NiQi's Letter to her Family

Below is a letter copied and pasted that NiQi sent to us.  I have asked her if I may share it as I feel it is something you may all be interested in.  I have to confess that reading it I had tears welling in my eyes and then falling down my cheeks.  The biggest thing, if you can call it a 'thing' for our family is obviously the fact that much of our bread and butter comes from our birds.  I said to Johan that maybe this is why God is sending Johan back to KZN at the end of this month.  It will allow him the time in the evenings and at weekends to get our bird room and aviary structures in place so that we can move the birds from here to there...that obviously will include the chickens and peafowl too.  Hopefully they will be gone by the time lungs become available and she needs to come back here post transplant and for her recuperation period.  It also means that she will never be able to visit us in our own home again - but maybe that is a good thing as we can have revenge and make her house untidy!!!!  I was surprized to read that she has tested for type A blood group as all her life we have believed her to be O positive....at least now we know for sure. Enjoy the read...


My loving family

As you know, I am in Milpark for my 2week IV course, but at the same time I am having a transplant work up done. 

Since 2012, we have all known that this is something that I need, but the reality of it hasn't hit us yet. This lung transplant doesn't just involve me, it involves all of you too. We have all known the basics of what happens with this procedure, and not until today, has it actually hit me. The transplant co-ordinator came and spoke to me today. I am not going to lie to you, as much as I want this transplant, I also don't want it. It is scary, but nothing will stop me from going through with it. 

The cost all in all at the moment is just under R1.5 Million for the transplant.

Basically, the medical aid covers about 95% of the surgery, but there will be some extra costs attached (hence the Trust Fund) for instance the medical aid will only pay the 200% of the 300% price of the surgeon etc. so there will be some costs that we will have to cover.

I have been given an 86 page book to read about the transplant process and the whole family is to read it as well to be informed. I haven't opened it as yet, as it's rather daunting. 

The stay post transplant from ICU to the isolation ward is anything between 4-6 weeks depending on how things go, the stay could be longer than that, but hopefully not.

My communication with the transplant team will now begin, I have to let them know anything that is relevant, whether it be from a change of a cellphone number or if I have the flu or if I go away anywhere. They need to know all these things to keep tabs, if and when lungs arrive.  There may also be a dry run, where I have to get to the hospital ASAP. So I must always be prepared for the calls, whether they are real or a trial run. 

There is also the possibility that when I am in ICU I can hallucinate, I will be on high doses of morphine and other drugs, and apparently hallucination is not uncommon. so just be prepared for the crazy Nicky :-) 

Talking about lungs, I am apparently blood type A . The co-ordinator said that they base lungs on blood group and height obviously. I can get donor lungs from the blood group O, but they would prefer A group. They also do not transplant HIV or high risk patients,

I am having another series of bloods taken to be tested, one of which is my white cell marker (I think) to see if my antibodies are higher or lower. The lower they are, the less chance of rejection. 

I also need to go to a dentist to have a full routine done, and have anything fixed that needs fixing, because post transplant, if I get a tooth infection, that could be very detrimental to my health, especially in the window period that my immune suppressants are very high and I have a low immune system. I have a letter from the co-ordinator for the dentist, and Discovery should cover it. 

Now, the parts that really got to me, was that under no circumstance at all am I allowed to be around BIRDS. obviously birds in the wild I can't help, but such as with us breeding and having pets, that's a NO. 

Secondly, I am not allowed to ever have Grapefruit (Not that I ever do) .

Biltong or Sushi I can have at a later stage in life, but because they are raw foods they have a high bacterial count which could cause infection. I need to have a good diet with cooked foods. Haha.

I also asked about horses, and she isn't sure, but she says definitely the first 6 months, don't go near them. Then in time I can go around them, but when grooming I am to wear a mask, and to never muck out stables. 

I am allowed to have dogs and cats, but am not allowed to be part of their hygiene, eg: cleaning the litter box etc. 

I must also try and stay away from sick people, especially in the first 6 months, so If you have the sniffles, stay away from me please :-)

Now I know that you may think it is silly, but I am hoping to get married one day.  But even if I did, I would not be allowed to have children, my own children. They are strongly against pregnancy. In most cases they have seen, rejection has happened, because your heart and lungs have to work harder when pregnant. So I am quite sad about that, but at least there is adoption. I turned out alright didn't I!!!!!   :-D 

So basically what I have to do now, is try and keep myself as healthy as possible, Go to all my check ups and take my meds and be as active as possible, without over doing myself. I have to find that balance. I think I am doing well with that, I just need to work on the exercise, especially upper body strengthening. As they say, the fitter you are, the easier the recovery will be.

Another thing, I can do gym etc post transplant, But I cannot play any physical contact sport, so no playing for the Boks unfortunately.    :-P 

Physio, post transplant is going to be quite heavy, I have to inflate the lungs on my own. For the first 3-7 days I will be on a ventilator and have 7 drains. Learning to walk and use my lungs will be a long road, but I am sure I will do fine. 

For the first week as far as I can remember I can't have family with me, You can be on the outside of the isolation cubicle but cannot physically be next to me. You will then later on be allowed in but wearing scrubs and hats and gloves and masks etc.

That is basically all at the moment, I just have to see the psychologist and I think I have then met the whole transplant team.

I am not going to lie, the deeper I get into the process the more daunting it is becoming. It is a high risk operation, but with all of you by my side, it will give me the strength. I am sure there is more to tell you but right now I am a little over whelmed and can't think of anything else.

Thank you to all of you for all that you do for me, for loving me and making me a part of your family.

I love you all dearly.

Love Nicky Naky Noodle

Koi

With Johan's sister Elmarie and family returning from 4 years in Canada and his other sister Mariana and family now moving to a new house the koi they had were needing a new home, which Johan accepted when offered them.  We had some beautiful big koi when we lived in KZN and when we moved up here, Johan transported them too.  I remember him putting them into special plastic bags with oxygen pills to last them the journey.  These were then packed into tubs to help keep their temperature at a constant level and he drove almost 600km with them like that before releasing them into the reservoir.  We had them in there for quite some time before the comorants discovered them swimming in there and decided they would make a good meal.  I think they were too big and heavy for them to take out of the water though and so all they did was injure them.  Sadly it was the beginning of the end for the koi as the water became infected.  Johan tried everything he could to try to correct the water and eradicate the bacteria but we watched daily as one by one they died.  We have learned from that experience though and now know why big businesses that have koi in ponds have them either indoors or at least under cover.

Johan decided to 're-cycle' our JoJo tank that was blown away in that huge wind storm....remember I blogged about that sometime last year....  He cut off the top portion that was most broken and was left with the bottom of a now open tank.  Little did he realize that the bottom section also had some damage done to it, but after two attempts with different 'patching' he managed to seal it to be water tight.  It is now filled with water, which took weeks to settle, clear and get to the correct ph - just by adding vinegar and salt mind you.  The pump has been fitted and is relaying the water well and the koi are in.  All he still wants and needs to do is fit a UV light above the water and cover it for protection.

A Sad Tale of A Dog Fight

Every day there is something happening at Larkwood and I really wish I had more hours in the day to document and share things, however as you know life passes us by all too quickly and before you know it another hour, another day, another week has gone.  This is one such tale that has to be told, although not the nicest of them, it is an occurance that all too quickly turned into an almost disastrous affair.

Friday afternoon I had just completed a task in the house and thought it might be a good idea to get supper started as it was one of those meals that take a while to cook.  On my way out through the kitchen I heard the dogs barking in the direction of the neighbours on the right of us and went outside to have a look.  Sure enough they were all, but the puppies, standing at the fence and barking.  I turned to go and start with supper and in the very next instant I saw how Molly spun round and attacked Purdy.  You have to understand that this is really out of character for Molly and up to this point we are still uncertain what made her do this, but she was  like a demon possessed.  She took hold of Purdy and would not let go.  Purdy tried as best she could to fight out of the deadlock grip that Molly had on her but she could not free herself.  I shouted at Molly and then I tried to pull her off Purdy.  I threw things at her - sticks, bottles anything I could lay my hands on.  I grabbed the water bucket and doused them in water and still she did not let go.  By now I was panicking as I could see the terror in Purdy's eyes and I felt certain that Molly would kill her.

We have had many dogs over the years and mostly they have been placid and complacent around each other.  Even the two boys we have now, Todd and Barney have had their growling sessions, hackles up, but never anything like this.  At one stage I had Molly by her tail, lifting her in the air, hoping that she would let go, but she didn't....she just kept a strong grip on Purdy and was dragging her all over the garden.  I really was at my wits end and I phoned Johan explaining what was happening, but I guess for him on the other end of the line, he thought it was just a little tiff and it would soon be over...he couldn't comprehend the fear I felt that for Molly this was a fight to the end.

I threw my phone down and tried once more to get Molly to loosen her grip around Purdy's throat before flopping down on the ground in absolute disbelief and horror at what was unfolding in front of my eyes.  I have seen cockerals fighting where they will peck at each others eyes and it too is an awful sight to witness.  I remember nursing one cockeral back to health after one such fight and for days I thought he wouldn't make it.  He did and he continued to taunt the other cockeral from the other side of the fence, with one eye less, as if nothing had ever happened.

Having gained some strength I ran to the tack room to find the horses whip and riding crop hoping that one or other of those would help.  At first I used the whip, but it was too long and became entangled in the two of them, so I resorted to using the crop.  I remember someone saying once you should hit them on their nose so I was aiming for Molly's nose.  I don't know if I did manage to get her on her nose but she let go...halleluja..... I grabbed Molly before she could go for Purdy again and watched Purdy running away.  Both dogs were covered in blood and I needed to assess the damage.  I picked Molly up and took her into the house to bath her.  The water was covered in blood and as I washed her I realized that there was nothing wrong with her at all, all the blood on her was from Purdy.  I closed her in the kitchen and went to look for Purdy.  As I am writing this I cannot even remember where I found Purdy, but I do know that I was calling and looking for a few minutes before finding her.  I scooped her up and could see a mark on her chest and rips on her ear...she was shivering from shock and fright.  I bathed her as gingerly as I could with her shaking all the while.  The damage wasn't as bad as I had first thought as I dried her and left her in the bathroom.

Johan then phoned and after all that had happened and trying to talk to him, I realized that I couldn't breathe.  I was wheezing and gasping and coughing...I couldn't stop coughing...on the other end of the line he panicked and said he was coming home.  I said I will be fine but I certainly didn't feel fine.  Next minute Peet and an ambulance arrived at our gate and I walked slowly to the gate, coughing all the way.  I have never had an asthma attack before and don't suffer from asthma but for me it felt like what an asthma attack would be like.  They took my blood pressure - sky high - listened to my heart - racing faster than a locomotive in full steam and made me breathe into a bag giving me oxygen at the same time.  My heart rate went from 165 to 104 in  just a matter of minutes and my coughing subsided to a small cough here and there.  It turns out my asthma attack was a panic attack!!!!

Today is 4 days later and the swelling and bruise I saw much later that evening on my arm is subsiding.  Purdy is still hobbling around and her left front leg seems to have picked up some damage as she is not using it at all.  The first couple of days we gave her some disprin for the pain and she spends much of her time inside, either in the house with me or in the outside room where she sleeps at night.  Molly is waltzing around with her head held high as if nothing in the world ever happened.  We have deicded that she or Purdy will go with Johan at the end of the month when he goes down to KZN...best to keep them apart as I do not want to ever live through an episode like that again....

 Molly

 Purdy

Re-start to Vege Patch

I have realized that to have a vegetable garden is to have a full time job and with both Johan at work during the week and me being torn between too many things, we neither of us spend as much time as we should in our vege patch.

In summer there is the constant weeding that has to be done and in winter, daily watering.  Needless to say the weekends do not stretch far enough for us to be working in there all the time.  The question is....do we really need a vege patch and the answer very simply is - yes we do.  How then do we solve our predicament of too few hours to make it productive enough for us to benefit from it?

Before we left to go on holiday, it was already in dire need of a good clean out, but at least we had something growing in it.  I had hoped the fairies may be bored while we were away and they would spend some time cleaning it for us, however the fairies obviously took one look at the mess and decided they were on holiday too.  What did happen whilst we were away, is the pea fowl discovered that there is actually delicious food in it, so by the time we came back, it was all devoured.  That's right, they absolutely stripped the place of everything.  Besides the sweet potatoes which are growing under the soil, everything else was gone, with just stalks as evidence of there ever being anything at all.

So that decided it, we had to close off the area under the shadecloth at least so that the peafowl would not be able to get inside.  First we spent the day cleaning and pulling all the weeds  and then we pulled what remained of the veges out.  Johan found some wire which we used to close up most of the area with a piece open for him to make a gate so that we can get through to the other side.   For now, it is covered up with a spare piece of shade cloth and that has done the trick to keep the peafowl out.  Now we must look for new seeds and plant all over again, hopefully come summer we will have some nice crops of veges that we can pick both for ourselves and to share with the rabbits and birds....

 Fencing going up

 What was left of the spinach plants

What was left of the Zimbabwean cabbages

KZN Provincial Show

Time marches on and I cannot believe it is a month since Johan went down to PMB for the KZN Provincial budgie show....

Every year, since he joined the budgie society, Johan has entered some of his budgies into the KZN Provincial show.  Entrance to this show has always been easier and obviously more cost effective than to any of the other shows, mostly because we live/d there.  Over the years he has become more involved and for the last 10 years at least, both he and Matthew have run the show from the secretarial show side.  Matthew knows the program that it is run on, so well, that allowing 'late entries' and noting any changes before the show starts, are very easy for him to do.  The two of them together make such an awesome team that in the past the Durban club have asked them to help them with running the show too.

Preparation of the budgies for the show starts long before the entries are in, when Johan has a look at what he has in the aviary and decides on what to take down...hoping that there will be no cold snap or heat wave that will fool the birds into thinking they are entering a new season and so 'drop' any of their feathers.  Tricks of the trade are learned as to how to straighten a tail that may have been bent out of shape and spots are 'pulled' if there are more than the recommended number required for showing.  Birds that are young are taught how to 'sit' or perch in the show cage and they are sprayed with water daily to help with grooming and get their feathersinto peak condition.  Speaking of cages...there is plenty of cleaning of show cages done, and usually the day before!!!!  All must be the same as there is a standard to be adhered to.   Anything different and they are 'marked' cages and disallowed.

Judges are chosen before the show schedule is sent out, mostly local judges but sometimes judges come from overseas.  Larkwood Aviaries has been around since 1982, the year we married and the year Johan decided to become serious about breeding budgies.   In the beginning it was just him and over the years the whole family has become involved - so much so that more often than not I am with the birds more than he is.  His ring number used to be L55 and now as a family we have the ring number L1.

Larkwood aviaries didn't fare too badly at the provincial, winning a number of 1st's and a couple of  'cc's '....meaning they were the best in their class of colour at the show.  Each show brings different results depending on how the birds have travelled, what they look like and what the competition amongst other budgie breeders birds may be like on the day.  Since the KZN show, the Gauteng show has also been and gone....the next show is the National in July - in Bloemfontein...brrrrr....