Buenos Aires to San Francisco

After my trips to Iguazu Falls and Patagonia I settled back into my apartment in Recoleta and hung out around town. I had friends come over for dinner or we went out for dinner if we could stay awake late enough to eat at typical Argentina dinner time of 11pm or later. I went to some Tango restaurant/clubs. They are pretty popular with the locals and the tourists. They always had lessons early in the evening for those who wanted to learn to tango. I was too mobility impaired to get into the physical demands of serious tango dancing so I just watched. I like the tango music and the drama on the faces of the dancers. Some of them were really talented and got a serious workout while they were dancing. Lots of hours of practice showed and some of these dancers danced every day for hours on end.

I was having some fun. There was only one problem, my health. I got some dental work done that took me a few visits. The quality was good and the price was cheap for the dental work. The dental work slowed me down for a day or two here and there. It was not my biggest problem though as the dental work would pass and be over with. I was having pain issues though, especially early in the morning and at night when I tried to sleep. I was getting worse by the day and it was becoming intolerable. I was less and less able to walk around town to do my daily rounds. I needed to take taxis more often to get here and there. Then I just lost my mobility completely one morning. I had nobody to take care of me so I struggled along on my own. Sometimes it sure pays to have some family around and I had none here. My friends were casual fair weather friends and I did not want to ask them for help. I took my morphine and rested. It is very important not to just wallow in the pain. I had to get up and try to walk even if it was difficult or I would never be able to dig my way out of this downward spiral of pain and depression. The depression follows the pain without fail. For a few weeks I tried to manage but finally I just gave up and decided to go back home to the states. I talked to my land lady and she agreed to let me out of my lease without a penalty because I was feeling so bad. I actually found somebody t take over my apartment so she was out nothing. I booked a flight back to San Francisco and spent the next few days trying to get my stuff packed for the trip. I hired a taxi driver to come up to my apartment and carry my things all the way to the airline check in counter. He was very nice and I paid him well for his effort.

I made it to the front of the line and started to check in. The woman on the other side of the counter looked at me for a minute then she walked away for a minute and came back to tell me that I wasn't going to be allowed to fly because I looked to unhealthy for the long flight back to San Francisco. I tried to argue with her but it was to no avail and she called security. I talked to them but without a doctors release I was not going to be allowed to fly. I asked them to help me get out to the taxi stand which they did and I called my taxi driver friend again. He quickly came and got me. I had him take me to the hospital where I thought I would be able to get a quick doctor's release and maybe still get on my flight that day.

The hospital was very good to me. They got me in to see a doctor right away. I explained my situation to him and he examined me. I thought he would give me my release but instead he refused to write me one. I tried to argue but he was adamant in not giving me one. He sent me for imaging and set up a multi-specialty group of doctors to come and look at the images and to check me out together. They were very nice and very thorough in their exam. Their conclusion was not what I wanted to hear. They wanted to do surgery on me. I argued against the surgery and they relented but told me I had to take a bunch of anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxers until I was in less pain before they would let me fly. I had no choice but to comply. For three weeks I was at the hospital every day and I was in a hotel across the street at night. I slowly improved enough so that I did not look as obviously in pain as I did at the airport and the doctor wrote my release to fly. The bill for the hospital was under $300 and the hotel which was associated with the hospital was about $200.

I rebooked my flight and went to check in. This time they were telling me that my ticket had expired and I had to buy a new one. I argued with them again but got nowhere. I took a taxi down to the airline's main office in downtown and demanded that they let me fly on my original ticket because it was them that forced me to delay the flight. They agreed but then tried to charge me change fees of several hundred dollars. I got really pissed off and was making a big scene for all the other passengers trying to do business in the office until they relented and allowed me to fly with no fees or anything. I went back to the airport and was finally able to check in. The woman checking me in seemed to be doing it against her better judgment but she had no choice.

The flight was long but I survived it. I got bumped up to the front of the cabin at the last minute. The extra leg room was a real lifesaver for me. I caused no problems on the flight and made it back to San Francisco where I had a friend pick me up. My experiment of living in Argentina was over for good. I had fun but it is not where I would want to retire for the rest of my life. It is too far away from my family and except for a short trout fishing season the fishing was not good enough for my taste. I needed to look closer to San Francisco for a place to retire where I would have access to my family and long time friends. I slowly improved healthwise while hanging around my family and friends in the Eastbay of San Francisco.