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I shall not bore you with the details, but I got some really fantastic bits of news today.
First, I have a swollen lymph gland, not breast cancer. YAY! Swollen lymph glands burn like hot coals when compressed in a mammogram thingy, in case you wondered. I felt nauseated and dizzy, but blessed to be non-cancerous.
The hubby is going to South Africa this weekend! I'm pretty sure that is good news, though I have some reservations about being without him for three weeks. Whether the family will go later is still not decided, but we've applied for the passports, in any case. Should have them in time for a Christmas trip, if it works out that way.
Life is good, friends and neighbors! Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Yes, OMG I didn't tell you? Consulting firm has been courting some contracts there, and Ron is part of the first one. It's more challenging and interesting than the mortgage business. It's a new area for him - one that will make better use of his smarts.
I left you a message on your answering machine, btw.
I can't believe the radiologist TOLD me, because there were signs up all over saying not to ask them to interpret your tests. I didn't. They volunteered the information, so it must have been really obvious. I go back in six months, just to be on the safe side.
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Yay! I had some running around to do, so that's why I didn't answer the phone. Hubby probably didn't recognize your number, so let you talk to voice mail. Jerk.
You coulda tried my cell, do you still have it?
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I don't think so, but I'll check and let you know in email.
Thanks, Megan! Thanks Irami!
I hadn't said anything about it here, because I haven't been around and didn't want to just dump bad news on Hatrack (lump, confirmed by doctor, rushed mammogram/sonogram, etc. EXACTLY as happened to my cousin after Christmas, when she discovered she had breast cancer. She's out of chemo now and having gene therapy (the gene is on her mother's side, not the side I'm related to, just to be clear) and doing well). I guess I like sharing good news better. Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Yes, just for this one specific gene that is very closely tied to breast cancer. If you have the gene, you usually get breast cancer, though lots of people without that particular gene get it, too.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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South Africa sounds like fun. I have several friends/relatives who were born there, lived there, etc. It's a pretty cool place, so I hear. Except for the internal strife - how's that going? I'm so out of the loop...
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Uprooted - Only about a month. My doctor moved really quickly, even though he was pretty sure that it wasn't the bad kind of lump, since they usually don't hurt. I go back to see him for the mammogram results in about six weeks.
Quid - Where in South Africa? It looks like most of the possible future contracts would be in KwaZulu-Natal, around either Durban or Pietermartizburg. I'm told the area is still a bit colonial, but I'm not really sure what that means. We've started listening to Zulu language cds. My Big Boy asked at dinner if he could have more cheese, and my Beloved said, "Yes, if you can tell me the word for cheese in Zulu."
I went to SA ten years ago (oh my goodness) as a school exchange student, but I lived in Durban for 3 months.
For what it's worth it was an amazing experience. Durban is great.
In terms of it being colonial...
Durban, even when I was there, was viewed as being very "English"- it counted as more in Durban society if you were of English extraction rather than Afrikaans.
When I was there, not so long after the vote, people still had maids etc - and the thought that a (black) maid would no longer be a South African way of life was alien to these people (and most of them voted for Mandela).
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This explains what I was told by a lady from South Africa who lives in my neighborhood. She said her husband went to uni in Durban, and still has family there. She was the one who told me it was beautiful and very colonial (something in her tone left me doubt that she meant architectural design). She also said I'd have "plenty of help" and I would never want to come back.
The company president (who happens to be black) has said that if we move there we (both his family and ours) will need a housekeeper/domestic to do our grocery shopping, kind of implying that this was for safety reasons. But...
As a proud North American Mutt, I'm intensely uncomfortable with the idea for several reasons. But *shrug* there's no telling whether or not these other contracts will ever materialize. I would like to take the boys to see some of the world, though. Now that I'm an adult, I can see how spending some of my childhood in Germany was a really enriching experience. We'll see.
Another lady in our community (the mother of one of Robert's friends since pre-school) visited SA with her husband, who travels a lot with his work. She said SA was the only only place where people found her accent fascinating. (Her husband's father was American and his mother was British. He went to boarding school elsewhere in Europe. The mixture of influences resulted in an unusual accent that people always ask about). I suppose there are not many US southerners abroad.
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Yay for non-cancer!! That is fabulous news.
I didn't know about the gene therapy thing, either. I may want to look into that because my mom had breast cancer a few years ago. Might come in handy someday.
And South Africa sounds very cool as well. I've never been, but two of my friends have, and they both greatly enjoyed it.
So congrats all around!
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Think of it this way - if you pay someone to help you in SA you will be helping them by providing a decent wage and a nice person to work for!
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South Africa sounds like a good time. No anecdotes here, though. I have yet to venture out of this sheltered, protected boundary more commonly known as the United States of America.
Posts: 213 | Registered: Jan 2007
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My cousin married an Afrikaaner, and they lived in South Africa for a few years after they were first married. They left, as did his entire family, due to the internal conflict happening there, hence my questions about that. They left the distinct impression that it wasn't entirely safe there anymore. That was back about a decade ago, give or take a few years. I'm not sure what part of South Africa.
A friend was born in Durban (1967), but his family left when he was rather young. He then served his LDS mission in South Africa, returning to Durban. Then later, he and his wife worked in Durban for a few years (after Japan, Korea, and other parts of the world). Their first son was born in Durban. They're now back in Canada.
Another friend served his LDS mission in South Africa as well, and met the first one in Durban when they were companions. Both left from Alberta, but didn't know each other prior to then. I thought it was rather amusing.
Oh, and they had some pretty interesting stories to tell about their mission, including attending an illegal rock concert (read political, back in the days of apartheid), accidentally took a wrong road on the drive back, crossing into another country without papers, and, well, stuff like that.
I hope South Africa works out well for you. World travel sure makes life interesting and more fun. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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That is terrific news, Olivet. I know how rotten it is to worry about stuff like that, and I'm glad that you don't have to do that any more.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Thanks everyone! It's amazing how wound up you can get over these things, and I'm really glad I have you guys to share my relief.
imogen- that's the conclusion I finally came to but I still have this weird thing about someone else cleaning my house. On the other hand, not having to do it myself would be nice.
We're still looking into the schooling situation. Not really sure if we'll all go or if we'll be there long enough for it to be an issue. "Wait and see" seems to be the motto now. *sigh*
quid, I think their is still some strife, but it isn't as bad where we may be going. The cool thing is that we're going there to help our partner business (also black-owned, but South African) get up to competative speed. SA lost a lot of its skilled work force due to the birth pangs of a more equitable state, but there's a real effort to remedy that. The hope is that the company can be part of that.
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