102 hours

Never thought we would finally come down to this - roughly 102 hours left in this long saga until we land in New York.

I was worried that we would have a hard time getting through this past weekend. Thursday and Friday were particularly tough. We were both going a little stir crazy, and we did not sleep well Friday night. As someone who puts great value to “be” in a space of my own, having all the time in the world is not an easy thing. Part of this restlessness is that while Russ does not think he is a good patient, I am equally not convinced that I am a great nurse. Secondly, we discussed some pretty big decisions, which left us mentally and physically tired. Thirdly, there hasn’t been a whole lot to do that does not involve spending money, of which we have very little.
Saturday however was a beautiful warm day and we ventured over to the public golf course not too far from the house for a picnic. It featured a lovely shady walking trail and as we meandered through the course, we came across a small herd of blesbok, a few ostriches, and a troop of vervet monkeys. We laid in the sun and watched golfers try their best on the driving range. It was the best way to spend the afternoon.

When we got back, Russ’ brother Steve and partner Maria called us. This was the first time we had spoken to them and that lifted our spirits. Russ instant messaged with his brother Fred and his parents called later in the evening. Sue tried to called but we never got a good reception. I had spoken to my mom a couple of days before and so we were rather caught up on familial connections.

Add to the list of people who have been especially kind to us -
Out of the blue, we got a call from Dr. Cedric Yoshimoto, the regional Peace Corps medical officer. We had been in email contact with him, as he highly recommended Dr. Bennett. Cedric coordinates all med-evacs for volunteers in southern and eastern Africa which is a huge responsibility. He was maybe the most laid back doctor we had ever met. Anyway, he took us out to dinner at a fish restaurant and for the first time in almost two weeks, we did not watch a movie to kill time in the evenings.

Yesterday, we picked up our boxes in Joburg from Leungo and Vincent, friends of our friend Chris, who drove them down from Gaborone. These are the last remains of the shipping that came last December and represent most of what we own. We will take them back as excess luggage. So that too brings us one step closer to home.

Today was our last visit with Dr. Bennett. Good news is that Russ has no functional heart damage (technically there is some, but it does not affect the actual heart function of pumping). We were wishing for better news in the med department, seeing as the doctor wants him to continue taking the four medications he has been on for the past month. I am sure he is just being overly conservative, but we were hoping to get down to just two meds.

Thank goodness the sun still shines every day. It definitely makes things a lot easier.