Surgery not impending, but necessary...

The specialist I saw on Friday informed Mimi and I (and mom via Mimi's phone during the appointment) that though I do need surgery soon, I can wait till I get back to the States in June/July. He did some tests to check my facial nerve and as it is no affecting it now, he thinks I should be okay to wait. Now, he also said I couldn't wait up to a year as it has been growing for 6-7 plus years already. He wants me to take another ear test to test if and how much my inner ear is affected (he doesn't think it has spread that far based on the scans and tests he did during the appointment), but he does want to be sure. So, at this point it's finding a specialist in the States, and in network, familiar and skilled with this type of surgery. Mom and dad are compiling a list of specialists in network that we can give to the specialist here, in hopes that he can direct us to a reliable physician. I know I owe more explanations and I do have more 'fun' things to relay from the past few weeks, but I'm tired and going to go to be now, so maybe tomorrow ;)

Upcoming decisions - a blessing in disguise?

As some of you have heard, from myself and my parents, I had an ear doctor's appointment this past Friday to go over my scans. Diagnosis: cholesteatoma (which we knew) and immediate surgery. As in, if you can't get the surgery in France within the next few weeks, you have to go home now - you can't wait till the mid/end of June. Not what we were expecting.
Now, everything was in French, so I may have missed things or understood things incorrectly, but my understanding is that the urgency is due to the growth being so near my facial nerves. The cholesteatoma is also right behind my ear drum, causing my loss of hearing. So, I have an appointment this Friday with a specialist and will find out more details (better estimation of cost, treatment options, pre and post care, etc). Right now the base price of the operation would be around 2,000 euros and the hospital stay 1,000 euros per day (up to three days). Specific costs will depend on what all will be necessary to remove the growth and hospital accommodations. I had purchased travel insurance for my year in France, and it should cover everything, but there is always the chance of it being denied when I actually send in the claim. (Oh, by the way, if I were a French citizen, I wouldn't have to spend a dime...)

I think we have decided to have the surgery in France because I have no network set up in the States so I probably wouldn't be able to get a surgery for awhile if I came back. Also, there are many very skilled specialists for this type of surgery in all the major cities in France. Furthermore, the ear doctor I have gone to here is personal friends with one of these top level specialists and he is sending me to this person (and calling him personally to ask him to 'take me under his wing').

With all of these unexpected developments, my trip plans with Michelle have been put on hold - hopefully just until I know when I'll have to have check-ups and if it's okay for me to travel (I know I can't travel by plane for 6-8 weeks, but there are buses and trains - they just take more time). I want to try to do everything (or at least most things) that we were talking of doing (as does Michelle, I'm sure), but I do have to say I've got some pretty amazing friends - when I talked to her about all of this, her reply was, "Don't worry about it. If we can only travel around France, that's fine. And if you can't get the surgery till after I get there and I just take care of you the whole time, that's fine too." Again, I hope neither of these are the case, but you never know.

Mom and dad are trying to figure out if mom can come over (or if that money goes to the surgery in case insurance doesn't end up covering it). It would be nice to have her, but at least I've got Mimi here. Much better than not having any family at all... and she's such a wonderful aunt :)

Well, I've got to head out here in a few minutes. I'll try to keep you all updated on the developments as I get more details.

A week to myself

And, in the same day segment 3

Weekend of March 28^th and onward…

Once I got to Jill and Patrick’s I just crashed and didn’t do much all weekend: watched the kids, watched TV, read, played with the kids, read to the kids, etc. I ended up staying till Tuesday because there was nothing for me to do at Blanc-Mesnil just then. Actually, Tim told me I could have the whole week off J

So, I left the McDaniel’s a little after 4 on Tuesday and had lots of fun trying to get home. The bus to Les Baconnets went smoothly, but then the trains were stopping and making everyone get off. After I had been waiting about 20 minutes, I saw an announcement saying that the next train to take passengers would arrive in 20 minutes – so I thought “meh, not too bad.” Those 20 minutes came and went. So I called home, figuring if I was stuck not being able to do anything, at least I could talk to someone. Dad answered and he got on the RATP website to see if he could figure out what the issue was. During the phone call, I overheard a conversation other people were having with a security person at the RER and he said they didn’t know when the trains would start taking people. Dad found an announcement on the website saying that the next train would be at 6 (it was just after 5), but that wasn’t definite. He also saw that it was just between Les Baconnets and Antony (which is two stops farther) that the trains were not taking passengers. After talking through some of my options, (I was lugging around a pretty heavy duffle bag, so I didn’t want to have to do too much roundaboutness) I decided to go back two stops to Massy-Palaiseau and take the C line to Notre Dame and switch back to the B line there. That was fun… It worked, but I wasn’t the only one who decided to do that, and it was now rush hour, so talked about a packed train. Absolutely no breathing room. But it worked and I finally got back to Blanc-Mesnil at 7:30 (normally an 1.5 hour trip – over 3 hours that day).

And, what did I find when I got back to Blanc-Mesnil? My couch was gone and the door to the office kitchen area (where the only fridge is) was locked. I was not happy. After going grocery shopping (and being careful not to purchase anything that needed to stay chilled – the window sill no longer works as it has warmed up quite a bit) I called home and mom talked me into contacting Tim. So I sent an email and got a reply call the next morning. The couch belonged to Paul’s daughter and she needed it back at the end of March – which Mimi had told me way back in the fall, but I had completely forgotten about that – and there had been no reminder. Paul also stopped by that day and unlocked the door to the office area. He had understood from Tim that I wouldn’t be here that week because I had it off, so it makes sense that he locked it. It was just too many unpleasant surprises in one day.

I was planning to go into Paris that day, and did, but left a bit later than planned because I helped Paul with a couple of things before going in. But, I got in (and forgot my camera!!!) and had a pleasant afternoon in the Latin Quarter. Bought a ring, some gifts, an Eiffel Tower (because you can’t come to Paris and not get one, right? – granted, I had to justify it by deciding to use it for displaying my rings – becoming less and less fond of too many knick-knacks on shelves. Don’t get me wrong, I love knick-knacks. It’s just, after you have so many, they aren’t so pretty anymore), got bubble tea… and all in all had a pretty great day. One thing that was interesting was I was asked several times if I was Parisian, or French (and once if I was Russian). I always answered truthfully, but had all my conversations in French, so that was fun J

Mimi came to spend the night that night (this is still Wednesday) because she had two workdays in the area and it saved her lots of driving time – and it was fun to host her for once J Thankfully, I still had the air mattress from when mom was here, so Mimi used that, and she said I could leave it up to use as a ‘couch’ – which I have done.

Thursday afternoon, I went back into Paris (remembered my camera this time) and went to Saint Chapelle, walked up and down the Seine, got bubble tea again, and did some shopping. I didn’t buy anything (didn’t really see anything that interested me, but that could be because I was tired…) and came back to Blanc-Mesnil.

Saint Chapelle

Building to the left is St Chapelle

Walk along the Seine - Yes, Notre Dame again... But with greenery and flowers this time :)

Eglise St. Jacques (the tower)

On Friday and Saturday, I had intended to go into the Louvre (first just Friday, but then didn’t feel like getting out, so decided I could do it on Saturday – and did the same thing). I got up in plenty of time both days to be able to spend a significant portion of my day inside. I just didn’t have the motivation. Friday I was fine with having stayed in all day, but Saturday I started getting a bit depressed. One problem is that I have no natural light in my room because I cannot open the shutter thing (you have to crank it to raise and lower it and the crank is broken). I was also feeling pressure that I should have gone into Paris because, well you’re in Paris, so other people would expect me to go in. It also didn’t help that I was completely unproductive either of those days – I think I would have felt a bit better if I had at least gotten my blog updated… but no, didn’t happen. Thankfully, I had already planned to go to Mimi’s that evening and spent the night there. We went to church the next morning and then to market (where I bought a purse and one pair of flats – I would have bought more but they didn’t have the styles I liked in my size). It’s not the purse I’ve been looking for, but I needed a better cross-body bag for walking around Paris and the cities Michelle and I will be going to in May/June. And I really like this bag, so I’ll use it.

My ring, bag, flats and Eiffel Tower

Sunday afternoon, Michelle and I talked about some of our plans and tentatively set specific dates for our travels. Now, I’m looking up busses, flights, and trains and getting ready to book hotels and tours J. There is so much to figure out (and it does make it more complicated when you are trying to not spend too much money) but it’s starting to come together.

Yesterday and today I spent in Blanc-Mesnil, but I’m doing much better. I’ve taken to sitting in the kitchen area, where I can open the shutter and the window, and even go outside when it’s nice. Mimi is lending me her lawn chair and that’s a bit more comfortable than the other seating. All in all, it’s been a good two days. I think I’ll go into Paris tomorrow and take the sewer tour and, who knows, do some other things. After that, not sure what I’ll doing. I have the week off again, but next week will be working on getting a mailing out and the week after that will be in Toulon (southern France) to help with a day camp. Then I’ll have 3 weeks before Michelle gets here to fill… Maybe I’ll try to plan some day trips to other areas of France…

In the French Classroom

As promised, segment two of my updates...

Saturday, March 22^nd

Getting really nervous and uptight about going to the Graber’s – both because I don’t really know what to expect teaching wise and I don’t know how the youngest will react to me again. Anyways, trying to relax as much as possible – we watched Frozen today – Jill and Patrick got it on their Amazon Prime account. I was as impressed as I had expected to be from what I had heard about it. It was so refreshing to see a princess movie that was about more than just romance. I think one of the most poignant aspects (for me) was how fear can become a hindrance in so many ways – shutting people out, even though it is because you want to protect them; suppressing your emotions (again, out of fear) rather than acknowledging them and learning to let them go usually causes them to explode in many harmful ways; Love is so much more powerful if you trust it (and, again, it doesn’t have to be romantic love); differences in life experience and reality affects how someone goes about trying to do the ‘right’ thing (so much more realistic than the typical Good .vs Evil storyline); and so many more things. If you haven’t seen the movie, I really would recommend it. It just feels much more wholesome than many movies I have seen in this genre (now, don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the older princess movies – it’s just refreshing to see a positive change).

Sunday, March 23^rd

At Clémence’s. Ok, whooo, relax. Everything will go well. After this week you will be done and will probably never see these people (other than the Graber’s) again, so if you screw up royally, it doesn’t matter. Yeah, that doesn’t help. Clémence will be taking the youngest to her day care person every morning, so at least I don’t have to worry about that – just getting the other two to school on time. We looked over what I had prepared so far and I printed out some things. Feeling a little bit prepared.

Monday, March 24^th

Okay, so today went well. I got up at 6:30 and ate breakfast, helped get the kids ready and took the oldest two to school after Clémence had left. After, I took a shower and practiced the lessons, worked a bit on the next few, got ready to leave…and my stress level rose and rose. Having to drive didn’t help at all. I ate lunch at 11:15 and left by 11:45 and got to the school by 12:30 (it’s only supposed to take 15 minutes). I had a GPS, but some of the roundabouts were confusing, so I had a few moments when I took the wrong road – but just drove till I got to another roundabout and turned around.

The classes went really well (5^th grade: placement prepositions and 1^st grade: days of the week, months and weather). I was supposed to have two today, but when the second teacher found out that I didn’t have anything to do for the last period, she asked if I would be willing to work with the younger kids in her class (she had two classes in the same room – equivalent to kindergarten and 1^st I think). So, I did. We worked on colors, the alphabet, numbers, and greetings. Afterwards, I followed Clémence home and then we got the girls (the oldest walk home on his own now). After dinner, we played junior monopoly and then I worked n my lesson plans again. Not so stressed about the classes anymore, but so don’t want to drive stick again L. It’s getting better, but I feel so inadequate.

Tuesday, March 25^th

What a morning. Woke up with an unsettled stomach that continued off and on throughout the day, but I think it’s just nerves. I really just want to go home – as in to mom and dad… driving this morning was an experience. I didn’t get the GPS on correctly. First, it wasn’t calculating from their house, which I realized after I had started, so I pulled over (was still in their neighborhood) and thought I got it going correctly. So, I continued on, but took the wrong exit off of the auto route and realized that the GPS was on Demo, so it was of no help. I was on another auto route (going into Paris) and was freaking out because I couldn’t drive and figure out the GPS (it’s all in French, by the way) at the same time and I had no idea where I was going or how I could turn around. So, I was lost, stalled 5 or 6 times trying to get into a roundabout (because it was on an incline - eek) and had lots of cars waiting behind me. One of the cars pulled up beside me and the two men inside asked if I was ok. I told them that I just wasn’t used to driving stick and after they made sure that I wasn’t broken down, they kept going. I finally got the car going and found a parking lot to stop in while I figured out the GPS. Once that was figured out, it went much better. I went much better. I did go a different way, so I had more back roads, turning left, stopping and starting on inclines (didn’t stall again – yippee) and then made it to the school. Classes went well again (2^nd and 4^th grade: school material and customs for both) and I followed Clémence home afterwards.

Wednesday, March 26^th

Well, perhaps my upset stomach was not due to nerves (or just to nerves). I woke up feeling worse today and the vertigo is back. Thankfully, there is no school on Wednesdays, so I spent most of the day in bed, then ate dinner with the family and finished preparing my lessons for tomorrow (four classes this time).

Thursday, March 27^th

Felt a bit better this morning. Apparently I forgot to set my alarm (eek!) but woke up and had the sense to check the time – it was 6:45. Dogged a bullet there. I’m getting pretty tired and can’t wait to sleep in, but other than that things went well today. I think the teachers like what I’m doing, at least they are giving good feedback. Today I had 4 classes: 3^rd grade – house and rooms of the house; 3^rd grade – days, months, and weather; 1^st grade – read aloud in English to them; and 2^nd grade – school materials and culture.

Friday, March 28^th

Last day!!! And I don’t have to drive. Since I’m leaving by RER after school, Clémence came back to pick me up at noon and then dropped me off at the station afterwards. It was a good day again. I just had two classes 5^th grade – greetings, alphabet and spelling and 2^nd grade – reading aloud again. I played hangman with the 5^th grade to work on the spelling and I think it went pretty well. I used the phrases that we had practiced earlier in the class, so they had some reference, and made them spell out everything even when they guessed the phrase correctly. At the end of the class I left a few minute for questions (I did that both Thursday and Friday) and had so many different questions. Because I live in the US and Hollywood is in the US many kids wanted to know if I knew any stars. Ha, nope – because Hollywood is on the complete other side of the country. 

Mom, Alicante, El Campello and Paris

Well, it’s been quite a while – sorry folks. I have lots to catch you up on, but rather than creating an exorbitantly long post I will break it down into week long segments. This will also take the pressure off of having to sit down and do it all at once (which has been a bit of a hindrance in my motivation of getting it up). So, let’s put this in chronological order, starting with mom coming…

Wednesday, March 12^th

Didn’t sleep well last night – not sure if it was stress about getting things in order before mom comes or excitement about mom coming. Probably a bit of both. So before Mimi came to get me on her way to the airport I bought some cheese, a baguette, croissants, and pain au chocolat to welcome her J. After a short time at Mimi’s (at which time mom gave me Emma!!!!! – the BBC version from 2009 – by far my favorite movie adaptation), we went for my second MRI scan and stopped at the McDaniel’s so mom could meet them. I was quite happy that worked out J. This evening we prepared everything for our trip to Spain tomorrow, ate supper, called home and are now going to bed.

Thursday, March 13^th

Leaving for Spain today! Mom isn’t feeling well this morning – I hope she feels better by the time we leave…

Well, we arrived in Spain and mom is feeling much better. I, on the other hand, had an interesting descent. I have a bit of a cold and have been congested on my left side (opposite side to the ear I’m having issues with), which resulted in intense pain in that ear. Admittedly, I swore under my breath at one point because I thought my eardrum had burst. I tried relieving the pressure so many different ways, but nothing seemed to work. Talk about having a tender ear… the pain is gone, but don’t want to do anything too close to my ear.

Once we got off the plane and made our way to the taxis we discovered that they were on strike – starting that day. So, we figured out the public transportation system and took two busses to El Campello from Alicante. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but it was a pleasant drive by the boardwalk, so we were able to see the ocean. After getting to our apartment, we went for a walk on the boardwalk, bought some groceries, ate a light supper and are getting ready for bed. At 9 o’clock. Yeah, I know, early but… oh well.

Some pictures of the coast and boardwalk from our first evening

The apartment

On the balcony

Friday, March 14^th

Having a leisurely morning – so nice. Mom and I had talked for a bit before actually falling asleep last night (we’re sharing a room) and it was pleasant to talk in person – not over the phone.

Mom and I walked through the town a bit while Mimi spent some time with a friend. We took pictures, looked at the architecture, walked along the coast a bit. Just meandering around, taking our time and enjoying the view. We met up with Mimi and went out for lunch and then did a bit of shopping (below is a picture of Annalea’s gift – wrapped of course – on the balcony of our apartment. If you want to know what she got, you’ll have to ask her). We then decided to take the Tram into Alicante for the evening and walked down a street with an outdoor market-type thing – just clothing, shoes, etc. no food products. I bought a lightweight windbreaker (red), which I just happened to come across after say (earlier today) that I should probably get something like that… Nice timing, eh. We walked down to the boardwalk and tried to take some pictures of the moon – mostly unsuccessfully- before coming back to the apartment. Again, we just grazed for dinner.

Pictures of our walk, the coast, and part of lunch

Tram

Open and closed pine cones - haven't seen ones like these in real life before

It's as tall as me!!!

Pictures from our evening in Alicante

Yup - those are two metal rods holding up that branch

And that's mom standing next to the tree - understandable why it needs those rods...

My new red jacket!!

Annalea's gift and a gorgeous sunrise

Saturday, March 15^th

It was our last day here L. Even though it’s a short period of time, I think it actually is a decent amount of time – if it were warmer, having a beach day would be nice, but it would also be very crowded, so… meh.

Mom and I went into Alicante this morning while Mimi did some work on the balcony. There is this very old castle – Castillo de Santa Barbara (the original parts date back to the 9^th century) that mom really wanted to visit (me too) as well as walking along the boardwalk where the tile gives a wave effect. The castle had some spectacular views and it was interesting to see the different sections of the castle – the difference in architecture depending on the time period and into whose hands it fell.

The boardwalk and castle

View from our balcony

The steps leading up to our building

See the wave effect? Pretty fun, isn't it :)

Period ship

The following are all from the castle - different sections and views

Layout of the castle

On returning to the apartment, all three of us went out for lunch (at nearly 4 o’clock) and did some more window shopping. Mom and I went for a walk before coming back, cleaning up a bit, starting to pack, and generally get things in order to leave tomorrow morning.

Yes, that is the moon...

Sunday, March 16^th

We had to get up early this morning to finish cleaning and get everything in order. Mimi and I took a last walk along the boardwalk and we took a taxi at about quarter to nine to the airport. It was a much better trip (ear wise) for me. As soon as we got out of the airport, we headed to market before it closed and had lunch at Mimi’s before she brought us back here to Blanc-Mesnil. Mom and I are getting ready to watch an episode of Emma before turning in for the night. Tomorrow – Paris!

Monday, March 17^th

Mom and I went into Paris today. First, we had a relaxed morning – got some groceries, went to the boulangerie, took showers…

Once we got in, we went to the Notre Dame first and had a pleasant surprise – we got a private tour with a volunteer. It was very interesting (though a bit difficult to reiterate). The woman who gave us the tour is very well informed and really does it to help people understand what they are seeing (it is a program provided) and it was free. We could give money if we wanted, but it wasn’t asked for or even expected. Afterwards, we walked around the Latin Quarter, ate some food and then walked up to the Opera House. On the way we found a tourist information place so I was able to get some better maps and other information for things I can do with Michelle when she comes.

It was a bit chilly by that point, so we ducked into the Galleries Lafayette to warm up and did some window shopping – I can’t imagine buying anything so expensive as the prices in that place. We were getting tired, so we came back to Blanc-Mesnil and now we’re getting to watch episode two of Emma. Oh, and I just saw an email that I’m going to be teaching next week. So, I know the classes, number of students and the subjects I need to cover – and I have less than a week to come up with lesson plans. Fun...

Paris!

Notre Dame

Tuesday, March 18^th

Today was mom’s last full day with me at Blanc-Mesnil. We had a pretty full day – but it was fun too. We left for Paris a bit earlier and got on a Hop-on Hop-off tour bus. I know, touristy, but it was totally worth it. The bus is a double-decker bus, and you get a really different view of Paris from the top. Once you have a ticket for this bus, you can get on and off as often as you want during the course of the day. There are nine stops and the busses run every 10 to 15 minutes. Headphones were provided to listen to the recorded commentary (in your language of choice – well, out of 8 languages). After seeing Paris that way, we took the metro up to Montmartre and walked around – looking for gifts, watching the artists, ate some lunch. It was nice. When we got back to Notre Dame, we walked through the flower market and then along the Seine, where I found the Chronicles of Narnia (all 7 in one book) in French for 10 Euros! hehe. I had been thinking about getting that, but was going to wait till I got back to the States, as it’s so big. But for 10 Euros, it was worth it.  

As we walked along the Quai, we called Grandma and Grandpa Witmer to say we almost gave them a wake-up call at 6am their time to say the little rabbits were under the Eiffel Tower waiting for their ice cream…It only took a few seconds for them to realize what we were referencing. Which, for those of you who don’t know, about 8 years ago all of the families (the kids, spouses, and grandkids) went to France together and grandpa got us all ice cream under the Eiffel Tower. When the vender found out we were all one family (I don’t think he realized it was 3 generations, though) he said “Oh, you don’t see families like this anymore. It’s like rabbits.”

Back at Blanc-Mesnil again and settling in for the night – finishing the last two episodes of Emma J

Bus Route

Opera House

In front of the Sacre Coeur

Wednesday, March 19^th

Mom and I packed this morning, did some shopping here in Blanc-Mesnil (I got another jacket – trench style in navy blue) and got some special treats at the patisserie to share with Mimi and Edgard at dinner tonight. Last night I had read one chapter of Narnia aloud before mom and I went to bed, and while we were waiting for Mimi to come pick us up, mom and I took turns reading a chapter at a time aloud. I loved it – haven’t done that with mom in a while. It was also really good for practicing my pronunciation – mom would correct me and I would follow along as mom read.

After Mimi got us, we went for a walk, got our stuff settled in, and prepared supper. Once Edgard got home, we ate and then mom and I called home – turning in now.

Thursday, March 20^th

Mom left today L She had to be at the airport by 10:30. After we took her in and said goodbye Mimi took me to the McDaniel’s. I surprised the kids when they woke up from their naps J And it helped distract me from mom leaving. I’ll spend the weekend here and go to Tim and Clemence’s on Sunday so I can teach this week. Need to get working on those lesson plans… really don’t know what I’m going to do. Oh, well. It will come together, I hope.

I’ll talk about teaching in the next segment (which will hopefully get put up sometime in the next couple of days).