Still no news

We are still waiting for the MRD results which are now likely to be with us next week.

However, we do have some more answered prayer! All along we have been praying that Catherine has minimal side effects from the treatment. Not only has she not had any infections in the last block of high dose chemotherapy, but she is also walking about sooner than expected. The Consultant told us that the steroids are responsible for Catherine having been less mobile as they cause temporary muscle weakness, but the Consultant was surprised when I explained that Catherine was already walking much more. Usually it would take longer to become mobile again, but it seems that Catherine has jumped the gun!

Also, we received word of her blood count and were amazed to see her neutrophils (part of the blood that fights infection) had increased from 5 to 12.5! This is a huge jump considering that most children her age only have a reading of 8 neutrophils. It seems that the steroids speed up the production of the good cells, so currently Catherine has an immune system. Which is perfectly timed as I have got a virus! Steroids or answered prayer or both? I will leave this to you to decide, but yet again this news is perfect timing.

Catherine has had quite a good day today although she was a bit tired so only went to nursery this morning. This afternoon we watched Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland on the TV instead, and Catherine now has 'rainbow' coloured fingernails and toenails. She seems to enjoy these little pamper sessions, and through lots of donations of nailpolish, she now has a vast array of colours to choose from.

Her hairloss has come to a bit of a standstill and she still has half her hair left. Either this will go gradually over the next few weeks or she will actually keep some of her hair. She quite likes wearing her new 'hair', but other times can't be bothered and one of us will end up carrying it around. Also, now that we are reducing the steroids, Catherine's eating is calming down. She doesn't snack in the night now and only wakes a couple of times.

I think Catherine is starting to realise that the treatment may take some time. She asked at the hospital yesterday when they were going to take out her portacath. Mark said it would happen when she was five. 'I don't want to be five, then', said Catherine crossly, 'And I don't want to be four either. I'm going to stay three'. Today she asked me how they were going to take it out. I explained that she would have a 'special sleep' and then it would be gone when she woke up. 'Will it be when I am five?' she asked again, and I said 'yes'. 'Hmm. I think I will stay three', she said again, and then snuggled down to sleep.