With the Russian madman causing mayhem in the world, I am really trying to maintain a positive outlook.
The war news is dominating and it’s difficult to avoid. But am very aware of how my mental health can affect my physical health, so I am attempting (and so far succeeding) to limit my news watching/viewing. I look at just enough to get a very superficial overview but even that is more than I want. I feel so sad for all the people affected by this megalomaniac!
Time flies by, even the chemo treatments. Yesterday was #5 of the planned 6. The results of my blood tests continue to be good. The cancer marker went from 301 to 187 this week. But not low enough to move on to the next stage. Dr. McCleave said they want to see it at around 30 which is quite a long way yet.
When I came back to South Africa in 2019, I naturally gravitated to where I was born and grew up. And actually ended up in the what we used to call the village of Kloof. (It’s no longer a village!) Kloof is about 18 miles/29km from Durban and just on 1600ft/500km above sea level, giving the area a more moderate climate than Durban, usually being a good 10F less which was the case when I took Rodney to the park this afternoon. Plus less humid.
The fourth treatment went as planned. Mick came with me so he was able to meet my doctor. It’s always good to have another set of ears in a consultation but this one was very straightforward because everything is going so well.
November 16 last year is the fateful day I got the definitive news that changed my life.
By then I ‘d been in hospital for 8 days going through tests and everything else that goes along with a cancer diagnosis. I’d just had laparoscopic surgery for a biopsy and the GYN/surgeon came to visit me after I had very gently been given the diagnosis. He’s a lovely man and from reading his bio, a pretty religious one as well. He said to me as he sat at my bedside, “Have you considered end of life?”
It’s not like I have a lot of choices about where to be at the moment, with rumors floating around that international flights from South Africa aren’t going to open up until next year! A repatriation flight is looking better and better - but the last couple of weeks, there have been none to even consider!
There’s a glimmer of hope during this horrendous, draconian shutdown in South Africa. Starting June 1, we will be “allowed” to buy liquor, exercise any time and the full-on curfew from 7pm-5am will be lifted. Of course, all the social distancing protocols are supposed to be adhered to, but we’ll have to see how that plays out.
I had high hopes that when Level 4 of the South African Lockdown kicked in on May 1, there would be an easing of restrictions to make this isolation more bearable. But except for a 3 hour window in the early morning when we are allowed to “exercise”, nothing changed for me. No visiting, no socializing, no, no, no.
With one more week at what is now known as Level 5 (complete lockdown) to go, last night President Ramaphosa outlined what we can expect to change. Which is not much. The biggie for me is that we will be able to get out to “exercise” which means I can go for walks, instead of being in here going stir crazy.
