'I need a haircut'

Catherine was very tired today and kept going to bed, so Mark and I had suspicions that she had anaemia. This is to be expected as the chemotherapy reduces all the blood cells to kill off the leukaemia cells. We knew that if she was anaemic, she would need a blood transfusion, so we phoned the hospital and they asked for us to go to a local hospital instead of having to travel to the specialist cancer hospital.

When we got to the hospital, they started doing the whole gammut of observations and tests because we hadn't been to that hospital before. We thought we were just going there for a full blood count and maybe a transfusion, and we know they were being thorough, but Catherine got quite stressed because so much was happening at once. The hardest bit for Mark and I is when Catherine becomes anxious because she doesn't know what is going on. It was also made more difficult because, at that point, we didn't know what was going on either, so we couldn't explain anything to her.

The tests found that she was borderline for a transfusion - her bloods scored 8 and if they are less than 8 they recommend a transfusion. They also checked to see whether she had developed temporary diabetes as a side effect of the steroid (this could have caused her tiredness). She doesn't have diabetes, though. However, it was decided that she will be ok without a transfusion until at least tomorrow. The good thing is that she has now had an excellent canula fitted, so it will be easier for her to take the next chemotherapy drug tomorrow.

We did manage to get an hour in the park with friends today which Catherine enjoyed but it was hard seeing her concerned and upset at the hospital. We also had some visitors in the morning, and Catherine made them laugh by suggesting that she needed 'a haircut'. I'm not sure that a new hairstyle will be necessary with the chemotherapy, but Catherine does like to try and lighten everyone's spirits. She is very excited, though, at the idea of choosing herself some new hair. I said that I would have my hair dyed the same colour that she chose and she said 'I want pink hair, mummy'. Great. So now I'm going to look really interesting for the next two years...