April 2023 - Lowveld

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Giving new meaning to ‘intrepid adventurers’, Robin and Jolandie Lewis have decided to put their normal, everyday lives on hold for a while, throwing caution to the wind and living like there’s no tomorrow. Robin and Jolandie met at Innibos in 2015, and both agree there was an instant connection. At the time, Jolandie was studying law in Pretoria, while Robin was running his carpentry business in Mbombela. After a year of longdistance dating, she decided to put her career on hold and moved down to the ‘Spruit. She joined Robin at Manshed Carpentry, and many great joint projects later, things were going along swimmingly. Life was good. But things were about to take an unexpected turn. Robin started to find that everyday tasks were becoming harder and harder to perform. Even picking up his toolbox or walking up the stairs was difficult. The couple decided to make a quick stopover at Mopani for a general check-up. The sister on call took one look at Robin and told him to get to a doctor, which he did. He was sent for a few relevant blood tests, expecting to get the results back in a day or two. Instead, he received a phone call that same evening to say he would need to go to hospital immediately. “We were cooking dinner, and joking around, not a care in the world,” he remembers. “I had to explain that we didn’t have medical aid at the time, but the doctor convinced me to go to Rob Ferreira’s casualty ward.” Robin ended up staying in Rob for a month. “That was a whole story on its own,” he says. “I won’t go into details, but let’s just say that my stay there was quite the adventure, and we hope to never have to go there again. While I lay in one of the forgotten wards, Jolandie was running our business along with our guys. Meanwhile, doctors were struggling to find a diagnosis, but whispers of cancer were heard in Text: MELLISSA BUSHBY Beloved, brave Betsy, an ex-fire rescue truck 14 Get It Lowveld April 2023
the hallway …” At the time, the man lying opposite Robin was fighting a serious heart condition. At one point, he was pleading with the nurses to bring him a glass of water, but they paid him absolutely no attention, Rob recollects. “So I got up and fetched him a glass of water, a seemingly meaningless task that would change our way of doing things for the rest of our lives. The man was so grateful, and thanked me with tears in his eyes. The moment inspired me to make an oath to our Creator that if it was cancer and he would spare me for another 10 years, I would do my part in paying it forward and making a difference. I phoned up Jolandie and told her about my experience, and she agreed to start up an NPO with me. She named it Numinous Expeditions.” The doctors couldn’t do much for Robin at Rob Ferreira, and after three painful bone marrow biopsies, they referred the pair to Steve Biko in Pretoria, giving the diagnosis of aplastic anemia (bone marrow failure). “They eventually told us that the only possible chance of surviving would be to undergo a stem cell transplant, and the only government facility that was able to do it is Groote Schuur in Cape Town,” he explains. So they hopped on a flight, and Groote Schuur did a final bone marrow biopsy to try to get behind the diagnosis. One of the main issues was to find a match that would be compatible for the transplant, but there wasn’t a single 100% match for Rob in the world. “My sister was found to be a 50% match - not ideal, but it was my only chance,” he says. On top of all this, the couple were engaged to be married and had already started planning their wedding. The doctor at Groote Schuur told them to go home, get married, and prepare to move down to Cape Town for the duration of the treatment and recovery. Their wedding came, a beautiful day filled with laughter and joy despite all the uncertainty surrounding them. Then, two days later, Robin’s phone rang. “I should have chucked it in the river by then,” he laughs. It was the doctor from Cape Town and she had bad news. “She said she wanted to wait until we had gotten married to tell me I had been diagnosed with blood cancer - leukemia (MDS). We had to get to ‘I smiled, knowing that I had been given the decade I had asked for. A strange calmness came over me’ Cape Town ASAP, making the difficult decision to close up our business and sell off our possessions.” With the support of friends and family, the couple headed off. On arrival, they were disappointed to find out that one more test needed to be run, and they’d have to wait another week for the outcome. They kept themselves busy with Numinous Expeditions, Jewellery that is sold at markets Robin and Jolandie Lewis which had by now become a passion. When the diagnosis came, it wasn’t good. “The doctor explained that I had been diagnosed with a rare and incurable disease called Fanconi anaemia,” Robin says, “which causes cancers throughout a person’s life and was ultimately the cause behind the leukaemia. She said if I were to survive the transplant process, I would only have a life expectancy of another 10 years. I smiled, knowing that I had been given the decade I had asked for. A strange calmness came over me, unusual under the circumstances, but it felt right.” They booked in for the transplant the following week, never imagining what they would have to go through. The doctors said they would have to be in Cape Town for six months, but they ended up having to stay for two years as a result of complications. “I’m not going to go into much detail about the treatment itself, but I invite anyone who is going through something similar to contact us. Jolandie nursed me for five months in isolation, and when I finally got discharged with my new stem cells, I was pretty weak and unable to work,” Rob says. Realising they had to find a way of earning an income, Jolandie came up with the idea of sustainable jewellery to sell at the local markets. As a result of Robin’s condition, they also started exploring alternative diets, transitioning to a plant-based April 2023 Get It Lowveld 15
Page 1: TRUDY ZULU Smashing glass ceilings
Page 4 and 5: A hot date! Pencil these events int
Page 6 and 7: Book club Two long weekends this mo
Page 8 and 9: Wish list Should be called The Over
Page 10 and 11: Blooming with GRACE Businesswoman,
Page 12 and 13: Noah and Umi with their mum She goe
Page 14 and 15: These 100 per cent natural Superfoo
Page 18: Dish covers by Earthling Sa one tha
Page 21: a number of hip replacements.” He
Page 25 and 26: accompany a fine, crisp white. Flat
Page 27 and 28: Fudge Ingredients • 3 cups chocol
Page 29 and 30: Merle smiles as she remembers her f
Page 31 and 32: GET IT DIREcTORY C U T O U T C O U
Page 33 and 34: PADSTAL for a refreshing cup of tea

April 2023 - Lowveld

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