Update on my cold

Doing fine, luckily the cold hasn't gone to the lungies yet, no fever and throat a lot better. Nose still sneezy and snotty but i can live with that. Also feeling more "awake", if that makes sense. Should be fine for work on Monday.

Chris and I are house-sitting for Paul and Jenny this weekend, and I want to get a haircut, but apart from that I'll just continue taking it easy, and start studying for my next exam. (I registered for the South African Institute of Financial Markets' Registered persons exam module 1) Started a bit last night but it put me to sleep very fast, lol!

I'm missing my camera that's in for repairs, so took some pics on my phone. The flowers are that I got from Chris (he suprised me with a visit on Wednesday eve with flowers and chocs!!!!), and took a pic as best I could of my x-ray taken on Wednesday. So it's pretty much 16 months post tx. Oh and the other one is me and Prof Mehr, who is one of the big CF docs here in JHB, taken at the function on Tuesday night. It's a tiny pic because I got it off facebook and don't know how to get it bigger!

That's all for now, have a great weekend!

The good, the bad and the interesting

The Good: Chris gave me the most awesome suprise when I got an early birthday present... PLANE TICKETS HOME for the long-weekend in August!!! So I'll be home from the evening of the 7th to the evening of the 10th!!! Very excited about that, and definitely the BEST birthday pressie ever!!!

The Bad: I've managed to pick up a cold somewhere :-( Right now my throat is sore and nose all stuffed and I'm tired, but luckily lungs aren't involved, and in bed now trying to keep it that way. Had an x-ray and lung functions done just to make sure (and was suppose to have the lung func done this week anyway) FEV1% is 97% and x-rays are pretty. (although the radiologist asked me if I had a boob job done??? Why in the world would she think that?? Unless she meant a reduction!!!) So anyway, I'm only going back to work on Monday (apart from an hour or 2 tomorrow to do some really important stuff). More worried about my training for the Games. No gym for a week I would guess...

The interesting: Last night's talk by the South African CF Trust was very interesting. Met some cool people and the talk was interesting, so all in all I think the future for CF'ers in SA is looking pretty good. Had a weird feeling when a guy was telling me about his girlfriend's (whom I know) cool new nebuliser called the e-flow or something. By the sound of it it's really cool, but was strange thinking that this nebuliser came out too late for me. I also couldn't help thinking if my old lungs would have been able to make it a few more years had I gotten the aggressive type of treatment they give CFers up here compared to in PE. But that's water under the bridge I suppose.

So for the next few days I shall be taking it easy, checking myself for a temperature or any sign of a cough. Please pray that that doesn't happen and I'll be back training again soon!!!

Wishing it was still the weekend!

The weekend was great! VERY relaxing… On Friday eve Chris and I watched SE7EN on DVD. It’s an old movie but I’ve never seen it and have always wanted to. Was very good but rather sad. Saturday morning I went to the pharmacy to pick up some stuff, and afterwards SHOPPING!!!! Very nice :-) In the afternoon I read my book while Chris watched Formula1, and then we played Risk boardgame and watched TV for the rest of the day.

Yesterday morning we went to church and did some grocery shopping afterwards. The rest of the day was also spent playing Risk and watching TV. A great way to spend a weekend after the hectic previous weekends in PE, Cape Town, Dikhololo, Baberton…

This week is not going to be so quiet though. Tonight I’m gymming after work and then watching Greys with Jenny, Tuesday I’m attending a CF talk about the Need for Heightened awareness, which should be very interesting as there are going to be lots of CF caregivers etc. Wednesday it’s gym again. Thursday I’m going to the Transplant Group Network meeting where the speaker is going to be a woman who donated her husband’s organs… also looking forward to that a lot. So it’s going to be nice but busy and not going to see Chris :-(

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my previous post and have a great week!

16 months tomorrow...

“Feeling very downish. Still waiting for news. Just SO TIRED of sitting around. And it's not like I've got nothing to do, I'm just tired of everything that there is to do. It's a Saturday evening, the weather's lovely. People my age are going out, having fun, falling in love etc and I'm just being bored and going to bed early hoping I'll have an exciting dream. Because I can honestly say that's the most exciting part of my life right now. Sometimes I dream I run, and in the dream I'm thinking 'I can't believe how easy this is'. Other times my dreams are filled with passion, but those leave me unsatisfied and wanting more when I wake up!!! So bottom line is: I feel like venting because my life's so boring right now and everyone's getting ahead in life EXCEPT ME!!!! My whole freaking life revolves around stressing about transplant and trying to keep my lungs in shape. (I use the term 'shape' loosely) Your 20's are supposed to be your best years dammit!!!”

That was part of my blog post 10 days before I got the call for my transplant. How things have changed!!! The 3 biggest things. and I basically refer to all of them in this snippet, is that I now have HEALTH, LOVE and A JOB.. ie LIFE. I can run and I can’t believe how easy it is (on the lungs, not necessarily the legs, lol!). I’m in love, going out and having fun. I’ve got a challenging but satisfying job.

I do miss my friends in PE and Cape Town, but I try to see them as often as possible. And yes I still drink lots of pills, but I don’t mind it at all, because in the past 16 months I’ve coughed less than I used to cough in a single day, I had flu only once (which is less than lots of “normal” people I know), I haven’t had any rejection whatsoever, haven’t been back in hosp for a day, and I’ve gained aprox 960 hrs (40 days) in total by not nebulising (taken at roughly 2 hrs per day, although it was much more on some days). I can truly say I’m blessed beyond my wildest dreams, and I thank God for that every day. I pray that Bree, Lynn, Helen, Louis, Maryke, Jolandi, Francois, Megann, Lucille and all my other friends waiting for their lungs will also get to be this lucky.

Weekend and training update.

So our mini roadtrip was very nice! Was a 3-4 hour drive both ways, but I haven’t seen that part of the country yet, so it was cool. Baberton is a charming little town and the weather was nice and warm! Wasn’t impressed with the cold when we got back to JHB L The party was great, ate the most yummy pork and salads etc, and an even more yummy punch… not sure what was in there (apart from the jelly babies), but it had the desired effect, lol! Sunday we all had brunch/lunch together at Wimpy before we headed back. So all in all it was a weekend well spent.

This week’s been just as crazy as last week work-wise, but it should get better from here onwards. Will be spending this weekend just relaxing with Chris and maybe seeing some other friends too… looking forward to it!!!

Training for the Games has been going well I think. My time and stamina is improving, so that’s good. And I’m beating Chris at squash more often. Even lost weight in the process… added bonus!

Short road-trip!!!!!

Just a quick update while I'm waiting for Chris to pick me up: We're going on a 24 hr road trip to Baberton... never been there, it 300km from here, and we're going for a friend's 30th birthday party on a farm there... Should be lots of fun!!!!! Expect no pics though, as I took my camera in last weekend to be fixed :-( Oh well...

So glad it's weekend though. this week was seriously roughwork-wise. Had a big deadline for yesterday. Started work an hour and a half early every day and worked an hour later one day, all without taking lunch. So need some un-winding this weekend! Had training this morning, but we rained out a bit.

Hope you have a good weekend too...

P.S Tomorrow is my and Chris' 7 month anniversary, yay!

100 DAYS TILL THE TRANSPLANT GAMES!!!!!!

*GULP* That's all I have to say.

post # 353

Sorry I’ve been so quiet recently! Haven’t even loaded the Heart of Cape Town pics yet… Had a nice & busy weekend. Friday night was movies with Chris, Sat morning I had athletics training which was rather rough as it was cold and I did a lot! Afterwards I went for my flu shot… you’d think I’m used to needles, but I’m not! I’m used to having blood taken, but after I got the shot, while paying for it, I felt like passing out for a few moments! Didn’t feel like making a scene or telling anyone, so just staggered to my car and sat with my head between my legs for a few minutes, after which I felt right as rain again. I’m such a wuss…

Went to a 5 year old’s birthday party after that, and Chris and I watched a DVD called Flatliners in the eve. Rather strange medical thriller from the early 90’s with Julia Roberts about Drs killing themselves for a few mins to see what happens after death, only to be brought back to life by their colleges after the few mins were over. Pretty good storyline I guess…

Sun morning we went to church, I took my camera in as it’s giving me crap, and did some shopping. Afterwards Chris watched F1 while I read my book (first book I might finish in a few months! Very proud of myself!). Late afternoon we went to visit a guy and girl (20 and 21 year old) both waiting for transplants in hosp. I’m still the youngest person alive in South Africa who has had a lung transplant, and so badly want that to change. The other guys waiting all deserve this too. And all because a shortage of donors. IF YOU’RE NOT A DONOR YET GO TO www.odf.org.za to REGISTER NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Going to be a busy week again followed by an even more busy weekend J Watch this space!

Just-after-Mid-week update...

Been a rather rough week so far!!! First 5 day week in a month… not fun L Worked from 6am to 5pm straight on Monday, but am all caught up with work I missed while on leave now, yay! Also been back at gym, and cell and the normal stuff. Going for a flu shot on Saturday after athletics training… not very keen, as I’m sure I’ll GET flu after the shot, and seeing as I’ve been flu/sickness-free since July/August last year, I’m really not in the mood for flu… Took quite a while to get all fit again after that one and only flu I’ve had post transplant dammit! But I’m being forced to go so let’s hope for the best…

Haven’t had a chance to post the pics I took at the Heart Transplant Museum in Cape Town yet! Will do so as soon as possible… Chris and I went there on a rainy day in CT, and turned out to be VERY interesting!!! I wouldn’t have had the guts to be the first surgeon OR patient to have/do the first heart transplant…

Dikhololo (incl lots of pics of Dassies... tiny furry animal related to the elephant)

Cape Town pics... ( gruelling hike- incl pic of Robben Island), waterfront and lunch in Houtbay)