Monday, April 6, 2009

Cape Town Holiday...and Hand Therapy Project

It's been FOREVER since I last blogged, but with good reason.

Thinus and I got very busy with school and work, and then illness struck...and it struck HARD! This was after Thinus was surprised with a mountain bicycle from my brother Gielie and his wife, Brenda. Thinus was over the moon, straight into seventh heaven and onto cloud nine when he got the bicycle! We fixed my bicycle, bought some safety gear (helmet for him, reflective cycling shirt for me) and went cycling at 19H00 one night...and that was stupid!
That evening we both became ill, and by the next morning (Wednesday, 18 March), our throats were killing us. Thinus was actually so ill that he had to take two half days (Wednesday, Thursday 20 March). On Friday we had had enough and went to see the doctor, who booked us off. I went back to school the following Monday but still had a fever until the Wednesday (25 March)! Thinus was very ill...and still remains ill. The doctor figured out that Thinus has a super-allergy because of our irregular seasonal changes. He's now on a series of nose sprays to alleviate the allergy, but it's much better now!
Meanwhile we had Gielie and Brenda's children (Ivan, Zoe & Joel) visiting us on 28, 29, 30 March as well as on 1 & 2 April. They slept over and it was SUCH fun. We went to Potchefstroom to visit my parents, and then I took them synthetic Ice-skating on Monday...which had dire consequences. Joel refused to skate and just took pictures of his older siblings. Ivan and Zoe was coming on nicely, and I told them to hold hands so that they could move more flowingly... BIG mistake! At first it worked very well, but then Ivan sorta almost fell, and Zoe did INDEED fall.... and in that moment Ivan actually (very much by accident) skated OVER Zoe's hand...uhm...there was lots of blood!
We drove to the doctor SO fast after tighgly bandaging Zoe's hand, with my niece really screaming very loudly, and I just put on the car's hazard lights and drove as fast and safely as I could. We got to the doctor whilst she was in consultation with Thinus, as he had to go and see her about his continuous illness. She then called in Zoe (after checking with Thinus that she could quickly see Zoe first), and I just stood there with Zoe in my arms, crying almost just as much as Zoe. I felt SO bad that this happened under my care of the kids! But when Brenda came (Zoe's mom), she sat between Zoe and myself and gave us each a tight hug, whilst the doctor saw to Zoe. 5 stitches and some sedatives later, Zoe was a happier and sleepier little girl.

After the doctor, we took Zoe to her first ever clothing shopping trip (the way women do it...trying out a gazillion outfits and only buying a few), as it is my birthday gift to her (we're in Cape Town whilst Zoe's turning 9 in Jo'burg). It was a lot of fun, and after that Ivan and Zoe decided they will return to the Ice Rink, as they had all-day passes. Joel said he will most definitely NOT skate, since Zoe ended up with five stitches! But they had such a jol!

We came to Cape Town on Friday (3 April) together with my brother Heinrich and a friend of us, Carlien. It's been such a wonderful time. Yesterday it would have been Thinus' mom's 54th birthday, so we (Father-in-law, Thinus, myself & Thinus' brother) took off at 06H20 AM and drove to Langebaan to scatter some of her ashes at her most favoured beach / place in the whole world. That gave us all closure, and it was a beautiful day spent with just us.

My mother's best friend's granddaughter (12 years) was also diagnosed with Brain Cancer last week, and our family immediately started praying. It is rather aggressive, and went inbetween her brain's lobes, into her skull and behind one of her eyes. The doctor will be operating on Thursday to do a biopsy and remove some of the tumour from behind her eye to relieve pressure. But we will only know the full outcome then. We went to visit Winé in hospital yesterday, and she was so quiet, not really like the bouncy and energetic kid that I remember from a year ago. Ivan, Zoe and Joel even made her cards to tell her that she should not be afraid, they are praying with her and for her. HOW AWESOME?!?!? We took her a teddy from the entire family, as Linda (my oldest sister-in-law) said that you can't be in hospital without a nice teddy to hug.
PLEASE pray for Winé and her parents and family! They all need the prayers, and we believe in THE Miracle Maker! God can heal, in which ever way He chooses to, and we can only pray!
On a lighter note. I've got this Hand Therapy project that is due very soon...and I have to make a model of a human finger minus the flesh and arteries, nerves and veins. So it's basically gonna be one finger's phalanges (proximal, middle and distal) with its cruciate ligaments, volar plates and attached tendons. It has to be fully functional as well as anatomically correct. I went on search for a skeleton whose phalanges I could impress into potter's clay (mould) and the make a replica of these phalanges. My dad was awesome in helping, as well as my father-in-law! I met up with quite a few people today, including a medical doctor, Dr. Wim de Klerk from Medis (CPT), as well as Paul Hepburn and Attie Bester (Orthotists and Prosthetists) and one of their assistants, Steven Davidson. WOW!!!! Theses guys were all SO awesome in helping me to make a replica of the finger's phalanges. I owe them BIG time! Thinus and I decided we might just leave OT and IT and become orthotists, it seems highly stimulating and satisfying!

So here follows a few photo's of our past week's adventures:
Zoe and Ivan trying to master the guitar.




Thinus&I @ Langebaan to celebrate his mom's life, and to scatter some of her ashes.
Thinus & Heinrich catching a sleep...
Carlien & I @ yet another road-works stop.

Mr. Bones & I, with his finger busy being moulded to make a replica of his middle finger's phalanges. (You can see Thinus in the mirror behind Mr. Bones' head, taking the picture).
Goodbye for myself and Mr. Bones!!!