Joe vs. The Cancer

[TrazzleMISTLEtoes]

My 3 year old DS, Joseph was diagnosed with the cancer Neuroblastoma in October.

Survival rates are approximately 1 in 3.

He's coming to the end of chemo and so far, chemo is kicking cancer's butt. 3 cheers.

So glad to hear your good news Trazzle and I hope 2013 brings the best possible results for you all. West London splodges galore (it is 10am, but not looking that bright outside, so am sure splodges visible in the gloom!)

Gingers all crossed for good news next week and little light still shining in Malvern.
Did he ever "wear the fox hat?"

Yes Norks he did! But he's going through a phase of refusing to let me take photos of him . He looks ace in it though

hahahaha!
I just like the idea of you yelling "Joe, wear the fox hat!"
but then I have a childish and pun-filled sense of humour :)

Fingers crossed is indeed inadequate, but I think there is still an element of luck involved even with the wonders of modern medicine.

The one thing that really makes want to shake people have a polite word is "well, there's always next year/time" (for Joe to see Santa, or go on holiday etc). I'm like, er, not necessarily, eh? Isn't that the whole point? But I have to keep reminding myself that people are just trying to be nice and may well be walking off, mentally kicking themselves as I often do after I've put my foot in it.

Someone stole the sun in the southwest so splodges are a-splodging early here for Joe.

Still thinking of you Trazzles every evening.

P4Beatrice sorry to see your darling girl is going on a similar journey.

Trazzle am loving the lack of doctor since last year .

Gingers still firmly crossed and splodging away here still (a slightly bigger splodge since Christmas sadly!!)

I think of you often, so very glad to hear Joe's still doing well.

Gingers crossed & splodging as always from a chilly Solihull.

Aaaaaah Solihull... I have fond memories of Solihull... is there anywhere I don't have fond memories of?! The Birmingham Immigration Tribunal is in the middle of a roundabout and the Judge brought all the legal reps in to the hearing room and then put me on first, in front of everyone. Grrr. Not so fond memories, actually [ grin]

Evening Trazzle, my gingers are crossed for you (I have 2: DS & DH who's a reluctant ginger and only has it in his facial hair)

Sending you massive hugs and more positivity

Trazzle and P4B, thinking of you both.

P4B, we weren't in such a case, but Gosh was wonderful for us and I was delighted to see Ds's lovely consultant named as one of the top Drs in his field. And Ds had a lovely junior Dr as well on one occasion, who completely failed to recite his 11 1/2 times table ( which we were getting Ds to do to calm him down) and struggled, blushing, with his 11 x. Lots of laughter and sympathy. I hope your experience is as supportive.

And a big splodge for P4B from one bit of West London to the other..... loads of positive vibes for both poorly children....

Big splodge here for you Trazzle. Haven't been on MN for a while but I do think of you and your family often.

(I can't beleive the induction hob comment P4B!!!!! )

Good luck with the stem cell harvest.

I hope he gets the numbers he needs. Do you know what they are aiming at?

Thinking of you

x

Thanks - I think we're going in tomorrow night for him to have a vascath fitted under GA first thing on Tuesday - it's like the line in his chest only bigger and goes in his neck .

They hook him up to the machine after that. Hopefully they will get all the cells they need on Tuesday.

We have been told how many cells they are looking at. It's a number beginning with 6. Maybe 600,000? I honestly can't remember how many '0's there are! .

Is all go here anyway as we are also gearing up for DD's 1st birthday next week... Never a dull moment at Trazzle towers!

Oh, and I know you're all going to tell me off, but my asthma's been playing up since Thursday and my inhaler isn't making any difference. I don't understand why. I'm hoping it will just resolve itself but I actually don't know whether that's possible.

I don't know where to go for help. I haven't got time to get to the GP at the moment and am not sure if they can even give me anything if I do go... But I am pretty fine, just a bit wheezy and coughing quite a lot. Not really bad enough for a&e... I never get asthma and am really bloody pissed off that its picked this week when I have enough on my plate without my stupid body packing up on me.

Trazzle I'll be lighting all the candles we have in Bath this week.

I think the air pollution and cold air is making it difficult for asthmatics at the moment - I had problems last week and have had to start taking my purple inhaler twice a day to get it under control. Do you have a purple inhaler? If not I'd suggest a quick pop into A&E perhaps whilst Joe's under GA if that's possible (apologies if it isn't) - if they have one at the site you're at. The team looking after Joe will be able to communicate to you in A&E if you need to get to them and the A&E team will probably see you quickly if you explain the circumstances. They will have an asthma team on site which can lend you a nebuliser as you aren't taking it offsite (if it is bad enough to need it) or if you just need access to ventolin or seratide they will have it in the pharmacy.

Alternatively you can just walk into a pharmacy as an asthmatic and ask for ventolin - say you're away from home - you have to sign forms and they send a letter to your GP but I've had to do it a couple of times when it's caught me unaware or it's gone out of date from being being crap.

I'd lend you mind if I was nearer.

I don't suppose there's anyone who can help you tomorrow is there?

If not, a walk in clinic when you pass one?!

OR you know, actually give yourself a little priority rating and get your arse to your GPs!!! Naughty girl.

You can't afford to get ill - look after yourself OK x

Thanks. Tea I have a blue ventolin. I've been taking 2 sprays twice a day since Thursday but its not doing anything at all :(

2 sprays 4 times a day. I don't even know if I'm overdosing!

I know nothing about asthma but hope you can get it under control. The cold weather won't help I'd imagine?
Hope it all goes well for Joe on tuesday, big Cheshire splodges as always.

The cold damp weather is a problem for many asthmatics.

Also, if you only recently started using the steroid inhaler again, then you will need to give it up to five days to start building up before you see an effect.

Ventolin should work straight away though. It may be worth checking that all your inhalers are still in date as they may not be so effective if they are past expiry date. (I have had inhalers out of date, just because I don't always have to use them and it is not always obvious to check them). I believe that you can now buy asthma inhalers online, I will see if I can find a link. Otherwise, can't your GP write a prescription to be collected by your DH, DM or a friend?

If you have a bad cold, it may also help to use Beconase (available over the counter, Boots, Tesco etc.), it reduces the effect of post nasal drip which causes lots of coughing and can make you need to gasp for breath. In case of a cold, Sinutab, Sudafed and the like can also make a difference.

I very very much hope you don't have whooping cough, as it is still doing the rounds. If you have coughing attacks so bad that you need to vomit, you may want to see a GP to get antibiotics to reduce your infectiousness to others. Hopefully this is not necessary.

I hope you feel better soon and Joe's Vascath and stem cell harvest go as well as possible.

Thinking of you.

x