April 12^th,2022                                                                                                                                                       April 12^th, 2022

Well. It is 3 weeks                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            since the Botox injection and this what I have experienced so far. The firs few days there was no noticeable change..Then change began to take place but not as I had wished or expected.

 The spasms began to be more frequent and stronger, more aggressive. If I had to wee during the night, the spasms accompanied me while I peed and even sometimes interfered with me while peeing, as the left leg would go into a spasm lifting the leg up forcefully sometimes causing the urine to go away from the portable urinal which I have been using because it takes me too long with the crutches or walker to make it to the toilet on time.

     The portable urinal has been my salvation in my two rooms (office & bedroom). When I am lying in bed or sitting at my desk, the spasms come about every 20 seconds, small ones, and only every once in a while a bigger one, stronger and even from the toes all the way up to the hip and across the back. One gets a kind of signal that it is time to pee and if you don’t move quickly enough your have a problem. Part of the problem is that just then your leg will go into a spasm and it won’t let you put your foot down on the floor. ,You may have to try 2 or 3 times before you manage to get the leg from the position that it has brought the leg up to a 90% spot, and, in the meantime, the urine is not waiting. If you don’t manage to get the urinal on time, some of the urine is already coming and sometimes it is a lot and they you have to do some cleaning up and maybe even change clothing.

    I sometimes complain loudly to God, God says you see that man over there, he can’t even get out of bed, or that one over there in the wheel chair, with his hands curled up. He has to be lifted out of his wheelchair. Would you prefer that? Then I keep my mouth shut.But although I am still not happy, I can still take a shower (even though even there the spasms come with me there), and I can get dressed and even put my socks on…and I can still drive since the spasms don’t bother me while I am driving. (My physiotherapist said that most of his patients can’t even get out of bed.)   I only drive to the pharmacy to get my meds or to the supermarket to get a few things.A friend takes me to my doctor’s appointments because it is too far for me to get from the parking to the office in the hospital. A friend who usually come with him will find a wheelchair so that I don’t have to walk all that way with crutches of with the walker.

I was advised to continue my medication and my physiotherapy (it was too expensive to continue with the professional physiotherapist, so Brother Albert from the monastery comes to me every day, faithfully, to give me my physio at 2pm. In the meantime I have been doing a lot of reading and checking the news on the internet either on my computer or on my cell phone. Sometimes, like now because of the constant rain, there is no internet.Quite often the electricity goes off (usually so-called load shedding) but we have a stand by generator so that we still have our own electrici

    

     The other day I drove my self to the barber shop for a haircut (it’s not far) and often, on Sunday for lunch I will go up to the Pillay family (our church leaders) for lunch and to ask how things are going at Savannah Park. It’s nice to get out of the house once in a while.

 

    From time to time a friend will come to visit or to take me out for a lunch and that also breaks the monotony..

 

   We don’t do much talking at the table in the dining room mostly because just abut everyone is deaf and you wind up shouting to be heard, so its better to just eat and be quiet.

 

   I thank you for your prayers and ask you to continue as I still have hope that this Botox will do its thing.

It is very expensive and a cousin in the US has promised to help.  The injection is supposed to last for about 4 months and then you need another one. If it gets to be too expensive we just stop. In spite of the spasms that accompany me whereever I go all day long, I am happy to be alive and still of sound mind, more or less. Ha.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             since the Botox injection and this what I have experienced so far. The firs few days there was no noticeable change..Then change began to take place but not as I had wished or expected.

 The spasms began to be more frequent and stronger, more aggressive. If I had to wee during the night, the spasms accompanied me while I peed and even sometimes interfered with me while peeing, as the left leg would go into a spasm lifting the leg up forcefully sometimes causing the urine to go away from the portable urinal which I have been using because it takes me too long with the crutches or walker to make it to the toilet on time.

     The portable urinal has been my salvation in my two rooms (office & bedroom). When I am lying in bed or sitting at my desk, the spasms come about every 20 seconds, small ones, and only every once in a while a bigger one, stronger and even from the toes all the way up to the hip and across the back. One gets a kind of signal that it is time to pee and if you don’t move quickly enough your have a problem. Part of the problem is that just then your leg will go into a spasm and it won’t let you put your foot down on the floor. ,You may have to try 2 or 3 times before you manage to get the leg from the position that it has brought the leg up to a 90% spot, and, in the meantime, the urine is not waiting. If you don’t manage to get the urinal on time, some of the urine is already coming and sometimes it is a lot and they you have to do some cleaning up and maybe even change clothing.

    I sometimes complain loudly to God, God says you see that man over there, he can’t even get out of bed, or that one over there in the wheel chair, with his hands curled up. He has to be lifted out of his wheelchair. Would you prefer that? Then I keep my mouth shut.But although I am still not happy, I can still take a shower (even though even there the spasms come with me there), and I can get dressed and even put my socks on…and I can still drive since the spasms don’t bother me while I am driving. (My physiotherapist said that most of his patients can’t even get out of bed.)   I only drive to the pharmacy to get my meds or to the supermarket to get a few things.A friend takes me to my doctor’s appointments because it is too far for me to get from the parking to the office in the hospital. A friend who usually come with him will find a wheelchair so that I don’t have to walk all that way with crutches of with the walker.

I was advised to continue my medication and my physiotherapy (it was too expensive to continue with the professional physiotherapist, so Brother Albert from the monastery comes to me every day, faithfully, to give me my physio at 2pm. In the meantime I have been doing a lot of reading and checking the news on the internet either on my computer or on my cell phone. Sometimes, like now because of the constant rain, there is no internet.Quite often the electricity goes off (usually so-called load shedding) but we have a stand by generator so that we still have our own electrici

    

     The other day I drove my self to the barber shop for a haircut (it’s not far) and often, on Sunday for lunch I will go up to the Pillay family (our church leaders) for lunch and to ask how things are going at Savannah Park. It’s nice to get out of the house once in a while.

 

    From time to time a friend will come to visit or to take me out for a lunch and that also breaks the monotony..

 

   We don’t do much talking at the table in the dining room mostly because just abut everyone is deaf and you wind up shouting to be heard, so its better to just eat and be quiet.

 

   I thank you for your prayers and ask you to continue as I still have hope that this Botox will do its thing.

It is very expensive and a cousin in the US has promised to help.  The injection is supposed to last for about 4 months and then you need another one. If it gets to be too expensive we just stop. In spite of the spasms that accompany me whereever I go all day long, I am happy to be alive and still of sound mind, more or less. Ha.