Last afternoon in CT....

Can't believe it's the end of the trip I've been looking forward to for so long :-( Really depressing!!!! The weather's been crap for the last 3 days unfortunately, so couldn't go up Table mountain :-( We did however go the the Heart transplant Museum, where the world's first heart tx took place!!! Had a tour through the actual theatres where it took place etc! Was really cool.

Also did a lot of driving around through CT, and did a serious hike on Monday afternoon!!! Pic above was taken on hike. (Can you see why it was hard???) My bum was sore for 2 days, lol!!!! What else? Had supper with Carli at the Waterfront last night which was great. Have taken a lot more pics, but can't resize them on Chris's laptop, so will post all of them once I'm back home!!!

Flying back tomorrow morning, then driving to a game reserve type place with my parents for the weekend with family. Total shange of scenery! So will have LOADS of stuff to upload on Sun eve!!! Have a good weekend!

IN CAPE TOWN!!!

Not much to report except that I'm in CAPE TOWN!!!! Arrived at some ungodly hour on Friday night, and went to bed in the early hours of Sat morning. Had a slow morning, but Louzanne came over for lunch, and then we went on one massive shopping spree!!!! Got some great stuff for work!!! Had supper at Chris' parents last night and lunch there today, which was very nice and food delicious! (We stay with his sister)

The weather was crappy on Sat, but a lot better today. Hopefully it stays that was, cos I really want to go onto Table Mountain!! Haven't been up there in years. Apart from that there's also still some people I need to see (yes, you included Peter!!!)

Haven't taken any pics yet, will do so soon!!!

15 months... apparently!!

Yesterday was my 15 month anniversary and I FORGOT about it… It’s the first anniversary that has completely slipped my mind. AND it was a public holiday (Election Day), so I was aware of the date the whole time. I knew it was going to be on Election day, but when the day actually came, I didn’t realize it. Shows you how normalized I have become, if that makes sense!

It’s been a busy week so far… Monday night I had to go pick Chris up and rush him to Casualty, as he had serious abdominal pains. They put him on a drip and he was right as rain again, and Dr said it’s some sort of bug going around (thank goodness I didn’t get the bug!!!) What was strange about the whole experience was not being the patient, and having to sit and wait in the waiting area. Was crappy not to know what’s going on! Can’t IMAGIME what my parents went through when I had my transplant, and they waited for 7 hours.

Tuesday evening our section at work had team-building tenpin bowling!! We played 2 games, and I won the first one!!!! Beat all the guys J Maybe I should’ve entered that for AUS??? Either way, it was lots of fun!! Like I mentioned, yesterday was Elections, so I voted. Didn’t do much else, but that’s what public holidays are about.

Oh, and I got my blood results back, everything is PERFECT :-D CMV is killed off, so all is well with me. AND, it’s 2 sleeps to CAPE TOWN!!!! We will be landing in CT at 23:30 tomorrow night, which is LATE, but hopefully the adrenalin will keep me awake!!!

Weekend and first wedding without O2!!!!

Had a cool weekend, although nothing much happened other than the wedding!! Was a great wedding though. So cool to see the friend who I studied with be so utterly happy and in love! Everything was just beautiful. Posting a few pics!!!

Other than that we went to gym too and not much else. This week's going to be split in two... Wednesday's voting day, which means the 4 days of work will be HECTICALLY BUSY... also still catching up from the leave I took last week and preparing for the 3 days leave next week when we're in CT!!! WISH ME LUCK... going to try and be at the office at just after 6AM tomorrow and gym after work, and then Grey's at Jenny's!!! Still waiting for my blood results to see if CMV's still there, but I doubt it.

Anyway, have a good week, and if you're in SA, VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Storms River Mouth, my favourite as always!!!

Gariep Dam on Good Friday

Man-made Dam in the middle on nowhere...

Update

I'm back in the big city, and survived a Drs visit, bloods, my first day back at work AND gym :-) Had to go for a check-up this week, so managed to squeeze that in late yesterday afternoon. (I have the best Dr who can see me without an appointment :-D Everything seems good and well, but will see what bloods show... has the evil CMV been killed off?? Hope so!!!! Can't be on such disgustingly expensive meds, lol!

Work wasn't at all bad today, was nice seeing everybody again, and the day went by fast because I had so much to do. My calves are still REALLY sore after Tuesday's climbing/walking etc. I didn't even have the guts to climb the stairs up to the gym, so took the lift/elevator...SHAMEFUL! At gym I avoided anything involving my calves... so ended up doing lots of ab-stuff (trying to re-create my pre-transplant-coughing-abs!!!) and arms and thighs etc. So tomorrow I'll probably be sore there... oh well... no pain no gain hey?

I'm uploading some pics from tuesday and last Friday on the way down to PE above...

I'm still alive :-)

Sorry for the absence!!! I've been home since Friday, and flying back to Joburg early afternoon. Needless to say it's been GREAT... On Sat morning my mom and I had breakfast with a lady in PE also waiting for lungs and some of her family, which was a nice way to start my visit! Chris and I played some squash, and we went to see the new Fast and Furious movie with my sis and a friend. Was pretty cool!

Sunday was family day... went to church, had lunch with grandparents and aunt, and had coffee late afternoon with Antoinette. Monday morning Chris and I made yummy brunch for all of us, and afterwards lunch with Anto, Daniel and Andrew. My dad went back to Joburg on Monday evening.

Yesterday Chris and I went to Storms River Mouth, which is of course my favourite place ever. Walked a lot, had lunch there, went on a boat ride, which was GREAT!!! It was like a big rubber duck, that went out into the sea and down the river mouth. The sea part was the best, as the sea is pretty rough there, so we shot into air the whole time! Better than any roller coaster! We took quite a bit of pics, but my camera's battery died :-( So will only be able to upload then when I'm back in Jozi.

Tomorrow and Friday is going to be CRAZY at work, as I'll have to catch up with my 2 days leave... This weekend we're going to a wedding though, which is very exciting. My first wedding post transplant!!! Will be cool to be able to dance etc for a change. And on the 24th we're going to Cape Town for a whole week!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will be posting pics asap...

Great weekend and 4-day week!

The weekend was SOOOOO NICE... Had such a good time with Chrislie, Chris (confusing, I know!!!) and some family. Friday night was my cousin's 30th b-day party, which was great, except for the bumper to bumper traffic late at night on the highway due to roadworks. It was crazy!

Sat morning I had athletics coaching, after which Chrislie and I did some shopping. We then met up with my cousin and her kiddies and husband again at the botanical gardens, probably my favourite outdoor place in JHB. We were seriously tired after all that, so spend the evening just watching Death at a funeral (great movie) and chilling.

Sunday morning we went out for breakfast, then SERIOUS shopping, bought some roast beef and yummy bread for lunch. Chrislie wanted to take some pics of a Joburg view, which led us to discover Aasvoel-kop (directly translated = Vulture hill), which is just breathtaking. If it were a year and a half ago that would be LITERALLY breathtaking, as it is between 1800 and 2000m above sea level, which means I would have needed a seriously strong flow of O2 just to walk a few metres SLOWLY. Stunning views in all directions. We took some great pics! Afterwards we had coffee at Jenny and Paul's place. Was great to see them again too.

Well that's the weekend in a nutshell... Really cool and way too short. Tonight went to gym after work, and cleaned the flat. Eating potato for supper now and feeling rather lazy to take a bath. At least this week is only 4 working days long, as Friday is Easter, and Chris and I are driving down to PE!!!!! 4 sleeps...

Chrislie's HERE and aha moment...

She arrived yesterday morning at 8AM, and came to my work in a taxi, where she took my car and explored JHB on her own a bit. Chris took us out for supper last night to celebrate her visit and me passing my exam!!! Went to Gourmet Garage at Monte Casino, which has the best beef burgers in the world. Tonight we’re going to my cousin’s 30th b-day party in Pretoria,at a great restaurant, which will be great too. Lots of celebrations…

Yesterday morning I had what Oprah calls an “aha-moment”. (I used to have time to watch Oprah!). I was asking one of my CF friends how he was doing, and he was telling me what an awesome drug Chloramphenicol is. For a few moments I had to think hard which pill/IV med that was, as the name rang a bell but I couldn’t quite place it. Then it hit me. It was my favourite oral antibiotic that always worked and saved me LOTS of IV’s. I practically worshipped it and whenever I started feeling another infection it was the first thing I wanted to try. The aha-moment was when I realized I’m starting to forget some of the things that was such an integral part of my end-stage CF. I got the same feeling a few months ago when another CF’er asked me what dose of Tobramycin I used to nebulise with and I couldn’t remember. If I had to go back in a time warp and do my nebs again, I wouldn’t know how to mix it!!!! It just proves how normal my life has become, and that I’ve become rather distanced to CF stuff, albeit not on purpose (although if I ever had to nebulise again etc I’d obviously pick it up again in a few minutes, but for now it’s nice not to remember all the nitty gritty details). It’s such a blessing.

I also have a prayer request… for all my friends on the transplant list… I know quite a few YOUNG people on the transplant list, one of them who was admitted with hemoptisys (coughing up blood) again now. The sad thing is that after me they haven’t done ANY young people again. I don’t know what the reason is exactly, but it’s like only older people get done. Obviously it’s great for them, but because I know what it feels like when you’re in your 20’s and your peers are starting their careers and getting married etc while your life is on hold and you’ve got the lungs of a 200 year-old!!! IT SUCKS. So I REALLY want them to experience what I am SO BADLY…

I PASSED and only 1 sleep!!!!

Only 1 sleep left till my sis comes!!!!!! SOOOO excited… have already planned so much stuff for us to do!! Will def be posting lots of pics of course…

Then the big news… I PASSSED MY JOHANNESBURG STOCK EXCHANGE COMPLIANCE OFFICER EXAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so tough, that I really didn’t think I’d make it, and was already setting another date to write in my head! But God was good and I was VERY surprised when I found out on Monday that I did in fact pass!!! It totally made my month (career-wise!!!).

Not much other news right now. Did the photo-shoot for the magazine article yesterday afternoon, which went well I think. Was just far to drive and was VERY hot!!!