Sunday, 8th March

Day 64 & 65 - Stem Cell Transplant

Apologies that I am 2 days behind with this blog but daily hospital visits and these fires have taken their toll.  Loren and Emma are also here for the weekend and I am trying to spend as much time with them as I can.  We had 3 new fires start up yesterday...one between the Red Hill Camp and Scarborough, one at misty cliffs and then early evening behind Lake Michelle. The fire at Cape Point was a huge one.  At about 11pm on Friday night the fire fighters stood down as there was nothing more they could do until the helicopters could come back at first light.  The fire line was 11km long and they spent the rest of the night saving the houses in Cape Point.  This morning I am pleased to say that all the fires are contained and we now have volunteers keeping an eye out for hot spots.

Arson is being suspected and some reports have come in of residents in the various areas seeing 3 suspicious men, one dressed in an orange all in one suit, leaving an area in the bush where a plume of smoke can be seen.  When I have more time I will start a separate page on the left hand side of the home page and post some links and information there regarding the fires.  It really has been an eye opener learning to understand all the behind the scenes stuff.  I so hope this is the end of it.

Today is the Argus Cycle Tour, now called the Cape Town Cycle Tour, and this has been shortened from 109km to 47km.  It is our tradition that we go down to the bottom of Chapman's Peak and spend the day skotteling and watching the cyclists but sadly this year they don't ride any of the section of the Southern Peninsula.  A friend was speaking to a doctor who explained to her that it would be very dangerous for even the fittest cyclists with a big lung capacity to breathe in the smoke and ash that is still in the air.  Our house still smells like a bush fire.

Jimmy is hanging in there.  He doesn't seem to be as sick as he was with previous infections but I think this is because they caught it early.  He was put on antibiotics as soon as his temperature spiked and it looks like they chose the correct one.  While I was there yesterday they came to do more chest x-rays and were asking when the first lot was taken and by who, so it sounds like they couldn't find them.  By the time I left we had not had the results back yet.  I'm hoping for some news when I go through this afternoon.

Having x-ray in his room

I can see that Jimmy is trying very hard to eat but if he doesn't vomit then he gags all the time, his stomach muscles must be so sore.  So he has a tiny morsel of food to show the staff he is trying and we are trying to get him to drink 4 shakes a day so that he doesn't lose any more weight.

He is feeling extremely down but I suppose this is to expected as we both thought there was a possibility that he might have come home this weekend.  He finishes the antibiotics on Tuesday and then I would think at least 2 days of monitoring to make sure the infection is gone and then he has to get his weight up before he can be discharged.  I am sure I will have a better idea by Monday or Tuesday afternoon how things are going.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has sent him messages.  They really do mean so much to him.  He has been in isolation in hospital for 47 days already and it is easy to forget normal life and the people who are in it.  He has started reading the odd message and sending me a message here and there but please don't stop sending them if he doesn't reply, he just doesn't have the energy to type replies or even talk much.  I read each and every message to him. 

I'm hoping that the week ahead will be a week with lots of positive news.  He is very conscious of wanting to come home and mentions it more now too and this can only mean good things.