I was born in East London, South Africa, on February 9, 1939 -- check Donna's birthdate! I graduated with a BA from the University of Natal in Durban, where I met John. We were married in 1961 and the following year he completed his PhD in Engineering at Cambridge University in England. In 1962 we went to Providence, Rhode Island, where John taught at Brown. Our sons were all born there. We came to Cape Town in 1973, when John joined the engineering department at the University of Cape Town. I completed my teaching qualifications there and have been teaching English since then, part time for the past few years. I quit last month. I also do some freelance editing for local publishers.
In 1991 John discovered he had an extremely rare condition -- Wegener's Granulomatosis -- which is an autoimmune disease. As far as I can make out, one's body decides it doesn't need blood vessels any more and starts systematically destroying them. By the time it was diagnosed both kidneys had started to fail. An interesting speculation I read somewhere is that Mozart might have had the same condition. Two unsuccessful transplants followed, and he's back on dialysis again. He's coping very well at the moment with a demanding job, but he's had his moments, which include several spells in the ICU for massive infections. We thought that this was the worst thing that could happen to us, but read on....
Filling in doctors' questionnaires has until recently been a boring series of "no's" to everything. I've been plagued by periodontal disease for years and go very regularly to the hygienist, but that's about all. At the end of November 1996, we went to Atlanta where John was attending a conference, then to Providence to visit old friends. While there I developed a really bad cold, followed by bronchitis. It seems as if I haven't been really well since then, but my symptoms were very vague - a kind of "draggy" feeling. At the end of May I started wheezing, and started to notice that I was getting short of breath. Then I had another bad cold which didn't get better.
The visits to doctors began in June and I was diagnosed with practically every ailment under the sun and kept getting new pills. Meantime I was feeling worse by the day. Eventually I called John out of a meeting when I literally couldn't breathe any more. In desperation he took me to his renal physician who hospitalized me; and then all the fun started. I was diagnosed with heart failure and pulmonary edema, and dilated cardiomyopathy was later confirmed by catheterization on August 19 this year. It seems that it was probably the Atlanta virus that caused it.
I am being treated at Groote Schuur Hospital, where the first heart transplant was performed. It's a large teaching hospital which treats private patients, but mostly those who can't pay, and is attached to the University. Large budget cuts have resulted in less than optimum services in areas such as food and equipment. There were no pillow cases on my last visit! But the medical people are regarded as excellent. Another advantage for me is that it's close to home.
At the moment I'm feeling relatively well, but I experience almost continual heart palpitations and lack of energy. I have gone from 128 to 109 pounds in three months resulting from having no appetite, which I mainly attribute to anxiety. My weight seems to have stabilized, but I'm seldom really hungry any more. Fortunately salt is not a problem because we stopped using it when John became ill.
| 40mg Lasix | AM |
| 5mg Ramipril | AM |
| 13.5mg Dilatrend (Coreg) | AM |
| 25µ Lanoxin | daily |
| 5mg Ramipril | PM |
| Assorted | vitamins and minerals |
I read a lot: anything and everything. I enjoy crosswords and knitting, play computer games and surf the Web; all very sedentary pursuits. We have a beach cottage overlooking the Atlantic where we spend time. It's only a 40 minutes drive from home, so we often go for the day on Sundays. The bird life there is wonderful and we sometimes see tortoises, small deer and other animals. I enjoy my goldfish, which breed every summer with gay abandon. I am a counsellor for Life Line, a counselling organization with worldwide links. I have facilitated on many training courses. Unfortunately I had to give up on the last one when I went to the hospital.
I'm finding it hard to come to terms with my illness. John was the sick one, while I was the strong, healthy one. I never thought about death; my mother is a physically well 84. I hate the feeling of dependency I must have on the medical profession, who are never at the top of my hit parade. I could go on.
I read the daily reflection from M. Scott Peck's "Meditations from the Road" almost every day. Today's extract from "The Different Drum" seems very appropriate: "We are all in need, in crisis, although most of us still seek to hide the reality of our brokenness from ourselves and one another." The blessing of Jon's Place is that we don't need to hide our "brokenness" here.
Jill's husband died in the Autumn of 1999. She remains a regular at Jon's Place and we love her -- Jon.
Jill M, September 22, 1997
All information on this site is opinion only. All concepts, explanations, trials, and studies have been re-written in plain English and may contain errors. No one here is a doctor. No information on this page should be used by any person to affect their medical, legal, educational, social, or psychological treatment in any way. This web site and all its pages copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Jon C.