Yesterday, Catherine had her last Vincristine chemotherapy. This means that this is the LAST TIME we are ever going to have to give Catherine the steroids that make her feel so miserable and low. I am delighted. No more 'grumpy medicine'. No more Catherine feeling really rubbish. All we have now is a few more days left of her daily chemotherapy medicines. It really is all coming to an end.
Today I asked her how she felt about coming to the end of her treatment. She replied that she was nervous and excited but that she is scared about having to have all her immunisations again. She has developed a real fear of needles and I am not sure yet the best way to tackle this. I think I will need to talk this through with her consultant.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Friday, 17 September 2010
Catherine - my one-in-six-million girl
As Catherine's treatment gets closer to ending, my head is going into overdrive. I keep having flashbacks. Vivid flashbacks of the beginning of her treatment that just interrupt my usual daily thinking. I've found I can divide these into a few main images:
1. Mark and I wandering round the carpark at Jimmy's hospital trying to phone Lorraine, our support officer on our study placement, minutes after Catherine had just been diagnosed.
2. Being in the isolation room at Jimmy's, with Catherine, then aged 3, hooked up to 'melody' her drip (so-called because melody bleeped and was musical)
3. The day at The Royal Marsden when they couldn't get the cannula into one of Catherine's veins. It took five attempts because the chemo had made her veins less visible. The following day, they put a portacath in.
4. Speaking to the lovely surgeon after he had completed her surgery to implant the portacath.
5. Eating in the canteen at Leeds and staying at the 'Home from Home.'
I have been told that these flashbacks are known as 'processing'; I don't like it very much. I've also become abnormally sensitive to anything about children's cancer or hospice care. I was in the bank the other day and there was a collection bin raising funds for Butterwick Children's Hospice. Fancy trying to speak to the cashier whilst holding back tears! Very bizarre. Also the charity bags that come through or door to raise funds for children's hospices and cancer care just set everything off in my mind. Occasionally I look at her and the thought crosses my mind that without God and the medical profession she wouldn't be here now. Every birthday since her diagnosis I have just been like 'wow'. Fabulous!!!
Our Consultant tells us that this is probably going to be the hardest part of our journey - Catherine stopping chemo. We have been on 'alert' and just dealing with getting Catherine through this for two years and we now have to come to terms with what has happened. I still think that the early days of diagnosis were the hardest, but the 15,000+ people praying for Catherine certainly shared the burden and played a huge part in her healing (thankyou, Jonathan, for setting that up for us - your Goddaughter loves you and so do we).
We still have two years of checks to go until Catherine is given the all-clear. She is in remission, which came unusually early of course (God is good), but it is now time to adapt to another new way of life. Catherine cannot remember a time without medicines and hospital trips to see her Consultant. I imagine this blog will be used quite a lot in the next few months. It will be a place to share memories and Catherine's progress. It will be a place to give thanks and let everyone know the people that most helped in her treatment - the friends and the medical professionals who have done so much.
So there will be more to read in the coming days, and as Catherine has taught us, we should always continue to expect miracles. She was the one in six million children that was diagnosed with leukaemia. Now she is healed we can all look forward to the blog entries of 'what Catherine did next' :)
Friday, 27 August 2010
October 12th
It has been a while since I last updated here but believe me, no news is good news!
Catherine is continuing to do well on her treatment, so much so that when we saw her Consultant we spoke about how we would be ending Catherine's treatment! It is hard to believe but we are coming to the end of this two-year journey.
On August 2nd 2008 we were told the news that our three-year-old daughter had leukaemia. On October 12th 2010, Catherine ends treatment, completely healed of that monster. God has been so good, and has faithfully carried us through these tough times. I don't know what we would have done without Him, or all the fantastic medical staff who have treated her. But here we are at the threshold of a new time for Catherine - a new life without medicines. She cannot remember a time without chemotherapy and hospital visits, but now she has a new life to look forward to and we thank God for it.
She will have two more doses of Vincristine chemotherapy before the end of treatment, a final bone marrow test to establish everything is ok and then her portacath will be removed. Then begins the blood tests every two weeks for three months - then every six weeks until the 2 year mark. At the moment Catherine has no immune system again, but you can hardly tell as she is so bouncy and lively. Her mood is the only indicator that she has low neutrophils. We are hoping that her immune system bounces back soon so that she can receive her chemotherapy on Tuesday.
Thankyou for so faithfully praying for us. We will always appreciate what God has done through your prayers.
Catherine is continuing to do well on her treatment, so much so that when we saw her Consultant we spoke about how we would be ending Catherine's treatment! It is hard to believe but we are coming to the end of this two-year journey.
On August 2nd 2008 we were told the news that our three-year-old daughter had leukaemia. On October 12th 2010, Catherine ends treatment, completely healed of that monster. God has been so good, and has faithfully carried us through these tough times. I don't know what we would have done without Him, or all the fantastic medical staff who have treated her. But here we are at the threshold of a new time for Catherine - a new life without medicines. She cannot remember a time without chemotherapy and hospital visits, but now she has a new life to look forward to and we thank God for it.
She will have two more doses of Vincristine chemotherapy before the end of treatment, a final bone marrow test to establish everything is ok and then her portacath will be removed. Then begins the blood tests every two weeks for three months - then every six weeks until the 2 year mark. At the moment Catherine has no immune system again, but you can hardly tell as she is so bouncy and lively. Her mood is the only indicator that she has low neutrophils. We are hoping that her immune system bounces back soon so that she can receive her chemotherapy on Tuesday.
Thankyou for so faithfully praying for us. We will always appreciate what God has done through your prayers.
Thursday, 22 July 2010
End of reception
Tomorrow is the last day that Catherine will be in Reception - next term she will be in 'Year 1'. She is very excited but is going to miss her two teachers. In the morning we have been summoned to the award ceremony and it has been hinted at that Catherine may be getting an award! I have a feeling it may be for her dancing, but it certainly wont be for her attendance at school this year!!! Next year, she will be off treatment which is great as she will not miss half as much school. However, we will secretly miss 'hospital days' as it gave us a wierd sort of 'quality time' with our little girl.
Catherine is doing well on her treatment. She had chemotherapy in her spinal fluid this week and her back is still a bit sore from the lumbar puncture, but otherwise she is ok. I can't believe how energetic she is whilst still on chemo - her consultant said it will only increase when her treatment finishes! How will I cope??
Catherine is doing well on her treatment. She had chemotherapy in her spinal fluid this week and her back is still a bit sore from the lumbar puncture, but otherwise she is ok. I can't believe how energetic she is whilst still on chemo - her consultant said it will only increase when her treatment finishes! How will I cope??
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Smiling Catherine!
Catherine has started to pick up! We don't know her neutrophil count yet but we do know that this afternoon she was starting to smile and giggle again! It helps that she is now no longer on her steriod medicine. The steroid really effects her mood and appetite - she has been craving toast with Philadelphia for days!
Catherine also got her school report today and she was very excited to hear how well she had done. She is looking forward to going back to school now which means she is well and truly on the mend. When she felt poorly, all she wanted was to snuggle up with me on the sofa or go to bed.
Thanks so much for all your prayers. We are now hoping that Catherine will be back at school next week as long as her immune system has recovered. We will find this out from a blood test on Monday.
Catherine also got her school report today and she was very excited to hear how well she had done. She is looking forward to going back to school now which means she is well and truly on the mend. When she felt poorly, all she wanted was to snuggle up with me on the sofa or go to bed.
Thanks so much for all your prayers. We are now hoping that Catherine will be back at school next week as long as her immune system has recovered. We will find this out from a blood test on Monday.
Friday, 2 July 2010
Good news and weird news
Catherine came home this afternoon! Her temperature is down and she has completed the course of antibiotics.
We have a bit of a weird situation though. When they analysed Cath's bloods, they found that her neutrophils had not come back up - they are still 0.01. However, her overall white cell count was 4.1. The doctors say this it is rare for this to happen during treatment but not unheard of, and not to panic yet. As a precaution, they also checked her blood to make sure there were no 'naughty blood cells'. There were none there, but it is still a bit of an odd situation to have a reasonable white count (by treatment standards) and no immunity.
We need her neutrophil count to come back up as soon as possible. Please pray that her bone marrow continues to produce a healthy abundance of neutrophils.
Cath is feeling much better in herself but can't go back to school until she has a neutrophil count of at least 0.5
We have a bit of a weird situation though. When they analysed Cath's bloods, they found that her neutrophils had not come back up - they are still 0.01. However, her overall white cell count was 4.1. The doctors say this it is rare for this to happen during treatment but not unheard of, and not to panic yet. As a precaution, they also checked her blood to make sure there were no 'naughty blood cells'. There were none there, but it is still a bit of an odd situation to have a reasonable white count (by treatment standards) and no immunity.
We need her neutrophil count to come back up as soon as possible. Please pray that her bone marrow continues to produce a healthy abundance of neutrophils.
Cath is feeling much better in herself but can't go back to school until she has a neutrophil count of at least 0.5
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