Tuesday, 21st April

A year has come and gone...

It was a year last Wednesday to the day that Jimmy was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma.  I have been toying with the idea of doing a recap of the year celebrating what we have overcome, remembering the high lights and special occasions and being reminded of how thankful I am for the blessings that have been handed to me during this time.  My head, unfortunately, just had not been in the right space.  I'm not sure if its because I am just so happy that it is past or whether my brain is being kind and it will not let me remember....I seem to sit here with a blank.  It must be writers block ha ha.  I am really keen so think I will start by going back in the blog so watch this space.

Jimmy had his bone marrow biopsy today.  From the sound of things I think it was a bit eina.  He will admit is was a bit sore but never just how bad and unfortunately the stronger his bones get, the more painful they become.  If everything goes according to some good results then hopefully he will only have to have one 2 or 3 times a year.  We should get the results of the bone marrow biopsy in about 5 to 7 working days so we have an appointment to see Prof Novitzky on Monday the 4th of May to discuss the results of the bone marrow biopsy and the pathology report with the M-protein results.

They did full blood counts today too and Jimmy's bloods have come down a little more again.  White blood cell count is 2.7 (this was 5.1), haemoglobin is 10.3 (this was 10.9), neutrophils are 1.26 (this was 1.57) and his platelets have now dropped to 36.  They've dropped from 135 to 66 and today they are 36.  We need to go back on Thursday to do more bloods just to check on his platelets again as this could result in bleeding.  If they are still low then he will have a platelet transfusion.

Jimmy asked Prof if he can go back to work and Prof said that if Jimmy feels he is ready then he should give it a shot.  Jimmy will have to listen to his body and take things easy.  So tomorrow morning my man is going to get up and go to work...one year and exactly 1 week since he was diagnosed.  This is such a huge big step and I am so happy for Jimmy.  Jimmy's white blood cell count is a bit low but we'll keep an eye on his neutrophils and see how this goes.  We will also have to see how he feels tomorrow evening.  We discussed him working mornings but we both think that alternate days might be better for the first while.  He has only been driving for the last week and it is quite a distance to Bellville and back which I am sure is going to tire him. The day to rest in between while he can still work from home on this day would probably be better than getting home each day at 3 feeling totally washed out and not having time to recover.  He is still building up his strength and tires quite quickly.  We went to friends for a braai on Sunday and Jimmy relaxed in a chair in the shade.  We were there for about 4 hours and when he got home he passed out in his chair till about 9pm.  He had his first beer in ages and has had gout for 2 days too.

Since last I blogged the school holidays have come to an end.  It was lovely having the children here, I really miss the hustle and bustle and a million activities going on all at once.  Endless chatter and lots of happiness and laughter.  We also celebrated Megan's 22nd birthday on the 11th.  I never quite imagined myself with children this old!  So special that she is home and we got to spend the day together.  Memories I will treasure when she leaves next month again.

Well done Emma on taking part in the Impi Challenge again this year.  Much fitter and better prepared than last year.  They completed 12km of cross country running and some tough muddy obstacles in 2h45min.

Last Sunday was my niece Shannon's 21st birthday celebration at Perdekloof in Scarborough.  She works on super yachts in the USA and is home for 3 weeks so Stan and Michelle organised a surprise get together with all her friends and family.  It was such a lovely day out in the fresh air, braaing in the forest.

Jimmy and myself, my parents and my 2 brothers with their wives and children

On Thursday evening Megan had her graduation which was held at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.  Shannon and I went to share in a very proud moment with her and this was another beautiful evening.  It has been lovely to have Shannon home at the same time as Megan, thanks girls for such a fun evening.  I'm not looking forward to when you both leave again.

So, as you can see, the better Jimmy gets the more our lives are getting back to normal.