A hornbill on a tree in our garden.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Already, the toad is gaining weight from the excellent nighttime pickings of flying insects near the light fixture.

Once again, this morning, we took off for Doc Theo’s office for our 9:00 am treatment on my leg. But this time, it was different. After appointments with him every two to three days to debride the wound in my left leg, remnants of the infections in both legs since the triple coronary bypass surgery in February, today, we finally made progress.

A giraffe was stopping by.

As he worked on yet another layer in the debridement process, he discovered under all the layers. He hadn’t been able to access it until now. There were four remaining stitches hidden under all the painful layers of skin.  

With considerable pain on my part and apologies for hurting me on his part, he removed the stitches, which looked like they were made of wire instead of some fabric. Tom held my hand as I writhed in pain as Theo carefully removed each of the stitches.

Tusker’s huge tusks. We haven’t seen him in many months and wonder if he was culled.

As soon as they were out, I’d already begun to feel some relief. He was thrilled to finally find these stitches, stating that they were one of many reasons my leg had failed to heal these past many weeks.  

I was attempting a nap in the garden when tusks got in the way.

He removed dead tissue with surgical tweezers and a scalpel to reveal what appears to be pink skin on the way to healing. We are so hopeful. He told me I could return to the cardiac rehab of walking several times a day but after not walking at all or when using the walker for the past several weeks, I am weak but not feeling frail.

Frank.

However, when we returned and walked five minutes without the walker, still tiptoeing on my left leg, I could feel how beneficial the walking would be. I set the alarm on my phone for every two hours when I’ll get up and walk for another five-minute increment. By the end of today, I’ll have walked 30 minutes.

The Mrs.

Tomorrow, I’ll walk for six minutes every two hours to work up to 36 minutes.  Within a few days, I’ll be able to walk 10 minutes every two hours to work up to 20 minutes twice a day, my goal before we leave here in 12 days. At that point, I should be able to walk through the various airports during layovers on our way to Ireland.

Once we arrive in Ireland and get unpacked, I’ll join a fitness center nearby to continue walking on a treadmill and begin strengthening my upper body using weights. Most likely, we’ll go to the fitness center two or three times a week, but I’ll continue walking each day.

Tree frog foam nest, made overnight above the cement pond.

Having worked out most of my adult life, I feel experienced enough to establish a safe and effective means of rebuilding my health and fitness. I am looking forward to feeling stronger after all of these surgeries and periods where I could barely use my arms or legs to help get me up from the sofa or bed.

Within a week of returning to the house in Marloth Park after the bypass surgery, I could stand on my own from a seated or lying position, using my legs for stability. But once, the leg infections worsened, I couldn’t use my legs to help me stand or my arms due to the painful chest after open-heart surgery.

The singing oxpecker atop a kudu’s back.

I bobbled and teetered when trying to get up but refused to let Tom help me. Bit by bit, I strengthened my upper body, enabling me to use my arms to aid in standing from a seated position.

Oh, the things we take for granted. I often think of those in much worse situations than I have been during this time, who are paralyzed or have no limbs to support them.  

Movie night in the bush.

Unfortunately, we humans know that everything is relative, and it’s our situation at any given time that comes to the forefront in our minds when we’re struggling to accomplish what usually would have been a simple task.

I am so grateful to be on the mend. Doc Theo says it may take three more months for my legs to heal entirely, and we’ll have to continue changing bandages every few days for months to come, but we can handle this. I’ll be wearing the compression stockings day and night for months to come.

A handsome male impala in the garden.

Being well, once again, provides sufficient motivation for me to do whatever it takes to continue to improve and, with a great sense of happiness and relief, to continue on our journey. 

By far, this has been the most challenging health-related period of my entire life, one I will never forget as I make a daily effort to be strong and fit and stay that way for as long as I am gifted with LIFE itself.

May your days be filled with appreciation for life.

Photo from one year ago today, April 29, 2018:

This is a common sight in Marloth Park on holiday weekends. It’s packed with tourists sitting in the back of a “bachie” which is Afrikaans for “pick up truck.” For more photos, please click here.

A parade of elephants on the dry sands of the river.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Mr. & Mrs. Hornbill was eating seeds off the veranda table. We couldn’t put up the birdfeeder with monkeys nearby and placed the seeds on the table when they banged at the window with their beaks to remind us to feed them.

After we returned from yesterday’s appointment with Doc Theo (yes, he comes to work on Saturdays and Sundays when necessary), the WiFi was back on. But after posting that the WiFi was down using my phone before we’d left, I decided to go well enough alone and not do a post after all.

The boys toasting to the events of the evening, the night we celebrated Rita’s birthday. From left to right; Danie, Leon, Tom, Gerhard, and Ken. What a fun night we had!

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Tom tossed out some cut banana peels to the kudus, and one landed on Big Daddy’s head between his massive horns, of which he was well aware. After eating these pellets, he made his way to a tree using the branches to “sweep” the wayward piece of banana peel. Sorry, Big Daddy! fIt took him a few minutes to resolve the issue, but once it was done, he walked away, shaking his head a few times.

OK, here’s more medical talk. For those of you who are “sick” of it, I apologize. Here’s an update for those of you who frequently write if I don’t report anything.

Rhino, mom, and baby.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

A bushbuck, duiker, and several helmeted guineafowls, sharing pellets in our garden.

A few evenings ago, we heard sirens in the area. It turned out that it was the Marloth Park Securicon ambulance transporting a local snakebite victim to the hospital in Nelspruit, the closest private hospital in the area where I recently had four surgical procedures.

Impalas the water hole in Verhami Dam in Kruger National Park.

Apparently, according to a post on Facebook, the resident or tourist was bitten by a stiletto snake in their garden, which according to the African Snakebite Institute, is as follows:  

“The Stiletto Snake (Atractaspis vibronic), previously known as a Mole Adder, is a highly venomous but harmless-looking snake that accounts for numerous snakebites during the summer months in Southern Africa.

More impalas at the Verhami Dam.

This fossorial snake spends most of its life underground where it hunts for other snakes and lizards. It does come to the surface, usually in the early evening and especially after rain. To effectively bite within the limited space of their burrows, the Stiletto Snake has particularly long fangs in which it can protrude independently and ‘stab’ its prey. 

Whereas most snakes can open their mouths up to around 170 degrees, this snake can only open its mouth as wide as 55 degrees. If gripped behind the head, the Stiletto snake protrudes a fang and twists its head sideways to inflict a bite from a single fang.

Here is a photo (not ours) of the stiletto snake:

A stiletto snake often appears to be one of many harmless snakes.

Though not generally considered potentially fatal, the venom of this snake is potently cytotoxic, causing severe pain, swelling, blistering, and tissue damage. Many victims lose a digit. As there is no antivenom, doctors can only treat for pain, rehydrate the patient and then wait a few days to see how extensive the tissue damage is. 

A southern ground hornbill in Kruger National Park.

In a paper on the treatment of stiletto snake bites, Tilbury and Branch cautioned doctors not to resort to surgical intervention in the first few days following a taste, nor to lance blisters, as early surgical intervention seldom has a good outcome. There is no evidence that the early administration of antibiotics has any benefit.

Rhino was resting under the shade of a tree.

This snake is quite challenging to identify and is often mistaken for one of the harmless snakes. There are a few features one can look for to identify a Stiletto snake. The body and belly may be the same dark brown to blackish color, but in many areas, the body is brown to blackish and the belly white.”

Certainly, this incident and others serve as a warning to residents and visitors to Marloth Park. At night, anytime we’re entering or exiting the car, I always remind Tom and any friends with us, “Watch out for snakes.”

A fish eagle was scouring the area for her next meal.

Often, snakebites at night result from not watching where one is walking in the dark and then stepping on such a snake. It’s imperative to use a flashlight or small LED keychain light when going from house to car and back.

A rhino is on the move.

We haven’t heard how the victim of the bite is doing, but we’ll continue to watch for any report that may be posted on Facebook in the next few days and report back here.

This morning, once again, we headed back to Doc Theo in Komatipoort for further treatment on my legs, particularly my left leg, which has been the biggest concern.

Rhino was hanging out with warthogs.

After he’d slathered the wound with the burning honey-based cream and re-bandaged it on Tuesday, keeping me awake all night as it dissolved the dead tissue, the improvement was visible but not as much as we would have liked.

Again, this morning, he slathered the cream on both legs, and within about 30 minutes, the burning began as it had on Tuesday. Today and tonight will be long as I deal with the constant burning sensation.

A boat and trailer stuck while attempting to cross the Crocodile Bridge on its way out of Kruger.  That day, we had to drive to the Malelane exit, which took us an additional three hours.

However, knowing the product is working and is not a result of some other issue, the pain is tolerable. Again, I’m taking the Tylenol/Paracetamol-based pain medication every four to six hours to keep the discomfort at bay. It does seem to help.

Not much is required of me today. I’ll get back to work on logging more receipts/expenses today on the spreadsheet if I’m able. This is more of a hassle than expected when I have to convert each receipt’s amount from rand (ZAR) to US dollars and enter the correct amounts on the appropriate worksheet in the Excel workbook. I’ll be thrilled to be done.

May your day be pleasant.

Photo from one year ago today, April 25, 2018:

The well-equipped modern treatment room was the most sophisticated we’d seen in years with the latest and most professional equipment.  We have both been to Dr. Luzanne many times in this past year. For more details, please click here.

When we had the pleasure of seeing a “blood moon” several months ago.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

We tossed some small chicken pieces to the mongooses, and they went nuts over the treat! Note warthog, “Little’s Friend,” trying to get in on the action in the background.

This morning at 8:45, we had an appointment with Doc Theo to remove the remaining stitches in my legs and change the dressings. Since the two surgeries on my legs over three weeks ago, I have had to have Doc Theo change the bandages and treat the incisions in a relatively sterile environment rather than doing it myself with the risks of further infection in a non-medical setting.

When I got up this morning, I immediately knew something was better the moment I put my feet on the floor. The pain in my left leg, which was the most problematic of the two all along, was considerably less than it had been 48 hours earlier.

Yesterday, I’d noticed a slight improvement in the pain but nothing compared to the improvement I felt this morning. I practically did a cartwheel. I was hopeful that once he took off the bandages, we’d see a considerable change in the appearance of the wound. Well, not quite.

If we observe at night, occasionally, we’ll spot a genet. We leave bits of meat out for them but often the mongoose or warthogs get to it first. Warthogs aren’t carnivores, they’re pigs, but they’ll often eat any scraps.

The incision in my right leg is entirely closed for the first time since the bypass surgery on February 12th and the incision on the problematic left leg looked better than it had to date.