Boca

Sorry all. I have not disappeared off the face of the earth. I'm in Boca with the whole gang. And I mean the whole gang. We are having a ball. I will update the blog soon!!!

Carpe Diem.

Merry Christmas

This is to all my friends celebrating Christmas. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a healthy, happy new year. Especially the healthy part! To all my fellow pilots at UPS, I hope you had an easy "peak".

Monday with Mary

Well actually, not Mary, but Jana. Jana did my monthly oil, lube and filter (port flush and blood work) at the Sinai infusion center. Diana did come with me but she was really uncomfortable being back there again. I , on the other hand, have mixed emotions about being back there as you can well imagine. I did see Mary and was able to give her the chocolates I brought for her from London. I will get the blood work results tomorrow but I am sure everything will be fine.

Before the hospital visit I went to see my new Pulmonologist, Dr. Rubenfeld. We were referred to him by Dr. Erlich. The meeting went well and Diana and I were really comfortable with him. It seems that most of the breathing issues right now can be attributed to the radiation therapy. The radiation did what it was supposed to. It got rid of the tumour. But in the process it gave me radiation pneumonitis, a somewhat common but unfortunate side effect. A far better option than cancer! I will be seeing Dr. Rubenfeld again in late January. That will give him time to see the latest PET/CT scan and all the past x/rays etc.

Carpe Diem.

Weekend update

Ahh, jet lag. Nothing like it. You would have figured that after 28 years I would have the jet lag crap under control. No such luck. But there is a bright side to waking up early, and I do mean early. Man U had a game in Japan this past Thursday at 5:30 am that I was wide awake for. We won 5-3. Then on Sunday morning there was another 5:30 am game that I was also up for. Yes, we won again 1-0. What an obsession!

Saturday morning we picked Robyn up from college. What a relieved young lady. Exams are over and now she can enjoy her winter break. Saturday evening Diana and I went for dinner with our neighbors, Larry and Danica. We went to a really nice French restaurant and it was like being back in Paris!

Carpe Diem.

Happy Hanukkah

To all our family and Jewish friends celebrating Hanukkah, we wish you a very happy Hanukkah. Chag Sameach.

Carpe Diem.

Homeward bound

After a leisurely sleep in, Rus and I had breakfast together and then she dropped me at Paddington train station to catch the Heathrow express. My mom left earlier this morning and I do mean earlier. 6 am. I didn't have much time to explore the new Heathrow terminal 5 but what I saw was pretty impressive. The flight home was fine. Just a wee bit long. The problem was I had to sit in the back with all the riff raff. Wait a minute. I am riff raff. Never mind!

It was an amazing week with Rus and the Bass Boys. Thanks for such a cool week and thanks blogmeister. Lets do it more often. How about March 21st???

Carpe Diem.

Last day in London

Day 6
At least they let me sleep in on my last day in London! I have really been busy and apart from coughing every now and then and the breathlessness going up stairs, I have been feeling great!
Mom and I had breakfast together and then Rus picked us up to be finished off at the clinic. Microdermabrasion,face masks, appointment with the dermatologist, zapping of my ear, met the ophthalmologist, chatted to the nurses and had lunch before leaving them all till the next time!

Dinner was going to be another meat pie and chips! One of Rus’ good friends came to say Hi and as soon as they’d gone we sat down to The Feast! Ilan came over later and we just enjoyed each others company till bed time!

This has been an amazing week …especially for my sister who has been waiting for so long for me to be on her patch! Bringing my Mom was an added bonus! Now we have Florida to look forward to when all of us can be together!

Carpe Diem.

Paris

Day 5

Bonjour mes amies!

We caught the 8.40 train to Paris and this was my first time on the Eurostar. It is a great ride! Really comfortable and so fast! We managed to have a quick croissant and latte before we left and two and half hours later we arrived at Gare Du Nord in the bitter Parisien cold!

We sped to the restaurant that Rus had booked and met a very good friend from Zimbabwe there. Gail lives in Paris and it was a superb lunch together catching up with the news of all our common friends from Zimbabwe who are now all over the world. The restaurant is called L’Avenue and it was filled with beautiful French women! The waitresses weren’t bad either and according to Gail only chosen for their looks!!

We had a car arranged after lunch to take us on a short sight seeing journey around Paris because it would have been difficult for my Mom to walk in the cold weather. Unfortunately the man who should have ferried us was out of Paris so we had his brother in law who not only spoke nothing but French but didn’t know the city as well as he should have and so although we saw most of the sights I didn’t get to see the Eiffel Tower…Imagine that!! Have to laugh now but we certainly weren’t when it looked like we may miss the train home because he had no idea where he was!!

All part of the experience and we had a great day arriving back in London at 10.00pm!

Carpe Diem

More Londinium

Day 4




I must say, I am really getting used to this hectic lifestyle. No rest for the wicked! Breakfast with one of Rus's closest friends Debs, who actually needed us to rescue her from her apartment as she had locked herself in! Yes, believe it or not, in. That was my introduction to Debs! We had a lovely brekkie at one of Londons' best restaurants (The Wolseley) and then walked down to see Buckingham Palace. We trod on the red Queen owned road and then walked back past the Grenadier Guards. It is so great being in England because all of this history is what I had grown up with and it felt strangely comfortable. The weather was so much better we were able to walk quite a way and I was pleased as I'm not as fit as I'm used to and my breathing is really compromised. Hopefully the visit with the pulmonologist will clear this up. It was really good to meet Debs and I was able to thank her for being my big sisters support here!

We were all invited to my cousin Mon for late Sunday lunch and en route we met my Mom and Gerry at Oren's office! Lunch at Mon’s was great and her apartment is really grand. We had an excellent meal and then we sat, stuffed with food listening to her play the piano masterfully! Really mellow Sunday afternoon and by the time we left it was dark! I drove Oren’s Porsche home so …no jokes please…and I amazed myself negotiating the small London roads in terrible traffic.

An early bedtime was planned. We needed to be up early for the day in Paris!

Carpe Diem.

Londinium

Ok, so I arrived at the much talked about Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport and Rus was there to meet me while Gerry went off to terminal 3 to pick up my Mom.

Our week in London had begun and all the trepidation that I felt prior to the journey disappeared. The weather was actually clear and even tho' cold, a bright blue sky welcomed us! We sped back to the house,had a short rest and then Rus picked us up and off we went to the clinic. Really good to see everyone and they were very happy to see us. My Mom dived head first into her treatments and I just chatted to the gang happy to be here! I even had the opportunity to chat to a French Surgeon at the clinic who is an expert on Giblet extraction! (Please send personal email addresses to me for more info on this procedure!) It was great dining together that night and over dinner we planned the next few days events. Off to bed......me in the Penthouse and Mom in her room!

DAY 2

After an excellent nights sleep I woke up relaxed and we planned to spend most of the day hanging out at the clinic and then dinner with my nephews Oren and Ilan and Ilan's girlfriend Carolina. We met the other French surgeon and had some interesting talks with some of his patients! Good to see how busy the clinic was and meet all the different doctors some of whom had brought in food for everyone! The Christmas spirit has well and truly kicked in! Left a tired Mom at home and went with Rus to get her hip pain sorted out! Good to be the escort to the patient this time! And did I tell you that everyone said I look great!!!! Still a slightly plump hamster. Fish and Chips for dinner and great to be all together. I have to say it's great to be with my sisters and their families and of course my Mommy! Need to report that the sleep wasn't that great. Heartburn like you have no idea! When I finally managed to fall asleep it was great as I needed to be ready for my big day! FOOTBALL .

DAY 3
Soft Boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast on day 3 and then off to Shul with Rabbi Schlochem and Ilan (my nephew) who felt like going and invited me along! My brother-in-law Gerry, aka Rabbi Schlochem, has been going to shul every Saturday since my adventure began and he is now part of the inner sanctum at Shul! Maybe it's the kiddush food that is so appealing to him!

We lunched at Nandos, us three, and then waited for Peter to pick us up for THE GAME!!! We were picked up and chauffeured to the front door of White Hart lane. My excitement was palpable as we made our way to the private box with the other 5 guys. 6 out 8 of us were Man U supporters and the other 2 Tottenham as was Peter the owner of the box!!! What a day! What a game ! What an atmosphere and so amazing to be at a live game! I even braved the cold and spent some time outside, in the stands, absorbing everything with Peter's sons Gerald and James. Although it was a draw it was totally worth it and it was the first time I had seen Man U live! I will definitely do it again! Now that I know how great it feels, this is just the beginning!

I was buzzing all night and when we got back to the house I was just babbling on and on about the game. Ruth and David (Rus and Ger's friends) didn't even get a word in. In fact I was so wired I only got to bed at 12! Me, Baltimore Boy! Have you ever!

And by the way, my Mom had a good day too! She bought me a great jacket, scarf and cashmere sweater! My Mom looked great after her total hair makeover! And even The Duchess of Kent, who sat next to her at the hairdresser, admired her hair!

Carpe Diem.