A parrot

To be honest, it was a bit of a shock ending up in hospital last week. It was different when it was expected during the intensive chemotherapy, but we did not anticipate that the maintenance treatment would make Catherine's immune system non-existent again. Maybe that was naive of me but we were told that in this phase, her neutrophil count would be balanced between 0.75 and 1.5. So when it got to 0.04 we were confused. Both times her counts have become this low we have been admitted to hospital. This time, an existing cold managed to work its way into an ear infection, but was enough to spike a temperature and make us pack our bags! We were very thankful that it was nothing more serious.

The doctor told us that they are still trying to balance the chemotherapy - each individual's bone marrow responds differently so they have to tailor the chemotherapy to each patient. Catherine will now need less chemotherapy to keep her neutrophils balanced between 0.75 and 1.5. It is not an exact science. Now that I know her immune system can drop again, I will be able to plan accordingly, and if her counts drop, I will be able to keep her off nursery/public transport until it starts to rise again. I hope this gets balanced soon.

It also made us think about how long we have have to go on treatment. Catherine will be four next Friday but she will still be on chemotherapy when she is five. She will then need to have regular blood tests to be monitored until she is ten.

I felt a bit sad about this yesterday, and Catherine asked me what was wrong (she is very observant). I said that I was feeling sad that she had had naughty blood cells. I told her that I hadn't wanted her to have been poorly. She was so funny. She looked at me and then started pulling silly faces at me to make me laugh (Catherine always resorts to doing silly things if she thinks she needs to cheer me up, and she has a whole range of funny faces that do the trick every time). So there we were, both giggling and laughing and totally ridiculous!

Catherine is now on top form, bounding around and giggling most of the time. Mostly a good girl, occasionally a mischief! She is now hula-hooping in the living room, beaming from ear to ear. Yesterday, she did her own version of Riverdance - her Irish dancing was hilarious. She is brilliant fun. We are very excited about her birthday this week. I always wonder whether I am more excited than Catherine, as I'm one of those weird mothers who love planning birthday parties for her! This year she has an animal themed party, and, after much deliberation, has decided on the animal she will be. She began by wanting to be a pig, then a monkey, then a duck and now we have made a firm decision. Catherine will be a parrot! A lady is making her a parrot costume in pink and yellow fabric (her favourite colours). She is very excited and has been asking what parrots say so that she can practice.

Thank you to everyone who visited and everyone who brought us 'meals on legs' last week. Hospital makes you feel more hungry, so we were so relieved that people brought us a cooked meal in the evenings. On our course, we did a week of learning about health issues and hospital visiting two weeks ago. At least it has given everyone an opportunity to perfect their pastoral visiting skills!

Please pray that they manage to work out the right amount of chemotherapy for Catherine soon. We will be at home until her counts improve.