Sunday, 21st June

It's normal life in the Smith household and we have been busy, busy.

Our school going children have been writing exams since the 29th of May but I'm very happy that they have now finished and with this over, so the stresses fade into the background.  Loren and Shannon do actually have one more to write on Tuesday but it's Afrikaans writing so they can't really study for this...or so they say.  With Loren and Shannon both being in matric there is not much left to this year for them.  They basically have the 3rd term left of school and then start writing their mock matric at the beginning of September.  They have their matric dance at the beginning of October and then they start writing their final matric exams on the 19th of October.  And the scariest of all is that after this I have one baby left in school.

The school term ends on Friday so we have the holidays to look forward to. Loren is going on sports tour to Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape) as part of the 1st team hockey girls and boys, rugby and netball teams.  There has been some excitement for the trip but I suspect this is going to build up quite a bit this week.

Megan left to join the NCL Jade in Venice on the 11th.  I was very lucky to have her here for my birthday which was the day before she left. What a change from the last time she left.  It was a proud moment seeing this confident young lady checking herself in at the airport and boarding her flight.  I was told no crying would be allowed and I was very strong and didn't cry but I had a hugest lump in my throat and it was hard to stop hugging her, I didn't want to let go.  Just as I had thought, it was much harder saying goodbye this time.  But the memory of the very special times that we spent together doing what girls do best with lots of endless talking about all matter of things is something that I will treasure forever.  I cannot believe how she has grown up in 8 months.  Above all, I know in my heart she is happy and I also know that she can look after herself.  A far stretch from how I felt waving her goodbye 10 months ago when I worried she would get lost or wouldn't find her hotel.  Megan heard a day or two before she left that she would be joining the ship and doing management training...we are very proud of her.

Jimmy has done 2 business trips already since he has gone back to work and absolutely loving it.  He leaves again tomorrow morning and gets home of Friday night and then he is off again on Sunday and will be home again on Tuesday night.  Last week he flew up to PE and came home full of a cold.  Mother hen was flapping her wings and moaning that an aeroplane is not the best place for him to be with low blood counts.  I whipped out the thermometer expecting him to spike a temperature and was visualising rushing him off to high care with Pneumonia in a few hours but all was good.  Just a cold which we treated with some Corenza C and he has been absolutely fine.

We had Jimmy's appointment with Prof on Friday for the results of the bone marrow biopsy and M-Proteins.  He is still battling with low platelets as well as white and red bloods.  As much as I would not have admitted it before, I was a bit nervous about this appointment.  But the good news is there is still no evidence of any cancer cells so Prof has now put him on high doses of cortisone daily for 2 weeks.  He also explained that Jimmy's body is producing platelets but something is eating them and he suspects that it is an auto immune problem where his body is recognising the platelets as something foreign and destroying them.  Prof is hopeful that his counts will come up nicely after being on cortisone.  We have another appointment on Monday the 6th of July when they will do another full blood count and then we'll see Prof so that he can run through the list of cortisone side effects and make sure that Jimmy is coping with the high doses.  And then, if all goes according to plan, Jimmy should start his one year of maintenance on Thalidomide.

Jimmy really is coming on in leaps and bounds.  Two weeks ago he went up to the golf club to meet the guys for a drink after their game of golf.  He went down to the driving range and hit a couple of balls too, well about 50.  His back was quite stiff later in the evening and the next day but his only complaint is that he doesn't have the strength he used to have to really hit that ball.  My brother Stan told him to imagine that each ball is a cancer cell and to hit the sh** out of them!  On Saturday morning we parked the car in Kalk Bay and went walk about popping into some of the little shops along the main road. Usually Jimmy would be able to do this for half an hour maximum and then he'd be looking for a seat somewhere to rest but he was absolutely fine.  On the way home in the car is said he honestly felt better on Saturday than he has in a long time.  I collect Delft and Willow Pattern etc china and I was really spoilt.  He bought me a set of miniature clogs and a lovely jug.  I hope he realises that very soon I am going to be nagging for the glass shelves to display my collection on :)

We celebrated Father's Day today and went up to Clovelly Golf Club for their delicious Sunday roast, the yummiest of puddings and glass or 2 of a nice crisp Chenin Blanc.  The weather was just perfect too.

Some last minute family farewell photos

And before I go, I thought I'd share a beautiful video of Cape Town by drone for my overseas friends....and even those jealous ones that live in Gauteng :) Click on the link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTnFcjCOsCo#action=share

Sunday, 7th June

We celebrated over a long lunch today on a beautiful day with good friends and delicious food and we have so much to be thankful for.

Today I also think of our friends who travel this road.  Friends from the clinic, blog friends in SA and overseas and personal friends. Whether you have survived or fighting...you are amazing.

And then today is also a reminder of the friends that we have met along the way who are no longer with us...we truly have so much to be thankful for.

Friday, 5th June

I just thought I would let you know that Jimmy went to have his bloods done today and his platelets have dropped further so he needs to go in on Tuesday morning for a bone marrow biopsy.  Hopefully this will get to the bottom of where these little buggers are disappearing to.

It's still freezing in Cape Town with lots of snow fall on the mountain ranges in the Western Cape and specially in the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal and Lesotho.

We are going to watch the Stormers vs Lions rugby game on Saturday at Newlands and looking forward to a nice lunch at Clovelly with the Sun Shine Corner golfers and their wives and apart from this we plan on staying toasty warm inside and relaxing.


Tuesday, 2nd June

Apologies for not updating after our appointment with Prof yesterday evening but I could not access my blog.  Most frustrating.

Prof is concerned that Jimmy's platelets remain so low.  He feels that Jimmy's blood counts should be very near to normal now as it is almost 5 months since his stem cell transplant.  He has decided to hold off putting Jimmy on Thalidomide for now as this suppresses the bone marrow which means his platelet counts are going to drop even more.

Today is a week since Jimmy has had a platelet transfusion and his platelet count is on 28, so even with the transfusion they are still dropping.  Prof has decided that Jimmy not have platelets this week so he can see what will happen with the count.  He had Jimmy up on the bed and checked his whole body for bruising and said that if we notice any bruising then Jimmy needs to go in straight away for a transfusion.  He needs to go into the clinic on Friday for a full blood count and then Prof will make a decision about what to do.  He is talking about doing another bone marrow biopsy and he also got Olivia to draw M-protein bloods to see if there has been any change here.

So this is where we stand, not really knowing why and playing the waiting game again.

Cape Town is cold, wet and windy.  It was 6 degrees on Sunday evening and only got to 13 degrees today.  We've had huge down pours that are so loud they wake me up at night.  The vegetation damage from the fires is causing havoc with mud slide on Chapman's Peak, which has now been closed.

I do not make a very good winter person and although we are still a long way off I can't wait for summer.  Apart from the cold there is this need to have lovely warm puddings after dinner each night which don't do much for the waistline.

 I had to laugh when I saw this as my first thought was summer.  Oh to spend a cold winters day in bed watching movies and reading.....

Wishing the kids good luck with their exams.  Loren wrote her first one yesterday and Emma starts on Thursday.  And then I am also thinking of my mom who goes into hospital tomorrow for an operation on Thursday.