Tuesday, 13th January 2015

To all our family and friends,

Wishing you a Happy New Year

Is it not scary how time flies?  My last blog was on Christmas Day and here I sit again, 19 days later and we are already half way through January 2015.  So hello to you all.  Most of you are probably back at work by now, I started yesterday again, and how easy we fall back into the routine that makes up our daily lives.  Hopefully your special Christmas time and New Year celebrations are not a distant memory already. We both wish for you all a fabulous 2015 filled with lots of love, happiness, good health and success in whatever it is that you set out to do.

 

As you know we were contemplating going camping and were discussing should we go or should we stay.  Stan (my brother) and his wife Michelle had bookings at 3 of the SANParks camps and since it was just the two of them camping we were able to piggyback on their bookings an join them.  We made a decision that we would see how far we got and if, at any time, Jimmy felt that he wanted to come home we would turn the car around and come back.  We left here on Saturday the 27th with the caravan on tow and went up to my folks to spend to nights with them in Bredasdorp.  On Monday morning we drove up to Graaff-Reinet and joined Stan and Michelle at Camdeboo National Park for 3 nights.  It's a very laid back park with not much to do other than takes drives through the park and relax.  It is the 2nd year in a row that we have been and we have still not seen the Buffalo and I am now seriously wondering if this is in fact a myth.  Even the receptionist says that it wasn't until she had been working there for quite sometime before she saw them and thought the other staff were pulling her leg. 

 

We spent New Years eve at Camdeboo but went to bed before midnight.  All the fresh air is exhausting!  I got into bed at about 11pm thinking that I wish I could delay New Year's by a few months.  With stem cell transplant hanging over us the like a huge thunder cloud it was the last thing I wanted to come soon.

 

From Camdeboo we headed towards Addo National Elephant Park.  A nice short distance of about 3hrs.  We woke up early, packed up camp, stopped in  Graaff-Reinet for breakkie and then hit the road.  We were very lucky with all our sites, as most of the SANParks operate on a 'choose an available site on arrival' or 'you are allocated one on arrival', and in spite of the heat we managed to get a nice shady site each time.  It was lovely sitting around the campfire at night with a huge watering hole right behind us which meant we could listen to the sounds of the animals at night.  One night it was Elephants and the next it was the call of the Jackal.  It was quite hot in Addo so we did morning and late afternoon self drives through the reserve and I relaxed and read in the afternoons and Jimmy enjoyed an afternoon snooze. 

 

After 3 nights at Addo, Stan and Michelle were moving on to Nature's Valley and I asked Jimmy how he was feeling and if he wanted to go home as we could split the journey and sleep over somewhere on route back.  He did not want to hear any of this.  So once again we were up early to pack up and hit the road with another distance of 3 hours ahead of us.  Nature's Valley is exactly how it is named, the most beautiful valley of nature.  The park is a forest of trees and you feel like you are camping with fairies.  This was to be our chill spot for the next 5 nights as there was no more getting up early to go game viewing.  We went for walks in the forest to see the Big Tree.  We packed a picnic lunch and spent the afternoon on the beach and swam in the lagoon.  Jimmy and I popped into Plett to stock up on food and had lunch at Mug 'n Bean.  I was very happy that they were so busy and the service was a bit slow as this gave me an excuse to leave him at the table and go and 'window shop' and of course I found the exact dress I was looking for :).  On Tuesday the 6th we awoke to that gnawing feeling in our tummies that Brad would get his matric results at 12:00.  Poor Jimmy could not contain himself and at 12:03 he phoned Brad and said he is sorry but he just can't wait any longer for the news.  We were elated that Brad passed; he struggles terribly with his languages, specially Afrikaans since the beginning of high school and he even passed Afrikaans.  We were so excited that the 4 of us decided to hit the local pub and celebrate!

 

The five night flew and on Friday morning we were up early again to pack up and hit the homeward road.  It had rained throughout the night and we had to pack up wet groundsheets and collapse the caravan roof with very wet canvas.  Just outside George we stopped for breakkie and said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.  Stan and Michelle wanted to take it easy as Stan's camper was giving him a bit of engine trouble.  It's quite a distance back so as we neared Swellendam (which is about half way) we decided to phone ahead and see if they had a site available, which they did.  This was a good excuse to break the journey and dry out the roof and all our wet towels and groundsheet etc.  Rather than get home at about 6pm and then have to open everything up the next morning again. 

 

And this was a brilliant idea.  I have to tell you that from 3 days back already I was feeling very anxious about coming home and facing the whole cancer thing again.  I developed a stye and was very teary the last day.  We had had a wonderful break away from it all.  I know I have said over the last month or so that Jimmy is a different person but it was as if this holiday had waved its magic wand.  The old Jimmy was truly back including his wonderful sense of humour. It was amazing to hear him laughing.   He even enjoyed the odd beer here and there.  He spoke and chatted more this 2 weeks that we were away than he has since April.  The new Jimmy with no hair :).  Aren't you guys out there jealous?  He hasn't had to shave for the last month.  His head is now completely bald and as smooth as a babies bum.  Even his eyebrows have thinned out.

To Stan and Michelle;  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your holiday with us and giving me back my Jimmy xx

 

Oh....and my other news is that I finished my queen size crochet chemo blanket!

 

brag....

...brag.....

....brag

 

Yesterday we phoned the clinic to remind them that Jimmy needs to come in for his monthly Zobone (calcium) injection and Sister Wendy said that Mr Brown had been trying to get hold of us.  We phoned him back and he informed us that Jimmy needs to report to high care next Tuesday at 7am.  He will go into theatre at 8am to have his Hickman line put in and then he'll be taken back to high care for the rest of the day and night while they pre-hydrate him.  This is putting fluids into him so that the chemo doesn't burn his veins etc.  On Wednesday morning he will be transferred to F4 Isolation ward where they will administer a heavy dose of chemo for two days and on Friday the 23rd they will transplant his stem cells.  So this is the big it....  We knew Prof was coming back on the 19th and had sort of resigned ourselves to the fact that Jimmy would probably go in sometime during the following week.  I was sitting opposite Jimmy while he was on the phone and when he put it down we both looked at each other and said 'crap, this is a bit quick'.  But we are actually very grateful that the ball is rolling and the sooner we get this over the better.

 

All went well with Jimmy's Zobone infusion today.  We also got a copy of his itinerary and the first thing on the list is to have safety bloods taken the day prior to being admitted.  I asked Sister Wendy about this as they had done them when he was in high care having the 2 days of chemo prior to stem cell harvest.  She explained that safety bloods are the tests they do for HIV and other diseases and unless Jimmy had been a naughty boy, she said that we would not have to have them redone.  She was busy putting the line is his arm as she was explaining this to which Jimmy says 'well then I guess you had better do the safety bloods again'.  She looked up absolutely shocked, looked at me and then at Jimmy and when she saw that he was joking she burst out laughing.  She even high fived him.  Sister Wendy is a real character.  She used to run the F4 Isolation ward before she resigned to go and work for 8 years in the Arab Emirates.  She has only been back at UCTPAH for a few months but she says she is already itching to go work somewhere else again and is thinking of going to one of the African countries. 

 

There was only us and one other patient in the clinic today while we were there so it gave Jimmy the ideal opportunity to ask all the questions he had about isolation.  She says that this round of chemo that he will have is the heaviest yet and they take his body right down and he is basically left with no cells.  They then start Neupogen injections to stimulate growth while his body gets strong enough to start producing its own cells.  She says it is almost a given that he will get some kind of infection while he is there and there are loads of side effects.  One of them being that his skin is going to be super sensitive for some time after and that he will hardly be able to touch himself it is so painful.  Some people also have a complete change in the colour of the pigment on the skin.  It goes a much darker, very tanned colour.  This can take months to return to normal and with some people it never does.  She says that just like your hair, your skin changes colour and texture too.  There are too many different side effects to mention here but hopefully Jimmy will only suffer a handful of them and I will of course keep you all posted along the way.

 

We have a busy weekend ahead of us as we get together with friends at home so that they can say 'goodbye' to Jimmy as, if all goes according to plan, he should be released from F4 Isolation ward around the 18th of February and then go into high care for 2 nights before he comes home again.

 

It's going to be a long, stressful month and one, not without some complications but we are positive and ready for this.  This is the last stage in our journey with Multiple Myeloma to the road of recovery. 

 

I pray that Jimmy will be strong.

 

* I have uploaded some photos of our holiday.  Click on the link on the left hand side of the home page 'Camping: National Parks' under the heading 'Getting away from it all'.

PS.  I have decided to make my new years resolution that I will make a better effort of commenting on all your lovely comments.  Please keep them coming, they mean so much to Jimmy.  (I have edited this blog and added this bit on)