After a pleasingly uneventful time on daily chemo and monthly Vincristine chemo, this Tuesday Catherine is having a general anaesthetic and lumbar puncture followed by some chemotherapy into her spinal fluid.
Prayers would be welcome as Mark will be away and this will be the first time I have taken Catherine to Theatre without him (plus I will also be juggling this with looking after a small baby). It is a bit more nerve racking as normally we help eachother through by being there as a family. Mark's mum will be coming with us, which will help.
Catherine is excited as she will be getting her "wobbly medicine" from the anaesthetists. I am nervous as it is a full day, and Catherine will not be able to eat anything after 7am (the procedure may be as late as 3pm). It is not easy keeping a hungry Catherine entertained, but thankfully there is normally a play specialist and some crafts on hand, and hopefully this will distract her.
Please pray that the procedure goes well and that she manages to keep her hair, as this is quite a strong dose of chemotherapy. It would be good if she kept her hair as she had her first hair cut since beginning treatment on Saturday.
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Monday, 29 March 2010
Update
Catherine continues to do well on her treatment, although we have been told that she is being referred to the ENT specialists as she keeps getting ear infections. Our consultant is keen to get her ears checked because if her eardrums keep bursting this will not be healthy for her long-term.
She is very excited about her birthday on Saturday and she will be having a small party on 17th because her actual birthday falls on Easter Saturday (not perfect timing when your parents are Officers!).
Catherine will complete her treatment in October this year and will then have to go for regular check-ups. Thanks everyone for your ongoing prayers for Catherine - I'm going to sign off now and give her her night-time cuddle!
She is very excited about her birthday on Saturday and she will be having a small party on 17th because her actual birthday falls on Easter Saturday (not perfect timing when your parents are Officers!).
Catherine will complete her treatment in October this year and will then have to go for regular check-ups. Thanks everyone for your ongoing prayers for Catherine - I'm going to sign off now and give her her night-time cuddle!
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
New addition and Catherine
Sorry for lack of updates recently but new babies take up a lot of time! Catherine's baby brother has become a firm favourite with Catherine and she enjoys having him around. He still needs to organise his sleep/wake body clock which is why I haven't written for a while!
Catherine continues to do well on treatment. She had a general anaesthetic and chemotherapy last week and her blood counts are now starting to drop. In PE at school on Tuesday she got upset and sat out for the session as her Haemoglobin is dropping, meaning she feels more tired. The next few weeks she may start to feel a bit rough as her blood counts drop as part of the treatment.
Please continue to pray that she doesn't have any infections or side effects from the treatment. Thankyou.
Catherine continues to do well on treatment. She had a general anaesthetic and chemotherapy last week and her blood counts are now starting to drop. In PE at school on Tuesday she got upset and sat out for the session as her Haemoglobin is dropping, meaning she feels more tired. The next few weeks she may start to feel a bit rough as her blood counts drop as part of the treatment.
Please continue to pray that she doesn't have any infections or side effects from the treatment. Thankyou.
Friday, 29 January 2010
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Special news
"We may make our plans, but God has the last word." (Proverbs 16:1)
I was talking with a friend the other day about a tragedy that had happened to someone. I had felt sad about the tragedy and frustrated that the person involved would now be limited in what they could do. My friend said 'But we do not see the whole picture - we do not see what God is doing'.
Today we received some special news about Catherine's treatment. You may remember that last year Catherine was offered randomisation as part of a trial concerning treatment for ALL. The usual treatment for ALL was two intense doses of chemotherapy, and each of these chemicals, whilst being the right chemicals to kill the bad cells, meant that the risk of long-term side effects could increase.
At the time, God told us that we would only receive one dose of chemotherapy: http://catherineisgreat.blogspot.com/2009/01/randomisation-results.html
We were both a bit nervous about this because if we agreed to the single dose, we didn't know if it would be the best decision. However, because we both felt so strongly that God was saying Catherine would and should receive one dose, we went ahead with the single dose.
Today at the hospital we bumped in to a lady whose daughter was also receiving treatment and she told us that the results of the trial had come through.
The single dose of chemotherapy has now become the standard treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. No benefit can be found in having the two doses of treatment. It will also mean that for some children diagnosed with ALL in the future, they will have a shorter and less intense treatment regimen. Less side effects, less nausea, less time with hairloss, less time with infections, less time with low immunity.
One dose of chemicals such as Doxorubicin will reduce the possible side effects of additional cancers and leukaemias that could have been prompted by over treatment.
A year later we have found out that Catherine has been on the best possible treatment for her particular diagnosis. She has received the best possible dose and did not receive the second dose of chemotherapy. In the future, because of the trial and the hard work of the research doctors, children will be able to receive lower doses of chemotherapy with the same excellent results.
I thank God for his guidance in this decision and the fact that Catherine received exactly the correct treatment plan, even amid the uncertainty at the time. Trusting God may not always be easy when we cannot see the fuller picture, but I thank him that he continues to hold us in the palm of his hand.
I was talking with a friend the other day about a tragedy that had happened to someone. I had felt sad about the tragedy and frustrated that the person involved would now be limited in what they could do. My friend said 'But we do not see the whole picture - we do not see what God is doing'.
Today we received some special news about Catherine's treatment. You may remember that last year Catherine was offered randomisation as part of a trial concerning treatment for ALL. The usual treatment for ALL was two intense doses of chemotherapy, and each of these chemicals, whilst being the right chemicals to kill the bad cells, meant that the risk of long-term side effects could increase.
At the time, God told us that we would only receive one dose of chemotherapy: http://catherineisgreat.blogspot.com/2009/01/randomisation-results.html
We were both a bit nervous about this because if we agreed to the single dose, we didn't know if it would be the best decision. However, because we both felt so strongly that God was saying Catherine would and should receive one dose, we went ahead with the single dose.
Today at the hospital we bumped in to a lady whose daughter was also receiving treatment and she told us that the results of the trial had come through.
The single dose of chemotherapy has now become the standard treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. No benefit can be found in having the two doses of treatment. It will also mean that for some children diagnosed with ALL in the future, they will have a shorter and less intense treatment regimen. Less side effects, less nausea, less time with hairloss, less time with infections, less time with low immunity.
One dose of chemicals such as Doxorubicin will reduce the possible side effects of additional cancers and leukaemias that could have been prompted by over treatment.
A year later we have found out that Catherine has been on the best possible treatment for her particular diagnosis. She has received the best possible dose and did not receive the second dose of chemotherapy. In the future, because of the trial and the hard work of the research doctors, children will be able to receive lower doses of chemotherapy with the same excellent results.
I thank God for his guidance in this decision and the fact that Catherine received exactly the correct treatment plan, even amid the uncertainty at the time. Trusting God may not always be easy when we cannot see the fuller picture, but I thank him that he continues to hold us in the palm of his hand.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Holidays
Catherine is now back at school and has been enjoying seeing her friends. Her 'anti-spot' medicine has meant that she has avoided the chicken-pox scare again and she is feeling good. Since Catherine was diagnosed in August 2008, we have pretty much been unable to book any holidays as the effects of having a low immune system through her treatment has meant that even if we had booked something, she may have become ill and we would have lost the holiday. Catherine is due to finish her treatment in October this year, and so tonight we sat together and discussed what we might do to celebrate. Catherine would like to go on holiday somewhere with a pool, so at the moment we are thinking that a trip to Center Parcs would be good (it is also somewhere we could take her baby sibling). So at the moment, we are planning a celebratory holiday at Center Parcs to mark the end of her treatment. Tonight, Catherine asked to pray that one day she will definitely not have to have any medicines anymore - I think she will be amazed when, in October, there are just no more daily medicines to take and no more trips to hospital to have 'wobbly medicine'. There will, of course, be regular check ups. I've also heard that when treatment finishes, it can be quite an emotional time for everyone as we reflect upon what happened. But this holiday will mark the brand new 'no medicine' start for Catherine. Thank you for your prayers.
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