Wednesday, 28th September

I always seem to get the urge to update the blog and then realise we are only a day or two away from Jimmy's monthly appointment with Prof.  So after being in 'blogging mood' on Wednesday  I decided to wait until this week.

We are almost in the last quarter of the year and it's that time when Jimmy is busy busy.  He has been away on business during the last two weeks and the week previous to this we spent 8 nights in the Kruger National Park.  Emma has finished exams and schools break up on Friday and I can't believe there is only one school term left of this year.  It doesn't even feel right thinking of going into 2017 yet but the reality of it is that it is just around the corner. This year and next have been and will continue to be bitter sweet as I am going through the motions of senior high school for the last time.  Emma does three days of job shadowing this week which she will be doing at Vincent Pallotti Hospital in the OT section.  I remember this so well with both Megan and Loren.  Megan came home after her stint and proceeded to announce that events co-ordinating was definitely not what she was going to do when she finished school and we had quite the opposite reaction from Loren who came home from job shadowing at a local primary school saying she was awe.  But then Loren has wanted to be a teacher since she was two bricks and a ticky high.

Jimmy saw Prof last Friday and there is nothing much to report on.  His full blood counts are all a little lower than normal but the good news is his platelets are at 165.  I haven't mentioned much about these of late but Prof is happy they have stabilised around here.  After his last appointment he went to get his Thalidomide but there was a problem with the medical aid so Anwar said he would ring us once the script is done.  It turns out that the script can only be authorised for 3 months at a time (and issued once a month) so Prof, apart from being away, has been trying to sort this out.  He originally got authorisation for 12 months and is now trying to resolve this from happening every 3 months.  I was a bit concerned that it has been a month now that Jimmy hasn't been on the maintenance medication (Thalidomide) but Prof would rather he miss a slightly longer time now and get it sorted than Jimmy being off it for a month every 3 months.  Jimmy is looking very well and the last of the side effects of the cortisone has also worn off now.  We were looking at some photos over the weekend and were quite shocked just how puffy Jimmy was, especially around his face.

I have been battling a Psoriasis flare since June.  Just when I thought is was subsiding the rash worsened and spread with avengance.  I have seen my Rheumatologist and the Dermatologist twice (they are working together on this) as well as 2 visits to my GP as I just could not bare it any longer. A combination of Methotrexate, Cortisone, Dovet which is a cream and an oil body wash seems to have done the trick as my skin is much less irritated and inflamed since last week.  Of course the most important thing to do here has been to lower my stress levels and I have also eliminated some possible trigger foods from my diet. 

Jimmy turned 52 on the 16th and we enjoyed a quiet dinner out.  We were supposed to be in Lutzville for the annual golf day but I wasn't feeling very well.  Jimmy's evening was made by them sending us a video of everyone singing happy birthday to him and we sadly also missed out on the birthday cake that Debbie so kindly organised as a surprise.  As I wrote in Jimmy's card.....his birthday each year is that special day in the year when I count my blessings for another year spent together.

Spring is finally here!  Well.....we were under this impression until Monday when the warmer days disappeared into thin air.  It was freezing and we had quite a bit of rain but by lunch time yesterday it started clearing and the sun is out again now.  Still some cooler temperatures for the next few day though.  I can't wait for summer so we can enjoy the beautiful Cape's balmy evenings and watch the sun go down from our veranda.  Best of all though is it means time for camping again.

Spring in my garden

We finally got to make use of our airline tickets which were originally booked for Jimmy's 50th birthday get away in Zimbabwe in 2014 which we had to cancel due to bad health.  We then changed these and our plan was to spend last December in Mozambique with the caravan but Malaria was a big issue so we cancelled again.  Anyway, they were put to good use.  Stan and Michelle came with us and it was an amazing trip, their first to the Kruger National Park and we also celebrated both their birthdays while we were there which was very special.  I can't remember what Michelle's game sighting birthday wish was but we were lucky enough to see the Big 5 in the first three hours that morning.  Two days later Stan's birthday wish was to see Wild Dog and sure enough this was the first sighting we had on that morning's game drive.  We spent our first night at Blyde River Canyon resort and did quite a lot of sight seeing on the way up including Pilgrim's Rest and Blyde River Canyon.  We then spent two nights at Satara, 2 nights at Letaba and one night each at Skukuza and Berg-en-Dal.