Join The Adventure

Phone: +27 (21) 853 8648 Cell 082 577 0899 E-mail: [email protected] .za

Dear Reader, I want to invite you to participate in an adventure with me. During recent events in my life I learnt that: “Kindness is more important than wisdom and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.” Theodore Isaac Rubin (a quote I saw on the back of a Hulett’ s sugar package while in hospital)

There are so many stories of how we as individuals and as a community fail one other, but I found that when I open myself up, the opposite is true. I want to ask you to support me to create a magnificent story of kindness in action. To find out more I want to invite you to listen to a story. The story Once upon a time there was a 12 year old girl called Jeanne who lived a happy, active life playing sports and doing her favourite thing: horse riding. One day when she was practicing the high jump she landed on the mattress and suddenly felt a stitching pain in her left buttock. In an instant life took an unexpected turn. During an exploratory surgery a malignant tumour was discovered and removed and she was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. Experimental radiation and chemo therapy followed. After a while in hospital they also discovered that she suffered nerve damage that affected growth as well as muscle ability in her left leg. But she survived cancer and went on to complete a B.A. and B.A. Honours Degree. During this time she discovered that walking with crutches gave her more mobility and for the next 16 years she lived a happy productive life as a facilitator of human development. Another unexpected turn in life happened in 2000 when she suddenly became very ill. Initially she was diagnosed with a rare form of rheumatoid arthritis and eventually in 2001 also with chronic osteomyelitis or chronic bone infection (a side effect of the radiation treatment she received for cancer as a child). After medical attempts to cure the infection she was told that it was caused by drug resistant type of bacteria and that she just had to manage her condition. The chronic infection caused arthritis in all her joints and required of her to make use of a wheelchair. For 8 years she searched for answers. Although the medical and living expenses were very high (paying for pain killers, health practitioner visits, wound dressings, 2 carers to support her), she miraculously earned enough money to cover those expenses through writing and presenting educational courses (25 so far). However in 2008, she started losing weight and became more and more intolerant of food. The bone infection also intensified and caused secondary cellulites. She became very sick and was admitted to Vergelegen Medi Clinic on the 21st of January 2009. The decision was to first do an operation in the sacral area where she had the bone infection. During the operation on the 23rd of January doctors found massive infection in the bone and soft tissue which they removed.

On 2nd February they did a colostomy operation, but encountered complications and had to do a laparostomy to have a better look inside. They found such a narrowed small intestine that they were surprised she could eat at all before coming to hospital (which explains why she weighed 36kg when admitted) as well as growths around the colon, which was also caused by radiation damage. After some complications during the operations she was in a coma for 4 days and they did not know if she would make it. Her family believed otherwise and she woke up in ICU and the long journey to being able to breathe and eat on her own started. After 23 days in ICU she was strong enough to be transferred to a General Ward and after another month she was transferred to a rehab centre where she started regaining her strength. The good news is that at last the cause of her conditions has been identified and for the most part rectified. The chronic bone infection was successfully treated with intravenous antibiotics and her wounds will take a few more months to heal. The only challenge to a future without chronic infection and living a quality life is to find a solution to the secondary bladder and colon infection she picked up since going home. As you might have guessed by now, that girl turned woman is me. My experience the past 4 months contained many gifts, one of which was the amazing support and love I received while unable to earn a living (read more about my experiences on my blog: http://choosinganenabledlife.blogspot.com/) . Contributions to my Trust fund, established by my family, helped cover the most important expenses over the past months. Now we face the challenge of raising funds for the approximately R150 000 of estimated outstanding hospital and therapist costs as well as the funds to cover my living and medical expenses during the next few months while I complete my recovery at home. The challenge and adventure We face a situation where more and more people are developing drug (antibiotic) resistant forms of infections. I was lucky enough that they found something to treat my chronic bone infection. However my current bladder and colon infection seems to be caused by another strain of drug-resistant bacteria and is not responding to antibiotics. It takes 12 years to develop new types of antibiotics. There is however another very successful form of treatment for drug resistant bacterial infections called Phage Therapy that is used in Georgia, Eastern Europe and it only take a few weeks to develop a new Phage preparation. It is my dream to launch a campaign to bring Phage Therapy to South Africa. Do you want to participate in this adventure? Please support me in raising enough money for my trust fund by contributing to the fund or sending this letter to your friends who might be interested. It will also enable me to use my time at home to start the campaign by writing a letter and proposal to the Minister of Health. To keep you updated I’ve created a blog which you can visit: http://pagetherapytosouthafrica.blogspot.com/

We only need 1000 people to donate R150, or 2000 to donate R75 or 3000 to donate R50 to reach our target. You can also see it as an investment in a health solution you or your family might need one day. TRUST FUND: LOUW DU PLESSIS (lawyers managing the fund) Payment reference: J SMUTS Branch: SOMERSET WEST Bank: FIRST NATIONAL BANK Account number:53680945972 Branch code: 200-512 NB: Your reference: Please add your name, telephone number or email address. If its an overseas payment please add Swift Code F I R N Z A J J Thank you for reading my story. Jeanne Smuts