The brain fog seems to be lifting at last and simply doing very little, albeit tedious, seems to be the solution. Each round of chemo seems to present with its own challenges and this time, I was disappointed to realise that, while I had blithely assumed that my white blood cell count was recovering fully between rounds, this is not the case. It has come down progressively from a normal, strong 5 to a weak 3, which impacts on my ability to fight infection and my sense of well being and energy flows. This was probably all clarified at the outset, but there is just too much to absorb at any one time.
It also transpires that the side effects of the experimental drug, Ipi, may be too dreadful to make it a viable alternative.
Nicola, in her inimitable way, has been filling every hour with productive activity. Her positive energy is a tonic. She is finishing her 6 week course in French at the Alliance Francais on Thursday. She has almost finished writing a training program for Phakamani Foundation http://www.phakamanifoundation.org/ a Micro Finance Organisation in Mpumalanga and will go directly from CT to White River where she will train the loan officers to run the training with the new clients.
Ali has finished exams at last and has been commissioned by Nic to do the artwork on posters for her training program. They have chosen giraffes as the theme, as the beautiful stadium at Nelspruit (coincidentally designed by my Mum's godson, Michael Bell, architect) has giraffes as major supporting structures. The posters need to be very bright and offer clear messages as the people taking loans, in most cases, are illiterate.
We're still planning to go to Cape Town for the weekend and make sure that the house is emptied and in good working order for the transfer to the O'Mahoneys. Nicola is going ahead on
Friday morning and she will work with the movers and Big Nicola, Anna and James to get the packing done. The actual move happens on Monday and we'll fly back on Tuesday evening.
It may well have to be a quieter weekend than we had in mind, but it will be wonderful to see James and to be in Cape Town regardless.
Jy's 'n trooper, skattie.
ReplyDeleteHoe gaan dit met die ou baas?
Jolly proud of you. Say hello to the Cape from me. Thanks for doing these blogs - really appreciate your keeping us up to date with progress. Bummer about the potential side effects of the wonder drug.
Love you lots. Kisses from Fiona and Georgie in rainy London.