One for Nana

My Nana is a game old bird
To say she's 66!
If you give her lots of G and T
She tries to do cool tricks!!

Love and kisses from Meg xxxxxxxxxx

One for Grandad

My Grandad can be a jolly old chap
He can also be quite grumpy
When he puts his swimming trunks on
His belly looks all lumpy!

:) Love Meg xxxxxxxxxxx

Poor Uncle Simon

Simon is my Uncle
he had a large carbuncle
he chopped it off
that made him cough
that was the end of my uncle! bum-bum

Love you hope you enjoy ha ha
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Love Megan

Last day of chemo for this cycle

Well, we're on day 5 of chemo so are nearly at the end of Meg's first cycle. She's done so well with it, but has become incresingly sick. The only way we can alleviate that is by giving her strong medication to make her sleep. She resists taking medication but constatntly straining to vomit is exhausting for her and sleep is a much better option. She was well enough for about 10 minutes this morning to read her "Meg's Rib Ticklers". That brought many smiles to her face. And Tracey - what else could we expect from you!!!!

We had an OK night. Meg slept well apart from the regular trips to the loo. A little boy was admitted yesterday into the room next to us and he woke in the night alone - his Dad was asleep in the parent's accommodation. That poor little chap (only about 5 yrs old) cried and cried until the nurses woke his Dad and he came to soothe his son. I felt so bad for them...the little boy, the dad.... you can just tell the new parents on the ward. They just wander around looking dumbfounded - just like we did when we were admitted to oncology. You can see the disbelief in their faces. "What are we doing here?" "This can't be happening". I just want to put my arms round them. Their whole lives have turned upside down in a moment. I'm often woken in the night by a child screaming; not with pain, but fear. They might be having a "push" of some drug or other into their central line and the child is so scared. It doesn't hurt but it's just so alien to them and they expect it to hurt. Plus they feel terrible from the chemo and that makes everything seem worse. I think you have to be someone very special to work in pediatric oncology. The nurse I was speaking with yesterday said she often goes home after work and gives her boys an extra hug. Just because....

So....we should be able to go home in the next couple of days as long as Meg's nausea and vomiting can be controlled. She's determined to keep fluids down herself and her determination has paid off in the past - she just wants to get home so badly. We'll just have to play it by ear, and if we have to stay in longer than expected, then so be it. We've been told that when she goes home, she'll have another canula put into her leg so that she can have a medication called GCSF injected every day (by me). This is because her chemo is much more intensive than her last lot and destroys the bone marrow and white cells. Her body would be able to recuperate on it's own from this but it would take a long time, and while she's trying to recuperate, she'll be very prone to infection as she'll have no immunity. The GCSF boosts the replacement of the bone marrow so that she won't be at risk for as long and will be well enough to receive her second cycle of chemo in a couple of weeks.

Just a couple of pics below. First one is Meggie and her amazing friend Evie having a home-made ice lolly (before her chemo kicked in) and the second is last night with a lovely illuminated glass angel that Phil brought in for her.

MEG'S RIB TICKLERS!

As suggested by the Pieman (aka Uncle Simon), here's a place for funny rhymes, poems, limericks (please note the spelling Pieman!), etc. Meg's going to love this!

Especially for my wondeful uncle Simon( who owes ME money)

I have an uncle called Simon

Who' s large and round like a pieman

He says I owe him money

I think that's really funny

Only when pigs fly man!!!!!

To my wonderful uncle Simon (hope you enjoyed my little poem!)

Meg

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A different start to the new year........

Well, 2009 didn't start at all as we wanted or anticiptated. At 1.30am, I was woken up at home by what sounded like somone trying to kick the door in. I was terrified as I was on my own. The dogs were barking and wouldn't stop. I was feeling really emotional anyway and when this happened I was crying and shaking and just stood in the dark dining room feeling petrified. I finally called the police and they were great. They arrived around 2.45am and checked all around the house. The banging turned out to be a door that we're removed from the house and propped against the outside wall, which had blown over and hit the garden fence and juddered down the fence making the banging sound. What a relief that was. The weird thing was that the police woman that came asked why I was at home alone so I explained that Meggie was in the hospital having chemo, and her eyes filled with tears. She explained that her 10 year old daughter had been diagnosed with cancer of the skull but that she was fine now. So, at 3am on New Years Day, me and a policewoman I'd never met before were crying in my back garden....

Meggie and Phil had a good night's sleep apart from the normal trips to the bathroom. However, once Meggie was awake, her chemo really kicked in and her vomiting started. When I arrived at the hospital (much to my relief) she was vomiting and she looked dreadful. I gave her a quick shower which in itself is a bit of a military operation as her port site on her chest has to be covered to protect it from the water, and she was feeling pretty weak so had to be showered sitting down, still connected to her pump. She eventually agreed to have some medication to reduce the sickness and this worked and she slept for a few hours. I spent the time making her a bracelet with my beads, painting and decorating little boxes and a picture frame.

She's been drifting between sleep and wakefulness all day but managed to eat 6 pretzels which was a positive. Her anti-nausea medication is being topped up regularly and right now she's sound asleep listening to Mr Bean.

I had a long talk with one of the lovely nurses on the ward this afternoon. They're pretty quiet here at the moment so she had time to sit on the bed and spend some time. I was telling her how scared I was for Meg and how much I hated her having to go through this awful chemo. She was so great and very understanding. She was saying that as nurses they never give up hope on the children even if they've never known a child survive from a particular type of cancer. There's always hope because everyone is different. I'm really not articulating the conversation very well but it was good to chat with her and get more of an insight into how the nurses deal with working with these seriously sick children.

Time to get my PJ's on and tuck myself into my hospital bed now...... Thank you all again for all your thoughts and prayers. XXXX