17 December

The 17th of December has been a memorable day for the past 3 years! In 2017 I ran on the treadmill for the first time after my second bi-lateral lung transplant. In 2018 I tore my Achilles tendon for the second time, and last year I arrived in London on this day. Nothing much to report for 2020 though. 

Yesterday Brendan, Marius, Andrew and I had a little Christmas lunch before they go home to PE etc. It really was very nice. These have basically been the only people I've socialised with the entire year. So grateful for these three!

The main excitement in the family is the fact that my sister's baby girl is arriving in Jan! We can't wait! The whole family will just be here for Christmas. Looking forward to just seeing the end of this year.

I see that I never posted anything about the picnic I had for my 3 year lungaversary... It was an AWESOME celebration. I've been trying to have a picnic every year since the redo transplant, and every year it has rained. However it was third time lucky this year. (Strange, saying 2020 and lucky in the same sentence!). The weather was great, and got to see my favourite people!

My check up 10 days after the hysterectomy went fine. The surgeon said she would have let me go home the same day still, but the other Drs were a bit weary of that. Cuts have healed well, and last night/this morning a lot of the dissolvable stitches fell out. Seeing her again on 13 Jan.

Also had a lung checkup on 1 Dec. Lung function was down a bit, probably due to the anesthesia. Kidneys are also taking some strain with the combination of meds I'm on to allow for healing after the hysterectomy. However I'm switching back to my usual meds next week Monday. Yay! May this be the last surgery in a while! So much admin! Will have another checkup on 22 Jan, which will be the 13 year anniversary of my first lung transplant! 

I probably won't blog again before Christmas, so MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

8 Sleeps to go!

Only 8 sleeps til my UK trip!!!! SOOOOOOO EXCITED. It's going to be a very busy week, but I'm motivated to get everything done. Need to have medication delivered, finish up work, TELL strat session, gym/bio, go to pharmacy, Christmas celebrations, Dr's visit, blood tests, Parkrun, pack, etc...

It's been raining for like 5 days straight here. We really needed it and I'm not quite sick of it yet, but it feels like it's been preparing me for my trip! Two weeks ago myself and 3 fellow lung transplant recipient friends completed the Muddy Princess 5km Obstacle Race. It was super fun and surprisingly easy. I want to start doing some Parkruns now, and also have a bee in my bonnet about getting fit for next year's National Transplant Games!

Another highlight was Grandparents' Day at my nephew's school. My dad couldn't make it so I went with my mom. It was SUPER cute, and I feel so lucky to see this guy growing up!!!

All in all everything is good. I'm just so freaking grateful for so much right now. May my health continue to allow me to live my best life!

Achilles Tendon journey

Yesterday marked a year since I tore my Achilles tendon playing squash. Largely due to years of being on Prednisone, combined with squash and bad luck. It's been a long recovery.... much longer than any of my lung transplant recoveries (how crazy is that??). It's still quite a hectic scar... I try to remember to put tissue oil on, but I forget. All that I really care about is that everything is functioning again and I can DO STUFF again! Below is what it looks like now... All the other scars on my body look great, so hoping this one will eventually follow suit.

The timeline was as follows:

26 Oct - tear tendon
1 Nov - surgery to repair tendon
14 December - cast comes off and instructed to wear a wedge heel.
17 December - fall in my parents' garden and tear open the entire thing, splitting it in all directions (did not post a pic of that, some people might faint)
17 Dec - second surgery to repair tendon and replace with artificial tendon
1 Feb - cast comes off and I get a moon-boot
Wound doesn't look great at the bottom so many visits to wound clinic.
17 March-ish - Moon-boot comes off. Slowly start walking "normally" again.

It took MONTHS to gain muscles back in left leg, a lot of physio... left calf muscles still not back to normal yet. Had to withdraw from the team for the World Transplant Games in Aug this year :-( See pics below (sorry if some of them are still gross):

In other news, TELL was featured in the Rosebank Killarney Gazette last week, and in the Times Online two weeks before that, which is great.

Andrew has also helped me hang my pictures in my flat, so it's really looking nice. The Jacaranda trees are also looking stunning! Pics of all of the above below! ONLY 3 MORE SLEEPS TILL MY 2 YEAR LUNGAVERSARY!!! Will blog again later in the week!

Birthday month is here, and living on my own.

It's August! Yay! On the 31st I turn 35??!!!??? How did that even happen? I've also been living on my own since the beginning on the month, in my little apartment/flat that I'm renting in Linden. The first night or three was a bit strange, but I'm used to it now, and it feels like home. As of this morning I also finally have my internet sorted, so now I can REALLY settle in! On Friday eve Brendan, Andrew and Marius were here for a housewarming, which was very nice. Some pics of the new place below... just a rough idea and not staged at all! Will post decent pictures once everything is properly unpacked and hung etc.

The cats seems to have settled in nicely at my parents' house. Very relieved that that is going well.

Last week Monday I had a lung check-up. My CMV viral load is finally negative again, yay! Lung function was great, FEV1 was 94% (last time 95%), and FVC was 118% (last time 112 or 116% I think). Very relieved that so far these stressful few months haven't affected my health. Health problems are the LAST thing I need right now! Achilles tendon is also doing really nicely. I can run for short bits on the treadmill again! Yay! The helicopter pic was taken at the hospital on Monday... it was landing as I came walking down the hill. Always love seeing them land, and they make me emotional.

I was on TV on the 1st of Aug, which is the beginning of organ donation awareness month in SA. If you understand Afrikaans, watch the video here.

Other than that, the weather has been a bit warmer, and last week Sunday I had a great afternoon at Marius and Brendan's house, eating potjie (stew made on the fire for those who don't know).

And lastly... what would a blog post be without a pic of Ads!

Car accident, divorce, and awesome people in my life.

So much is happening, please excuse if this post is all over the place.

Divorce update: We signed the settlement agreement yesterday. So from our side everything has been done. I'm moving out into a little loft style cottage in Linden on 1 August. The cats are going to my parents. I'm busy packing and throwing out stuff that I don't really want or need. At the same time I'm buying items that I WILL need. Emotions are up and down. It's sad, but at the same time the future is also exciting. It's really the end of a massive chapter, and I will miss all of this. I'm hoping that by my birthday (31 Aug), things will be much better and I'll be settled in. I'm also very glad that things aren't ugly and that everything is very civilised between Chris and myself.

As if all this crap isn't enough to deal with, I was in a proper car accident 3 weeks ago. I was driving a rental car, because my car was being repaired after a small accident that I mentioned in my blog last time. Another car skipped a red traffic light while I was turning right, and t-boned me. I was taken to hospital in an ambulance, but luckily I didn't get seriously injured. My left hip was super bruised and banged up, lots of random bruises on my legs, arms and right knuckle. The seatbelt buckle also cut into my tummy a bit.

Apart from the excess I had to pay for the first accident and this accident, the towing company who towed the car was not authorised to do so by the car rental company, and they charged a fortune. All I can hope for now is that the funds will be recouped from the other driver who was at fault. At best I'll get the funds back in 3 months' time. It's so depressing how much I have had to spend on cars this month!!! The pic of the bruise was taken on the day of the accident... it ended up looking much worse, but at least it's much better now.

I had a great lung check-up again at the beginning of the month, my lung function was the same as last time, still at the all-time high. Thank goodness THAT is going well right now. My CMV viral count is still positive, so Dr has adjusted my meds a bit.

Fawn and I was also on The Gareth Cliff show one Friday morning. I was on his show exactly 10 years ago, before the Australian World Transplant Games. So I kind of felt like it was coming "full circle" being back on air with the second set of lungs. You can listen to the interview here.... listen after about 28 minutes though.

http://cliffcentral.com/gcs/extraordinary-stories-of-organ-donation/?fbclid=IwAR36AOLFVnIzXL2Jn5iHcsB-SYidpfauyiQQlhsJMpdvgbKn06atndNuwe8

Just after my previous post, my mom and I went to visit my aunty Deanie, who we haven't seen in a while. Still the brightest 90 odd year old person I know! She googles, checks her e-mails once a day, still drives herself around JHB! A remarkable no-nonsense person.

Fawn and I also had a great catch-up lunch with Aviva at The Fireroom in Montecasino. Sushi and gin...... it was YUMMY.

I stayed in my parents' house for two weeks while they were in Greece earlier this month, and my friend Bonnie stayed with me some of the time. It was super fun just having a "girl's night" vibe and chilling by the fire.

This past weekend was Andrew's birthday, and 9 of us went away to a house he rented for the weekend. It was just what I needed. Getting out of the city, catching up on some sleep, laughing so hard your abs hurt. It was strange to go alone, and I guess it will still take some getting used to.

Lastly... despite all my complaints above, physically I feel like I'm in a better place than I have ever been. I'm not as fit as I've previously been, but on Tuesday I was able to run a little bit again for the first time since October last year before I tore the Achilles. (This was supervised by my bio! I wouldn't have the courage to try it on my own!) So my body is feeling strong overall.... no reflux... and lungs are pristine for now, I'm physically feeling better than I did for most of my life by far. In fact, I almost feel like I need to make up now for all the life I missed out on between the ages of 18-23 and 32-33, when I was waiting for lungs again. I was THAT person in the gym 2 weeks ago, who took a photo in the gym, because despite my accident-bruise, I don't think my arms have ever looked this strong :-) After these last two months, I think it will be more than just my arms that have grown stronger...