Thursday 27 November 2014

Wednesday 5 November 2014

isiXhosa 101 - practicing "the click"

Living in the Eastern Cape - and can't see myself living anywhere else....becoming part of this unique crowd of people and being able to live an enjoyable life here, two things are for sure.
1.  You must be down to earth and
2.  You must learn the lingo..... isiXhosa being the main language of the province but then also...what we call the lower Albany twang...the "boet and swaer" of the English language...I can't explain it...you'll just have to wait and hear one day! 
....maybe there's a third...like drinking pineapple beer and playing cricket or something down those lines...

But for now.... Duncan has been practicing his clicking for about 2 weeks!  We think it is hilarious!


Monday 3 November 2014

The Journey to recovery begins - The Op

 On the 20th of October we packed our bags and headed for the Cape...for Dunci's double nerve harvest operation.
  • First stop - Port Elizabeth Airport Lounge
    • Here he is still using his right arm, trying very hard to rotate that wrist to hold the rattle


 The Cape....Southern most tip of Africa....butterflies of nerves in my tummy....

  •  Next stop - Water Front for lunch....table mountain in the background - little does this one know whats coming his way.
 being a good boy at the fancy pancy restaurant - Baia
 Reading "Fishy Fun" at a seafood restaurant :)  A book we bought for hospital.

 Shoe shopping with the dad...can see how he is using his left hand to assist the right arm - bring the right hand to his mouth. 


 Although he looks like a druggie from the cape flats, he was a very nice porter who was responsible for getting Duncan from his bedroom to the theatre...which was a helluva long walk through a bloody maze and about 4 different lifts!
 Ta Da!  Done and dusted!  With a little drip in the left hand.  He performed for about an hour after coming out of the anesthetic, and eventually passed out.  The fist night of his life that he basically slept through (except waking once when his drip fell out at 4am)....BUT being a pediatric hospital....mom on the other hand got zero sleep..there was a baby (1year old) that cried blue murder from about 9pm till 1am when a doctor finally came and gave her a suppository then she whipered till about 3am....was too terrible!   

 All smiles first thing the next morning like he doesn't even know that he just had a 2.5hour operation the night before!
 Strapped in and ready to go to Uncle Francious in Paarl
 Then we did a tour of Uncle Jacques new house being built
 Wednesday - next stop - check up with the surgeon/specialist
 Waiting in the waiting room of Dr. Solomons practice in Vincent Pallotti hospital (hand clinic)

 Wednesday afternoon - next stop - airport lounge Cape Town
 Thursday morning - home sweet home
The sling doesn't bother him one bit!

 It aint over till the fat lady sings
Mommy's little one armed monster fast asleep