Going to hospital

Catherine's temperature went up to 38.7 so we are now on the way to hospital. Please pray that the infection goes quickly and that treatment is amazingly effective. Generally the course of intravenous antibiotics takes a few days to administer. We will be taking a suitcase. Please keep the prayers coming.

Results are in... no neutrophils!

We've just had the results of Catherine's blood test - she has no neutrophils! I am surprised that during the maintenance phase her neutrophils have dropped so low again. The low neutrophils are purely down to the effects of the chemotherapy on the bone marrow, but in the maintenance phase, they try and balance her neutrophils so they don't go below 0.75. The balance hasn't been found yet! It explains her fluctuating temperature as we have observed before that when she has no neutrophils, her temperature bounces around all over the place!

We have also had the results back from the 'infection test' and her CRP is 35 (normal CRP is 5 and severe infection is 100-200). So basically, she has a mild infection/virus but has no neutrophils to fight it which is why she has been struggling. She will not need antibiotics. Once her neutrophils start coming back up, we will see an improvement. Looks like she will be off school for a couple of days (this will not go down well as she is a socialite). How many craft activities and books will we get through in the next few days - your guess is as good as mine?

For the prayer warriors out there, please continue to pray that this remains only a minor infection and that it goes quickly. Also please pray for Wouter and family tonight, as he is in a similar situation this evening http://krokkenoster.wordpress.com/

As I sat in the hospital today with my girl and a very tired husband, I thought how odd it was that we were in a hospital with a cold and tummy upset. Normally, with a child not on this treatment, you would look after them at home without too much worry. How strange...

Teddy on duty

Catherine is still feeling poorly so we went and had a blood test taken at the hospital to check there are no traces of infection in the blood. She has been very cuddly today, and we had some time sitting outside together in the sunshine. Her favourite teddy has not been far from her side today - when she doesn't feel very well she plays with his scarf!

When we were at the hospital she made us laugh. When asked about brothers and sisters she said she didn't need one because 'I am getting a cat instead'!!!

Catherine's temperature is going up and down again, but hasn't gone any higher than 37.5.

Still poorly

Catherine is feeling unwell. She definitely has a cold but she is also feeling miserable. She came home early from nursery today and sat on the sofa feeling fed up. She then had a nap and ate a small bowl of pasta and watched CBeebies before going back to bed. It doesn't help that the steroids cause her sleep to be broken anyway and that she has practically no immune system at the moment! She doesn't have a temperature which is good, because if her temperature goes over 38.5 degrees, she would need to stay in hospital for treatment.

Please pray that she does not get a temperature and that she feels better soon. She was very frustrated today because she had to come home from school and didn't feel well enough for the picnic we had planned.

Bit poorly

Catherine is feeling poorly today. This week she had chemotherapy and so she now needs steroids until Saturday. She is feeling a bit out of sorts and has wanted lots of cuddles with her mum today. She also got the nursery leader to send me a text today, telling me how she missed us and that she loves 'mummy and daddy'. I can tell she is not feeling well as normally she bounds into nursery without even saying goodbye to us! She is feeling very sensitive, partly because of the steroids, but also because she feels a bit poorly. It is odd now because we have really noticed a difference in Catherine this week, mainly because she has felt good for so long. Please keep her in your prayers.

0.4

We've also just found out that she has only 0.4 neutrophils (which means she is susceptible to infection). She was quite miserable and cuddly this evening, so I put her to bed early in the hope that she feels more cheerful tomorrow.

Painful fizzily feet

Catherine had a difficult night last night. She received her Vincristine chemotherapy yesterday and then came into our bedroom at 2am with 'fizzly painful feet'. It took quite a while for the pain to settle, and I knew it felt bad by the look on her face. The painkiller helped and she also likes a cool damp cloth to wrap her feet in (her idea) and this also seemed to help. I felt sorry for her and her little feet! The problem with Vincristine is that whilst it is a very effective drug, it causes problems with the nerve endings which mean that it can cause a pins and needles sensation and pain in the feet, particularly at night. Please pray that she has a good night tonight, and that these side effects calm down. Thankyou.