All was/is well!!!!

Thank you so much for your prayers. Once again, Catherine has defied the odds and is well! She is still on her oral antibiotics, but is bouncy and happy and has not had any more pain. We were all able to be at Commissioning, which in itself proved the power of prayer. I will update more later, but this is just to put people's minds at rest.

Urgent prayer request

Hi everyone. Tomorrow, we are being commissioned (ordained) and we need to be there as a family. Catherine is performing, and she is desperate to attend.

We had Catherine's blood results through this morning and she is definitely fighting an infection. Thankfully she has neutrophils to fight the infection, which is why we are currently not on our way to an in-stay at hospital. In the case of getting a temperature, we would need to go straight in, but the hospital has said that if her ear infection were to become worse, we would also need to go and stay in hospital.

Last night she was in great pain with her ear and was awake crying until 2am. Then she had some relief as, I think, the eardrum burst, so she slept and the pain had gone by the morning.
She is on oral antibiotics and was still able to go to nursery this morning, but the blood results show something is going on.

Please join with us in praising God for everything he has done for Catherine so far, and praying for complete protection and healing for her from this infection. This is so important. Catherine needs to be there tomorrow and so do we. We are victorious through Christ. Thankyou.

More ear pain

We've just been to the hospital to have Catherine's ear examined as she has ear pain again. The doctor has prescribed us some oral antibiotics, but the did suggest that, as it occurs after her chemo, it may be a side effect of her Vincristine chemotherapy as it can effect the nerves and make things feel more sensitive. However, her eardrums are inflamed so she is also having a blood test to make sure there are no infections. She is also on steroids so is emotionally sensitive, too.

Please pray that she is well by Saturday for commissioning. Last year she had to miss the ceremony and she was sad she could not perform. We are trusting she will be well for her own commissioning day, as she is an honorary Witness for Christ!

October 2010

Catherine has been doing really well recently and today she received some more chemotherapy (Vincristine). The only problem is that she will now be taking steroids at Commissioning, so I am praying that it doesn't affect her mood so much this time. I want her to be able to enjoy it, not feel like she is not in control of her emotions.

This evening she asked Mark again how much longer her treatment will go on for. It is surprising that many people think she is not having chemo any more because her hair has grown back and she has much more energy and stamina. However she still needs her daily oral chemo until October 2010, plus other chemo and lumbar punctures. We have also received a letter from the new consultant at her new hospital, and she is booked in for her lumbar puncture and intrathecal chemo on August 11th. She will be introduced to the nurses, doctors and playworker.

One day I know Catherine is going to ask me much more about her treatment and what her illness really meant. I am pleased that I will be able to tell her about all the prayer support that has gone into her treatment, and about all the ways God has worked in her situation. I am not looking forward to telling her in detail about the original illness, and the fact that she will still need to have check ups for the next ten years which will involve the dreaded needles (her portacath should be removed in 2010).

Thankyou for continuing to pray for Catherine. It means so much to us.

Ear 'popped'

Last night, Catherine told me her ear 'popped' and she was then able to get to sleep. This morning she was delighted to wake up and not be in pain, although it is pretty clear that her eardrum had burst so the pressure had now gone. Still, she feels heaps better and went to nursery today. This afternoon she has been making up songs and dancing with her friend. It was very funny to hear some of the lyrics they came up with. They drew some music notes on a piece of paper and sang looking at them as if they were in a choir! It made us all laugh. This evening she is now in bed and is still singing. It is so nice to hear her all happy and feeling better again.

Very sore ear :( and a very long post...

Catherine is in a lot of pain at the moment with her ear. Her neutrophils are down again, and she now has the usual ear-infection. Her 'pain medicine' doesn't seem to be getting rid of the pain and she is now desperately tired but can't get to sleep because it is hurting her. Tomorrow we will call the hospital and get some oral antibiotics from the pharmacy. Please pray that she doesn't get a temperature, otherwise we will need to pack the suitcase and have intravenous antibiotics for a few days. Poor Catherine. Everytime her neutrophils are down and she gets a cold it goes straight to her ears. She is cuddling her dad as I write this.

She is also worrying a bit about her short hair at the moment. Today she was delighted when one of her little friends cut a piece of hair off because Catherine thought she was going to have short hair too. She also doesn't want to wear trousers because she is concerned people will think she is a boy. It doesn't seem to matter how beautiful we say she is with her short hair. I just think she will be pleased once it all grows back long again. I think she is focussing on her hair at the moment because she knows she is going to be meeting lots of new people at her new school. She says she is a little bit nervous, but then anyone would be starting 'big girl school' for the first time.

I think she is most nervous about changing hospitals because she will not see her play lady there. She really likes Vikki and she enjoyed doing all the craft things. I told her that there would be a new play lady but Catherine was not that impressed. It will be a bit odd, as each hospital has different routines. For example, at our new hospital we will need to attend at least fortnightly whereas at the moment we have been going monthly. This is partly because there are community oncology nurses in London who have taken bloods weekly but not at our new house. Also, at our new hospital, the Consultant does all the lumbar punctures whereas in London, there is a team of anaesthetists and doctors. I'm sure everything will work out well, but we have to try and ease Catherine in to so many new routines in the next few months: new house, new school, new hospital, new church, new friendships. We are, however, looking forward to getting to our new location and getting settled - we are once more in a state of limbo, not settled where we are but not where we are meant to be!!! Despite everything, though, she is pretty adaptable, although I think the hardest bit for Catherine, like myself, will be leaving friends. I think we are both pretty useless at doing this - goodbyes are rubbish. Not necessarily the best way to be for an officer who is going to spend her life moving around, but I can't help it. I actually LIKE people, and so does Cath and Mark. So please pray for us all as we pack, clean and generally get stressed on the run up to another big move.

Actually, I refuse to be stressed. It is not good for the complexion...

Sleepy

We had a nice weekend seeing Catherine's grandad and catching up with people. Catherine overslept this morning and also fell asleep in my arms after nursery today, so I think she wore herself out with the excitement. It was quite nice having cuddles with her this afternoon - she was pleased to come home and have a snuggle. Tomorrow she is having her bloods taken so we will see how her neutrophils and HB are getting on.