May 25, 2019

I want to share with you some of my thoughts about the way forward for me regarding the situation I am in presently.

1)    The flights were via BA and it allied partners and they don’t give refunds but they do offer the chance to use the ticket for a whole year (I am sure that you would have to pay something for changing the flight dates.) We booked the ticket to leave to home leave on May 31^st this year. So the ticket is good till May 31^st next year. My travel agent, Rajes, asked if it would be possible to still fly this year since the time leading up to May 31^st next year it mostly winter and not a good time for a home leave.”

If I decide that it is still not possible for me to do this traveling this year, it would mean losing the money for the tickets, which was around $1500,00. As painful as that is, I never imagined that I would have to make such a decision.

2)    There would have to be 2 things before I could even think of considering this year.

2.1 These spasms would have to stop. Now that it is clear that neither the spine nor the brain

      are the cause of these spasms and we have been put under the influence of medicine to

      bring this under  control, this is one of the things that would be necessary for a trip like

      this one.

2.2 The leg with the replaced knee would have to be, as I see it, acting normally. As it is now

      I have to hobble, and that is not good enough for travel although I am able to drive an

      unhindered now. I would like to ask the physiotherapist if she could do an intense course

      in trying to bring this knee up to standard. Seeing that it would have cost around

      R200,000.00 + for an operation, it would be much cheaper to pay the physio about

      R5000 to do the job if she thinks it is possible. It would have to be by the end of June.

3)    If these two things were under control, I would be able to think of the possibility of a home leave still this year rather than just losing the fare altogether.

I would probably opt for staying at one place in different locations and ask people to come and visit me where I am staying rather than visiting at each one’s home but that could, I think, be organized. I would still need transport, but it would be going from one end of the country to the other, and not from house to house.. I know that some of you are worried about me, but both my Aunts Stasia and my aunt Rose were driving around even after their 90^th birthdays, and I am nowhere near that yet. For me, driving is like breathing. But I recognize and appreciate their concern for my well being.

In any case, I share with you these my thoughts and any comments will be appreciated although I guess that most comments would be negative. Ha. I am still undecided what to do. Help!