It Never Rains but it Pours - Part 2

Continued ....

Kato's latest text to me was:

"Hallelujah!!! I just spoke to someone with a brain!! Will email tonight with an update."

Well the Falcon appears to have risen and taken flight and things are on the rise.  AM still has a lot of questions about the lack of understanding displayed by the Falcon's assistants but at last we found a gem.  She is the Assistant with a Brain. (Hereafter called AwaB).

She listed the bogus transactions for Kato to fill out the form so that the bank can 'officially consider' refunding the money.  AwaB could have posted the card to Zambia but unfortunately the lesser assistant has already posted it to us so we will now have to find a way to get it to Zambia.  AwaB could also re-enable internet banking so Kato can access other accounts.

It begs the question as to how many AwaB's does the mighty Falcon have as we have only encountered one on this journey with him?

Anyway, things are on the up.  IW has three radiography sessions to go this week and then the treatment is over and we look for the improvement in pain relief and movement.  AMandIW expect normal transmission to be resumed shortly.  Thanks again for all the support we have received.

It Never Rains but it Pours

It never rains but it pours.  An old saying and a true one.  It was the title of the last email I received from daughter 3 presently in Zambia. For me it transports my mind in several areas at once.  Firstly that original meaning of "When troubles come they come together" and secondly back to my childhood and one of the few things that I can still recite from my Primary School days the poem My Country by Dorothea Mackellar.

The second verse in particular which transports us from the staid first verse referring to England to the second verse which bursts forth with the vast contrasts of my country. 

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror—

The wide brown land for me. 

It has always puzzled me as to why in our country when people suffer through years of drought it is generally broken by the heartbreak of floods that follow the rains that break the drought.  It is a land of excess and I guess our lives are ones of excesses.

IW is halfway through the radiotherapy and going OK.  The major obstacles being the constant nausea and general tiredness.  Sleep is patchy but all in all we say to each other "Half way now - in a week we will be in a better place".

Back to the "It never rains but it pours" email.  It really started with my mobile phone signalling a message Thursday morning at about 5:45 am just as I arrived home from my daily gym session.

The message read:

 "Hi.  Sorry if this wakes you. I've sent you an email, can you read it asap.  I need my credit card cancelled'  Leaving my phone on.  You can call anytime."

It was from Kato.  Didn't bother to read the email but phoned straight away to find that the details of both her credit card and the card of one of her travelling companions had been skimmed while using an ATM in Livingstone.  She has had several thousand dollars of transactions run up on the card and could not get through to the bank on her phone from Zambia - could I do something?

I felt comfortable with the situation - I had seen the ad for the ANZ Falcon and knew everything would be OK.

Found the number, rang, waited for the helpful Falcon to swoop to my assistance.  Initially there was some success.  I managed to get the card cancelled despite giving the wrong birthday for Kato when quizzed by the Falcon's assistant.  It still amazes me how easy it was to get a card for a female cancelled when obviously I was a male providing a wrong birthdate.  Maybe it was the genuine desperation in my voice.

The Falcon's assistant then switched on super-helpful mode.  There was no more I could do, Kato would have to ring them but they have a wonderful toll-free number so she can ring for no cost and get everything sorted out.  I jump on the phone and tell her the good news.

1. 
   
   The card is cancelled
2. 
   
   She is slightly younger that she thinks she is.

 Gee the Falcon is pretty good.  Last night I received the following text message:

"This is a nightmare!  Just spent $30 talking to the most useless person on the face of the planet. Will send you an email tonight."

I guess the Falcon has crashed and burned.

To be continued ....

Session One is complete

It was indeed a long weekend.  Pain from the hips and across the back was not being contained by the medication.  IW had not slept well for quite a few days and the lack of sleep and pain was making her life a real misery.  A phone call to the Oncologist on Sunday led AMandIW to the Emergency Ward at the Mater Hospital, there we spent about 5 hours being attended to by some great medical people.

IW was put on a drip and it was not long before the pain subsided and she slipped into a deep sleep.  They prescribed some stronger medication for pain and sleep and off we went home.

Sunday night saw the best sleep for quite a while and a refreshed and renewed IW ready to face her first session of radiotherapy this morning.

A 40 minute session and we were done and heading home for IW to rest.  Another four sessions this week and three next week to complete the course then wait for the signs of healing.

Thanks for all the messages from near and far, from friends of long standing here at home to our extended family in Puyallup and Grand Rapids.

Sorry for our lack of personal replies to you wonderful people

Flattening the Bump

It has been a long couple of weeks, tests, listening to the experts, long periods of wondering and the amazing presence of God in our lives as expressed by His Saints.

IW starts radiotherapy on Monday.  Four sessions this week and four sessions next week. That's it.  Then we wait for the signs of healing, relief from pain, regaining energy and a renewed sense of being back on the road again.

Thanks for all the support we have received from close to home and around the world. AMandIW are indeed fortunate people.

gnuspeak

Since resuming the blog we have picked up quite a few people who don't know some of the abbreviations (or gnuspeak as we refer to it as) that we use so AM thought it would be good to list these and link them to where they are first used.  Here they are in no particular order. We hope this helps.

• AAPS - Allocated Australian Personal Space
• CIC - Check In Clerk
• IW - Invisible Woman
• BP - Beauty Parlour
• TG - Tour Guide
• AM - Action Man
• GMP - God's Mighty Provision
• TIC - Teacher In Charge
• AMandIW - the collective noun when AM and IW are together
• AwaB - Assistant with a Brain

A Bump in the Road

It has been a long time but it is time for AM and IW to return to the blogosphere.

A lot of things have happened since our return from India over 12 months ago.  We have been exploring a direction for our life with the help of UnitingWorld and arrived at the decision that the next step for AMandIW (this is the new collective term for us) would be Zimbabwe.  The basic plan is to resign from our jobs and in late January head off to work with the Uniting Church of Zimbabwe in the area of Orphans and Vulnerable Children.

Well this is still our goal but there has been a 'Bump in the Road'.

AMandIW have been working hard on our health the past few months, changed our eating patterns, joined a Gym and have lost a combined total of about 26 kg.  Pretty impressive we thought.  About a month ago IW got a sore hip - overdone the exercise was the popular opinion so off to the local chiropractor for a bit of relief.

After a session or so it was suggested that we should get some XRay's.  This was followed by a trip to the GP, some bone scans, some CT scans an MRI a trip to IW's Oncologist and a diagnosis that there was cancer present in the left pelvis and right femur plus various spots on the shoulders/back.  We were both in disbelief.  How could this happen when our plans were set and everything seemed so straight forward.

Everything was put on hold as we plotted a new way forward with the help of some very good medical practitioners.  The end result is that IW will soon begin a regime of Radiotherapy to the left pelvis and right femur plus some to the right chest area where there is some suspicious 'thickening'.

We have been encouraged by the advice that we should be able to continue our adventure to Zimbabwe next year but will wait a couple of months to test the effectiveness of the treatment being given.

Stay tuned as AMandIW deal with the 'Bump in the Road' and see where the next adventure is.