Mr Malakai is doing ok!

Well – I think some updates are due!

Firstly, and most importantly, I can say that Malakai is doing much better with the seizures (almost none now), but he has developed absolutely terrible reflux. My poor little man just brings up milk, food and clear liquid all day long – whether he’s on his tummy, back, sitting up or even standing. Whether he’s moving around or still... Being on his tummy is the worst though – and he spends almost no time on his tummy anymore (from having spent most of his time there), which I know is affecting his development now (because he’s getting ready to start crawling).

I must say that on this journey of motherhood and the diagnosis of Malakai having Down syndrome, I have never been this worried. Yes, when he was initially diagnosed I was scared and worried about him, but as I grew aware of what an amazing and fulfilling life he would live, the diagnosis was not something that bugged me anymore! But, in the past 3 weeks, our lives have been thrown off balance. First the initial prescription of the reflux medicine (when the reflux wasn’t even that bad) that caused the seizures, then the seizures, and now the terrible terrible reflux that’s affecting him every hour of every day. I am feeling a bit like sobbing – because I feel so helpless. I just wish I could find a doctor who I trusted to help him (I will not go back to the previous paediatrician) and I am waiting for an appointment to come up at a new paediatrician.

Yesterday was probably the worst day so far for reflux, but after Malakai was becoming dehydrated I visited our local chemist and he told me to take Malakai off his current reflux medicine (which was obviously not working) and try some reflux formula and Gaviscon (for pregnant women). It has worked wonders so far and Malakai is eventually back on his tummy again! Woo Hoo! So hopefully we can keep the reflux under control until I can get an appointment with a new paediatrician.

Other news is our South African elections last Wednesday! I am proud to say that I stood in a queue for 2 hours in the cold and put my X down! As expected, the current ruling party (the ANC) won by a landslide (as they have done since our first free and fair elections in 1994). So, they will face their 5th term as ruling party. I will not say that I am completely against the ANC – they certainly have done a good job for over a 100 years of fighting for freedom for their people – there is no doubt of that. It is just that with this party in power has come corruption, crime, poverty, a breakdown in social services such as schools & hospitals and very internationally embarrassing moments (such as when our previous president claimed that there was no link between HIV and Aids and our new president claimed that a shower after sex with a HIV-positive woman would ‘clean’ him of the Aids virus... Huh?) At least we have two strong opposition parties in place to check them at the door. What I do hope is that our country grows and continues to offer a chance at prosperity and freedom. We live in such a beautiful place, filled with people who really just want to be able to pay bills, support their families and be free.

Then finally, we are going on holiday on Monday! Woo Hoo! We are going to a place that I absolutely love – it is my favourite place on earth... Clarens in the Free State is a tiny town, nestled in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains bordering the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. I spent many school holidays here growing up – days upon days of running free, exploring, riding my bike and making friends! The town has almost doubled in size now, but it still retains a quaint feeling. Where I used to go there to explore, it became a place to go to renew my soul. I think everyone has that place – a landscape – that just rises up to meet them and fill them with hope, serenity and awe. Well Clarens is that place for me!