Puerto Vallarta: A State of Mind

April 17, 2024

April Update

It's been awhile since I've posted. Justin's situation is hard to write about, but I know there are people who want to know what's going on with Justin, my son. In truth, he is getting sicker and weaker. For awhile,he made great progress, talking, eating, and getting back into his power wheelchair. Then he started getting weaker. His left lung became covered with secretions, and he needed surgery to scrape things out. Then a CT scan revealed more new spine fractures (total of 7). After that, he just hasn't been able to get over the hump. This week, Justin decided to discontinue the weaning from the ventilator. He is on full breath support and can no longer use the voice valve to talk without dangerous oxygen drops. Pain medication has been significantly increased to help him deal with the pain. It's a tough thing for a 23-year-old to confront one's mortality. We will continue this journey with Justin to the end to the best of our abilities. We

From November 2021

I'm an early riser, so I was up before dawn on our first morning and sat out on the dark balcony watching the city start to wake up. Puerto Vallarta is smaller than Madison, Wisconsin, but has the feeling of a much bigger city.

Tourism is the biggest industry, and Americans/Canadians outnumbered Mexicans on many of the streets close to the beach. English is widely spoken. I rarely needed to use my Duolingo Spanish, although it was helpful at times. Our condo was in the Zona Romantica, a/k/a Viejovallarta (Old Town). This neighborhood is known for tourism and open arms for the LGBT community. There's something here for everyone: restaurants, art galleries, beach sports, and shopping.

Puerto Vallarta has a Malecon (paved walkway) along the beach that is about a mile long. There's always something going on there: live music, street performers, paragliding, food/drink carts, etc.