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Away We Go We Go follows the journey of Sophie & Jordan Epton, an American couple who moved to France with their 10-month old twins, and the crazy adventure that follows. We dive deep into what it's really like moving and living abroad as expats, interview others who have taken the road less traveled, provide travel tips, discuss how you can do hard things to change your own life, and everything in between.
A year and a half ago, we risked it all and moved to France. We'll be sharing about our life abroad, how people could do hard things to transform their own lives, and everything in between. This is Sophie and Jordan Epton. Welcome to the Away We Go We Go podcast.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to another episode of the Away We Go We Go podcast. Very special episode. A very special episode.
Speaker 3:For many reasons, we have a very special guest.
Speaker 2:Well, so as we speak, Jordan and I are in two separate places. He is at the hospital
Speaker 3:In Marseille.
Speaker 2:With our son, Luca, in Marseille, and I am at home with our daughter, London. And we were going to have a date night by recording this podcast, but someone decided to wake up as we have
Speaker 4:a Yep.
Speaker 2:Very special Third wheel. Third wheel. Exactly. He's... Yeah.
Speaker 2:He's definitely third wheeling this stage tonight. Third wheel
Speaker 3:tonight, bro. Yeah. Let's let's set the stage. It is 11:30 at night.
Speaker 2:Well, because of course it is. This is like when we record.
Speaker 3:Yep. And, for whatever degree we're not sharing video, I am being assaulted by a three year old in a hospital room who It's pulling
Speaker 2:on your hair.
Speaker 3:Who who, within the last three days? What day was his surgery?
Speaker 2:His surgery was... My gosh. It's all a blur. Thursday. No.
Speaker 2:It was Wednesday. It was Wednesday. We'll we'll we'll get into all of that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Basically, in the last four days, this boy has basically been been put under, had an open chest surgery, put on a full bypass, and had a couple parts repaired inside of his chest. In the last five days, this special third wheel guest of ours has endured endured endured quite the slurry of attack on his body, and he has come out the other side.
Speaker 2:He is a champion.
Speaker 3:Like an absolute champion. Okay. So that's So
Speaker 2:hopefully hopefully, this won't be too much for everyone, but we're doing the best we can. We really appreciate everyone. Like, last week, we could not record. We tried to record when we were in California, and for some reason, our platform that we use, Riverside, was down, and we had, like, one night to get everything done with the craziness of our work there. So, anyways, thank you for letting us take a pause and be human.
Speaker 2:We are back. We are clearly making this work at any length possible
Speaker 4:to do with everything.
Speaker 2:On a Sunday night
Speaker 4:Making it work.
Speaker 2:At 11:30 at night. We're making it work.
Speaker 4:That's right.
Speaker 2:But we kind of just wanted to talk about... For those of you that follow our Instagram, we have had probably, I would say, one of the craziest weeks of our entire life... Our lives, I should say. It all... We'll kind of just go through everything and update y'all because even if you do follow us on Instagram, we just wanted to give you even more of an update about what's going on with Luca and what's been happening, and also just talk a little bit more about what our experience has been, like, truly now that we've gone through, like, a full blown major surgery at a hospital in France.
Speaker 2:I just feel like that's, like, really good information for people. So let's let's start from the beginning.
Speaker 3:Is that a cue for me?
Speaker 2:It's Good. Because I don't think you have any brain cells left, but you're here anyway. I know. I know. It's been a long one.
Speaker 2:So...
Speaker 3:Is tonight different than any other day?
Speaker 2:Always different. So we went... So almost two weeks ago, we left for California. Jordan and I are gonna record a podcast all about this because we feel like it's really good to talk about just our experience of, like, when we go back to The US and, you know, what that's really like for us now that we've been in France for almost two years. But that will be, I believe, next week or maybe the following week's episode.
Speaker 2:But we really just wanted to talk about what the last week has been. So we worked like crazy in California. We go to get on our plane. And, you know, it's a long flight from LA back to London, which is generally how, you know, we kind of fly through London to get everywhere, like, major. That's just hot tip from me to you.
Speaker 2:Get a British Airways card. Use those points, and you can go anywhere. So we are on... You know, we're, in some, like, decent seats in premium economy. It's been a long flight.
Speaker 2:Like, I'm ready to get off of it. And the flight's been, like, pretty smooth, I would say. And we start to descend into London, and I start to notice that it's, like, pretty windy and that the plane is kind of, you know, just it's not... It's... We're not having a super smooth landing.
Speaker 2:Like, this is just not happening.
Speaker 3:These are the moments that I typically start to acquire some fingernails in my... The flesh on the top of my hand on most flights.
Speaker 2:I should probably I should probably back this up by saying that it is a wonder that I have traveled so much in my life and traveled so much for work because I am absolutely, like, a terrified flyer. Like, Jordan, if it wasn't for me, he would get on a flight. He would put his hat down over his fucking eyes and pass out for the entirety of the flight, no problems asked. Or maybe he'd ask the flight attendant... Excuse me.
Speaker 2:Maybe he'd ask the flight attendant to, like, you know, wake him up for the food and go right
Speaker 3:back to definitely do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So so let's just preface this with the fact that, like, your girl is not a great flyer. I've gotten I've gotten better over the sixteen years you've known started
Speaker 3:out pretty great, and then you had some experiences.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It only takes a couple bad flights to
Speaker 3:You've gotten much better since then. But Yeah. I I I've had a... Out of the vast amount of flights that I've been on, I've only had a couple where I'm like, alright. I'm having a hard time resting right now, but for the most part, yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm passed out before we pull out of the gate most of the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, unfortunately, Jordan has to deal with a different set of circumstances since he's been married to me, and when he travels, because I can be a ball of anxiety. Like, once honestly, like, once I'm once I'm somewhere that I travel to, I'm super chill. Like, I'm... I actually become, like, pretty type b for my personality, but, like, travel days, kind of a nightmare.
Speaker 2:Anyways, so getting back to landing in London. So we're starting to descend. I'm feeling like things are a little funky. Like, it just... You know, it's like you just feel like you're getting whipped around a little bit like the plane can't quite find, like, that smooth landing.
Speaker 2:So I'm like, okay. It's fine. Whatever. Like, we're about to land anyway. Like, who cares?
Speaker 2:Because I've had I've had all kinds of... We... I mean, we've had crazy, like, landings where we've, like, landed in fog and landed in turbulence, whatever. Yes. I'm telling this my way.
Speaker 2:I love that you're laughing. You're laughing on the other side.
Speaker 3:I'm like, I love hearing your
Speaker 4:version of
Speaker 2:this. Well, be aware that I was the one looking out the window when this happened. You had no idea.
Speaker 3:I still have no idea. I'm still just sitting over here brain dead.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So so I see the wheels touch down thinking, great. Like, we're we're getting there. We're done. As soon as those wheels hit the tarmac, we, all of a sudden, I hear the engine rev, and we go right back up.
Speaker 2:I have heard of this happening to people. I have never experienced this. It was awful. Like, because you're thinking, okay. Like, clearly, something happened where, like, we weren't supposed to land.
Speaker 2:Either there was something in our way or the wind or whatever it was, but, like, a, it feels very strange to, like, immediately take off again. And you're thinking, can we even, like, get up as fast as we need to? Because, you know, you think about, like, the plane having a runway to, like, get up to the speed it needs to go, and we're already slowing down. Anyways, it just... It was...
Speaker 2:Was like, what fuck?
Speaker 3:While this is all happening, these are all the things that Sophie's thinking about. All I'm thinking about is, oh, fuck. She is gonna be so fucking anxious and crazy about this right now, and I'm literally... She's plotting how we're gonna land safely, and I'm plotting how I'm going to navigate Because I know until we land, and then for a good time after, I'm
Speaker 2:gonna
Speaker 3:have to talk her off the ledge about this. I'm like, oh, fuck. I don't Well, so Nobody needs this right now.
Speaker 2:So the whole so the whole point is I'm like, some... Something ain't right here. Like, this is not great, and I'm starting to freak out. Like like, the heart is starting to beat very fast, and I'm just thinking, like, okay. We're gonna be okay.
Speaker 2:It's gonna be okay. Like, we'll figure this out. I'm sure they just need to make another landing because the pilot didn't, like, get on for a while to, like, tell us what was going on. So then... So you're combining, right now, my fear of flying.
Speaker 2:Then we made it a double whammy. K? Because I'm someone who has, like Yeah. Throw up. I had the TU phobias.
Speaker 2:Okay? So all of a sudden, we hear someone. At first, it kind of sounded like coughing, but I was like, is it? Jordan's like, oh, it's just someone coughing. No.
Speaker 2:No. No. No.
Speaker 3:I'm an optimist.
Speaker 2:Then we hear someone, like, this is, like, just after, like, the flight had, like, taken off back up into the sky, we hear someone, like, starting to, like, retch, like, the most disgusting... Like, I I can't. I'm not even getting into it. Like, I can't. But it was like you combined my two worst fears, like dying in a plane and, like, being around someone that's throwing up.
Speaker 2:That's pretty much combined, and here we go. So Jordan hands me the headphones that are, like, still connected to the plane because those are the only ones that are working just so I can, like, not listen to this. I mean, this person was, like, retching for, like... I felt like the whole, like, twenty minutes we were up in the air. It was disgusting.
Speaker 2:And so, I'm like listening. I'm like, this is all happening. I put the headphones on. It's like
Speaker 3:I put on an Aerosmith for you. I found an Aerosmith station.
Speaker 2:No. It was Don't to
Speaker 3:run your head.
Speaker 2:It was Guns N' Roses. Welcome to the jungle. Like, are you Yeah. Let's see. So I'm listening to this song.
Speaker 2:Like, everything everything is happening, and I'm just like, I literally start to pray. And I'm not someone who I consider, like... I don't consider myself, like, a religious person, but I consider myself a very spiritual person. I absolutely believe in the powers of prayer and the universe, and I and I start praying, and I'm just... And all I can think about is, like, my kids.
Speaker 2:Like, I'm not I'm not going down like this. I'm not going down in the wind in London, like, with someone, you know, like, losing their lunch next to me. And so we, like... I just keep thinking about the kids. We're gonna get there.
Speaker 2:We're gonna get there. We're gonna get there. And finally, it was like, okay. We were, like, circling, circling, circling. And then finally, we, like, start to descend, and I'm like, please, please just stick this fucking landing.
Speaker 2:So the plane goes down, and, I mean, I am... I feel like I was probably, like, digging, like, scars into your hand at that point. Like, I was holding on to you so tight. Yeah. Can you hear him?
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's Luca.
Speaker 3:Picking up on what mommy's throwing down.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I was holding on so tight, praying so hard, and we hit that concrete. I think we might have bounced a little, but we made it. And I was just like, thank god. And so, you know, we...
Speaker 2:You know, we're we're sort of, you know, slowing down. We're taxing down. And the first thing I think is we have one more flight we still have to get through today, and that was a harrowing experience. And I just don't feel like there's any way if we can not make that happen again that I want to. Of course, I wanted to get to my kids that night.
Speaker 2:Like, I'd been away from them for a week. Like, it's all I wanted to do was get to my kids, but I'm like, I'd like to get to them in one piece. So I think, again, you were sort of
Speaker 3:in I just wanted to be done with the travel. I
Speaker 2:mean Of course.
Speaker 3:It was fine because we weren't gonna get home until after they were asleep anyways. I'm like, okay, whatever. We see them right when they wake up. We see them a few hours later. Like, they're not really gonna know the difference.
Speaker 3:I was just like, I'm just done. Especially after like that experience for me, I'm like, fuck it. Let's get on the next flight and just get this shit done with. So it's And kind of
Speaker 2:I know, like I was the opposite because because what so I did for any of you who are listening who aren't great flyers, I've done a lot of research. Like, one of the things that's made me be a better flyer is that I research turbulence before the flight because my whole thought process is I have no control over really anything once I get on that flight. But if I can at least know what to expect a little bit, then at least I can sort of prime myself for, like, what's going to happen, and it actually makes me feel like I'm more in control. So there's this great website that I go to. It's called turbly.com.
Speaker 2:I'll link it in the show notes. And so it is so accurate, you guys. Like, every time I plug in a flight, like, is, like, to the tee. It is so accurate. And it really tells you, like, you know, how turbulent, when it's happening, what it will feel like, and it it just, again, it just helps you to, like, visualize yourself, like, getting through the flight.
Speaker 2:It'll be fine. Whatever. But... So I went to go look at the next flight that was happening in, like, four hours from London to Marseille, and it looked like the same thing where the takeoff and the landing were, like, exceptionally turbulent. And I just turned to Jordan, and I said, I feel like we could've barely made it through that flight.
Speaker 2:Maybe I'm overreacting, but, like, that was a scary landing, and I'm not doing that again tonight. So I looked at the turbly forecast for the next morning, and it looked very smooth. And I said, please, let's just do that. And so we were able to go to British Airways and, like, maybe because it's like, I'm a member or whatever. This what I'm telling you.
Speaker 2:You gotta work with those credit card people with the points, with all the travel. We were able to, like, pay a small fee to get our tickets exchanged for the next morning, like, super early in the morning. So the thing... The other thing that we need to back up and mention is that when we were coming back from California, we knew in the back of our minds that it was going to be a very tight schedule before Luca's surgery. So if you've been following along since the beginning, our son Luca has...
Speaker 2:Was born with a congenital heart defect. It was called Tetralogy of Fallot. You're looking so serious right now. Or you just have a toddler...
Speaker 3:Yeah. No. Luca is definitely drawing on top of my head with the microphone stand. So I am trying to listen to what you're saying, figure out how to unmute myself, and also not get smashed on the head. Uh-huh.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 3:we're we're doing great. But I was gonna say, we're... You're talking about Luca's heart condition Tetralogy of Fallot. It's the same heart condition that Sean White, professional snowboarder and winner of many Olympic gold medals
Speaker 2:has. Also, Jimmy Jimmy Kimmel's son has it But
Speaker 3:as far as Sean White goes, I mean, from the beginning when we found out, we were like, oh, well, Sean White has it, and that motherfucker's got so many gold medals. So feeling pretty optimistic about it. So
Speaker 2:So his surgery was supposed to be in March, and I think just because... Don't know if it was because it was, like, cold and flu season, and they were just inundated in the ICU, but, like, we kept having to put... Like, they canceled. They had to cancel on us, like, the morning that we were supposed to check him in, and then they had... They kept postponing it, postponing it, and then we were just like, guys, we can't keep postponing it.
Speaker 2:We can't keep our kids out of day care if they're, like, just staying home. Like, this is not sustainable.
Speaker 3:Five weeks home for no reason.
Speaker 2:Five weeks home for no reason. It was brutal.
Speaker 3:I mean, okay. It wasn't no reason. Yes. We gotta spend time with our kids, but that that was... No.
Speaker 3:That... That's... Because it was it it was also, like, the anticipation and anxiety of, like Yeah. Trying to get him in. Yeah.
Speaker 3:So it wasn't like we were just all there, like, having a blast. We were stressing out
Speaker 2:Well, the whole because the other thing was we had to we had to quarantine him. It wasn't like we could go out and do a lot. So, anyways, so all that to say is they finally came back to us with a date and, what, a couple months ago, and it was going to be two days after we arrived back from California. And we thought, okay. It's tight.
Speaker 2:It's not gonna give us a lot of time, but, like, we don't wanna say no to this. You know, we... We've had this, you know, trip booked to California forever. We're under contract with clients. Like, we have to go.
Speaker 2:We have to go fulfill this contract, but I think everything will be fine. Like, so we, you know, we did a bunch of stuff in advance to make sure that we were good when we we were gonna land. K. So between the flights, you know, and how screwed up that got and then us having to rebook our flight, I thought, okay. Well, we're gonna land, and then we're only gonna have, like, a half day with our kids.
Speaker 2:But, like, Luca knows about the surgery. We've been talking to him about it all week. We'll spend the whole, like, you know, what, noon on with them, and then we'll check him in the next day. So we got on the flight the next morning. This was what?
Speaker 2:Monday morning? We were supposed to be back Sunday. Oh, no. This was... Sorry.
Speaker 2:This... We were supposed to land technically Monday night. This is Tuesday morning. So we take the flight super early, which, by the way, totally screwed up our whole jet lag thing, which we've all... We've talked about before.
Speaker 2:Like, we have this whole system of how we handle jet lag, and we are so good every time we go to The States. Like, we we follow it to a tee, and, like, we're great when we're there. And we could have followed it on the way back, but no. Had to get on a different flight, which was... Took off at
Speaker 3:what? That's Seven early. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It would have been 03:30AM. Yeah. So I was That's only
Speaker 3:the jet lag time that you wake up when you're fucked. But Yeah. When you do it right, you don't wake up at 03:30.
Speaker 2:Well, I didn't even wake up at 03:30. I slept from, like, nine nine to midnight that night. Anyways, so we take this flight. It's very smooth. It's great.
Speaker 2:We land. So we... I turn on my phone, and we get a little notification on an email from our surgeon saying, hey. Essentially, there's, like, two infants that had to be, you know, moved up, and so we need Luca to come in today to check-in for pre op. And we were just like, are you kidding me?
Speaker 2:So instead of, like, having a full day essentially to get him together.
Speaker 3:We had, what,
Speaker 2:five hours? Yeah. Not even. I mean... And, technically, we were supposed to check-in within, like, I think four hours of when we had landed, but we talked to her, and she extended it for us just because we knew it was just take a while to be with the kids.
Speaker 2:And because we still had to, like, pack up stuff for Jordan, like, repack everything for Jordan, start laundry, like, do all of this stuff. It was crazy. And then... Yeah. So we got Luca, like, ready to go.
Speaker 2:We took London with us. We went into the initial hospital check-in, you know, room and and did all of the pre op things that night. And then London and I, because there was obviously no room for us to sleep, Jordan volunteered to stay with Luca that night, and then London and I went home. And that was not supposed to be in the plan because the way we had planned it, like, my parents were supposed to come down so that, you know, Jordan and I could spend the night in the hospital with him. And, anyways, all of our plans got thrown out the window.
Speaker 2:Everything got super screwed up. Hi, buddy. Hi, dude. Hi, mommy. Hi, honey.
Speaker 2:I love you. Yeah. Everything got screwed up. And so Mommy, mommy. I I love you, sweet pea.
Speaker 4:I can't remember.
Speaker 2:What are you saying? Hi, honey. So we felt like we didn't have enough time to, like, prep him the way that we wanted to even though we had... He had known about this surgery for a while, and we had talked about it for a long time, and we had been anticipating it, we felt so guilty as parents because it was like, hey, kid. We just...
Speaker 2:We're gone for a week, and now we're gonna turn right back around and, like, get you into a hospital room. It's one of the worst feelings I've ever had. Probably the worst feeling, honestly, I've had as a mother besides, like, the day that I found out about his condition. So it was it was a really, really hard Tuesday. And then this dude has been on a crazy trajectory.
Speaker 2:He was... He had his surgery early Wednesday morning. And then... Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Wednesday morning, buddy. And then he, you know, has been recovering ever since, but his recovery has honestly been kind of something of miracles.
Speaker 3:How do
Speaker 2:you feel? Insane. How
Speaker 4:so happy. Oh, that's okay. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Everything's been really, really crazy, but it's, you know, it's something that we are so excited now that he has had the surgery and that it's behind us, because of course, I feel like the worst part of it has been anticipation, and we've been anticipating it months and months.
Speaker 3:Oh, no. We've been anticipating this for years.
Speaker 4:Well, technically, yes.
Speaker 3:So, just the the real quick recap of this is we found out when Sophie was twenty weeks pregnant, he's very excited to be co camp naughty
Speaker 2:and be Oh, a big he's he's like beyond past his bedtime. This is not gonna be fun for you in the morning. Sorry.
Speaker 4:No. It's
Speaker 3:not. But it's okay, because what this dude has endured, I'm like, you do whatever the hell you want, man. Like...
Speaker 2:Well, we talked about this. There's there's no time in hospitals. Like, doesn't exist.
Speaker 3:It doesn't exist.
Speaker 2:Hi, honey.
Speaker 3:Hello, kisses to mommy. So we found out when she was twenty weeks pregnant, so we knew what to expect, which was our expectation was that he's gonna have a surgery immediately, and then it would be a temporary fix. The following would be anywhere in this change throughout pregnancy from two months to nine months down the road. Fortunately, when he was born, they were actually able to do a full repair, which meant one surgery in the moment. But then he had to have another procedure about nine months later with the expectation that he would need that same procedure every year until he was like 10.
Speaker 3:And... You got it, buddy. And so, the fall, when he had this second procedure scheduled, they decided that they just wanted to do a full surgery that time.
Speaker 2:So all that to say, it's been an insane week. We've had, like, literally no time to rest. The jet lag is jet lagging so bad, which is not normally how we do it. We we have our whole routine, and we're, like, good to go, but it is because we've got everything screwed up, and we have... Time doesn't exist in our lives right now.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I I was gonna say, I... You did great, buddy. I don't think that I'm in jet lag mode. I think I'm, like, so far past the delirium Yeah.
Speaker 3:Of Totally. Well, just because I've... Because of our circumstances, I've been at the hospital with him most nights, and that means that
Speaker 2:because you're a total saint.
Speaker 3:I mean,
Speaker 1:Although,
Speaker 2:you said you you took
Speaker 3:As you say, we all have our roles.
Speaker 2:I think that I've done better vacation? No. I've been single parenting London all week. Like, we're having to work and get some deadlines done, all the while, like, visiting you guys, like, every day in Marseille and having to make that drive. So, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's been it's been cuckoo craziness. And then today, I stayed I stayed with my my Luca all day today, and it was the best.
Speaker 3:You had a good day with mommy tonight, didn't you, buddy?
Speaker 2:I'm so happy to report that this little dude is a total miracle. Again, he is recovering at light speed. They literally... Hi, buddy. They literally took out, like, everything that was inside all the tubes out of his body.
Speaker 2:Then they... You know, today, they took out the last IV. He does have... Hi, honey. I'm so proud I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 2:I'm so proud of you, and you should be so proud of yourself, dude. Yeah. I love you.
Speaker 4:I proud of myself.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 4:Apart myself off the mirror.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. It's just wild to me. So his... He doesn't even have monitors on anymore.
Speaker 2:He's pretty much just has... He has bandages on, and that's it. And we're just continuing to hope, hope, hope that, you know, gosh, even by the time this podcast comes out, we're really hoping that we'll be out of the hospital, because this is wild. This is a wild existence right
Speaker 3:I'm I'm going on half portions of Luca's uneaten hospital food, and the crackers, and Yeah. Cookies that Yeah. He's gotten. We've I'm been we've been
Speaker 2:I'm so proud that I'm with someone who's such an amazing teammate, and we're just like making it work on both ends. It's really, really hard, but we're, you know, we're getting through this. We're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and we're just so so happy that this is behind us now. And, also, I just wanted to say for everyone that, you know, saw all of our, you know, stories on Instagram, like, thank you so much for your kind messages and your prayers and your, you know, good juju and vibes and good thoughts, like, coming our way.
Speaker 3:Worked, y'all. You guys did it.
Speaker 2:It worked. Like, truly, to feel that support. And I know this little boy feels so loved from so many different, you know, angles, and he's just, you know, he's such a special little guy, and, you know, we're just we're just so happy. We're just so happy that this is done. So tomorrow...
Speaker 2:Well, actually, tonight, technically, my best friend, the one... Luca. My my best friend, Twila, who is the one that helped us move two years ago, She is actually... I mean, it's like perfect. It's like right over our two year anniversary of moving here.
Speaker 2:So she's coming back just
Speaker 3:to help Which is today, by the way?
Speaker 2:Is it today?
Speaker 3:It's today.
Speaker 2:Wow. We left we left. That's right.
Speaker 3:Left on the sixth. We arrived on
Speaker 2:the seventh. Right.
Speaker 3:So it's officially been two years. So
Speaker 2:It's officially been two
Speaker 3:year anniversary celebration episode. Luca What a successfully getting through an intense second open chest surgery like a fucking champion.
Speaker 2:What a And
Speaker 3:having Twyla who helped us get here to begin with.
Speaker 2:And now is helping us. Mean, truly, like, when your friends are... Have become your family, like, she's one of those people. So we're we're really excited to, like, just have, you know, her in town and everything. But I thought it would be really good to, and I think really helpful to a lot of our audience to really talk about what the experience has been like working with a hospital in the South Of France for something as big as this.
Speaker 2:Because I think, you know, when we... What's really funny... And, of course, I'm not saying The US is, as we know, it's incredible. It's innovative. We do have absolutely some of the best, the brightest.
Speaker 2:Like, it's 1000% true. But I think that there's this huge misconception in the world that, like, if it's not done in The US, then, like, is it any good? It's just this this preconceived notion I think that we have as Americans that, like... You know? Because, I mean, even, like, I was thinking about
Speaker 3:this got with that question a lot.
Speaker 2:Right. Because we would get it. They they would be like, well, what about... You know, when would we tell people we were moving, they'd like, what about his heart? What about the surgeries?
Speaker 2:And we're like, yeah. There's people that are in France that this is, like, one of the best hubs. Hi, honey.
Speaker 3:Podcaster with his earbuds.
Speaker 2:Yeah. He's a total little podcaster tonight.
Speaker 4:Tell mommy. I have a podcast.
Speaker 2:I have a You have a podcast? I know. You're making your debut, and it's very appropriate, very apropos, buddy.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 4:This time.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I love you. So people would just... They would always tell us, like, or ask us, like, you know, what is it... What's it gonna be like when he has to have heart surgery?
Speaker 2:Is... Are they any good? And I'm thinking to myself, yes. Like, specifically, this is one of the reasons why we chose to live in Southern France is because they are known for... Like, France in general is known for their research and their work in, like, the field of cardiology.
Speaker 2:And what we also just learned, by the way, is that... So his condition, it's called Tetralogy of Fallot. So the man who... Essentially, the doctor who discovered it and, like, went on to research it, Doctor. Fallot, was from the Marseille Hospital.
Speaker 3:I will add because you can fact check, and actually my dad looked this up, that it's not because he was like a surgeon or anything like that, but there was some relationship to the discovery or or some of it. But either way...
Speaker 2:But it's it's very cool though, because it's it's really well researched, and especially well researched because it started in this city, which is crazy.
Speaker 3:And France, from what I keep hearing from people at the hospital, has an incredible, like, heart focus.
Speaker 2:Well, and now that... So so now that we've been through it, here's what I can tell you. So pros and cons. Mostly pros. Like, hands down, health care in France is fabulous, and we have felt very, very taken care of.
Speaker 2:And, really, I would say the biggest cons that... If I'm gonna compare them to The US, is, like, the scheduling thing that we were supposed to have his surgery in March, and then things got pushed back. That would probably be more common somewhere here. So it's way more common to maybe have some hiccups administration with getting you scheduled. It's not like The US where, like, you'll go to the secretary.
Speaker 2:They'll, like, pretty much have you scheduled, like, that day, and then you know what's up. And then essentially... I mean, I know that things can obviously happen, but I feel like when they say that you have a surgery happening on a certain day in The US, like, it's most likely happening.
Speaker 4:I
Speaker 3:think there were some some specifics around this one, why it kept getting rescheduled in terms of space in their ICU, which can be common, but I don't know how big this ICU is in comparison to others, but...
Speaker 2:It's small... It's a smaller ICU than you would find in The States, and I think that's...
Speaker 3:In some places. The States. Again, Austin where we were, where he had his first surgery, a whole other story, but a lot of people came from all over Texas and all over the country to Dell Children's, where he had his first surgery, that was in Downtown Austin, where, you know, if you have people flying in, there's collateral impact of that because we were local. We didn't experience that, but you would imagine if you have something scheduled, and you run into a similar situation, you have to drive or fly in, and then it gets rescheduled because there's no space or whatever. Like, that's crazy.
Speaker 3:So I don't know that that happens, or to what extent that happens in The US. We didn't have to experience that, but
Speaker 2:No. It's definitely... I would say from the administrative standpoint, it's way, yeah, it's way trickier in France. It's way more slick in The US. So that, of course, again, it's...
Speaker 2:Almost, again, it comes down to, like, a convenience thing because the French are like, okay. We will schedule you. But then it's like they're gonna take, like, a couple weeks to get back to you to schedule you because that's just, you know, that's just kind of how they work. But what I'll say is from the second that that little boy entered the hospital, like, the care has been phenomenal. Like, he was under fabulous hands.
Speaker 2:He's had so many people checking up on him. Like... And we, you know, we've we've been through the the ICUs and the NICUs in the hospitals. Essentially, like, Dell's Children is a state of the art hospital in Austin. And it's like, while...
Speaker 2:You know, that's the other thing. The the hospitals... It's so funny. I always hear this from people. It's like they're...
Speaker 2:The actual hospitals, like, the rooms or, like, maybe even the exterior of the buildings are, like, you know, they're, like, more... They're just... They're not... What am I trying to say here, George? Like, they're not brand new.
Speaker 3:They... So when we... When you walk into Dell Children's in Austin, it looks like a fucking museum.
Speaker 2:It does. Like, you can see
Speaker 3:that, like,
Speaker 2:there's Like a brand new children's museum.
Speaker 3:There's money that's spent. There's there's A
Speaker 4:lot of money.
Speaker 3:There is... What's the word? When you... There's commissioned artwork, like, in that hospital. It is designed beautifully.
Speaker 3:You walk in here, and like, you know, there's like a half panel open, and you can see that it's just like... It looks like a scene out of like Indiana Jones where it's like somebody digging through a well with these like 80 year old pipes in there that is just like exposed.
Speaker 2:Well There's like And, plastic they're construction on the
Speaker 3:They're always doing construction. Everywhere, all the time, and they need little mini jackhammers because these are like hundreds of year old buildings. And, it's really funny because it looks like it it looks like it's in the nineties and has never been touched.
Speaker 2:Nineties. Exactly.
Speaker 3:The equipment and the people. Right.
Speaker 2:And that's what matters. It's like their equipment we we've... Because we've seen it all in both, you know, both places. The equipment is state of the art. The people are as kind as they come.
Speaker 2:And for us, like, that is what is important. Like, it is not about I don't need my money going to commissioned artwork. I mean, of course, you know, we we loved our experience, you know, at Dell's, but I don't wanna pay for that. When we got... As you know, or if you're a new listener, we got a bill for $1,600,000 after the last time he had a surgery.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And I can guarantee you we won't be coming close to that here.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Here here's what I can say. The experience in Austin, we had amazing care. The nurses were incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:We only had one nurse that we had to ask to not have her come back, but the rest were fantastic. Attentive, he was under twenty four hour care, and that's how it's been here. Like, there's... There has felt like no change in in that level of them having... I I recognize the equipment, I recognize the process and what they're doing, where he's Like, it was the same.
Speaker 2:The same. Truly. But I think the difference is it just felt so good knowing that we don't have to worry about being bankrupted. Like, that is... And that he's gonna get incredible care in the place that we love to live, and like that, that's what it's about.
Speaker 2:So I think it's... Again, it's you go into it with this American sensibility of, like, everything that we do is the best, which, yes, in many cases, is. But I think that when it comes to medical capabilities, like, you will find many places specializing in many things in many other countries. Like, period. End of story.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I've been here with him a majority of the time when we've been kinda doing all the different things, and that's a that's a whole another psychotherapy session on dealing with that. But
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But again, what I can say is that like the the whole process and what they do once it's go time here is super buttoned up.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's go time And, for
Speaker 3:it feels great. Again, they took really good care of him. They, you know, addressed and adjusted everything as needed. And, also, a lot of people this just kinda just turned into one of those like America's Most Wanted interviews, just gotta change my voice. A lot of people speak English pretty decently, and and the French are really funny.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a that's a great point.
Speaker 3:The French are pretty funny because they all get English in school for the most part, and they get conversational from that. I think most people, at least in The US where I grew up, taking French or Spanish could not go to a country and really really get by. Whereas, the conversations I'm having, people are like, oh, no. I speak very little, just a little, and then we'll go on and have like a conversation, and they understand what I'm saying for the most part. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm obviously trying in French because I want... Honestly, like I want them to like like me more, and I feel like they... I don't know if this is true, but I feel like they'll like me more if I'm trying to speak in French, they know my situation, and I'm
Speaker 2:doing They always do. It shows respect.
Speaker 3:Get that sympathy thing, and and whatever. But then when I start speaking French, and then they start explaining things in French, thanks buddy, then they start explaining more in French, and I have a hard enough time day to day going shopping with that medical stuff that's serious.
Speaker 2:I know French. I get it.
Speaker 3:I
Speaker 2:mean, we don't even know half the medical terms in English.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, is ridiculous. But the big players in this process, which were his surgeon first and foremost, speaks really good English, could explain everything that she was doing, plans, the process, all of that. Her surgical assistant, who I found out later is Dominican, which I speak Spanish, so it was great when he he did the weekend check with us, and we started speaking Spanish, and that was helpful. But he also speaks English really well, and then a ton of the nurses.
Speaker 3:Like, there's always at least one who can speak pretty, like, really decent English, and then other ones, other doctors who like do a really nice job. And, for something this serious, relying on Google translate so frequently is scary. Like, I don't Yeah. I don't have a ton of fear when it comes to the language, because I already lost dignity such a long time ago.
Speaker 4:I have, like, I you know,
Speaker 3:I embarrass myself constantly. I embarrass Sophie constantly. Like, that ship has sailed. I'm good. So, I don't have any problems.
Speaker 3:But, when it's stuff like this that's for Luca, right, it's just it's big.
Speaker 2:It's a different ballgame.
Speaker 3:And, it was really nice to have people explain like the important parts of what I needed to know at certain stages, or what they were doing, or what's coming next, or here's what's gonna happen today. And that was awesome. And and even the ones that don't would speak really slowly, and would use a lot of hand gestures, and it was
Speaker 2:They... Yeah. They've been... I think what I've loved is that even though I think the impression of France is that, ugh, like, you know, they get so annoyed if you don't know enough French. It's just like...
Speaker 2:But it doesn't matter when you walk into somewhere like this. You might find that when we're in a city like Paris, but here, it's like they are so kind. They are so understanding. They just wanna try to help. They know that you're in a really, you know, hard situation, really challenging.
Speaker 3:Also, sorry to interrupt, but like reality is reality. Like English is still the global language, like the global language. And I've heard multiple staff people here talk... Staff people? Multiple people talking about
Speaker 4:how
Speaker 3:they're like, yeah, I mean I know some French. My kids are really good in French. You know, this day and age, you have to know English for your career, for traveling if you wanna do anything. And so, I think there's an understanding. There's a lot more English in France, I think, than ten, twenty years ago, where people talk about, well, if you go to the South Of France, you know, in Paris people speak some English, but if you go to the South Of France, you're on your own, and you're screwed, and you better figure it out and buy some dictionary books.
Speaker 3:It's just not the case. Again, there's still the manner in which you go about speaking to people in English. Right. But, I think there is also this like collective understanding of like, globally, you know, people come from China, or they come from other European countries, or they come from Africa, or, you know, different countries in Africa, or India, or whatever, that... Obviously, a lot of countries in Africa speak French, but being able to get by in English is pretty crucial.
Speaker 3:So, it it is a lot more accessible these Yeah.
Speaker 2:Wow. Way to
Speaker 3:I was like, I was Wait saying that, I'm like
Speaker 2:about
Speaker 4:talk
Speaker 1:That is not a
Speaker 4:short
Speaker 1:about
Speaker 2:landing the plane, going right back up, and circling circling for another ten minutes. It's like a replay of last week.
Speaker 4:Listen. Probably made
Speaker 3:you just as anxious too.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Definitely. It is getting super late, so I kinda wanted to wrap this up. But just, again, saying, you know, overall, like, truly, we feel amazing about the decision that we made because we were in incredible hands, and I know that she... Like, our, you know, surgeon did, like, a beautiful job.
Speaker 2:And, again, the care... It's just everything. Everything was amazing. And while we don't know our exact... What the final bill will be, I think they'll probably let us know sometime while we're still at the hospital.
Speaker 2:But
Speaker 3:Sorry. About what?
Speaker 2:About our hospital bill. Like, what it'll end up being because our insurance
Speaker 3:will probably able to
Speaker 2:pay bit. But... Well, yeah. Because they don't know how long we're gonna stay. Hopefully, we are discharged very soon.
Speaker 2:Fingers crossed. But I can tell you for a fact that it will not be $1,600,000, like, crushing.
Speaker 3:Don't forget. They adjusted it to 1.2 very generously.
Speaker 2:Right. Excuse me. They adjusted it to 1.2.
Speaker 3:So... Which, you know, once you get into the 1.2 range, that's doable. 1.6. I can't touch that. 1.2, I mean, of course.
Speaker 3:Before we can handle it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it has been, like I said, you can, you know, reliving this with us, one of the craziest weeks of our lives. We are feeling like we're almost seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. And after this is all said and done, we are going to need... Well, for me personally, I'm gonna need a margarita the size of my head and a major, like, date night That sounds or, like, date weekend situation with you once we can, of course, get the kids settled back in.
Speaker 2:Oh, I have to mention that too. One more thing. I think one of the silver linings of this whole situation and how crazy this week has been has been watching the kids together. And like, parenting twins is like the wildest, craziest adventure. It's really, really challenging at times having two at the same time.
Speaker 2:But watching these two and their love for one another this week was just, like, one of the coolest things. And it just it just shows again, like, you know, love and, like, just people caring for one another. Like, that transcends from, like, birth, essentially. And just to, like, watch that with these sweet little innocent, you know, babes together, that, like, that was what really kept me going. And, of course, this guy right here just being, a rock star, and us just, you know, teaming up and doing what we gotta do for our family this week.
Speaker 2:So on that note, we made it through. We are so excited we got this done for you guys because
Speaker 3:I was definitely on and off mute, a good majority of it, because I keep I keep telling this dude, hey, man. You gotta lock it up, buddy.
Speaker 2:Wanna What
Speaker 3:do you wanna say to all the people? Hey, are you smiling? What did I tell you about smiling? We don't smile in this family. Put it
Speaker 4:away. Put it away. Honey, I wanna sing Bob Marley.
Speaker 3:You wanna sing Bob
Speaker 2:Marley? Oh, Bob Marley. Okay.
Speaker 3:Go ahead and Well up, Marley.
Speaker 2:I feel like it was very Okay. Very perfect to have our third guest, our third wheel today in honor of Luca. Thank you for everything you guys truly. Thank you for everything. Thank you to our audience.
Speaker 2:Thank you to our community. We love you. We appreciate you, and we can't wait to just get back into the swing of things. We'll see you next week.
Speaker 3:Say goodnight, everybody.
Speaker 4:Goodnight, everyone. I love you. Thank you
Speaker 2:so much for listening to today's episode. Don't forget to subscribe, rate us, and leave a review if you love what you hear. And you can follow us on Instagram and TikTok at the underscore eptons. See you guys soon.