Winter is here!

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This weekend winter really hit and believe it or not it gets very cold in Africa!

On Monday Major and his wife Patience and his daughter Carolyn and I headed for Harare about 11:45 p.m.  We were supposed to leave at 11 a.m. but with a hospital to run it is hard to get away!

I had a doctor's appointment with my urologist, Mr. Chiura, at 4 p.m. and we managed to get there by 3:45 p.m. and then wait!  He decided that due to my worsening hydronephrosis he wanted to try a procedure in surgery to put stents in my ureters to help with the constrictures I have due to radiation 28 years ago.  He had booked me for surgery first thing Wednesday morning.

Monday night we got together with Dr. Kajese and his family.  They had a new baby girl, Zoey, born in March that we hadn't seen and Lexi, daughter number 1 had grown so much.  She is almost 3 and quite a handful of excitement!  After dinner Dr. Kajese and I went to the car and he started an IV cannula on me so that I could start IV antibiotics before surgery.  I felt like we were shooting up IV drugs in the parking lot of the restaurant!

That night I started the IV drugs that had to run over 1 hour so Major fixed up my ladder at home to be my IV pole and I used it over the next 3 days twice a day to get my drugs in!

Tuesday we spent the day running around to get approval for the surgery, get blood work and X-rays, EKG, etc. done.  Then I did some shopping for home.  We tried to watch a movie at the townhouse in Harare before bed and we were all freezing.  It was getting down to low 40's at night and early morning and 50's in the house!  I gave up and went to bed where I have an electric under blanket!

Wednesday we had to check in by 6 a.m. and then surgery was at 8 a.m.  I was back to my room by 11 a.m. and home at 1 p.m.  All went well, except they couldn't find the ureters due to the scarring from radiation so they couldn't get stents in, so instead I have a Foley Catheter for a month and then we decide where to go from there!

Thursday Dr. Megan Fitzpatrick came by for a visit.  She had gone to Chidamoyo Monday-Wednesday when we were away.  She was with us 2016-2017 doing HPV research and is finishing up her Pathology residency at Stanford.  She came back to follow up on some of her work, so it was good to see her and catch up on her life.

We left town at noon and we were home at 6:30 p.m. to Chidamoyo.  I was very tired and cold so early to bed!

Friday I went to work and had an 11 hour day!  I had to catch up with all I had missed in 4 days and Major had gone to a Men's Church Conference so I had to wait for the money collected.

This weekend I have stayed in to take it easy and do work around the house.  It is still very cold and my house has a screened in veranda as my dining room--so the whole house stays cold!  Down to mid-50's here, much better than Harare!  I watched TV with a big blanket on me and then gave up and went to my warm electric blanket in my bed!

Elections are coming up July 30--lots of posters and election signs up around.  Continue to pray for peace and free and fair elections!

Baby Zoey Kajese

Noe and Shield Kajese with Zoey

Lexi Kajese

Watching TV and keeping warm in Harare!


 Getting my IV meds--my ladder IV pole

Voting signs in Harare


Kathy and Dr. Megan Fitzpatrick in Harare

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