Hammond Family News 2020

2
Tree-Planting in Honor of
Bob and Ingrid Hammond
people do seem to slide through the treatment without
much ado. I don’t. But I reckoned that I owed myself
one more attempt. I soldiered on and managed to get
through all six cycles.
Dragon Boating is my sport of choice because I am
able to be seated. My hip is the least affected this way
and we had some thrilling races at the Century City
Sports Festival towards the end of February. I love to
sing and was grateful again to be a part of the Symphony
Choir of Cape Town. We were able to sing Mozart’s
Requiem, interestingly enough, in the oldest Protestant
Congregation in Cape Town. (Catholic Mass sung in a Protestant Church!)
For the first time together, the girls and I participated in a 15km walk. Cape Town really has beautiful
forests and meandering neighbourhoods and it was a joy to experience this together. Little did we know
at that time that this would be the last organized event we would be allowed to do for a long time. We
celebrated Calvin’s 21 st birthday in the nick of time before the world-wide lunacy of the Lockdown began.
I was grateful for the chance to enjoy a memorable outing as a family as we celebrated this milestone with
our youngest.
Lockdown was brutal here in South Africa. For the first three weeks no one really minded that much.
We thought we were doing the right thing and that protecting one another was necessary. As a family, we
enjoyed daily Phys ed sessions, more meals together (all 9 of us), more time to catch up on things needing
to be seen to, more writing projects, sewing projects and other creative things one normally does not have
time for. It was a time for reflection and enjoying one another’s company. But as time went on, and as the
Lockdown rules and regulations became more stringent, contradictory, inconsistent and non-sensical, most
folk tired of this and we could see the serious impact this was having on small businesses here in South
Africa. The WHO offers quite a large lump sum of money to the governments of countries participating in
the lockdown strategy, and of course our government looted this fund and very little of this ever reached
the folk who needed it the most. As things began to ease in to Level 4, and educational organizations were
allowed to be open again, we were able to resume most of our work at the Mission. Peter will say more
about this, but we were grateful to be able to carry on with the bulk of our Mission Projects during this
time. Our Bookshop has been busier than ever as more and more families are considering and committing
to home education.
In the meantime, I had a PET scan as well as an MRI recently, and sadly the results have not been good.
My cancer has spread covering the whole of my right hip now and is working its way up my spine all the
way from L5 to T3. My much loved, daily 3km walks with Daniela sadly
have come to an end and I am on crutches now. On December 4 th , I
underwent a Complex Hip Replacement. The head of the femur was
replaced, I had a stem in the proximal femur and a reconstruction of
the acetabulum. The surgeon is an orthopaedic Oncological surgeon and
is very experienced in dealing with cancer on the bone. I am confident
I am in very good hands but did not relish such a lengthy hospital stay,
and the upcoming 6-week recovery on crutches. Anyone who knows
me knows this is very difficult for me. I trust the Lord to care for me
during this time, but I would also covet your prayers that our family
will manage and adjust to the new situation we will find ourselves in
at home. I will be under the care of a very good Physio Team for the
foreseeable future.
The silver lining in all of this was a most welcomed announcement by
our son-in-law and daughter of a new little one on the way. Another