Weekend of the cousins

As per previous blog post, we saw two of our cousins this weekend! First up was Elette and her husband Gareth. Elette is my mom's brother's daughter. She is my age and we used to see each other a lot more when we were still growing up. We saw them every Christmas at a minimum. It was really great spending some time with them. We showed them the best ribs in town, took them to Starbucks and Krispy Kreme for some American influence, had some brunch at Salvation Cafe... So pretty much lots of eating!

Elette and Gareth left for home on Sunday morning, and we were off to meet some Vosloo family for lunch. My dad's brother Tys has cancer unfortunately so his son Adam and his wife Tabitha came from New Zealand to visit. We haven't actually met Tabi before, so it was really great to be able to do that. Adam is my sister's age and emigrated to NZ when he was 7 so we haven't seen him as often as we would like, but we always love it when we do get the chance. Hopefully one day Chris and I can actually go and visit them! We have friends in Australia as well so I feel a trip to that part of the world is needed!

My mom and I got to spend some time with them during the day yesterday. We showed them around Joburg a little bit, briefly stopped at 44 Stanley Str and 27 Boxes in Melville. Was pleasantly surprised by the latter... I've never been there and it's pretty cool. Definitely need to take Anna and Casey there when they come. We had supper at my parents' house along with Chrislie and Pierre.

Went to the pharmacy and got some groceries this afternoon... slept till 9:20AM, so it's been a really slow morning! Did some laundry as well at least. Tomorrow and Friday are also going to be rather busy with medical appointments, so hopefully the weekend will be relaxing!

Winter Solstice and Lungaversary

Yesterday marked the shortest day and longest night for our hemisphere.... Found some amazing breathtaking pics on social media yesterday.... see some more here. Apparently it was special this year because it coincided with "Strawberry Moon ". Anyways, I don't know anything about astronomy, but it's beautiful.

Today is the 22nd again..... lungaversary! Always a special day and the feeling of happiness never gets old.

Been a rather chilled week but going to be picking up from here... on Monday I just did some grocery shopping, Tuesday I had bio, and drove around for a bit of Love Life; Gift Life admin that had to be done. Today I had lunch with Andrew (had the most AMAZING Musselpot). Yay for self-employed friends!!!! The highlight of my day though was seeing my friend who recently had a single lung transplant on Skype this morning, looking GREAT, being pink, not wearing oxygen anymore! Makes my heart so happy and just reaffirms what we're trying to achieve with Love Life; Gift Life.

This weekend is going to be FILLED with family, as my cousin Elette and her hubby from East London will be coming up for a wedding and staying with us. We haven't seen them since my Grandad's funeral in Feb last year, and before that at their wedding in 2011! AND my cousin Adam from New Zealand is here to see his dad, so will be seeing him as well! I haven't seen him since 2009 I think??? So that will be great.

Going to need DAYS of sleep to recover. Been feeling SO TIRED. All the time. Very frustrating. Yay for fewer responsibilities and more time to sleep. And kitties who cuddle.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my dad! Chrislie and I love you very much!!!! It sounds like such a cliche to say "we have the best dad in the world", but we really do. My dad is awesome, he is cool and calm when he needs to be, he has a dry and witty sense of humour, he plans the best family holidays, even now that we're old and married. Trips away are always a priority, and we both inherited his love of nature and animals :-) And the importance of planning holidays to look forward to.

He loves his sons in law, he buys me teddy bears (and sterilizes them!) and coffee when I'm in hospital. We can ask him for ANYTHING and he will assist. He gives great advice, he puts us to shame with all his academic achievements (always a good example for us!).

Over the years he has enabled me to do IV antibiotics at home preventing weeks of hospital stays and doing a better job than most nurses would have. He has fought many battles with medical aid to ensure I get the best treatment, he as spent hours in ques at the Provincial Hospital in PE for meds for me. Flew with me to JHB to meet the transplant Dr and investigate this option in 2007. Ultimately he moved to Johannesburg for me and had to commute to PE to be with my mom over weekends for a few years so that I can be in JHB after transplant. Drove me to Pretoria for Photopheresis many times  in 2013/2014. And I know he will ALWAYS be there in the future if any of us need him.

He loves my mom and their relationship has set such a good example for my sister and I to follow. We are sooo blessed and proud to have this man as a dad and role-model.

Happy Youth Day

Today is Youth Day, a public holiday. If you're not local then read the history behind this here.

Been having a really good, busy week. On Monday I didn't do much, as my car's battery was dead due to it not being driven while I was in hosp. So I was stuck at home, but not complaining as it was SERIOUSLY cold and wet. Kitties and I spent the whole day in front of the heater watching TV. I also woke up with a black eye! Got a massive fright when I looked in the mirror. It's probably a blood vessel that burst as a side effect of the higher dosage prednisone I'm still on since this recent hospitalisation. It looks HORRIBLE and no amount of make-up can cover it. Feels like I need to explain to everyone that "No, my husband didn't beat me. It's my medication."

Tuesday was also a freezing day. Had bio, which was a good way to warm up even though it was very hard dragging my ass out of bed! Breathing was quite a bit better than before hosp so that's good. Had a pretty good work-out I think. definitely have some sore muscles! Afterwards I went to have my hair cut finally! Been craving it since before hosp... From about March my hair has been falling out a LOT (in my past experience this happens when my body goes through a shock... like after transplant... and I think landing up in ICU after both lungs collapsed in Jan has caused this again). So hair has been looking crappy and thin, even though I cut quite a lot off about 2 months ago. At least it falls out evenly and I don't have bald patches! So anyway, I cut it a LOT shorter and a slight tinge of red was added, VERY happy with the result, and so much easier to wash and dry. I can still JUST fit it into a ponytail as well. (Note fringe is strategically hiding black eye!)

Yesterday I did some grocery shopping, and met with a friend for coffee. Last night Andrew invited us over for some soup and wine with friends so had quite a late night, but lots of fun. Today we slept in a bit, and joined another couple for lunch and Krispy Kreme doughnuts! The rest of the day has just been spent doing admin stuff and being close to the heater. Chris has taken tomorrow off as well, don't have any plans yet, I need to get to the pharmacy somewhere during the day. Hopefully eye looks better soon.

Freedom

Home after 16 days in hospital and very happy about it!!!  Got discharged late Friday evening, and had the most amazing sleep till after 10AM yesterday morning. We celebrated my mom's birthday with lunch out (had what tasted like the most amazing steak in the world) followed by coffee and lemon meringue pie at my parents' house. Spent the rest of the day just unpacking and doing laundry. Lungs feeling better than when I was admitted so hopefully the feeling lasts.

Kitties were relatively happy to see me... As can be seen in the above pics they ignore me but Peppy (black one) cuddled tightly against me the whole night on Friday. Have a rather busy week planned... stocking up the house with food, seeing biokineticist, having hair cut, need to go to pharmacy, catching up with a friend... Thursday is a public holiday, and Chris has taken leave for Friday, so we'll just chill together at home on those two days.

All in all just very happy to be home. Less than 3 months before Anna and Casey arrive, so getting VERY excited about that. Need to start prioritising all the things we need to show them in Joburg! And try to keep lungs stable!

Happy birthday to my mom!

In less than an hour's time it's my wonderful mother's birthday! Baie geluk met mamma se verjaarsdag, ons is soooooo lief vir mamma en danksy mamma het ons OK uitgedraai :-) My mom is AMAZING, She has always been there for my sister and I (except when I get a tattoo but even that she forgives eventually). She raised us to be the best people we can possibly be, and I often catch myself saying something and totally hearing my mom's voice coming out of my mouth, but it makes me proud because if I turn out to be half the person she is it means I turn out pretty awesome.

I can't believe it's already a few days into June... time seems to disappear when you're in hospital. Winter is here. (I recently binge-watched Game of Thrones so now this sounds weird to say). Hoping to go home tomorrow, feeling way better than when I came in at least.

Finished another blanket and colouring in pic...

Not much other news, craving to get my hair cut when I get out of here, and be home with my hubby (who has been amazing once again while I've been in hosp) and the kitties (who are going to ignore me for a while). And sleep in my own bed with an electric blanket.

Oh and on a funny note, found THIS in the week and I think it's BRILLIANT!!!!