Well, I eventually decided to listen to all those who know better than I do and get that MRI that they suggested. I had to see a neurosurgeon first and a lovely doctor from Kenya looked at my Ghanaian x-rays before sending me off to the MRI department.
I had forgotten exactly what I felt the last time I had an MRI (15 years ago after a helicopter accident) and its just as well as it is not a comfortable experience. The assistant gives one ear plugs as well as padded muffs to place over ones ears and then one lies on a moving table and enters the tunnel. It seems as though the roof is only a few centimetres away from ones head but it is probably about 25 or 30cms. One cannot see the outside unless one tilts ones head up and forward and peers through slit eyes. I very nearly had my first panic attack ever. I could feel my heart racing and getting flushed in my cheeks. Luckily I have had to encourage others to face their fears in my Roselands job and my words came back to help me. They had also helped me to do a parachute jump so I know that they work!
"I can do this" chanted over and over again with deep breathing gets one through most situations!
Then the loud noises start and one realises what the ear plugs and muffs are there for.
The assistant is very helpful and in between every session, she tells one how well one is doing and how long the next noisy session is going to be! After about 20 minutes it is eventually over.
Dr Chite, the neurosurgeon told me afterwards that some huge big policemen and brave firemen have to be heavily sedated before entering the machine, so I felt a lot better. I am not that overweight and I felt claustrophobic, so I would hate to weigh more and have to be squashed into that machine!
It turns out it is a "herniated disk" (originally called a slipped disk) in between my L3 and L4 vertebrae. So although physio has been helping I need a slightly different manipulation and different exercises. Well, now we know!
I had my wisdom teeth out last Monday under local anaesthetic. Dr Beaumont injected me and we waited 10 minutes while the anaesthetic took effect and then it took him about 15 minutes to remove both teeth. He had to drill into the bone and then suture it up afterwards. I was in and out within half an hour. I had to take an anti-biotic and also medication for the pain. I ended up only taking the pain killers on that same Monday. By Tuesday the pain had gone and although I have been careful for the past week, I have been absolutely fine! No swelling and no bruising! Great news!
Pietermaritzburg has been inundated with culture these past few weeks. We have hosted the Royal Agricultural Show, Art in the Park, and the world famous Comrades Marathon (an 87 kilometre run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg in which 14000 runners from all over the world compete, the winner coming in at 5 hrs 30 minutes or so!)
The race was the idea of World War 1 veteran Vic Clapham, to commemorate the South African soldiers killed during the war. Clapham, who had endured a 2,700-kilometre route march through sweltering German East Africa, wanted the memorial to be a unique test of the physical endurance of the entrants. The constitution of the race states that one of its primary aims is to "celebrate mankind's spirit over adversity".
I have a pamphlet of the day that my father-in-law attempted to complete the Comrades in 1933 on "Empire Day". Apparently he stopped 2 miles from the finish line.
I have seen most of my friends from my previous post and you know all about them already, so I am only going to include new ones in this one.
I had a lovely lunch with Jen and her vivacious and attractive friend Megs Tweedie originally from Durban. She is "grand-dad bashing" in the UK but is back in South Africa for a few months' holiday.
Porks has told me that Genie is not well and is dragging her back legs but is eating well. I cannot let myself get too stressed about her as there is nothing I can do from this side other than support Porks who has the worry about her daily, but its killing me inside!
We organised a "cousin get together" on Saturday which was such fun. My dad had 10 brothers and sisters so there are many, many cousins! These are just a few of them!
Brenda and Thora, daughters from my Dad's younger sister Gerda. Erwin and Senta, children from my Dad's older brother Gunther. Me (Go Bokke!) and Erwin's wife Lyn.
I was shown a family coat of arms which I had never seen, so that was interesting as well.
Mom has good days and bad days! This was a fairly good one. Kelly had knitted her a teddy bear a while ago and when we asked her its name, she replied as quick as a flash, "Jack." (Kelly and I rolled our eyes....it had to be a boy!!) We told her it was stuffed with all the love from her family. She is just like a little girl again.
My girls, Tiki and Scruffy, were brought up on a plantation away from other people and domestic dogs, so they have been taught to bark and to call me if something strange is in or near our yard. It has been such an adaption for them to live in a smaller area in a gated community with people and dogs walking past. There have been a few complaints about the barking so we bought them both collars that send out a high pitched whistle when they bark in order to put them off. I dislike it immensely and feel terribly sorry that we have had to resort to these collars as my girls are just doing what they were brought up to do. We do take the collars off at night and when I am at home but it is still sad to have to use them at all.
I left the collars on the coffee table last week and then during the day I looked for them and one was missing....no where to be found. Even the "finder of all things" was stumped! Two days later I found it while watering the garden in a place where I had already looked. A few days later it went missing again and I went into the garden to look and saw fresh diggings. There it was!
Scruffy doesn't bury anything except food that she wants to eat later but had decided that "this ear hurting squeaky thing" was not for her and she stole it off the table and buried it!
Tiki is a dachshund and has a long muzzle. When she eats rusks, sometimes the residue gets stuck in her cheek and she has no way of removing it except by coming to ask me. She stands in front of me chewing with her mouth open and I have to run my finger down the inside of her cheek to remove the irritation. Then she gives me a smile and a wag of her tail and off she goes.
Sigh! I
love my girls!
