The Madagascan periwinkle plant

Catherine is starting to show signs of becoming a bit anaemic again - she is getting tired and having the odd headache. Her blood count isn't low enough for a transfusion yet but I think she is starting to feel the effects of having less haemoglobin in her blood. This is all part of the treatment as the chemotherapy kills the good AND bad blood cells (but the good blood cells bounce back soon enough!). However, I think she will be having naps at nursery until she feels better or has another transfusion.

Despite this, Catherine has had a reasonably good day today and has been really talkative. We went to a different corps (church) today and then went for lunch afterwards. She tidied up the mugs from the living room and was very helpful but then had to go and lie down on the sofa for a while. She has also been singing today and allowed me to record some of her songs on video. One of them is really funny as she forgets the words half way through and then makes up the rest of the words. We were also talking about who looks after us. Catherine said that 'Jesus looks after mummy'. I asked Catherine where he was and she pointed into the sky and said 'Jesus is up there'. I then asked her if she prays to Jesus and she told me that she prays to him in the mornings when she wakes up. When I asked Catherine if he says anything to her she said 'he tells me to go and eat my breakfast'....

I also found out some fascinating facts this weekend. An article in a magazine called Journey by Leukaemia Care speaks about the development of leukaemia treatment over the years. It was really amazing to read that one of the chemotherapy drugs - vincristine - comes from the Madagascan periwinkle plant! How incredible is that! It also said that the first year of treatment costs in the region of £100,000. It made me feel really grateful that £100,000 should be spent on healing my little girl, and how privileged we are in this country to receive such valuable treatment.

Please pray that she continues to remain infection free and that the side effects remain minimal. She is coping well with the treatment but she gets very frustrated and fed up sometimes. It is hard to see her feeling rubbish when she was previously so bright and bouncy. Thank you.