CF Walk and fun weekend

Firstly, on Sat the 9th of May there is a CF Walk at the Pretoria Botanical Gardens. It's always been held in remembrance of my fellow transplantee Francois Kruger. I haven't been able to attend the walk before though, but will definitely be there this year. Please come along for a very good cause! Hopefully I manage to do the whole 5km! No way I'm only doing 1km.

The long-weekend was nice. On Sunday I went to gym (it sucked), and in the afternoon we went to the movies with some friends, Was fun, Yesterday we checked out Blackhorse Brewery in Magalies, which I've wanted to go to for ages. Was not disappointed, So much fun! Had amazing Ginger Berry Beer. AMAZING. Will definitely be going there again.

Enjoy the 3-day working week!

Lower Lung function & Louzanne

Had a pretty good and productive check-up on Wednesday, weight up a kilo (+-56.5kg), bloods were all great. Got Augmentin as my sinuses cultured Staphylococcus Aureus, and also our flu-shot. O2 sats were 92%, and FEV1% was 40%.... it's 4% lower than 6 weeks ago, albeit not on the same lung function machine. Will go again in 6 weeks time and then after 2 months when we get back from America.

So some exciting US news, Anna has booked accommodation for us for 3 nights in Big Sur which will coincide with her birthday! The pics I've seen look AMAZING, it almost looks like Storms River which is our favourite place in the whole of SA. Wednesday is VISA day!!!

The short visit with Louzanne was amazing, I picked her up after work yesterday at the Gautrain station, after which we went to pick up my new glasses (had eyes tested, they're exactly the same as 2 years ago, yay!) and went for some tea and scones. This morning we went shopping at Sandton City (although I'm trying to be VERY good with my spending and trying to save for spending money in the US!) and yummy breakfast with Chris.

It's a long-weekend, which is AWESOME. Could really use that day off on Monday! Followed by a 3-day working week). Don't have much planned for tomorrow, but on Monday we'll be going to the Blackhorse Brewery with friends. Have been wanting to go there for a while.

Have a good long-weekend (if you're in SA). Some pics below of my new glasses and this morning.

87 monthses!

Tomorrow is my 7 year 3 months lungaversary! Yay!!! Every month is such a gift!!!!

Yesterday I saw the ENT for a follow-up on my sinus issues. Apparently I have a hole in my septum, which is weird, but doesn't affect anything but it's just strange. Also, some of my sinuses are under-developed which is apparently common in CF patients. He could see infection in the areas under and between my eyes. Which is where the pain has been. So he did a nasal swab to see which germs show up and then together with lung Dr they will decide which antibiotic to give me. He said he could surgically drain the mucus but due to the nature of CF and the thick mucus it will just happen again, so it's like a last resort.

Went to gym again today, was crappy again, meh. Doing lung function on Thurs so will see what it says. On Friday Louzanne (if you don't know who Louzanne is by now then I cannot help you...) will be sleeping over and we'll get to spend some quality time together on Sat!

Will post an update on the lung function! Wish me luck!

Good weekend! (and a mini rant!)

We had a quiet evening on Friday eve, making steak in the dark due to Loadshedding (to any overseas readers: in a nutshell: Loadshedding is the result of BAD PLANNING by our country's power utility and BAD MAINTENANCE over the last 2 decades, no accountability by anyone, resulting in not enough electricity for the country to run. So there are planned power cuts the whole time, causing SHIT traffic, chaos in households everywhere, panic (and one death reported) for people on home oxygen or other critical electricity-needing devices who cannot afford generators... but hey, that's nothing compared to fellow Africans being killed by South Afticans in horrible ways based on the fact that they were born in a different place on the same continent and out political leaders doing pretty much nothing about it. Then of course threats of retaliation from those African countries to South Africans who find themselves in THEIR countries. And least importantly, statues of historical figures or animals are being torn down and vandalised for a variety of "logical" and purely insane reasons. So all in all most South Africans had a BAD morale this week and are feeling pretty helpless and worried. #Xenophobia #VentingOver.)

Yesterday's trip to Cape Town was cool. Rather rushed but was great seeing everyone again and had very productive meeting. Today we went on a major shopping spree... bought some travel stuffs, had passport pics taken for Visa, and most importantly we both got a new iPhone! We're both changing from Samsung phones, but loving it so far. And I chose one with the biggest storage capacity (128GB) so my can take loads of video's and pics in America!

April is more than half-way done??!!

This month is FLYING past! Easter long-weekend was good, pretty chilled, didn't do much. Last week was busy at work with month-end and people being off sick. This past weekend was also quiet... did a LOT of gardening, we had supper with my parents and sis & Pierre on Sat eve. I think it's been so long since our last holiday (October), that weekends are just spent recovering from the week!

Went to gym on Sunday and yesterday. Sunday it was pretty good, everything felt pretty easy. Yesterday it was tough! Couldn't do as much as Sunday. So weird!!!!! I mean my lung function didn't change, yet I felt more short of breath yesterday. You would have thought that, if anything, Sunday would have felt worse as I haven't been to gym yet this month and it was my first time back. Anyways.... sure there is no explanation for it, maybe I was just more tired yesterday. Doing lung function next week again.

My sis and Pierre are off to Paris tomorrow for holiday!! It's a dream come true for them, so very excited for them! Jealous too and wishing our overseas trip was closer! But planning and waiting in anticipation is half of the excitement, so don't want to miss out on that either! In Aug we won't be able to believe it's all over and I'll prob be wishing it's April again! On Saturday I'll be flying down to Cape Town for a SA Transplant Sports Association meeting. It's going to be a busy day, but looking forward to seeing some familiar faces! Sunday I have to go for bloods for lung check-up in the week, and hopefully just RELAX.

Have a good weekend xxx

California here we come!!!!

So one of my New Years resolutions is HAPPENING!!!!!!! Yesterday we booked our tickets and paid for Visa's to visit Anna and Casey!!!!! We will literally be arriving there today in 3 months' time!!!! I cannot actually put into words how excited I am. I've never been to the US, and exploring a small part of it with Chris, my transplant-twin Anna and her hubby would be a dream come true.

We first met them in person at the 2013 World Transplant Games in Durban where she won like a million medals for swimming. We then saw them in October when they were in Cape Town and spend 4 fabulous days with them. Recently Anna has also been diagnosed with Chronic Rejection too (apparently I "gave" it to her) and had her Nissen Funduplication surgery just over a week ago (I had mine in Nov 2012). So this is added motivation for both of us to stay fit and well. Also excited to see her parents again (we met them at the WTG in Durban as well), they are such lovely people.

Now we can start planning the details.... eeeekkkkkkk!!!!

Inspiration: Kirstie Tancock - Two double lungs transplants later

I've know Kirstie for quite a while via facebook and her blog is featured under my blog list. ... She is lovely and has definitely inspired me from a fitness perspective!!!! And determination!!! The first video below was done recently, and is where she is currently at in life. What a journey..... When she had her first transplant in 2011 Chris and I were actually IN London after the World Transplant Games that took part in Sweden that year! I was soooo excited for her.

Her Chronic Rejection happened during the same time that mine started. Hers just moved a million times faster than mine did :-( I was over the moon when she got her 2nd paid of lungs almost immediately and so soon after being told she cannot be re-transplanted. I remember the devastating post on fb saying that she won;t be eligible for new lungs again.... miracles happen!!!

My New Lungs - 19 March 2015

Love On The Transplant List - about 3 years ago.

April and Easter

It's April! First quarter of the year done and dusted. Plus April has 3 public holidays so YAY!!! It's also Easter weekend so to everyone who celebrates Easter, HAPPY EASTER.

We went to church this morning with my sis and Pierre, followed by cheesecake and coffee at Melissa's in Parkhurst. Not feeling great so spending the rest of the day on the couch. Watching old episodes of Greys Anatomy. Feeling sooooo tired and body sore and sensitive. Very weird. Glad I don't have to go to work till Tuesday! Bleh... Hoping I don't feel like this the whole weekend though, would be a waste of 4 days off!

My mom is also running the Two Oceans half-marathon this weekend! Very proud of her!

Have a good long-weekend everyone!