One sleep till we get on a plane to New York City and WEGO Health Awards!

The time has finally arrived for our trip to New York! We're soooooo bloody excited! Already checked in for the flights on Emirates. A year ago this time I would have never imagined that we would be off on this awesome adventure right now. I've been lying awake in the early hours of the morning for the last new nights, just in awe of how my health is feeling so fantastic right now, and how brilliant my breathing is, how much energy I have compared to a year ago... how almost everything in life is just SO MUCH BETTER when you can breathe. There is a quote that says "When you can't breathe, nothing else matters." This is so absolutely true! And when you CAN breathe, so much in life just gets magically better! I really hope that everyone I know waiting for a transplant may also get to experience this feeling one day.

I am excited to announce that I have been nominated for the WEGO Health "Patient Leader Hero" and "Best in show: Blog" Awards in the 2018 WEGO Health Awards. I don't know who nominated me in these 2 categories, but THANK YOU!

WEGO Health is a mission-driven company connecting health care with the experience, skills, and insights of patient leaders. They are the world’s largest network of patient leaders, working across virtually all health conditions and topics.

The WEGO Health Awards were created to celebrate those who tirelessly support the mission of WEGO Health: to empower the patient voice. With 16 award categories, the WEGO Health Awards are the only awards across all conditions and platforms, that recognize the over 100 thousand inspiring Patient Leaders who raise awareness, share information, and support their communities - but often without recognition. This year, the 16 WEGO Health Award winners will be honored at an in-person celebration in October co-hosted by the Society of Participatory Medicine at the Connected Health Conference. (Not that I'll be able to attend, as it's in the USA!)

There are two easy ways to endorse that only take seconds of your time!

1) You can click on my endorsement badge located at the top right part of my blog.
2) Click here to be taken to my WEGO Health Awards profile where you can click “Endorse” under my nominee photo.

This past weekend was very social! Two of my university friends were in town for a Katy Perry concert, so had some great catching up sessions!

Hope you have a great weekend... and please bear with me when I break your Instagram and Facebook with pics of our trip!! 

National Transplant Games

A week ago I flew down to Port Elizabeth, my hometown, for the National Games. The highlight of the Games was undoubtedly seeing everyone again! I've been involved with Transplant Sport for 10 years this year (for which I was awarded Life Membership... see one of the pics below), and that makes you a part of the Transplant Sport Family. A family that shares in the triumphs and losses of the athletes and their families. I was very sad to miss the last National Games, especially as it was held in Joburg. 

We stayed in the Marine Protea Hotel... which is where my parents AND Chris and I had our wedding receptions (almost 3 decades apart obviously). When I was growing up we often ate at the buffet there for very special occasions. So I have very fond memories of that hotel. The first night in PE I spent with my friend since Primary School, Antoinette. We chatted and tied business cards to heart shaped lollipops for the Love Life; Gift Life awareness stand at Friday's Beach Walk, until the early hours of the morning. The Thursday eve was comprised of the Welcome and AGM, and reconnecting with everyone. I shared a room with a lovely lady from Pretoria!

On Friday it was squash.... 12 whole games of it! The altitude DEFINITELY helped me a lot, I would never have been able to play 12 games in such quick succession here in JHB. Some of the games were over quickly, but it still involved a lot of running.  All in all it was fantastic. I loved every second of it.

The athletics however didn't go as well as planned LOL. The weather was terrible (for being outside, but great for the drought!), and I ended up running quite a bit worse than here in JHB. So the altitude made no difference there!!! The track was so wet, and I don't have spikes, so I ran barefoot, which probably made me slower too. The important thing is that it was a lot of fun! I was the only female athlete doing this event, as the others withdrew due to being sick or injured, so at least I came first! The below article was in a local Eastern Cape newspaper today. If you understand Afrikaans you should be able to read it!

Saturday eve was the Gala Dinner, and Sunday we headed back home... Apart from the "bad" weather, this was one of the best Nationals' that I've attended in the last 10 years. The food was fantastic, the venues were great, everything was well organised. WELL DONE to everyone involved, I was very proud of the Eastern Cape! We will know later in the year if we've made the SA Team.

Off to PE!

This afternoon I'm flying down to PE for the National Transplant Games! And to represent Love Life; Gift Life! Can't explain how excited I am... In 2016 I wasn't allowed to even attend the Games as a spectator, and now I'll be participating!

See below article in Sunday's Sunday Times newspaper that featured me and some other athletes. Wish me luck!