GALLERY: A Ward With A View
Ray's Words
All Own Research & Writing, and Externally Sourced Information About Cardiac Disease and Heart Transplant Treatment
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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 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
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
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,
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
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
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
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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