As I sit here typing this blog I’m listening to one of my favourite streaming radio station (Gospel jams — WJHMHD2).Maria had a little sleep last night. We started the day with a trip into downtown Tel Aviv. This gave Effie the chance to do some shopping at the craft markets while Maria and I had a walk along the beach (beautiful day for it) and ate a late breakfast at one of the great beachside restaurants, Manta Ray. As you can see by the photo, she looks great, but this is in part due to the alternating of two types of pain killers every two hours. I hope the increased dose of steroids will also start to help soon, otherwise that will need to be further increased.
After collecting the kids from school on their half-day Friday we came home and hung out. I played tennis on our street with Ben, while Gabi took on the role of ball-girl. Ben is improving, as we are unintentionally donating a few less balls to our neighbour’s massive and thick hedge and to another neighbour’s dog.
Effie took a little time to prepare a medical report and cook yet another delicious dinner. We’re going to miss her for a range of reasons when she heads off on the 22nd.
Maria had a visit in the afternoon from a dear friend. This gave me the opportunity to prepare and send a lengthy email to work in Canberra, updating them on developments regarding Maria’s situation over the last 24 hours. The short of it is that the initial 'critical' treatment cannot be commenced in Canberra in time, which effectively means Maria will undergo that aspect of the treatment here. As we can't see around the corner and the overall situation seems to have altered from day-to-day, I say this with some (but not complete) certainty.
After we had dinner we went to Chris and Eileen’s. As you can tell from the photos, it cooled down somewhat by evening, feeling more like Jerusalem. Maria lasted for quite a while before she and Effie were driven home.
I stayed on with the kids—the adults played cards while Ben and Gabi hung out downstairs with their friends.
We didn’t get home until about 22:40, so there may be a struggle getting the kids moving for church in the morning.
