h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My father finished his last course of chemotherapy a few weeks ago and went for his scans this morning ... as far as they can tell the cancer almost completely gone! That's fantastic news. When my dad was diagnosed in December last year ... I wondered if I'd have him around for much longer. And it's now almost a year ... and he's got almost completely better! There are only a few small spots on his liver left ... and that might not even be cancer, it might just be a bit of scarring. He doesn't need to get the chemotherapy any more now, at least for the foreseeable future. They'll check him again in January. From here on we'll have to keep a close watch on him and if it starts up again, he'll go for the chemo again. But the great thing is how well he responded to the treatment!

Thanks for everybody's good wishes, prayers and support.

FANTASTIC NEWS!!! That's just wonderful. Big hugs for your family!

That's brilliant Willem. I am so pleased for you.

Please give my best wishes to your Dad and your Mum. She must be very relieved. It is good to news like that after such a worrying time.

Websailor

Thanks JEllen and Websailor! I'm over the moon about this news!

Yipppeee!!!!

So great to hear such good news!

to you all for having passed through this awful time & come out the other end into a brighter future.

zdt

Geagte Willem,

K.and I are so very pleased about the wonderful news about your Dad's health. It really is wonderful the advances that medcine has made.

All prayers and good wishes to you and you family and of course your Dad.

With much affection from us both.

Christiane and K.
AR80

Hiya Terri and Christiane AR80 and K!

Terri yes, it's been a very hard time on all of us ... my dad, my mom and myself. Now I feel I can perhaps actually start living again!

Christiane and K, thanks for dropping in here! I hope things are still well with you ...

All the best,

Willem

Hi willem,

well done to all of you.

it is a lovely sunny day today and so I am hoping that K. will take me out for a llak along the sea front.

wonderlik

also there is planting to be done. !!

Beste wense, to the family,

Chrisitane and K.
Ar80

Really good news Willem

Hi Christiane and Waz, and thanks! Waz I saw the movie 'Braveheart' yesterday and thought of you! How are things?

My dad is in hospital again ... he had an operation, for problems he's been having that is related to the cancer, even though the cancer itself now seems to be under control.

Oh dear, I do hope they sort whatever it is, and quickly, since you had good news on the cancer.



Websailor

Things are very good, Willem, thanks for asking.

But busy! Just so little space for h2g2 at present. I'm emptying my old house (stuff to the tip, stuff to recycling, stuff to furniture place, stuff to charity shops, stuff to ebay, stuff to stuff in the loft, stuff to find space to stuff it into here ...)

Braveheart's a good entertaining version of the story

I do hope your Dad's recovering well, it must have been a bit of a blow for all of you after such good news before.

Take care,
Waz

Hi again Websailor and Waz!

My dad's not doing well. This morning we received a call from him telling us he's in the intensive care unit. He had a heart attack! *NOW* they realise that he has a problem - a narrowed vein or artery or something ... they didn't pick this up on the EKG (hope that's right in English) test they did before the operation. Sigh. He complained of chest pains yesterday and none of the nurses did anything or called a doctor or took him seriously until he actually collapsed in the bathroom.

I just wish a doctor would speak to one of *us*, I mean my mom and I. We were all this time anxiously worrying about his recovery from the operation and now this! I was just waiting so he could get out again so we could get back to work ... he's helping me so much with the art and with the writing, and I'm trying to help him with his projects as well ... and after hearing the cancer's cleared up, we were quite eager about what we were planning to do.

Sigh and also ... the cancer's apparently *not* cleared up. The operation my dad's had, indicated that there's a tumour still growing which once again the oncologist didn't pick up.

Now with the heart attack there's a problem that medication for the one condition conflicts with medication for the other condition.

My dad's being treated by three different doctors ... urologist, oncologist and internist ... and if all three of them can just *agree* on what's happening and what to do ... and if they could only speak to my mom and myself as well ... things would be so much easier to handle.

Anyways I'll post this info as a journal entry as well.

With me *personally* things are going fairly well except that I worry so much about my father. He's been my main helper, supporter and protector in the world ...

Willem, I have replied on the other thread, but please try not to anticipate things being worse than they are. Things might resolve themselves and worrying never makes things better - having said that I can't take my own advice either, so I do sympathise

Take care, thinking of you,

Websailor

Also thinking of you & yes, i am also one of those 'do as i say; not as i do' folk! But amazingly, seem to have defied major health probs; including being declared 'clinically dead' more than once; so try not to be too down...miracles can & do happen.

Also, sometimes stuff like that is the bodys way of saying 'hey, slow down!'; rest is possibly the best thing for him as he's been through so much.

Might also be very good for you & your Mum too....

Did our swallows arrive by the way? We actually got 3 broods this year, two is not unusual, but 3 is very much so.

it will soon be time to start building bat & owl nesting boxes & planting bulbs ready for Spring, there's always something to do on a farm isn't there?!

I assume it's Spring in S.A, what are you up to re: flora & fauna?

zdt

Hi Terri! Thanks for your message.

We're not actually getting much rest. With my dad's problems we've been living from one hospital visit to the next. Three times a day it's driving to the hospital, worrying in what condition we'll find him when we get there. Every night, we worry if he's going to last through it. Well ... now things seem to be a bit better. My mom and I are in Pietersburg for the day, we drove down here, to check on the house, the cats, the plants and everything, and I take the time to go online a bit as well. Tomorrow it's back to Pretoria for us.

The swallows haven't arrived yet ... at least, I haven't seen any! Barn swallows, I mean. Here are other swallows, but these ones don't migrate ... or they migrate inside Africa, they don't go to Europe.

Flaura and fauna will have to wait until my dad's better! Well ... I do get to see some of the non-human inhabitants of the city of Pretoria! The feathered ones include go-away birds, hoopoes and wood-hoopoes, hadeda ibises, lots of pigeons, thrushes, wagtails, sparrows, weavers, starlings, lapwings, geese, and more. Furry non-humans of Pretoria ... well, at our guest house we saw quite a fat and cute rat! He scurried around in pipes and through holes in the wall.

Hey, when are you going to send me your birthday party piccies?

Hi Willem,

Sorry you and your Mum are having such a tough time. However, I am sure that he will come out better so keep up both hope and courage .

I think that I just have forgottenh to press "publish" one of my replies to you because it seems as if I have not written to you for ges.

There are so many wonderful things that the doctors can do for us cardiac patients. I know that when I had my emergency open heart surgery on the 18th August, 1994,, the cardiac surgeon told me, when I asked him that he reckoned he had given ke an extra ten years. Well that was over fifteen years ago. and believe me I intend staying alive longer. !!I Still have so much to do/

With much liefde, and go well. and best wishes to Ma and Pa.

Christiane and Keith,

Friday 16th October 2009 16.45 BST

Hello Christiane and Keith and thanks for your message! I've just posted in my journal as well, my dad is back with us in Pietersburg today! His heart seems well now, but he is *very* tired and weak. My mom and I will need to help him walk. Hopefully he will get some strength back soon. As soon as he can make it to the computer I will show him your posting - I am sure it will encourage him enormously!

Thank you very much for your thoughts and wishes and everything!

Willem

Diet is very important. all important. but he will have to work to get his strength back. Just a little bit evwery day. It will take time.
When I came out of hospital after my open heart, I was staying with my eldest son who had a house next to Regents Park in London. My room was on the third floor. I had to practise walking up stairs in the hospital. When I got to Martin Home I had to walk up nineteen steps to the first floor. I sat down on a chair in the living room and slept for two hours.!! Tthen I went up to the second floor and lay on a bed for an hour. Then I went up to my tiny room on the third floor where I stayed for two weeks. And there boy I lost weight. !! My son said I was too fat and so I really nearly starved up there. !! but I recovered. Your father will recover more quickly as he is thin already. !!I believe that dried fruit like we have in South Africa is good. But be careful with sugar. He can have sweetner in his drink, but be careful of strong coffee or tea. I suppose that bush tea is good.
but no Coke or anything llike that.

Again met liefde.

Christiane.

With much courage to you three, but your Mum MUST stick to cooking correctly. anhd absolutely NO ~ANIMAL FAT whatsoever, None of that lovely fat on chops, steak, and as I said already no boerewors. !!

with much love. It is worth it, It is over fifteeen years since I had the open heart surgery and the doctor gave me ten hears to live. !!

So that is surely proof.

Christiane and Keith.