Last week Francesca had her monthly dose of vincristine which, on the whole she seemed to cope well with. She was at school the following day and seemed fine - as she was due her MRI this week it was decided that she wouldn't have her steroids and I am sure that is what made all the difference! It was just as well she was OK as Charlie had a horrible temperature all week and was really poorly. As you can imagine, we wondered if Francesca would in fact catch the cold/virus?!!...............
She did! Over the weekend her temperature was a little higher than usual and then on Monday she began to spike and off we trotted (for the first time in a long time) to Lewisham Hospital to begin IV antibiotics. They have been taking cultures to see if she has a line infection and she had a chest x-ray which showed a few bits and bobs which could be current or possibly from her last chest infection. Currently she is on 4 different antibiotics and just today is receiving a blood transfusion - we can't almost remember the last time she had one of those either!
Fran in herself is on fine form - tired but happy. We are hoping that she will be home tomorrow if she doesn't have any more temperatures and I am looking forward to going to the hospital later today and finding a very rosy looking Fran post transfusion!
We will keep you updated.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Friday, 7 November 2008
A much needed update
The last month has been really busy as we seem to have settled down into some relative normality (it's only taken 20 months!!). Francesca has managed to spend much more time at school and Charlie is really enjoying nursery. Stu has been busy at work and I have taken on a role within Fran's pta.
A couple of weeks ago we had another dose of chemo and steroids. The good news was that the steroids, whilst not great, did not have such an intense effect on Fran as the previous month. We are due them again in about ten days time but, as Francesca needs an MRI scan they have decided to hold off on the steroids.
This past week we were up at GOS where we saw Fran's consultant Nick. It is always such a positive time as we are encouraged about Francesca's progress. The next big thing for her is on the 25th of November when she will have an MRI scan. This is to check her knees and hips as these are areas that she has suffered with much pain since the inception of treatment. She frequently feels pain behind her kneecaps and more recently her hips get sore. It is most unlikely that anything is amiss but, it is important to make sure that her bones are not been affected by the chemo. Nick seems to think that it is fine and so we are encouraged by that.
So, there are only six months of treatment left and the prognosis remains brilliant. Assured of this, Stuart is already planning the post treatment party!
As you can see from the picture Fran is looking great! We are off to Bristol to celebrate my mum's 60th this weekend - many more pictures will follow I promise!
A couple of weeks ago we had another dose of chemo and steroids. The good news was that the steroids, whilst not great, did not have such an intense effect on Fran as the previous month. We are due them again in about ten days time but, as Francesca needs an MRI scan they have decided to hold off on the steroids.
This past week we were up at GOS where we saw Fran's consultant Nick. It is always such a positive time as we are encouraged about Francesca's progress. The next big thing for her is on the 25th of November when she will have an MRI scan. This is to check her knees and hips as these are areas that she has suffered with much pain since the inception of treatment. She frequently feels pain behind her kneecaps and more recently her hips get sore. It is most unlikely that anything is amiss but, it is important to make sure that her bones are not been affected by the chemo. Nick seems to think that it is fine and so we are encouraged by that.
So, there are only six months of treatment left and the prognosis remains brilliant. Assured of this, Stuart is already planning the post treatment party!
As you can see from the picture Fran is looking great! We are off to Bristol to celebrate my mum's 60th this weekend - many more pictures will follow I promise!
A Big thank you needs to go out to our very good friend Sam, who has just completed the Great South Run in a brilliant 1hour 41mins and raised over £500 for Children with Leukaemia. Astounding given that Sam has three children (Tegan is Fran's best and oldest friend) and her baby is just 6 months old.
THANK YOU SAM!
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