Tuesday, 9th September

Well, it seems that I am in a spot trouble because I have not blogged since the 1st of September.  Thanks for all the phone calls and messages from friends just 'checking in'.  It has been very busy work wise for me and we've had quite a few trips through to UCTPAH so my time has been a bit limited and by the time I sit down to blog in the evening I have been a tad tired and just not in the right frame of mind.

So where were we....our geyser burst and we were without hot water for 2 days. The whole claims process went very smoothly and I really thought if only everything in life was this simple.  We phoned and were told we had to pay R 500,00 excess and the plumber was here the next morning to install the new geyser and even managed to organise a solar geyser.  We had a normal 200 litre geyser connected to a solar system before.  We were a bit worried because they said they would have to remove the roof to put the new geyser in but then decided to make a bigger hole around the trap door.  The following day the electricians were here to wire everything up and now, 6 days later, we wait for the builders to come and neaten up the hole in our ceiling and put in a bigger trap door.

Jimmy started first treatment of the 2nd cycle of chemo on Thursday.  It was a very long day at the chemo clinic as he had the normal chemo as well as the Doxorubucin and the Zobone, to strengthen his bones, which is also given intravenously.  We only got home at 15h30.  It was a rather depressing day actually and we both came home feeling a bit down.  There is nothing nicer than going to the chemo clinic and seeing the other regular patients there and be able to tell them how well they are looking.  Of course everyone has ups and downs just like Jimmy but on Thursday, three of our cancer friends really didn't look too well at all.  Two of them had to lie down whilst having their chemo.

On Friday morning Jimmy woke up to hair on his pillow.  I had counted the days from his first Doxorubicin treatment and if his hair was going to fall out I thought it would be around the following Tuesday.  I ran my fingers through his hair and it came out in tufts so we decided I would shave it really short.  I thought he would wake up the next morning and it would all be gone but it is just slowly getting thinner and thinner.  At least it's just very short little pieces on his pillow and shirts now.  It's not very nice to see big tufts of hair lying about.

JIMMY SPORTING HIS NEW 'BARELY THERE ' HAIR STYLE

We had the children with us this past weekend and how nice not to have any sports commitments on Saturday morning.  No getting up at 6:30!  It was a pretty quiet weekend at home as the kids had to study and Emma had a ton of projects to get through.  I was also sure that Jimmy's white blood cell counts would be dropping as a result of the Doxorubicin so not worth chancing going out.  He has been very tired, dozing off during the day in his chair and sleeping in a bit in the mornings.  We are very excited that Bradly has been accepted at college to study Sports Management next year.  Loren and Shannon start exams tomorrow and Emma starts on Monday.

We are now on the Thursday / Monday cycle for chemo, so Jimmy had chemo again yesterday.  His bloods have dropped really fast after The Red Devil last Thursday: whites from 3.1 to 1.6 (range 4 to 11), reds from 4.11 to 3.84 (range 4.5 to 6.5) and basospils have risen from 0.7 to 1.6 (range 0 to 0.5).  I am glad we took the precaution of not going out over the weekend.

Of course this means that he has to have more Neupogen injections.  The doctor did the script yesterday and we had to wait for the medical aid to authorise them and then go back this morning to collect them.  Another long day of waiting.  I had phoned the medical aid yesterday afternoon to tell them that last time he had the Neupogen injections we had to pay a levy of R750 because we were not using Dischem Pharmacy which is our preferred service provider.  I explained to them that Dischem can get the Neupogen but they have to order it from their Johannesburg warehouse and it would take 5 days to get here.  Jimmy can't wait 5 days to get the injections and if he does his white bloods cell count will drop even lower and his next chemo treatment will be postponed.  If this happens each cycle it could throw everything out by a month.  They very kindly unblocked the levy and we went through to pick them up this morning.  We get there and the pharmacist tells us she cannot issue them because the system is throwing out that Jimmy has already had Neupogen injections in the last 26 days.  So I phone the medical aid again and explain that this is going to be the norm for the rest of the 3 cycles and once he starts stem cell transplant these injections are going to be ongoing so they better change it in the system.  They agree to this while we wait 2 hours.  They then phone me back to tell me that the code has been changed on the system and the pharmacist can issue the injections.  What happens????  We have to pay a R750 levy!  So I phoned them back and they are full of apologies and ask us please to pay the levy and email the slip to the medical aid and they will refund us.  Believe it or not but I have been told by Prof Novitzky's PA that we have a very good medical aid compared to some of the other patients.

On a positive note, thank you Kelly for the lovely visit on Saturday and for looking after Jimmy while I was being Mom's taxi.  Thanks too for the beautiful flowers and Jimmy's chocolates.  I am glad I didn't have to share my flowers with him.  I really hope we get to see you again before you go back to Australia and please know that your Dad is in our thoughts every day and we are praying for a good recovery.

I would also like to say a big thank you to Cheryl De Wit from CANCA Relay for Life Langeberg for the lovely gift which was sent to Jimmy.  It's great that you are following my blog and I love the daily inspirations that you send through. For everyone else's benefit; Cheryl is a very proud cancer survivor and has been a wealth of information and support even right down to Jimmy's hair falling out.

We have had a whole lot of birthdays this month so far so our birthday wishes go out to Guy (Muis), Michelle, Spencer, Jigger and my brother Stan.  It's Stan's birthday today and I can't even wish him in person because he has 'flu.  Really Stan.....anything to get out of coming to the office!

I have been really slack at counting my blessings lately but I know just how very blessed I am that Jimmy has been so strong and doing so well.