Local Touristing part 2 and health checks

On Saturday Brian and I went to the Carlton Centre in the CBD, which is the tallest building on the Southern Hemisphere! It's 50 stories tall (obviously there is an elevator!!!!). Some truly amazing views!

After that we went to Nelson Mandela's house in Soweto. I haven't been there before, and it was pretty great. Definitely worth a visit.

After that we were joined by Carli again, and went out for pizza. I was pretty knackered after all of that, but it was a great change to the usual routine!

That concludes the hosting section of last week! Apart from that I have also been productive health-wise. I had my eyes tested and got new glasses and free prescription sunglasses! The good news is that my eyesight hasn't deteriorated in the last 2 years so script stays the same. Love my new frames though, and can still wear the old ones too if I feel like it :-) I had to go to the dentist as well, as I was experiencing some pain when biting on my back tooth. Turns out a part of the tooth had broken off, and luckily it could be fixed. Still feels a bit sensitive but I'm going back in a month's time for a cleaning. Not keen for more drilling though so think I will just live with the sensitive tooth!

Also had lung check-up earlier this week. Bloods were all good. Vitamin D levels only just just in the normal range, so need to increase that. Kidneys, infection counts, glucose levels were all great. Lung function has dropped, but it's a new lung function machine as well so hard to gauge by how much. Not that it really matters a heck of a lot... it's just a number at this point.

Local Touristing part 1

Last week was a whirlwind of activity!!! Spent some time with my awesome friend Carli.... went for a manicure and pedicure (spoiling ourselves!!!), and met up with Andrew, Brendan and Marius for supper on Wednesday night at Hudsons in Parkhurst. I haven't been there before, it's really nice. Love trying new places.

On Thursday Brian arrived, ready to record an interview with me for the piece he is composing. We jumped right into it and started recording on the Thursday Night. It was quite interesting... some deep questions, and I couldn't see the questions beforehand...  didn't have much time to compose an answer... so the answers were all kind of instinctive. Can't wait to hear the end product!

On Friday the touristing started! Tried to show Brian as much of Jozi as time and my lungs would allow. We went to the top of Northcliff Hill on the way back from the airport on Thursday, and the Lion Park and Apartheid Museum on Friday. Also had some typical Joburg thunderstorms on Friday so that was perfect. I didn't take the first pic below, and not sure who did, but I found it on the internet and it's one of my favourite Joburg pics.... It's what I wanted to show Brian.....

9 Year Lungaversary!

9 Years ago this time I was in theatre receiving my new lungs. To see the blog post from that day check it out here! Definitely one of the best days of my life, and probably the most important. All I can be is grateful. Towards my donor's family, the medical personnel, my family, God, my friends, everyone who was there for me. The breathers that have given me almost a decade! I hope that somehow my donor knows how much her gift has meant to me and my family.

Had a great day today with family. Way better than last year when I was in hospital waiting for a biopsy the whole day! It has also been a year now since I've stopped working. My last day at work was 20 Jan last year. The year was challenging but necessary, and I am grateful for the things that I have learnt. Looking forward to my 10th year with the lungs. I have a good feeling about this!

Busy week ahead leading up to lungaversary!

Had a pretty laid back week. Cleaning the house, bio, organising meds, buying groceries and making suppers... Carli (my friend from school... we got tattoos together when we were 16) arrived yesterday for a visit. Last night was the start of my 9 year lungaversary celebrations... played Cards Against Humanity and ate lasagne with some friends, always guarantees a lot of laughs! We've also been having some nice rain, which is great after a very dry year last year, and Joburg is looking amazing.

Went with my sis to Lifestyle Garden Centre today, feeling more short of breath than usual, probably hormonal, ugh. Next week is super busy... Carli is going to be here, and Brian is arriving on Thursday for the interview that he is doing with me for his composition (see previous post here for explanation). Carli is leaving again on Sunday morning and Brian on Sunday evening. Will definitely be showing Brian around Jozi a bit!!

Chris's grandmother passed away so he will be going to Cape Town from Tuesday to Sunday morning :-(. In between all of that I have to go to the dentist on Monday morning for a tooth that I'm worried about, and having my eyes tested on Tuesday (because it's been almost 2 years and my glasses are physically broken and keep falling off my face). Next weekend the lungaversary celebrations shall continue as the actual anniversary day is next Sunday!!!

First week of 2017 done!

The first week of the year has been good. I love how everyone is coming back from their holidays and friends are here again. I've also been back at bio this week. That was ROUGH after the 2 weeks off, but did good I think. Definitely a very necessary activity for me!!! I have zero cardio capability but have to keep pushing on with what I CAN do, even if recovery after every activity takes a few mins and I feel like I'm dying. I am normally not a fan of the corny "LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH" words appearing on everything (linen, crockery, ALL HOUSE WARE, some people just put the words on their walls like art) trend that has been going around (and hopefully ending soon) - sorry if I'm offending anyone! My point is that I love this shirt that becomes so ironic when I wear it! It's also conveniently a summary of everything I want by the end of this year, should I forget :-)

Something else that was awesome is that I got to see the final product that a student did using me as inspiration. She had to do the framework of a book pretty much for her main Book design and Editing project of the year. Well done Chanelle it looked amazing! So much of talent! These illustrations tell such an amazing story.

Chris was away this week with my dad to Mapungubwe, so it was quite nice to have the house to myself and a little change in routine. Had the most amazing evening last night at Brendan's house! We had such fun, and with the rain that started falling ended up having a mini dance party in the kitchen (where I could conveniently plug in my portable O2 and turn it up!!!!) Haven't had as much fun in a long time and got home way after midnight via Uber! Paying for it today (and possibly tomorrow!!) but was so worth it.

So all in all very positive vibes for 2017 so far! That's exactly what I need.