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

Get the hell out of here

Picking Up Speed

Falling into Place

ColumnIt's pretty exciting the way things are starting to really pick up speed leading to my "get the hell out of here" moment!

My plans are solidifying - a bit - as I set my sights on a mid-November departure. It looks like (at least at the moment) that I will initially go to Mick in KZN (KwaZulu Natal) where I will meet up with Zoze who flies in from New Zealand towards the end of the month. Then we will head down to the Cape mid-December and stay with Biff and at a self-catering cottage while Julie's Susan is with them over Christmas. We are hoping Mick will be able to come down then as well.

While in the Cape, I will be visiting a lot of distilleries with the blessing of the South African Craft Distilling Institute who is busy opening doors for me! The articles will be mainly for ADI but I have also pitched South African Country Life , which I used to write for, but haven't had a response yet.

SACDI has offered to put me up and introduce me at other distilleries up around Johannesburg and Pretoria, and I will also be doing one of the their distilling classes, which is very exciting. What I would like to be able to do is to take the Light Blue Train from Cape Town to Jo'burg and then back from there to Maritzburg. I have wanted to do a train trip like that for ages, and with the exchange rate in my favor at the moment, it seems like a great opportunity.

Whiskey barrels

Once back in KZN, we want to do a couple of game reserves in Zululand where there is a also a new rum distillery! And of course, I will be spending time with my oldest best friend Rosemary and my god daughter Catherine at "the cottage" at Clansthal.

Then at some stage, probably February or March, I will fly back to LAX, see the boys then head south to Belize for the duration, however long that is.

In the meantime, I have three articles to do for American Distilling Magazine. I need another interview with Keith at Bainbridge Organic Distillery which I hope to do tomorrow and then will go over to Ballard, across the Sound for two more, hopefully next week.

This distillery biz is all a huge learning curve for me but I am thoroughly enjoying it and loving the people who are involved in this industry. They all seem so passionate about what they do, which is so very refreshing!

I realized that I have not posted anything about my trip to Coeur d'Alene with Ryan to see Cody and the little boys, so that is the next one; a bit out of order but oh well...