Cois

I just wondered. Is there anyone that can make a Bikehub sticker? Maybe with the words funded by the community of Bikehub? That said if Admin (Matt) will allow it. Because you guys and girls are legends!

I think we need to buy you a coffee. It is the least we can do... I must just get out of the hospitals ????

Thanks to each and everyone for the vacation fund. And sorry for being quiet today, but was a day that was filled with 8/10 to 10/10 of pain. It was the first time since my stay that I requested pain medication. The CVP has a dull constant pain associated with it that will last a week. But has severe abdominal pain. Currently, I am still vomiting all the food up that I eat. The only difference is the severe pain associated with eating caused by the tumour. The stoma nurse also saw me today. We have been walking this path together since I was diagnosed. Reinet for the first time saw the full extent of the size of the tumour as Sr Thandi felt the tumour. Her eyes welled up with tears as she felt the inevitable event that will take place. She also again reiterated what we always agree upon. I have to keep on fighting this thing. And the reason I am still fighting stood next to me and took my hand in her hand. Her blue eyes welled up with tears and we could not hold back.

At the moment my folks are on Holiday near Durban. And as kind as the gesture is, our relationship with my folks are under strain, and as much as I love my mother and father I would never again visit the Kruger with them. Or to be honest go on vacation with them. the relationship between Reinet and my folks are at a very bad place as my parents does not respect Reinet. They have caused a lot of damage the last few weeks with a blatant show of disrespect towards Reinet. And it got worst when I asked them to show her respect. And they decide what is “best” for us and not the other way around.

Doctor cleared my to fly as well. Just not this week, but next month will be fine. Had an operation done in bed this morning to place a CVP line. The CVP line is used for feeding. So have a huge bag of nutrients being fed into my system. The CVP was placed while I was awake so it is a bit sore and stiff. But the surgeon said I am a trooper so he skipped on the Midazolam or Dormnicum so I felt the “port” being inserted. The worst was the stitches. You can feel the tugging and pulling, but doctor did over a thousand CVP’s this year, so I know that I am in the greatest hands I could wish for. I can feel the nutrients being absorbed by my system, and just the flow of energy reaching my malnourished cells is remarkable. I can feel a change and this after just two hours of feeding.

To be honest. To sit on the stoep at Roam Rooiberg, and the drink in the beauty of the mountains are more enough. And with oom Jacques and tannie Tertia there (they are more parents to me than my mom and dad) is all we need at this stage. Oom Jacques is such an amazing person and a great cyclist that just being around him is an experience in itself. And it is an honor to say that he is family and he cares.

Okay. Account has been opened Account Holder: Mr Francois Hugo Marais Bank: Investec Bank Limited 100 Grayston Drive, Branch code: Sandton 580105 Client account number 50017804320 Type of account Savings

Reinet will create the account either tonight or tomorrow. it will just be easier to manage. And I believe in transparency. I have nothing to hide and the statements will be available if anyone should require them. Same with Backabuddy. I will freely provide the use of funds (sorry I know a lot of people that start charity stuff that they use for their own gain) It will be great if someone else could be helped. Cancer is an illness that I will not even with on all the head Nazi leaders. And it can help anyone else it will help me to know I could help someone else.

I just have to confirm with the surgeon that we can fly down, then we can book everything. It is a bit more difficult with the scooter and all, but we will work out all the logistics and arrangements. it would be cool if some of the guys near Robertson can bring their bikes and have a spin at Rooiberg. Would love to meet the guys and girls making all of this possible for us!

My uncle and aunt will get us on CPT Int. So that is sorted as well. Sad to say, but I know it is too far for me to drive at this stage.

Thanks everyone. Sorry for the late reply, has been a tough day. Again I am humbled by the help I receive from people that I have never met. I have met some of the numbers but I am in awe. Reinet said we can open an Investec account that she can manage. We have had a bit of problems with the payments from Backabuddy and they ask quite a fee to manage the funds (think like 10% or something of all funds)on all funds. So if it is okay, Reinet can open an account with Investec rather than Backabuddy for the holiday Funds. We have a place in Robertson where we can go and stay (Roam Rooiberg - https://www.roamrooiberg.co.za/) so that is sorted. And thanks again for everyone that are willing to help pay for us to get away and out of the current circumstances. You had me and Reinet in tears for a long time tonight. Wish there was something we could do to say thanks to everyone. We are humbled by you all!

The last holiday was before Covid (September 2019). We went to the Cape to my uncle. Since then we have not had a vacation. We are planning a break for later this year. Told Reinet this morning that it will be unpaid but I do not care. I have missed out on so much. I don’t care anymore. Money is not everything. Createk can retrench me as I have been told that it is on the cards for me. I don’t care anymore. The last moments here are not worth being spent unhappy, tired and alone in an office. I want to spend my last days with people that I love and care for. I will just double check with the surgeon if I can travel. But plans are for later in November

Just saw the surgeon. I can’t get operated on. The spread of the cancer is to severe so van Zijl at the Oncologist that waited to see what the cancer will do, killed me. He let it progress too far and did not refer me to someone who is capable of helping me, and now nothing can be done to remove the tumours between my intestines. I will consult with the dieticians to get another plan to get food into my system. If that does not work, they can give me a port to do internal feeding myself at home. So all we can do now is pray for another treatment that can kill the cancer inside of me. Or at least get a doctor that is worth being called a doctor that is not a murdering idiot that does not care about the wellbeing of his patient.

Rigid. The reason being that if you get a flat, it will not happen at home but where you do not have tools. The cheaper scooters have air tires (cheap imports), the more expensive units will have rigid tires..

The scooter has a shock absorber in the post of the seat. Almost like that failed Rock Shock units, but this one works and dampers a lot of the shock. So it has a bit of travel helping to smooth the ride out a bit. the one Scooter that they gave a demo on had shocks (more like the old coils on cheap bikes, at the wheels. Problem with the shocks on the wheels are that my very heavy 55kg weight is too light to get any shock absorption. You need to be at least 80kg’s to get any benefit from the shocks. In the unit I have you could feel the shock working even at my weight. So was one of the reasons why I got the smaller lighter unit.

Will be the worst Strava Stats ever. The Scooter has a max speed of 6km/h. so it is a little slow, but it sure is a lot faster than the speed I am walking at the moment.

The BMS on the scooter should work well. So I should be able to get an idea of how long it will last with the BMS, but I am a stats and number man. But sure I will be able to make a plan between the Wahoo sensors and the Bryton meter. Should be easy enough to figure a system out that might work. But for now, the focus is on getting a bed and getting the care that I need

The scooter breaks up into 5 parts with the heaviest part being 14kg’s. So it is light enough for me to load into the car. We went with the lightest model for the reason that I would be able to break it up and load it into the car. I Will post a photo of the scooter in parts when I am discharged

The surgeon saw me. Wants me admitted today. Already given a treatment plan. So things are happening fast. He wasn’t too happy that the other surgeon didn’t do any follow up since I saw him. He was shocked and said he saw there was something wrong. He said he wants to see how he can help me to get quality back and be able to live again. Only problem now is that the hospital does not have a bed available. So they are looking to get a bed for me. So that is the only thing holding things back for now. So now we wait. But it was great to see a surgeon who cares about his patients. He was visually shocked when he saw the weight loss I have experienced. And I might have to get a new stoma created. As the other has changed shape due to the rapid weight loss and the skin is exposed opening me up to infection. But I am in the right hands now.

Will see what I have. I do have a wahoo speed sensor that I can use. but the scooter has a battery meter that shows charge left.

Might work. I have a bryton computer that uses GPS. So no trouble mounting sensors. will make a plan if I know what the surgeon wants to do. I am not sure if they have a bed for me in the hospital…

It has a little hooter that I can use to get the sheep (students on campus) out of the way. But a bell might be a better idea. They say it can do 13 km on a charge. So I will have to look at what speedo will work with the scooter, just to keep track of the distance I rode with it.

The buggy cost me R23000. The original cost was R36900, but this was an open boxed scooter. So they took it out of the box and the client realized it was the wrong scooter. So the company can't sell it at the cost price. I purchased a roll of Vinyl from Takealot for R220. I just want to cover the soft plastics that are red on this unit. So I think I will use less than half of the vinyl. I just have to find my scalpel and We use Netflix and Amazon Prime via Vodacom. Works out a bit cheaper on the Amazon which can fluctuate due to the R/$ exchange rate. I also have a borrowed DSTV account that I use in hospital as the TV's most of the time does not work or have a very limited choice.. We have a Fiber connection at home (running on MWEB R499 Special for 25 mbps on Openserve) and I have a Telkom LTE (20 GB for R129 or something silly like that) contract on my iPad. So at the hospital I use the LTE that has 70 GB of data accumulated on it if the WiFi at the hospital does not work (or if the block my VPN)

You wont believe me, but I am going to cover up the red, with a carbon vinyl for protection. I want to create a cutout as well for the other plates that can be replaced. It has blue plates as well that is about the same color as the colon cancer ribbon. But the main idea is to protect the color parts as the plastic feels a little soft. So I do not want to damage the plates.

I am in tears at the moment. Just confirmed a appointment with the surgeon… for tomorrow morning 11h45! That is something that does not happen. You never get in to see Dr van Niekerk. It has never happened before. And for some reason I made such an impact at their practice that the lady who took the call immediately knew who was talking. so I need to get a Covid test again today. There might be a chance that I will have to stay in hospital. sorry if this is a double post. Posting on the phone is a pain.