Health, South Africa
Susan Colby
Accentuating the Positive

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!

Accentuating the Positive
Health, South Africa
Susan Colby
Chemo is Doing its Thing

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.

Chemo is Doing its Thing
Susan Colby
There’s Hot, and Then There’s HOT

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.

There’s Hot, and Then There’s HOT
Health, South Africa
Susan Colby
Chemo #4 Done, 2 to Go

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.

Chemo #4 Done, 2 to Go
South Africa
Susan Colby
A Massive Immune Booster

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?”

A Massive Immune Booster

South Africa

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Not a Road I Ever Planned to Travel

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Not a Road I Ever Planned to Travel

I really don’t even know where to start with this. It’s been a while since I posted, almost 6 weeks and so much has happened. So I’ll just jump right in.

This whole past year, from way before I headed to the States in May, I’ve been plagued with little, niggling health issues, none of which made sense or seemed associated with any other. I thought I was maybe becoming a hypochondriac, or imagining the awful reflux, the debilitating fatigue and trouble breathing and other inconsistent, niggling issues and never considered tying them together. There was just too much to do to be slowed down by any of it.

Cry Our Beloved Country

Cry Our Beloved Country

I have felt helpless this last week, watching the mayhem and seeing South Africa implode. The destruction is so hard to see unfolding and fearing for my friends and family. And feeling so guilty not being there to help the communities and specifically, the little community where I was living. It’s such a helpless feeling, seeing the disaster unfold and being powerless to do anything.

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Gone From 0 to 60 in a Flash

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Gone From 0 to 60 in a Flash

Here we are at 6 months of lockdown. Six very l-o-n-g months! And now, on Level 2 and soon Level 1, life has picked up and it feels like I’m going at full steam again.On one hand it’s exhilarating to be so busy and have so much to do. But I am actually missing the long days with nothing planned and nowhere to go. It was such a time of retrospection, introspection and calmness (if you stayed away from politics).

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Field Trip to Valley of a 1000 Hills

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Field Trip to Valley of a 1000 Hills

Helping out at Woza Moya (Hillcrest Aids Centre) has its benefits! Yesterday I was was able to go on a trip I have been really looking forward to, out into the Valley of a 1000 Hills, where the majority of Woza Moya beaders live. We’ve been working on a Christmas (yes, Christmas!) promotion and the purpose of the trip was to do video and photos for the promotion. We planned on visiting at least two of the bead ladies in their homes.

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Locked Down in South Africa

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Locked Down in South Africa

DAY 5

This is when I’m really grateful for all the electronics and messaging systems we have available!

It’s pretty much the only way to keep in contact with anyone during the South African COVID-19 lockdown, and being on my own, it’s super important that I keep in contact and know that if one messaging system isn’t connecting, I have four others to try!