted to large industrial farming conglomerates. This money has now we understand largely been repaid, under duress no doubt, and is in the process of being re-distributed correctly with more criminal investigations being carried out.
The other thing is that Colombia's official total number of Chinese Virus cases has been stated as being about 4,000, but even the Health Minister doubted the veracity and reckons that the figure is nearer 12,000! Still not too bad in a total population of just over 50 million. But how in fact would anyone actually know the true situation, and of course it means that they are flying blind and making important decisions with absolutely not the faintest idea of the real position. This farcical situation is very largely a product of years of rampant corruption along with chronic mismanagement in many cases caused by unqualified people being appointed as a result of widespread cronyism.
Apparently right now as we write 84% of Bogota's public hospital ICU's are in use and 51% in the private sector. Bogota has the highest rate of infection in Colombia. The Vice President of the Colombian Medical Federation says 40% of Colombia's 50 million population have NO access to healthcare and in 989 municipalities in remote areas where 20 million Colombians live, there is NO healthcare infrastructure whatsoever. These statistics make sobering reading and emphasise once again that health authorities have no idea just what the real situation in Colombia actually is.
This is very worrying for us, being in a vulnerable category, and all we can do is apply common sense and be careful. Although Medellin is the cleanest city we have ever seen and has the best hospitals in South America - albeit only accessible if you have the financial capacity - adequate insurance or whatever.
As far as the continued lockdown is concerned, common sense and logic are basic commodities sadly lacking around here at the moment. Apologies to all our Colombian friends who may be reading this.
We must emphasise that most of the above is derived from Colombiareports.com and, while we believe it to be true, should be read with that disclaimer in mind. As far as we know there is no other reliable source of information. Certainly you cannot believe "official" government statistics.
Colombia now has a heaven - sent opportunity to increase manufacturing of textiles (clothing) and shoes (and no doubt many other things) which, before the Communist Party of China (CCP) caused devastation of these industries, used to thrive. Colombia is a relatively low cost economy and could well develop manufacturing of well known American brands of power tools and home appliances for example on a licensed basis. The US market and the entire Latin American market are on Colombia's doorstep. It only needs some vision and entrepreneurship, but time will be of the essence. Imagine the savings in foreign exchange with NO imports from the CCP and exports all over the Americas and possibly elsewhere as well.
In the last 2 days we contacted the administration for our building and suggested that the pool could be re-opened in line with the gradual relaxation taking place. We emphasised the value of sunshine and fresh air and said that if there was concern about social distancing they could limit the number in the pool area to (say) 4 at any one time on an hourly basis and that they could institute a booking system to be maintained by the security guys on the gate (porteros). But the answer came back negative which again just illustrates the cockamamie thinking which has characterised lockdowns all over the world - including here!!
Of course the inevitable is now happening with wholesale civil disobedience everywhere where the rules are shown to be nonsensical. For example, in Michigan you cannot buy any garden supplies in what is their late spring - ideal for planting vegetable seeds for example. What could be healthier than that?
The really disturbing thing is that these lockdowns are being instituted very often by local socialist governments (eg. Michigan, California and New York in the US) and they are reflecting their socialist policies which they take great delight in implementing - even temporarily. But these restrictions are destroying businesses which in the main will NEVER reopen. The other concurrent concern is that some enacted measures to control the population could very well simply be left in place discreetly unnoticed, but ready to be implemented at a later date - even on a whim.Maybe even micro-chipping people which would give even greater control than already exists with Google and cellphones.
It should also be pointed out that New York's Governor - Andrew Cuomo - and Mayor Di Blasio - were as late as early March telling NY people that there was nothing to worry about and that the C Virus was at most just a bad flu. Then when the scale of their fraudulent mismanagement became obvious, they started begging Trump's administration for help - both in material items and money. He even sent USN hospital ships to NY and California, although as it's turned out, they have hardly been necessary.. Now they are once again mounting their scurrilous attacks on the President, saying that he is incompetent and did not do enough in the early stages of the pandemic. In fact, if Trump had not closed the border to the CCP, in late January the death toll in NY and in other places would have been far higher than has proved to be the case. Let's hope that voters are sensible enough come November to kick these hypocritical bastards for touch.
There is further information re Cuomo that has just come to light. In joining with 6 adjoining states to co-ordinate re-opening, Cuomo announced that they would be consulting with "experts". However, it appears that they had hired a consulting firm, McKinsey & Co. This company has a long and troubling history of a very close association with the CCP. They have 6 locations in China and that on-going "business" requires a tacit understanding that they will do nothing to annoy the CCP. So, they are not an independent source of advice. McKinsey has in the past advised 22 of China's 100 biggest state owned enterprises in what the NY Times described as "troubled deals". But this isn't uncommon for the company; NY Magazine said they have a history of "playing both sides" in any spat - and it looks like they're happy to cash in on both Cuomo and Trump, America and China. They'll play Cuomo, de Blasio and all the other greedy fools for the criminal idiots that they are.
Trump MUST put a stop to this treasonous activity on the part of certain Democrat states which is designed to profit but a few at the expense of taxpayers in those states.
The economic loss and loss of livelihoods which have been built up by hard work over many years, apart from the loss of life of course, is a tragedy of epic proportions and will affect our countries and the way of life we have been used to for a very long time. Therefore the CCP MUST PAY.
It is becoming more and more apparent that political partisanship is alive and well in the US and is being used with increasing ferocity to unseat President Trump's re-election chances - even at the expense of dealing effectively with the Chinese Virus. These unprincipled Democrat players are quite happy to prejudice Americans' best interests, come what may in pursuing their own political ends.
We can only hope that American voters see through their shameful charades and kick them into the political wilderness for a long long time - come November.
We don't want to labour the point, but we must point out the downright malevolence and malign intent on the part of the Communist party of China (CCP) - as opposed to the normal Chinese people - in this whole ghastly C Virus business. This malign intent has of course always been there since 1949 when China came under the iron fist of the CCP. It's just that since President Nixon, when China was "opening up", this malevolence has been well concealed. All they ever wanted was to steal as much western technology as they could and at the same time gain as much financial dominance as possible.
When you consider the forced social changes (as enumerated above), the outright financial destruction and the humanitarian cost, there is only one logical answer - and that is that the CCP MUST PAY. The suggested manner of payments can be seen in our draft letter to President Trump. We don't know whether the CCP deliberately or accidentally released the virus into the local community of Wuhan - a city of 11 million people. Whatever, once it was out in the open, they definitely deliberately withheld information with the connivance of the World Health Organisation (WHO), including whether it was transmittable human to human. They locked down Wuhan internally, but continued to allow and even encourage travel internationally from Wuhan International Airport to the US, the UK, and many European countries in what was absolutely a deliberate and RACIST effort to maximise the spread of the virus to as many countries and non-Chinese as possible. Trump was absolutely correct in withdrawing US financial contributions from the WHO. While he's about it, he may as well withdraw US membership of the United Nations and kick them out of New York!!
Trump was absolutely correct in banning all flights from China to the US on Jan. 30th. for which the Democrats criticised him as being racist and xenophobic. In doing so he undoubtedly saved countless thousands of American lives.
The CCP definitely appreciated the seriousness of the Chinese Virus as is shown conclusively by their efforts from early December 2019 to grab as much PPE as they could lay their murderous hands on from as many countries as possible, including Australia. The CCP instructed CCP owned companies around the world to lay their hands on as much PPE as they possibly could. Then later when those countries were desperate for as much PPE supplies as possible, they profiteered and sold them back at greatly inflated prices.
It is encouraging that there are moves afoot in the US Senate (by several Senators) to introduce legislation which would allow US companies and other institutions to sue the CCP in Federal Court to recover damages. Normally sovereign immunity applies, but this legislation would override that. No doubt the CCP would thumb their nose at any guilty verdicts, but then the way would be open for legal asset seizure and debt repudiation. These moves will no doubt be replicated in other countries as well. The end result will be the realisation world-wide that the CCP is a pariah government and with any luck their economy would be devastated as richly deserved. This realisation is growing right now but will only intensify. The anti CCP rhetoric coming out of the US and indeed other countries such as the UK needs to be heard to be believed.
66% of Americans now view the CCP as a serious threat to their country.
Even the Surgeon-General of the United States described the release of the C Virus as comparable to "a Pearl Harbour/9/11 moment" with the same level of treachery exhibited.
In recent days we have been listening to Youtube interviews with-
Victor Davis Hanson - an American classicist historian and Emeritus Professor of Classics at California State University. He is also a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He is also a farmer in the San Joaquin Valley in southern California on land that has been in his family for 150 years.
Danielle di Martino Booth - an economist of international repute
Gordon Chang - an American native of Chinese ancestry who is an author, columnist and lawyer and author of "The Coming Collapse of China".
Steve Bannon - former Trump security advisor and the owner of the Breitbart News
Anastasia Lin - who is a young Chinese born Oxford University graduate who gave an absolutely amazing address to the Oxford Union in which she was devastatingly critical of the CCP.
Maura Moynihan in the Epoch Times. She is the daughter of former Democrat Senator Patrick Moynihan.
These are but a few notable and highly educated people who are advocating serious action against the CCP.
We have also been listening to interviews conducted by Australian born, but of NZ broadcasting fame, Leighton Smith of Newstalk ZB in his podcasts where he and the interviewees have been far from hesitant in expressing their views about the conduct of the CCP in this whole awful business.
Another thing we should mention - you will be aware of the CCP's annexation of Tibet which for the most part has been carried out with overtones of the Nazi Einzatzgruppen of the SS as extermination squads in Eastern Europe in WW2. There was a story of a guy who was lined up on the edge of a burial pit with many of his compatriots, all of whom had been forced to remove their clothing. When the firing began he fell into the pit and pretended to be dead. Later he managed to crawl out from under all the bleeding bodies and eventually escaped to tell the tale. And there were also stories about nuns who were raped with electric cattle prods and then left to bleed to death.
Nice people, and God only knows what they have been doing to the Moslem Uighur people who have been incarcerated in "re-education camps". Probably experimenting with the C Virus on them.
These people (the CCP) are the very people that most of the world (including NZ) has been cozying up to in recent years - with the connivance of previous US administrations. Particularly the Obama/Clinton/Biden cartel. Joe Biden is hopelessly compromised along with his corrupt son, Hunter from their receipt of a bribe of 1,5 billion USD from the CCP during Biden's period as Obama's VP. The CCP bought the Office of the Vice President of the United States.These people in high official US positions should be prosecuted for treason and certainly Joe Biden should never be allowed anywhere near the White House - quite apart from his obvious dementia.
The anti CCP rhetoric is ramping up seriously, particularly in the USA, and there will no doubt be determined action to recover the horrific losses caused by the deliberate withholding of information by the CCP in respect of the Chinese Virus.
Therefore countries such as NZ and Australia, who have allowed themselves to become far too dependent on the CCP for trade and tourism, will suffer badly and the world will also suffer as the transition of supply chains and manufacturing are relocated from China to the US and other countries who may be approved from time to time. Obviously countries in SE Asia already host substantial manufacturing enterprises. This will only increase as will sourcing from India and Bangladesh. However, the manufacture and development of vital items such as medical supplies MUST be brought back to the US. They must never allow themselves to become as vulnerable to foreign supply chains as the C Virus crisis has shown ever again - largely thanks to the Obama Administration.
Incidentally India is suing the CCP in international court for "committing grave offences against humanity throughout the world". This is probably only the beginning.
Thank God for Donald Trump and his administration which unfailingly puts America (and our cherished way of life) first.
And finally, there has been so much anti-Trump rhetoric driven by the left leaning Washington Post and news.com.au in what was once a proud and reputable NZ Herald. Sadly it no longer fits that description and, unless the ownership changes from Jeff Bezos and his rag of a paper (the Washington Post), it will no longer have any journalistic reputation left. You will never hear any rhetoric praising Trump or truth about the murderous CCP from Granny Herald these days.
All very serious food for thought and NZ and ALL other countries MUST prepare for a vastly new world. The deliberate release of the C Virus onto the world by the CCP will deservedly decimate the Chinese economy and that of all countries with hitherto strong economic links to the CCP - and unfortunately that includes NZ and Australia.
With all very best wishes from us in Medellin and lotsaluv.....................
Jim and Jean
P.S. As mentioned above the majority of our comments about Colombia in respect of the Chinese Virus are derived from news reports in Colombiareports.com which we believe to be accurate. Similarly the comments about the CCP and the effects of the Chinese virus on the USA and the world are sourced from Fox News, the daily medical briefings from the White House, and extensive listening to internet commentary from reputable sources as enumerated above. And dare we say, the random inclusion of various "fake news" items on Fox News from the likes of CNN and MSNBC and all the rest of the ratbag "fake news".
P.P.S. And now for a lighthearted moment - God knows we need it.
An Irish joke - Murphy was walking down the village street one day and he came across the local priest. Something was on his mind so he said to the priest - "tell me, Father, can you please tell me what Lumbago is?" The priest regarded him for a long moment and recalling that Murphy was generally a wastrel and hadn't been to church for months, he decided to give it to him right between the eyes and so he replied - " Lumbago is what you get from associating with loose women and the Drink and generally falling about the place and making a nuisance of yourself. Why do you ask?" And Murphy replied - "well, I was reading that the bishop had it".
