Pushing Back on an Old Year
I’m not convinced it was the worst year in collective history – 2016. Some of my contenders for worst year of the millennium are in no danger of being pushed off the chart by the past 12 months. Yes, for
I’m a writer from the Eastern Cape, South Africa, an MA in sociology and a continuing student.
I’ve worked in journalism and corporate communications in both the private and public sectors for almost four decades. Some of the life, professional and ethical principles I learnt early on, still define me now.
My loved ones include Belinda, Heath, Rebecca, Kelly & Marco.
This site started as a means of sharing with loved ones, friends and associates the story of my journey – through cardiomyopathy, end stage heart disease towards transplantation, and the blessings and challenges of now living with a donor heart.
It’s a repository for much of my journalism – news and feature writing, and opinion pieces.
I Am Here – Rebirthed, Restored, Re-dedicated
I’ve been down this road before – usually at times of hectic busy-ness, so much to do that one simply gets overwhelmed and the end result is either of slumping in a corner and not achieving anything or trying ever
Consider Being A Hero
It might seem a terribly morbid topic to raise during this wonderfully festive holiday period we are entering. But, have you considered that you might be one of the road fatalities that occurs this December-January? And, is it possible that
We All Fear Rejection
By the time human organs had been transplanted, many hundreds of operations involving various animals had been performed around the world to test surgical procedures (correctly, many of these experiments would be outlawed by ethics policies today). Kidney transplants from one
Channeling the Arch
For Humanity’s Sake
It is noticeable that, while most people can recite the names of surgical pioneers like Chris Barnard and transplant recipients like Louis Washkansky and Dorothy Fisher, few of us know the donors who have either voluntarily sacrificed much or whose
Transplantation Numbers Are Not Good At Every Level
There is almost zero access to heart surgery for poor people in rural areas, who typically die without treatment, according to the self-assessment of the heart transplant unit at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town. The unit,
Part Of Chris Barnard’s Contested legacy
I would never have been a fan of Professor Chris Barnard, growing up in the 1960s and ’70s. He was, after all, an Afrikaner male in a country ruled by Afrikaner men who made it their life’s mission to legally
The Same Old Bugger I Ever Was
People ask me all the time: What does it feel like? I know immediately what they’re referring to, but feign uncertainty and send a question back: What do you mean? They say: Having someone else’s heart in your chest. No different,
GALLERY: Barnard’s Legacy Gets a New Focus
GALLERY: A Ward With A View
What I Like About the New Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital
The flagship new Netcare hospital on Cape Town’s Foreshore to replace the existing Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital is purpose-built, with much high-tech medical equipment. It pays tribute to Prof Chris Barnard’s legacy as a researcher and surgeon, as well as
New State-of-the-Art Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital Revealed
Private hospital group Netcare today (Thursday) revealed its new state-of-the-art hospital facility on Cape Town’s Foreshore to replace the converted downtown commercial block which has housed the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital until now. The R800-million new hospital which will eventually
Tutu’s Elevator Blessing
Not exactly the proverbial “Rainbow Nation” but it’s a pretty disparate bunch that enters the lift on the 14th floor from the various medical suites for doctors, specialists and other service providers. There’s me, apparently an old oke behind the
Un-masking Our True Attitudes
I feel a bit goofy about it. But the medical people insist that going around in public for the next couple of weeks with a surgical mask covering my mouth and nose are critical for my good health, preventing germs
Beloved, Loved Ones, FRIENDS
For many, the importance of positive, nurturing relationships only becomes apparent during a crisis. I have been blessed throughout my life with the most amazing relationships, and I’ve not only been alert to that during crises. Those relationships include my
Leonard Cohen on Nazi Germany, America, Mzanzi
Remember the ice-breaker you used to play at youth groups all those years ago? “If your house was burning down, what three or 10 objects would you try to save?” When I was hurtling along packing a bag for an
Weekend Special
In order to avoid a charge that I was over-promising and under-delivering, I decided a week ago not to issue any updates on my probable discharge from hospital. So it may not have been completely apparent to you that I
Not Suitable for Friday’s Faafee or Powerball Draws: Big Numbers Part 1
There’s a reason I love words more than numbers. But I’ve realised over the years that not paying attention to the big numbers in any area of my life can lead to serious problems – it can even be a
“Maer boudjies” on a summery Friday
The heritage bequeathed to me by my family and its various strands of forebears is of “maer boudjies” – thin, spindly, boney legs. Those forebears mainly were the ones roaming the plains alongside Cape mountains and the Karoo – when
PART 1: No Place for Old Pessimists
(Part 1 of a post on negativity and how this new season, new heart, has allowed me to follow a different approach to the things I hope for.) This is how I typically watch a Bafana Bafana game even when
PART 2 (Please read first): No place for old pessimists
PART 2 I am going to avoid making any comments about the facts in this post – a previous version came across as too arrogant, triumphalist even. Our family has taken to using H1, Heart 1, for my original, birth
A new treatment for heart conditions developed in a hospital near you: Purrings
This is an oldie from about 2 months ago which I shared with some of you, but well worth another Saturday chuckle. When I first checked into the hospital, struggling to breathe, eat or make any non-clinical sense of this
One week later
God of second chances – thank you!! From the moment last Tuesday morning when I said goodbye in my “waiting” hospital Ward to an emotional Jan, the Polish seaman who was being treated for pneumonia contracted off the Atlantic coast,
A New Heart Brings New Meanings
I’m re-discovering the (personal) meaning of two words I thought I always knew until today. Gobsmacked. Surreal. I understood this afternoon for the first time what it means to be totally and completely gobsmacked, when I heard of the availability
Donor Heart Match – Transplant Slated for October 11, 2016
I have today been told by doctors at Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital that a donor heart is available for me and will be transplanted tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. Head of the heart transplant unit Dr Willie Koen brought the news just
MY ROAD TO HEART FAILURE
I’ve lived with a weak heart muscle possibly since birth but at least since 2007. That’s when I was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that describes the enlarging of the left heart ventricle, affecting its ability to pump blood
HEART UNIT SUCCESS
The Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital (CBMH formerly the City Park Hospital) in Cape Town, is where I am currently admitted while I await final authorisation of a heart transplant. The private hospital unit has had significant success in both heart
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