The (Slow) Return of the Running "Machine"

I wrote an entry a few weeks ago about the breakdown of a running machine and the (unintentionally) self inflicted injuries I've caused myself from running.  After a year of on and off pain, I've set off to try and fix this problem.  But it means navigating the medical system here for the most part in Spanish.  Most likely all my readers have "enjoyed" navigating the medical system in their home countries and see how frustrating it can be ... now try to do it in a language other than your own.

Yes, I know I just wrote an entry on the easiness of using the system here.  And it is actually quite easy.  But once you have the appointment the challenge is then being able to communicate your problem and understand the questions being asked to you in another language.  In the last few weeks I've had to do that for my orthopedist appointment, the emergency room for Liam, the eye doctor for Liam, the emergency room for Aidan, the eye doctor for Aidan and finally, for myself at my bone scan appointment.  

And so far in those past few weeks I've done pretty well with communicating in Spanish.  Only problem is that it's hard to make follow up questions when you don't speak the language fluently.  But I feel like progress is being made and so for now, I'll take that. 

But back to trying to fix the running machine... I had an appointment a few weeks ago with an orthopedist.  A doctor that I was told spoke English, but in fact, did not.  I told him what was wrong with me and how it happened.  He spent less than 30 seconds examining my leg and then said I had tibial periostitis (shin splints).  He ordered a gamagrafia and therapy.  I had no idea what a gamagrafia was and when I google translated it, I still didn't know.  So then I had to google the translation - turns out it was for a bone scan.

I scheduled the appointment for the bone scan which to be honest, seemed a bit extreme since we didn't even do a standard x-ray and now you are going to expose me to radiation equivalent to about 60 x-rays.  But hey, I'm not a doctor and the medical system as I've noted, is different here.  So I'm going with the flow.  My appointment was scheduled 2 weeks ago for 8:45AM to do the bone scan.   

I live less than 2 miles from Quiron Hospital which is where my scan was scheduled - one of only 3 places that has the appropriate equipment in this city.  I left my house at 8 for an 8:45 appt just in case. Good thing I did.  Because Travessera de Dalt and Vallcarca were like Rte 1 at Christmas.  I normally wouldn't mention a parking garage but I'm pretty sure this one went down at least 10 stories like a spiral staircase - no end in sight til you got to the bottom.  I will admit to slight panic of being so far underground.  I went into the hospital and asked where my appt was.  I knew he said bottom of the stairs and to the left but when I got to the bottom I saw the X-ray dept straight ahead, not to the left.  But to be seen I had to pick not just a number but the right department - like going to the DMV and picking licenses, registration, etc.  I took a guess. Turns out that my appointment actually was to the left... Oops!  So slightly late now which totally stresses me, I made my way down to where I had to be. I'm stressed enough already AND I need to do everything in Spanish.  Why can't life just be easy for a moment?  Because stuff like this is tough enough to navigate in your own language.  I checked in and got myself situated in the waiting area. Thankfully there were only 2 other people here.  A friend had once told me that you bring people with you to the doctor - no one should be alone... And yet here I am sitting by myself.  Meanwhile, these other people at least have their significant others with them. 

After 30 mins my name was finally called. The tech asked me a question and I had no idea what he was asking.  The fear set in.  I have no idea what I'm doing.  Thankfully a doctor who spoke English came in and explained.  The tech wanted to know if it was my first time with this type of X-ray.  He then explained the process.  They were going to inject the radioactive dye, take an X-ray, wait two hours and then do the scan again.  I must say, the tech did the injection perfectly - absolutely no pain.  I don't think I've ever had a needle in my arm without at least a pin prick.  And yet I could feel my heart racing while on the table waiting for the giant X-ray machine to take an X-ray of my legs.  The tech had asked if I had a belt on which I didn't.  But he forgot to ask if I had anything in my pockets and part way thru I began think I might have change in my pocket (and yup I did). Hoping that doesn't mess anything up!!!!   

The scan was pretty easy with the only challenge being my ability to lay still.  But I managed.  As soon as the scan was done, I took the change out of my pocket, again hoping this didn't mess anything up.  They told me to come back in 2 hours so I headed up to the cafeteria for a croissant and orange juice.  I basically just hung out for 2 hours reading and playing Candy Crush (I cannot stop playing this stupid game!).  It was kind of nice having no pressure to be anywhere or to be getting anything done - too bad I had to spend that free time hanging out at the hospital.

Anyways, I headed back to the waiting room and 2 hours turned out to be 3 but finally it was my turn.  They did the scan again and said my results would be ready to pick up in the morning.  Damn that's fast!  I had been told it takes up to 10 days to get them.  So I rushed home to call the insurance company to set up an appointment for as soon as possible with an orthopedist to review the results.  Since my appointment was on Thursday and my results ready on Friday, the earliest they could do was Tuesday (Monday was a holiday).  The doctor my friends had recommended had nothing available til June and I wasn't willing to wait that long so I took a chance that the doctor would speak English.

I picked up my results with no problem.  On Tuesday morning I decided that in an attempt to prep myself for the doctor saying I couldn't run ever again, I rode my bike to my appointment.  It actually felt good to ride it to get from point A to point B and not just to work out - the ride itself was a workout anyways and it got me to my destination.  Why I didn't start doing this sooner is beyond me.

Sorry, I digress.  I went in and the orthopedists are on the 1st floor.  But when I checked in, the guy told me to go straight ahead and to the right.  It all said traumatology and ophthalmology.   I was like, hmmm, I think he misread where my appointment was.  So I went upstairs anyways.  The woman at reception told me, no I need to go downstairs and I was pretty sure she said ophthalmology.  I started to panic thinking that they set me up with the wrong type of appointment but it turns out this guy is traumatology.  Ok, whew!!!

And bonus, he spoke English.  And it kind of threw me off a bit to be able to explain everything in English.  We didn't talk long but he looked at my x-ray and said that I definitely had tibial periostitis but that if I'm not having any pain right now, I can start to run.  SLOWLY.  And short distances.  And slowly work my way back up.  He told me that if I don't listen to him that I'm at risk for a stress fracture and that, I can do without.  The pain that I've had off and on over the last year felt like a stress fracture and if that pain wasn't a fracture then I don't know want to know what is!  I need to do warm ups before I run - something I'm not used to doing as my run usually is my warm up.  And for the time being I can only run inside as it's less pressure on my leg than running on the hard pavement.

My face just totally lit up.  I could't stop smiling.  He was telling me I could run.  I don't think I realized how much I missed my ability to run until that moment when I thought he might tell me I could never do it again.  But to be told that yes, you can do it, but take it slow... I can manage that.  But it's been a challenge.  I'm competitive, even with myself.  So to take a step back bothers me from a mental standpoint, not a physical one.  The idea of running at a 10'30" pace instead of a 9' or 9'30" pace bothers me.  I know I need to do it, but I'm having trouble with my ego on that one.  To the point where I haven't uploaded any of my runs since I started back again last week.  Stupid I know.  But it bothers me to know I'm not running at my best or trying to beat my best.

However, I know it needs to be slow progress if I'm ever going to be able to run consistently again.  And so I've slowed my pace down and my distance.  I started off last week running at 10'30" and only ran a mile.  The next day I added 2 minutes to my run.  Then I rested for 3 days with no running.  This week I've run every day at least 10-15 minutes.  I'm slowly, slowly increasing my speed.  This morning I ran for 20 minutes and ran at about 10'7" per mile.  It's a start.  I'll get there and I know I will.  Progress is still progress and I'm just happy to be back on track again.

I go back to the doctor in mid June for a check up.  He's hoping I won't need physical therapy (I'm hoping the same) so I plan to do my best to be "good" so I can show him a print out of what I've done in the 3 weeks since our first appointment - that I'm slowly increasing both time and speed.  That I'm doing a warm up before my runs and making sure I stretch after (that part I was actually doing before).  But with any hope and perhaps a bit of luck, I'll be back to my "normal" self within a month or two.  Here's hoping!

Besos,
Julie

Aidan's 9th Birthday Party

My darling Aidan is truly my twin.  He's a creature of habit and doesn't like to try new things.  I'm getting better about it but he is still young and will eventually find his way.  So it didn't surprise me when I asked him about what he wanted to do for his birthday party this year... the same thing he did last year.  A scooter party in a nearby park.

This worked for me because it's easy to organize and incredibly inexpensive, especially compared to some of the party places that some of these kids hold their parties.  There are some things that are the same no matter what country you live in - party places for birthdays are one of them.

So anyways, we attempted to plan his party for the day after his birthday on a Saturday afternoon.  Now, I may have made a faux pax by sending the invite within the hour after another party that was scheduled for Sunday.  But in my defense, the party is a different day and time AND her invitation just reminded me that I needed to send it.  But I probably should have spaced it out after she sent hers.  Anyways, no big deal because ONLY TWO KIDS COULD COME.  Yes, only 2.  Turns out that it was also communion weekend.  Who knew?  Not me.

In the end, I talked it over with Josh and Aidan and we decided to bump his party out a few weeks in order to allow for more kids to be able to come.  He was only inviting about 10 kids anyways, so when a few can't make it, it makes a big difference compared to parties of 40 or more kids (which many parents do - they do group parties and invite both classes for that grade).  This worked out better for Aidan, his guests and for me who didn't have to deal with 2 consecutive weeks of parties, therefore enabling me to focus a little more on his party rather than being just too wiped to deal.

The only problem with having a party in the park is that there are only so many picnic tables to go around.  With 5 tables and tis the season for fiestas, I was a little worried about staking my claim in time for the party.  The kids had tennis in the morning and then Josh was going to pick up 2 of Aidan's friends for the party.  So they weren't going to be there til around 1:15.  Would that be enough time to get a table for a 2 o'clock party?  I wasn't so sure.  The alternative - have Josh drop me and all the stuff off on his way to tennis at 10:30AM.  Yes, 3 1/2 hours before the party.

Now, some may be thinking that this was unfair to others that might have used that table during those 3 1/2 hours.  But I know many moms out there would have done the same thing for their kids if not more.  However, you will all be happy to know that while all the tables did fill up with people, some of which were parties, there was never a time when anyone entered the picnic area only to find no tables available.

The weather was supposed to be early 70s and sunny.  Once again, the weatherman was wrong and I was totally inappropriately dressed in capris and flip flops to sit freezing in the shade.  Ah well.  At one point while I was waiting a creepy guy came over and asked what I was doing and why I was there.  I kept trying to ignore him but he kept standing there and staring.  It was a bit unnerving.  Eventually after about 15 mins he moved on.  But it made me a bit weary about the kids running around the park unsupervised.  And when they got there I gave them a lecture about stranger danger.

However, that may have been unnecessary (not that they don't need to know about strangers) because no joke, by 1:30 we were the ONLY people in the park with the exception of a family sitting at the table next to us.  The playground and entire park was empty.  I didn't think about the fact that I scheduled the party for siesta.  I've learned my lesson there!

The party started off a little rocky in my mind.  Thankfully it was only in my mind and not Aidan's.  With only 10 kids invited and one unable to come right off the bat, we were down to 9 kids.  Not bad actually, a good group - not too big, not too small.  Of course, only 2 of them were there during the first hour which had me panicked.  A few cancelled, two were late (one I knew about but forgot).  And one met up with us later on.  But during that first hour I was in total panic thinking we were only going to have 2 kids after all that.

But it was perfect.  They scootered thru the park, ate pizza and cupcakes.  They had sword fights with sticks, climbed trees, played soccer and enjoyed what little bit of nature the city life has to offer.  They laughed and smiled and it warmed my heart to see how happy Aidan was with all his friends.

Aidan and his best friend

Liam is excited for the party

Having pizza

Grabbing their scooters

Liam had a playdate during the party too!

Love this picture!

Aidan's favorite tree in Barcelona

Seriously the playground was completely empty except for these kids - how awesome is that?

Enjoying the playground

Opening presents

Cool legos!

Playing soccer!

In the end, it all worked out beautifully.  Aidan and his friends had the park to themselves.  It was a small, intimate group.  And we all came back to our house for an extended playdate that lasted til 7 and included a sleepover with one of his friends.  When the kids came back to the house everything just felt in sync.  They played fantastic - just a great group of kids.

Not only that but one of Aidan's friends that couldn't come to the party stopped by on Sunday to take him out for an impromptu playdate and some ice cream to make up for not being able to come on Saturday.  It was so incredibly kind of the parents to go out of their way to make him feel special, and he did.  I think overall, it was a great 9th birthday for Aidan :)  Happy birthday!!!

Besos,
Julie

Teaching a City Kid New Tricks

There are certain things that change when you move from the suburbs to the city, especially when you have kids.  The ease (or not) of parking, lack of green space, access to activities, closeness of neighborhoods, etc etc.  One more example is sports.  Without a yard or cul de sac neighborhoods, often times sports can be a challenge for our kids living in the city.

We have a huge patio.  They don't use it nearly enough.  We have a basketball hoop out there and they'll play hockey or even kick the soccer ball around.  But they are drawn to the streets which in a city, is not necessarily safe.  However, we live on a small one way side street - so while it's not Bernardo Drive by any means, it's pretty safe and they can play outside (supervised of course because it's still a city street).  Aidan can skateboard and Liam can scooter and they are pretty happy.  Just up the street is a small square where they also like to kick the ball around and often times scooter.

But notice I mentioned scootering but no biking.  Aidan, who LOVED to ride his bicycle at home has all but given it up here in the city.  It annoys him having to stop at every corner, just when he gets going, in order to look for traffic.  In Gracia, our neighborhood, there isn't a lot of traffic compared to being in the center, however, there are still cars like in any neighborhood.  But unlike our neighborhood at home, it's a grid and full of intersections which means stopping to look both ways constantly.  It's far easier to stop on the scooter than on the bike.

And so, much to my sadness, Aidan never ever rides his bike.  I'd say it's been over a year at least.  But I've gotten back on a bike kick - without my ability to run much these days, I've been looking for a new form of cardio.  Biking it is.  And so since Josh has been exercising more, I thought this might be a good way for us to all spend some family time together and get some exercise - bonus.

But Liam doesn't know how to ride a bike.  He had one of those non pedal bikes that he was incredibly adept at but could only go as fast as his little feet would take him (which actually was fairly fast).  It wasn't great on non paved surfaces either.  And recently, it finally fell apart.  To me, this was the sign that it was time for a "real" bike, with pedals.

I asked him over and over again (in that annoying mom trying to convince a child of something way) if he wanted a bike for his birthday.  He kept saying no.  I kept asking.  He kept telling me to stop asking because he didn't want a bike.  But I was determined.  He was turning 6 and to me this is a right of passage to learn to ride a bike.  Aidan was riding without training wheels by 4 and here Liam is 6 and has never even gotten on a bike WITH training wheels.  I felt behind the 8 ball.  This wasn't about keeping up with the Joneses and that other kids knew how to ride a bike and therefore so should he.  It was about something that as a kid I always loved to do and when Aidan was small and lived in the burbs, he rode his bike every day and loved it.  I wanted this for Liam.  But he was determined to buck me every step of the way.

I didn't buy the bike for Liam's birthday.  A week later I was in the mall shopping for Aidan's birthday and I was in a sports store.  I saw training wheels in the store and thought, hmmm, rather than spending the money on a bike that Liam says he doesn't want, what if I put training wheels on Aidan's bike that he doesn't ride?

Well, Aidan was pissed.  I even offered to buy him a bigger better bike since that one is almost too little for him now.  No, he wanted his bike.  So I told him, if at any point he wants to ride it, it takes less than 2 minutes to remove the training wheels and I would be happy to do so.  Not once did he ask me to do it.  Liam tried it, liked it, got off.  It lasted about 3 minutes.  He was frustrated with the pedals and the braking - he couldn't get the hang of the fact, like most kids when they first start to ride, not to push backwards on the pedals.  He tried a few times over the course of a few days and wasn't super in to it.  Fail.

I got my bike tuned up and started to ride it more consistently.  I have not given up.  I went to Decathlon last week to buy a basket for my bike.  I also bought Liam a bike.  Yes, my brain said this could very well be a waste of money but at the same time, my gut was telling me that if it's his own bike and not his brother's maybe we can make this work.  I got the bike home and went to put on the training wheels that I had put on Aidan's bike.  Fail again.  Training wheels don't fit.  Back to Decathlon because I can't give him a bike that he can't ride.  Buy training wheels that DO fit.  Come back home and install said wheels less than 20 mins before I have to pick them up at the bus stop.

We got home and he was eh about the bike.  Not super excited but not ignoring it either.  It took some convincing for him to try it.  He liked the light.  He liked that it had a bell.  Ok, he loved that it had a bell.  And it had pedals that could move backwards as the brakes were only on the handlebars.  So no more getting stuck.  He rode it for about 5 minutes and then called it a day.

Every day since then I've asked him if he wants to ride it.  And he says, "not today but maybe tomorrow".  And I started to think, what a waste of money this was.  What was I thinking?  He made it clear to me he didn't want it and I pushed too hard and now I wasted money on a bike that he won't use.

But no, that's not how it worked.  Persistence can pay off.  Yesterday the four of us were doing various sport activities out in the square near our apartment.  I convinced Liam we should bring his bike to show Josh since he hadn't seen him ride it yet.  At first he was slow on it.  And he couldn't figure out the steering.  But then suddenly, suddenly it clicked and he got it.  He wasn't anywhere near as coordinated as Aidan was when he first started to ride, but he was getting it.  He was pedaling and he was steering.  He was going slow as a snail but he was going.  And he was smiling and happy about it.

I asked him if he wanted me to get my bike so we could go on a bike ride together.  He said yes.  So we slowly made our way thru the streets of Gracia on our bikes.  He kept wanting to go downhill which put the fear of god in me for fear that he wouldn't remember how to use the brake before a street intersection, but he got it.  I tried to remind him what goes down must go back up.  But he didn't seem to care.  He didn't care because I pushed him all the way back up while also pushing my bike.  But it's ok, he had fun and he loved riding.  I told him how proud I was of him and that sometimes we really need to give things more than one chance because we may really end up loving it.  So I guess you really can teach a city kid new tricks - it just takes a little patience and persistance.

Liam just getting started (yes I know, no helmet at that time but literally 30 seconds before he was moving the bike by using his feet on the ground) and Liam on the go!!!

Besos,
Julie

X-Games Comes to Barcelona

This was the first year the X-Games made an appearance in Barcelona and it seems that it was well received.  We saw banners all over the city for weeks and thought this might be something fun the kids would enjoy watching.  With a long weekend this weekend and no specific plans, we decided to check out tickets.

Based on the schedule of events (some events didn't start til 9PM), we offered the kids either BMX biking or skateboarding.  They chose the latter.  And we were super excited about sharing this with them - live!  It's one thing to YouTube extreme skateboarding and other events, but to see it live is, as you know, a totally different experience.

Knowing there might be a lot of traffic and problems with parking, we opted to take public transportation over to Montjuic.  Of course, this meant leaving the house 2 hours before our Park Skateboard Finals started - because, you know, it takes barely an hour to get there but we still had to get to the top, find out where exactly our event was being held, and potentially stand in a long line to get in.

But the Games weren't as big as I thought they would be.  Yes, there were a lot of people there, but with events spread out during the day and other things happening, there weren't long queues of people getting in.  So we went right in and just walked around for a bit, got a hot dog and then headed over to the Skateboard Park where the contestants were warming up.

Heading into the Games

Me and my pumpkin pie ready to watch some skateboarding!

An attempt at them posing together... fail

Apparently Liam thinks we are going to see boxing and not skateboarding ;)

The kids LOVED watching the skateboarders warming up.  Aidan was especially surprised to see how young some of the competitors were with one kid as young as 13 that made it to the finals.  Yes, only 4 years older than Aidan.  That kind of blew my mind.  And he was incredible!!  Prodigies come in all types - sports, academics, etc.  This kid was amazing!

13 year old phenom

Excited to be at the X Games!

Making "some noise!"

The competitors

Some videos we took of the X Games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHyl8CMRrIE&feature=youtu.be 

http://youtu.be/gD38GAlCQZU

This is some of the competitors.  I don't remember if they said "yea haw" in this video or not but the commentators were constantly saying it.  Not sure if they thought it was an American thing or not?????  It got annoying though - even Aidan agreed.

By the time the actual competition started, I could see the kids were losing their interest quick.  There are only so many stunts you can watch in the course of 2 hours before being ready to move on.  But they did it and they made it to the end.   They even learned to do the wave - how is it that they've never done the wave before?

As we were getting ready to leave we saw some guys that we were guessing were sponsored by Red Bull start to do an impromptu show out in the pedestrian area - so we watched them for a little bit.  Sadly, I think the kids were more impressed with this than the skateboarding but they enjoyed both regardless.

Some videos of the bike stunts:

http://youtu.be/o0RKK_WpMF8

 http://youtu.be/-t-oeTII-6k

They had a great time and we made it out of there just as the skies opened up to (more) rain!  But a fun and totally different day than our usual weekend escapades :)

Besos,
Julie

Paying the Price for Technology

Do you remember the song "I can't drive 55"?  Well, I knew it would happen sooner or later.  Driving in the city on a regular basis is just not the same as driving on the highway - you can't stretch your "legs" quite the same but every now and again an opportunity comes along and you can put the pedal to the metal just a little bit.  Though perhaps it happened in the wrong location... where there was a radar device.

But actually the reason I'm writing this entry is not to complain about my speeding ticket (though it does suck and in actuality is Josh's ticket, not mine), but in fact the technology that surrounds it and my life here in Barcelona.  Not only do I rarely see a police officer pulling over speeders here - most speeding is caught via camera (and they actually often alert you to the location of the camera so if you get caught, you are kind of stupid), but even the ticket is taken care of via electronics, the ATM to be exact.  That's not to say I can't go to the police station and protest said ticket, but honestly paying the 50 euros is less painful than going to Spanish court.

However, as I said though, the ticket can be paid via ATM.  I didn't realize this as I was going to send Josh to work with the ticket to take to our bank to be paid (it didn't have bank transfer info on it) when he told me I could just go to the ATM and scan the bar code on the bottom.  Seriously?  

See the bar code on the bottom?  That's how I paid my ticket

Now, for all I know, tickets can be paid via ATM at home - I've always gone to court to appeal them so I have no idea.  I'm feeling a trend with the "always" as if I get speeding tickets on a regular basis, but I assure you, it's not the case.  Anyways, it was very cool that there was an option when I went to the ATM machine that says to pay bills.  Who knew??

But that lead me to think about other ways that Europe is just slightly ahead of the US when it comes to  certain technologies.  An example is the chip on credit cards.  From what I've read, these are slowly being introduced in the US but are still years behind Europe and even some of Asia in using them amongst the masses.  The chip on the card is in addition to the credit card strip along the back.  It's added security and stores the information about the account on the chip.  This is important when travelling abroad as you need to enter a pin when using the chip version of the card - not so easy to steal!  

And I'm not sure that this is necessarily an extra way of being secure either but there are no checks here.  Everything is done via bank transfer.  You give your bank name, bank address and account number to the person who owes you money and money is transferred into your account.  Easy peasy.  So it must be easy to steal too, right? Not so much.  Because you have a special card that has a list of numbers.  When you go to do the transfer, the bank website asks you for the remainder of the numbers in a sequence - you look at your card to find said sequence and enter them in.

So it's not major things where Europe is ahead but just a few more differences I thought I'd point out.  What I did notice at home in the US that I haven't seen much of here (except at the apple store) is that all the stores now ask if you want your receipt emailed to you instead of taking a paper receipt.  It's something I only noticed when I was home last summer but still something new that Europe hasn't caught on to yet.  Just some random thoughts :)

Besos,
Julie

Navigating the Medical System

I actually started to think about this post quite a while ago but given that between the kids and I, we've been to the doctors countless times in the last few weeks, I thought it was long overdue.  What's it like to navigate the medical system with socialized medicine???  Well, it's great... overall... if you speak Spanish :)

But wait, that's not just it.  It actually IS great.  But I "think" it's because we have private insurance.  Here, everyone is entitled to medical care and it's free.  You need to have a medical card that is issued from the government to receive this free care.  We don't have these cards but could, if we wanted to, get them.

What's the benefit to having a medical card if I already have insurance?  Well, as I found out last year when I tried to go to a hospital just down the road from us... if you have insurance you can't go there.  What do you mean you ask?  Well, I went in, showed them my insurance card and they said, oh, you need to go to your insurance's (Sanitas) hospital.  If you come here, we have to charge you.

And so off I went with one more tiny bit of knowledge of how the system here works.  I now understand that there are approved hospitals, like the kids go to - Hospital de Nens (Childrens Hospital) for their appointments.  So while they are not a Sanitas Hospital, they are approved by our insurance company.  And my appointment for my bone scan today - was approved at another hospital because my insurance doesn't have a machine that does this at their hospital.

The fact that our insurance has their own hospitals and clinics is interesting in and of itself, but I also wanted to point out a couple of other things that are interesting here compared to back home.

Ease of Appointments
The kids and I are going home in August for vacation.  I made appointments for them and myself for the dentist and doctors (we go here as well but I like to cover my bases) for August back in February.  No joke, I got the only appointments available - more than 6 MONTHS in advance.  This is just ridiculous.

Last year I went to my gynecologist here for a regular annual exam.  She asked if I had had a baseline mammogram yet.  My response was no.  So she said, well, let's just do it right now.  And 30 minutes later I was getting my mammogram done.  No muss, no fuss.  Easily this would have been months to schedule an appointment at home.

With our Sanitas insurance we also have an English speaking customer service support team.  So when we want an appointment, we call them up and as long as it is within one of their hospitals or clinics, they will actually set the appointment up for you.  Never have I been asked if I have a referral for an orthopedist or an eye doctor from our primary care.  Never.  I called up today to make an appointment to review the results of my bone scan and she just said, what kind of doctor do you need an appointment with?  So easy!!!

On Time Appointments
This one is particularly important to me.  Doctor's offices that run on time!  Now they don't spend the same quality time with you as they might at home but I think other than one time, I have always been taken on time, if not early.  I remember our first dentist appointment for the boys... we arrived early and Aidan ended up needing a cavity filled and a tooth pulled.  All of this was done and completed BEFORE our scheduled appointment was even slated to begin!  Seriously, I kid you not.  Oh and this was before we had local insurance (at the time we only had global insurance where we would get reimbursed for our expenses) - so the whole appointment for a cleaning, tooth pulling and a cavity filling cost me something like 70 euro.  And that was WITHOUT the insurance.

Cost of Appointments
There is no co-pay here.  You make the appointment, go to the appointment, hand them your card and leave the appointment without paying a dime.  That's it.  The only time I have paid is when the kids needed shots that were only needed in the US and the shots cost me all of 60 euros and we only had to do it once.  I submitted it to my other insurance and all was good in the world.

Cost of Prescriptions and General Medication
This one will kill you guys.  First off, a side note that most veterinary medicine is the same as human medicine in different dosages.  Jake takes thyroid meds here that he would use at home but I get it at the regular pharmacy.  Unless it is specifically made for animals, there is no problem with pets using some human drugs here.  Jake's thyroid script used to cost me $80 a month at home.  Here it is 4 euros (no, I didn't forget a zero) per month.  Yes, FOUR EUROS.

The same goes for my birth control.  At home, my co-pay is $15 a month - so let's guess how much it would cost without the co-pay?  Here it is 15 euros without insurance (pharmacies don't take insurance, prescriptions are just paid as anything else would be) and it is considered to be on the expensive side.  I pay about 2 euros for a box of ibuprofen.  I paid less than 2 euros for eye drops for the boys for their upcoming eye appointments.  Rarely do I pay more than 5 euros for any prescription I have ever purchased here.

The point is, medicine here is beyond inexpensive which makes me wonder, if I'm using the same drugs as I was at home... why are they so expensive there and so inexpensive here?  Something to make you go hmmmmm.....

The Downside...
There really hasn't been a downside except I haven't figured out how to get myself a primary care physician.  But then, I do that at home so I haven't needed one.  The kids have one and that's most important to me.  The only other downside is that my Spanish isn't medical lingo fluent.  I've found in the last few weeks that it's much better than it used to be, but of course, when dealing with anything medical, especially with the kids, it's important for me to do it in my native tongue.  For example, the problem with my leg - I was told the doctor spoke English but he didn't.  But let's also remember, we live in Spain, so I can't set any expectations that the doctor would speak English here no more than I can expect every doctor at home to speak Spanish.  But it does certainly make navigating the system a little more difficult.


Anyways, those were just a few tidbits I thought I would throw out there since the medical system is on my mind...

Besos,
Julie

The Break Down of a Running "Machine"

I've never considered myself to be a runner.  I will never forget when Josh and I lived in Waltham, back in 1999 and my friend, Ursula (a marathon runner) asked me to go running with her.  I hadn't run in years.  Hell, at that point, I don't even remember the last time I had done much exercise of any kind.  I was 23 and still my young, perky self with no concern for the future.  But I went with her and she literally ran in circles around me - and talked to me the WHOLE TIME.  I was hating her just a tiny bit for her abilities and thought, that will never be me.  I gave up.  And didn't run again until after Liam was born.

But I didn't start running right after he was born.  It was only after I couldn't get rid of those last pesky 10 lbs almost a year after he was born that I started to go to the gym.  And I didn't start to run right away or very well when I started to work out - I didn't think I had it in me.  So let's call it about 4 years that I've been "consistently" running.  Then we moved to Barcelona and I had Liam home with me full time and so couldn't take him to the gym with me (I'm a morning gym person and they don't have daycares at the gyms here) so there went 9 months where I ran on the occasional weekend but not consistently.  

After Liam started school in September 2010, I started to go to the gym a few days a week.  I was a bit intimidated by my new surroundings even though I had worked out regularly at a similar type of gym in the US.  But it was still new to me.  So I stuck to the all familiar treadmill and ran.  

Over time I found my distance getting a little further and a little faster.  Before I knew it, I was running between 3 and 5 times a week with a minimum of 5k per run.  I started to increase my distance little by little and found that I had more endurance than I had ever realized.  I'll never be the fastest, nor will I ever be the one who goes the furthest, but I have always enjoyed competing with myself and trying to continually improve my personal best. 

I don't just compete with myself though.  It's like a special little clique - runners.  And so when I see a friend on my Facebook has just completed a run, I have to click "like" because I know what it means to have people behind you, cheering you on to go for that next run.  To see your progress and note such.  It's kept me in touch with my friends at home as we virtually run together - I might not be there but we can still be together in alternative ways.  

Running relaxes me.  Which is odd because most of my run I'm wondering when it will be over.  But without a good run, I feel out of sorts.  It's the runners high that I get when my run is done - that's what I live for.  And I need it... it's like a drug for me.  No other cardio does this the same way for me as running.  

But like most runners, I've been faced with constant injury.  Specifically my knees, arches and my lower legs.  The knees improved with new sneakers which I've learned need to be replaced more often. But my legs, my legs have been a consistent problem for the last year and it's only gotten progressively worse.  The worst part about it; I know it's self inflicted.  My trainer is constantly telling me to stop and rest for a few days or weeks but I push on... 

Why do this to myself?  I think like other things, it's an addiction.  If I felt well enough to run, then I would.  Even if my legs hurt - the pain would go away after a mile or so and I'd feel great.  On top of the world.  Until after the run.  It would only be when the pain became debilitating that I would stop and do something else, sometimes breaking for a few days, other times for a few weeks.  

But what I noticed is that the recovery time was getting longer and longer in between runs.  That more often than not I would run and I'd have some discomfort, if not pain, throughout the run.  That even walking was becoming uncomfortable.  But I would push on, because that's what I do.  And I don't give up.  And I'm uber competitive, with myself and others.  Josh would run 4 miles on a given morning, then I would also need to run at least 4 miles.  By the way, Josh is not competing with me - this is my own self made insanity that pushes me to do this.  He doesn't care if I run 1 or run 100 - it's about us staying in good physical shape.

I've seen doctors about my leg in the last year.  All in Spanish.  Which is frustrating for me because yes, I live in Spain and yes, I speak the language (well enough to function and a bit more) but I don't speak medical jargon.  I can describe what is wrong with me, how it happened and that I love to run.  But to understand what they are telling me in response is my challenge and missing just a little bit makes a big difference. 

For instance, last year I went to the walk in clinic and saw a doctor.  He started to tell me something and then kept moving his hands from my waist down to my ankle.  I swear he told me he was going to put my leg in a full cast - this is terrible!!!  Turns out... he wanted to take an x-ray from my hip down to my foot.  Yeah, I missed something in the translation there.  He told me it was tendonitis - an inflammation of the tendon that runs along my calf.  The best treatment - rest, ice and ibuprofen.

I did that.  It got better... for a little while.  But not for good.  As I said, it's been getting progressively worse.  I'd like to think that if I were in the US that I would have seen a doctor to find out why it's getting worse and not better.  But then in the US, I would need to get several referrals to see a specialist and then wait months to see said specialist.  So I can't be sure that I would have taken care of it.  But then, I hadn't done anything since last spring here so it's no one's fault but my own.

In an effort to feel better about the Boston Marathon bombings last month, I ran my longest run ever - just over 8 miles.  My first 4 kilometers (about 2 miles) were painful - almost to the point where I wanted to quit.  But my desire to run and my desire to put the pain of what happened at home behind me and to do just one little thing to show my Boston pride, won out.  And I ran.  And I ran hard.  And I ran far.  And I was stupid.  Because my leg became worse... again.

Now a year into this injury, I had an ah ha moment one day at the gym when I remembered that our insurance now has English speaking customer service.  As soon as I got home I called them up and scheduled an appointment with an English speaking orthopedist.  I was disappointed to have to wait something like 4 days for my appointment as I was actually excited about the idea of finding a solution to my problem.  

I got to the doctor on May 3rd... the first appointment of the day.  I was excited, I was nervous - what was he going to say?  I was going to be able to describe my problems in my native language - a feat that I haven't been able to do to date.  And I was going to understand what the doctor had to say in response.  Was I finally going to figure out what's wrong and how to fix it?  Could I actually think of a time where I might run without pain?  

Ahh but I got my hopes up.  Because while my insurance claimed this doctor spoke English, he actually spoke NONE.  I almost cried out of frustration.  Just another bad Spain day for me.  I understood the gist of what he was saying but he literally spent less than 5 minutes with me. I explained that I run... a lot.  And that I have pain... a lot.  And that the time between my runs has gotten longer and longer and the pain sticks around and never really goes away.  It was what he said in response that was hard for me.  I have no idea how long he told me not to run.  He felt my leg for less than 10 seconds.  He ordered up some kind of treatment and I think physical therapy  At least that was what I came out of the appointment thinking.  

He wrote both things down on prescription paper so I was able to actually read it after.  I made one appointment right away - turns out it was for therapy. I have no idea what the therapy entails, just that I have an appointment.  The other paper was for an xray of some sort which turns out to be a gamagrafia - or a bone scan.  Straight to the big stuff.  No standard x ray or MRI... a bone scan (which for those who don't know, has radiation equivalent to about 60 x rays - like I can't be around kids or pregnant women for at least 12 hours).  

But they couldn't make the appointment for the bone scan because they don't do them at that hospital.  Apparently only 3 places in Barcelona have this type of machine that can do this scan.  I called my insurance company to have them make the appointment (perk of my insurance company) but they couldn't because it wasn't one of their hospitals (insurance companies here have their own hospitals and clinics - often you are covered at other locations but they cannot schedule you for appointments at places other than their own).  Near tears, the customer service rep walked me thru it - something I normally wouldn't have needed but was just so frustrated by not being able to communicate that I couldn't take one more thing.  But I did it... I managed to make the appointment and go this Thursday for my bone scan.

So while I didn't get all the information I was hoping for, I did find out this - I have tibial periostitis.  Basically chronic shin splits.  At least that is what this doctor is now saying (with his 10 seconds of feeling my leg).  I also made an appointment for the bone scan.  I am making progress towards a solution.  And bonus, friends of mine have been seeing an orthopedist in the same hospital that I went to and have an English speaking doctor - so when I get the results of the bone scan, I will make an appointment with him to review them and come up with a plan.  So while none of this has gone smoothly, it is progress and that's more than I've had in the last year.  

It's time to find a solution - a long term solution.   Being a runner doesn't mean that you have to run marathons.  I've finally realized - I'm a runner.  Because I WANT TO RUN. 

Besos,

Julie

Feliz Cumpleaños Aidan! Aidan Turns 9!!

He's not quite a decade yet, but we're getting closer!  However, we have truly entered the tween years and it shows.  As the years go by, his interest is less in toys and more into video games, apps and anything electronic.  He becomes more and more independent which is wonderful... to a degree.  Because he's growing up so quickly and becoming more of a young man and less my little boy.  Though as I always tell him (much to his chagrin), he will ALWAYS be my little boy.

Like every stage in the last 9 years, there have been things I have loved about this last year.  Independence for sure.  Though with independence comes a lot of push back on his end.  But I love that he wants to do things on his own - from coming downstairs in the morning to make his own chocolate milk and turning on the tv to trying to make his own breakfast (which often consists of just one piece of toast, nothing on it... but it's a start) or cut his own fruit (the idea of his using a knife chills me to the bone but I know he has to do it sooner or later).

He is coming into his own, asking inquisitive questions - always thought provoking.  His desire for knowledge is never ending.  He is a YouTube guru - anything he can't figure out, he YouTubes.  This includes his need to understand everything about video games and how to solve them, what are the shortcuts and what are the new and upcoming games that are coming out.  It's understandable to see why he wants to be a video game analyst when he grows up.  This year's interest with games included anything SuperMario 3D and Skylanders.

I asked Aidan what kinds of things I should put in this entry about his past year.  He's starting to get the idea of why it's good to keep a diary of our adventures so that we can look back years from now.  He told me that he's kind (so true) and also a bit manipulative (also true... but I love to see how his mind works).  He thinks he's angry a lot and while it makes me sad to agree, I also think this is part of the age not to mention, three years later, he is still dealing with the transition to a new country.  But on a positive note, just a few months ago, Aidan finally told me that he really likes it here.  He's hoping to stay in Barcelona for 5 years, go back to the US for 5 years and then come back here for another 5 (though he doesn't get that by then he'll be college age and all that is up to him!).

He wanted me to note that while he and Liam are the best of friends and the worst of enemies, that it is nice that they can now play more together.  He is slightly bossy (as expected of an older brother) when it comes to just "how" to play pretty much anything.  And god help Liam if he doesn't do it quite right.  But when they do get along, like they did on Aidan's birthday, all is so perfect in my world that I could not ask for one more thing.  Too bad they don't do that more often.  Let's hope 9 and 6 are the years where they get along great :)

Hobbies this year included legos - Ninjago being his favorite but he also loves to freestyle build.  He loves to see how things fit together and how to create new and exciting models.  He also loves to draw and paint.  And for me, most importantly, he is starting to love to read.  For a child with dyslexia, this is probably the utmost important thing that puts a smile like no other on my face.  He has said several times in the last few months how when he reads certain books, he just can't put them down.  Favorites include Big Nate and Geronimo Stilton.

One of the things that Aidan mentioned to me that took me a bit by surprise was his love of watching pictures float across the tv (via Apple tv - it's like a digital photo frame on your tv).  For all his complaining about me taking picture after picture, he loves to look back at pictures both from here, home and all of our vacations and reminisce about fun times.  Sometimes I think this makes him miss home a little bit more but with happy memories he'll also have something to look forward to each summer until we move back home.

As he gets bigger, he's able to do more big kid things.  Like this spring he was able to swim with dolphins with Josh - Liam was too little still  They snorkel together and the hope is that in a few years he can start diving as well (still a little too young).  He's going to skateboard camp this summer - this is when he can start doing cooler things because he's old enough.  And that makes it just a little more exciting because he can appreciate it more.

But getting bigger means outgrowing things too.  It took a lot of convincing on my end to ensure I could bring cupcakes to school for him.  He felt he was too old for it.  A little sad for me as it means my baby is growing up, but I "won" this year and next year, well, we'll see how he feels next year...

 http://youtu.be/PAzhYk4QsEU 

Aidan's class singing Happy Birthday AND Feliz Cumpleaños

In class right before we sing "Happy birthday"

Aidan got to open a present or two the night before his birthday - he kind of snuck it in as Josh and I were talking to a friend who was visiting.

Opening a few gifts Thursday night!!  Liam got a new Ninjago set for his one gift that he opened.  Aidan got a new Skylander...

And a new Pokemon DS game!

Totally content

What's waiting for Friday morning... 

Trying to pick one or two Friday morning before he goes to school

But the big gifts came on Friday night after school.  His favorite, Skylanders for the wii.  He already had it for the 3DS but apparently it is much cooler on the wii as it has more levels.  He also got some new Skylanders.  Other gifts included Iron Man toys, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, books (Geronimo Stilton and Captain Underpants), a new snorkel set including flippers which he's been wanting, and a new Pokemon game for his DS.  All made him smile :)

Pretty sure this is Legendary Stealth Elf which was a big winner :)

Liam helping to open gifts

Liam's thinking "What's this???"

OMG it's the Skylanders Wii!!!!

Best friends (til Aidan got too bossy and Liam dropped out)...

Overall, everything is epic these days.  That's how Aidan describes pretty much anything that is cool.  Including his birthday this year - it was epic :)

Besos,
Julie and Aidan

Liam's Sleepover Party

Just reading those title words would make many a mom cringe with fear.  And I will admit, I was a little intimidated by the idea of having a sleepover party for Liam.  But on the flip side, I've really been a little unfair to the poor kid.  Aidan has been having sleepovers since he could barely walk.  Liam has had 2 sleepovers in the US and 2 here in Barcelona... in 6 years.  So when I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday party this year and he told me a sleepover, really, what could I say but yes?

And to be honest, it's not that hard of a party to plan.  No need for games or activities since it was a small group of kids.  Just let them run with their imaginations, make pizzas together, have cupcakes and  ice cream and then watch a movie before bed.  Easy peasy right?

Liam helping me get the air mattresses ready for his friends

Within 15 minutes of the first guest getting here, I'll say, I felt like this could be a very bad idea.  Liam was hyper on life and going at full speed.  He was up the stairs, down the stairs, back up the stairs again.  Any parent will agree, up and down the stairs, not only dangerous (and our stairs are marble so they are slippery!) but annoying.  It's quiet, it's loud, it's quiet, it's loud.  

But eventually they got their groove and I have to thank Aidan for that.  Yes, they were still up and down the stairs but imagination took over and they were no longer running aimlessly but creating a world that included each of them.  I think this takes a special talent and for them to all be able to do it together, a true bond.  They were all dressed as super heroes and not all from the same genre - we had Yoshi (from Super Mario), Iron Man/Hulk, Captain America, a King and Indiana Jones... and that was before the last 2 kids arrived.  They created portals that they had to run to and watching them play was something to say the least.  And I loved every moment...

Adventure time!

Two of our heroes :)

The last two kids arrived and the kids continued to play great.  We made pizzas together - though only 3 really participated in that but seriously, as long as they were having fun, I don't care if I had to make the pizzas myself.  

We opened presents and Liam was thrilled with all of them.  He still doesn't quite have a filter though and claimed which was his favorite which made me cringe just a little bit.  We apparently need to work on some party / gift receiving etiquette.  But it's all good.  

Liam opening presents

After opening presents

Dinner was loud but expectedly so.  The kids enjoyed their pizza and then we did cupcakes and ice cream.  They were more interested in playing which was totally fine with us.  It wasn't til around 8:30 that we settled down to start our movie - Return of the Jedi, a unanimous vote by all of the kids.

Eating pizza, watermelon and chicken nuggets... an odd mix, I know...

Liam about to blow out his candles

Licking the bottom of the candle

My "hope" had been that the kids would fall asleep during the movie.  But alas, that was a pipe dream. They talked through the entire movie.  The good news, they know EVERYTHING there is to know about Star Wars - I have to admit, I was impressed with their knowledge, especially given their young age.  These padawan have been trained well ;)

Getting ready to watch the movie

Aidan's asking me why these kids won't stop talking so he can watch the movie??

By 11 they were finally asleep.  Aidan bunked in with me for the night and Josh slept in the living room with the boys (a volunteer action since he knew he was going to be gone the entire day on Sunday entertaining work people).  I was again "hoping" for an 8AM wake up call but yeah, no luck.  Before 6:30 all of the kids had been up at some point to pee and then Jake woke up and decided that he couldn't make it outside and pooped in our room and all the way down the stairs.  Fun way to wake up.  

So according to my camera I took this picture at 6:24AM.  So not only was I awake enough to take the picture at this point but as you can see they are enthralled by the tv already....

But the kids were amazing.  Josh and I kept saying that yeah, they were all loud and full of energy (but what 5/6 isn't?), but they are a fantastic group of kids.  They just played so well together.  We made breakfast (something different for everyone of course) and they played til the parents started to come around 11.  The boys and I spent the day doing...nothing.  Just too pooped.  Josh had to go out to entertain some people for work so it was just the three of us.  

So one party down this month and one to go... let the festivities continue!

Besos,

Julie