Time to move on...and a BIG holiday

So the 20ft container has departed with all our worldly belongings. The stresses of working, packing, finances, job searching and hospital visits are behind us and off we go.

The whole family has really loved Melbourne. It has a vibrancy, relaxed friendly attitude, eating and coffee scene par excellence, healthy outdoor lifestyle and a climate we love. Beautiful for families in so many ways. It is not a surprise that it has a reputation as one of the best places in the world to live.

But Northern Ireland is calling us home. It is a great wee country too and we are looking forward to a whole new chapter.

But first....

Time for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand (south then north), Cambodia and Vietnam. For the next 6 weeks leukaemia blog has changed to a much happier SE Asia travel with kids blog. Should be fun.

First stop. Legoland Malaysia. Initial impressions...entertaining the children will NOT be a problem here.

Let the fun begin!

Countdown is on....

So only 3 weeks to go and the To Do list is still growing. Who knew how time consuming and tedious selling things on Ebay could be!

Andy has been working in Perth for the past few weeks so we have been trialing him working away on weekdays and so far it has been OK although he gets a bit upset that the children aren't missing him more! This will be the most likely scenario when we return to Coleraine as it is very likely that Andy will be working in Dublin.
We managed to fit in a lovely weekend away where we met Andy's cousin Louise and family. The weather was perfect as you can see (although not as hot as it is here right now - 35 degrees!) and Mabel spent the week after our return constantly saying that she missed Lilly.

Last week Celia had her monthly check up and all results were fine which surprised me as she frequently complaints of having a sore head, tummy, sides and still cannot sleep. She is however, happier at school these days (she has made a best friend at last) which at first was a relief but now I'm worried that leaving Maddy behind will lead to more upset and just tonight she started saying that she didn't want to leave.      
The hospital visit also involved more injections and once again Celia was hysterical and the nurse asked if she had seen a psychologist.
We have also noticed a few other behavioural issues (for example she refuses to tie her hair up even when it was stipulated by the school for the school play and swimming etc) She has a complete meltdown about it and when we eventually got her to opened up she said it was because it made her look like when she had no hair. Physical treatment may be over but the psychological effects still definitely linger.

So next on the calendar is a Northern Ireland football match in Helsinki for Andy (!!), a birthday party for Mabel crossed with a leaving / give stuff away barbecue with our Aussie friends, Andy's work leaving party and my girl's leaving do - I hope it is not all too emotionally draining!   

More Milestones....

There has been a lot going on over the past month and I would imagine the next few months will be pretty hectic too so I will resort to bullet points as updates!

16th August - Andy and I booked a babysitter for the afternoon and we headed into the CBD for a slap up 4 course Sunday lunch at the amazing middle eastern restaurant Maha followed by drinks on the banks of the Yarra - worth waiting 5 years for!



















23rd Aug - I completed my first half marathon to raise money for the Leukeamia Foundation. It was a stunning morning and I amazed myself by achieving a time of 2 hours bang on.

27th Aug - Celia had her first school concert and was very cute dressed in her army uniform and dancing to the Andrews Sister Bugle boys.










29th Aug - Celia invited 13 of her friends to Bron's Art studio for an Arty 7th Birthday Party which was lots of fun (apart from the last minute dash to the party shop as I'd forgotten the candles)















10th Sept - Celia had her first set of re-immunisation jabs which was not pleasant. The chemo wiped out all previous vaccinations so she has to get everything again. She had 4 injections and has another lot to get next month  - it never gets any easier.

So that doesn't sound to manic but when you add into the mix the fact that we have set a date of 28th Oct to leave Australia you can imagine the length of our to do list. We plan to travel round south East Asia for 6 weeks and arrive back in Northern Ireland by 7th December - exciting times!

The final step...and a new nationality

It has been a fairly fast moving couple of weeks chez Kerr.
The week before last we got a call on the Monday telling us Celia would have her port out on Thursday 6th August. Whilst we did have a little celebration back in June when treatment ended it was really only this final milestone that signified the true end to her treatment journey. The removal of the port (where they used access her bloodstream to administer the monthly chemo) during a short 45 minute operation felt like everyone was saying that our major hospital trips were over.
We celebrated with an end of financial year party at a Deloitte partner's house on the Friday night, properly letting our hair down together for the first time in a long while.
There was little time to dwell on parties however as this week saw a couple of huge milestones. On Wednesday we all became Australian citizens at a lovely ceremony at Brighton Town Hall the highlight of which was Max's decision to pass wind in the mayor's face during the official photos!
By Friday we took another step towards our future plans by finally selling our flat in London. We started that particular journey back in January and now, 6 months on, we are no longer home owners anywhere in the world but at least we have a little bit of cash left over to think about what to do next.
I expect the coming weeks and months will continue to be hectic and hopefully the focus will continue to be on future plans instead of hospitals and medicine.
Keep smiling

Andy and Lyds

Ups and downs post treatment

So another month has flown by and it has been a mixture of ups and downs.

a cold beer on a sunny winter's day at the Opera house bar Sydney

I had a wonderful weekend in Sydney for my friend's 40th birthday however I developed the most annoying tickley cough which kept me awake at night for more than 2 weeks. Of course I then passed it on to the kids so tempers have been frayed and Celia in particular has been very down and teary.

Mabel and her potty support crew (who also want fed sweeties!)

This has actually been going on for a few months and it has become apparent that there are also school playground issues plus anxiety problems. Andy and I were so focused on getting her to the end of treatment that we naively thought we'd get our happy-go-lucky 4 year old Celia back as soon as chemo stopped but it has actually been like she's on steroids for the past few months she has been so moody and volatile. I guess you cannot underestimate the psychological effects of cancer on a child even after treatment so I think we may need to take her to a therapist as her worries are keeping her awake at night.

Mabel started potty training this week and true to form the stubborn little madam wouldn't look at a pair of pants and screamed blue murder if we tried to take her nappy off. As she is a sweet fiend I knew that sweetie bribery would work and of course now we can't get her away from the potty - she wants to go every 5 minutes as she knows there's a treat at the end of it!
 Socially it has been a quiet month since I got back from Sydney which suits me fine as I really need to ramp up my half marathon training (its on the 23rd August). It has been very wintery in Melbourne the past few weeks so it's actually been a struggle to get motivated and run 18kms in freezing winds, But I am raising money for the Leukemia foundation so it will of course all be worth it.
Celia continues to have her monthly check ups and blood tests and so far so good.
Next on the agenda is our Citizenship ceremony on 12th August and then sometime in September an operation should be scheduled for Celia's port to be removed - hopefully her last general anesthetic for a long time!
  

Celia's Make-A-Wish trip

Skiing!

 What a perfect way to celebrate Celia finishing treatment! By coincidence, Celia's Make-A-Wish trip to the snow was scheduled for the end of June and it turned out to be prefect timing weather wise too. Although it was the opening week of the season in Queenstown, the snow conditions were perfect so we had 4 wonderful days at Coronet Peak. Andy and I got time to ski on our own while Celia and Max had private lessons in the morning and Mabel went to creche at Skiwiland (cute!)

Coffee break time after a hard morning in ski lessons

We also managed to catch up with Andy's old uni friend Julie Brown and her family who are lucky enough to live outside Queenstown. They and their children are of course all top rate skiers so I should have known better than to accompany them on a little tour of the mountain - 2 black runs, an impromptu off piste detour and numerous tumbles later, I was shaking with fear and anger as I had made it quite clear I was not confident or experienced enough to keep up with them. Anyway, all was forgiven after a well earned mulled wine!

clinging on for dear life

We were there for a week so we had plenty of time to sight-see too. We took the cable car up to where they have the luge track, a round of mini golf was fitted in and we found a rope swing which even mummy had a go on (I didn't fall in much to everyone's disappointment).
Andy took Max on the Shotover jet boat which they (Andy) enjoyed - he claimed it was for Max's birthday but what 5 year old claims to want a breakneck speed boat ride through a narrow canyon as his birthday present?!

Max and Andy on the chairlift to the luge

Julie sorted us out with one of her regular babysitters so we manged to have a night out with her and her husband Julian. We had an amazing meal (and cocktail) at Madam Woo followed by drinks at a bar with yet another roaring open fire - every pub, restaurant and hotel has a fire that would make Mr Kerr Senior jealous! It was a bit of a blast from the past for Andy as he remembered it was the same bar that he spent his 30th birthday in - small world!

Beautiful Queenstown

The final part of Celia's wish was ice skating and I think she actually enjoyed that more than the skiing. They had little penguins to help them balance on the ice and Mabel sat on a push along seal which I of course couldn't let go of!

We are so grateful to Make-a-wish as it really was the holiday of a lifetime. When we requested a trip to the snow as Celia's wish, we thought we'd be sent to Mount Buller, 4 hours drive away, for a long weekend. We never imagined they would fly the 5 of us to New Zealand for a week and arrange skiing, ice skating, hotel, transfers, the lot - amazing!

Ice skating with the penguins

And as if that wasn't enough gallivanting for 1 week, I then flew to Sydney with 7 girlfriends on Friday for my friend Andrea's 40th birthday.
It has been a long time since I took 4 flights within a fortnight and I can safely say I am now well and truly exhausted, but in a good way!

No More Chemo

The past couple of weeks have seen a series of happy milestones in Celia's long Leukaemia journey. On June 4th we had her last hospital treatment - one final dose of chemo through her port. The final one was just as traumatic as all the other recent ones - Celia really panics as soon as she sees the needles come out and Lydia has to calm her down as usual.


Laughing gas keeps me calm for final intravenus chemotheropy

Once the final treatment was over it was celebration time. Another cancer charity - Koala Kids - provides a giant chocolate 'Smash Cake' full of sweets, together with a hammer to allow children finishing treatment to smash their cancer once and for all. We went for a lovely family pizza celebration in McKinnon before smashing our cake at home for supper.

Leaving the Childrens Cancer Centre after final treatment (with celebratory Chocolate Smash Cake)

The last hospital visit was not quite the end of the drugs however. There was the small matter of five final days of steriods and oral chemotheropy at home. These steriods seemed to impact her as much as any dose in quite a few months, with the tiredness, grumpiness, teariness and agression seeming to be just that little bit more accentuated than in recent months. Still, with only 5 days to go, we could just about have handled anything for those final few days. To take our mind off the steriods we headed to the hills for a day trip to the Dandenongs where the temperature was so freezing it was a good opportunity to give our ski-wear a first outing of the year. Max and Mabel were very excited to check if Percy the Possum was still living at Sky High.

A winter Sunday outing to the Dandenongs

 

The final final chemo was on Tuesday 9th June 2015. As Lydia posted on Facebook - 2 years, 2 months and 10 days of Leukaemia treatment was finally over. Deep breath. Huge sigh of relief. Lots of hugs and smiles all round. Maybe, just maybe, the second half of 2015 will be our happiest, funniest and most relaxed period for a very long time...let the holidays, travelling and future life planning begin.



Last day of chemo

Group hug - no more chemo!

You made it Celia. We are so proud of you!

Family Cancer Camp

Picnic in Botanic Gardens

Back in February when Celia was admitted to hospital for 8 days with her unexplained fever, we were meant to be going to Philip Island for one of the family camps that the wonderful charity Camp Quality hosts. Celia and Max were very disappointed that yet another holiday had to be canceled but as Camp Quality run a family camp every couple of months we were lucky enough to be accepted for the next one in Bendigo.

Celia making a bowl at Pottery World

 We also had the added bonus that accompanying us on this camp were our good friends Amy, Glen and their twins Jasmine & Dominic (who is also in treatment for leukemia) so it ended up being a blessing in disguise as we all had a wonderful weekend.

As you can see  the winter sun shone for us the whole time we were there and it was jam packed with activities that the kids absolutely loved - Pottery World on Saturday morning, followed by a picnic lunch in Botanic Gardens with accompanying gold treasure hunt (Bendigo was at the heart of the original Australian gold mining boom), the most amazing play center in the afternoon, then a quick dip in the camp pool. After a delicious dinner provided by outside caterers the fantastic volunteers took the kids away for games and DVDs while the parents had a few vinos and got a chance to chat.

Hunting for Gold!

Then on Sunday we all headed off to the Discovery Center where we got to lie back on bean bags and watch the planets and stars at the Planetarium, I plucked up the courage to 'drop' down the vertical slide which was terrifying and the kids performed lots of messy experiments.

We all left on Sunday afternoon feeling refreshed and very lucky to be in a country where people's generosity provides such wonderful services for families and children living with cancer. And this is just one of the many charities that have helped us over the past 2 and a bit years.
Now that we are approaching the end of treatment I can feel the urge to start giving back so be warned that some fundraising requests will be coming up in the very near future!

Relaxing on the hammock while Mabel earns her keep swinging me!

A wedding in Sydney

Once again we have been very lax and it has been almost 2 months since we last posted on the blog so I will do a quick summary of the main events:

Dunkeld in the Grampians

At the end of March and the start of the Easter school holidays we had a wonderful 4 days in Halls Gap which is in the beautiful Grampians. The camp site was perfect and the kids loved seeing the kangaroos bounding past the cabin at dusk and toasting marshmallows on the open fire.




We were home for a few days to throw a load or 4 of washing on and then off again for our good friend Roger's and Kat's wedding in Sydney on Easter Saturday. It was a lovely day despite the torrential rain not letting up for 24 hours and the children had an absolute ball especially Mabel, who snared her first boyfriend as you can see!....

Roger, Kat and the Kerr clan at Manly Yacht club

Then on the 8th April we reached a bit of a milestone as Celia had her last lumbar puncture operation and we started to believe that this horrible leukemia chapter may actually be approaching the end (chemo ends in June).

In the 'disco' limo

Next up on the social agenda was birthday number 43 which I really wasn't keen on marking but the girls insisted that we go out to celebrate. So I am waiting on the pavement in the rain for my taxi to arrive when this stretch limo complete with strobe lights, pumping dance music and 12 giddy middle aged woman, pulls up - I was absolutely speechless and I think a couple of tears may even have escaped!  

Andy and I went out to see Jason Byrne the night before my birthday as April is Comedy festival month in Melbourne and although the gig was very funny, Andy did not have the best night as he snapped 2 ligaments in his ankle about an hour before the show. He manged to do it by getting up from his desk at work - now that is comedy!?

So that takes us roughly up to date. I am in the middle of doing a 28 day "Tame Your Temper' parenting course which seems to be having a positive effect on everyone's mood, although Celia is on steroids at the moment and nothing can tame her temper on those 5 days every month. Max bears the physical scars once again as she scratched his neck and drew blood tonight. Cannot wait for next month when this will be over and we get our beautiful Celia back fulltime.

Food Glorious Food

The past 2 weekends seem to have all been about food and drink, which is fine by me!
Last Friday evening was the school's family picnic and disco where the kids dance in the school hall and the parents lie on picnic rugs and crack open bottles of wine on the sports Oval - got to love the Aussie way of life!

Celia with her best buddies at the school disco

 The next day was the Mordialloc Food and Wine Festival (which was very 'sticky' as it was jam packed and a 30 plus degree day) but we managed to have a great day out before the huge storms hit and caused a 12 hour power cut.

Me and Max on the bumper cars at the food & wine festival

Mabel enjoying the slide at food & wine festival

Daddy and Max at Seville Hill Vineyard

Then we went to the gourmet jazz picnic at Seville Hill Vineyard the next day with my old work colleague Tommy, his lovely wife Brooke and their baby daughter Edie. It was all very civilised and Mabel being the music aficionado that she is seemed to appreciate the jazz quartet.  All the kids were really well behaved and I do feel that we have turned that corner with ours. Mabel is still a terror but Celia and Max help look after her now when we go out so all the running around doesn't just fall to me and Andy.  

This Sunday, we had 18 for a BBQ, and as Andy was in charge of the food, we're not talking burgers and snags (sausages for those non-Aussies reading this). Preping for a 5 course gourmet BBQ is no easy task and it was just as well Monday was a holiday for Labour Day (still don't know what that is about?) as I needed the whole day to tidy up. Andy had conveniently arranged to play golf the next morning of course! I must admit that he did deserve the morning off as the food was fantastic and very much appreciated by all. I think he was feeling the pressure to impress now that Heston Blumenthal is in town with his Fat Duck Restaurant for a few months. Melbourne has gone crazy for him and tickets for a seat at the restaurant were balloted and sold out within a matter of hours even though it was $525 a head (no drink included). They are now selling for over $1000 on Ebay - who would have thought snail porridge would be so popular?!

Mabel getting into Sushi

Mabel continues to amuse and frustrate us in equal measure. Her talking is really progressing and she can pretty much say all words except for Celia. She refuses to even attempt it and insists on calling her Harry?!?

I will finish up by mentioning out trip to the beach on the way home from school on Monday (which is a very rare occurrence but shouldn't be as we pass 3 beautiful beaches on our way home each day). Anyway, I was feeling all yummy mummy and took the kids to the beach to 'scavenge' and Celia came back with a cigarette butt asking what it was. When I told her she replied "what's a cigarette?". Its not often you feel proud your child doesn't know the meaning of a word but this was one such occasion!.......

Max gets in on the act

starting a new knee sock / plaid shorts trend

Wellies are the ideal footwear in 36 degree heat of course

I am not sure whether Max is exhibiting attention seeking behaviour because the past few weeks have all been about Celia or if he just has terrible dress sense but something isn't quite right!







I am pleased to say that Celia had a stable temperature all weekend after a few close shaves on Friday when her temperature got dangerously high again.

Celia and Jacob chilling in the pool

In fact, it was Max who wasn't well on Saturday and his temperature reached as high as 39.2 but the thought of missing out on a pool date round at Jacob's house got him out of his sick bed so Andy and the kids had a lovely afternoon round at Kirstie and Dave's while I (and Kirstie!) went on a girls day out which was just what the doctor ordered after the week we've had.

Egg and cress sandwich anyone?

 Me and a few school mums took ourselves off to ladies day at the Werribee Polo and it was a most civilised and enjoyable day out. Can't say much Polo was observed but from a people watching perspective it was a fabulous afternoon!

I was going to say it is nice to get back to normal but since when did pool play dates and polo become normal!?

Home Time

We've now had 36 hours without a high temperature and also a full night without any antibiotics to help out. It would appear that everything is functioning normally again and Celia seems bright and happy. Time to go home.

Feeling Brighter

Celia has been looking and feeling much brighter over the last couple of days.
We've had daughter and dad movie time watching Frozen (twice!), played some games, had a wander about the hospital (drip in tow) to the art room, the cafe and playroom - anything to distract me from working.
The various doctors and specialists still can't find anything at all wrong with her. Nothing. But yet her temperature keeps 'spiking' above 38 degrees at some point every night.
I had a bit of a chat with various doctors yesterday to get the full picture and my conclusion was that they are trying hard to find something but are running out of ideas. The consensus is that they don't seem overly worried so therefore nor should we.
They are taking her off antibiotics, panadol and drip today to see if her body can look after itself for a couple of days...but still no sign of getting home unless the high temperatures stop. We're heading towards week 2 in hospital it would appear.
 

Grasping at straws

Tuesday 17th Feb

So far all tests have come back negative so the doctors then sent in the infectious diseases team. They drew a blank too so now Celia is having an ultra sound on her abdomin and an x-Ray on her chest. Not really sure what they are meant to show (or rule out) and I get the impression the doctors don't really know either hence the 'grasping at straws' title. 

She did manage to get out of bed today, however, and Andy even persuaded her to get dressed so progress is being made. They are trying various combinations of antibiotics and it seems to be taking effect as her temperature dropped below 37 today for the first time in about a week. If it remains stable for 48 hours they will let her go home. 

Having talked to other cancer mums I know that this past week is par for the course unfortunately, we have just been very lucky up until now not to have encountered any unexplained fevers. Andy, however, was convinced there was something more sinister going on and all he could think about was relapse so he did the worst thing possible last night - Google! But after a sleepless night the doctors reassured him this morning that was not the case and her blood counts remain healthy. 

We are now crossing everything and praying that her temperature stabilises and we can get her home before the end of this week.  

Apparently it's Valentine Day

Saturday 14th Feb

Andy and I may have spent most of Valentine's Day apart but we still managed to swap cards at shift changeover (both cards bought at the hospital shop so lucky we didn't pick the same one). I even managed to pen a quick love poem of sorts - "Roses are red, Violets are blue, If I do tonight and tomorrow, can you do the following two?" - who said romance is dead......
Unfortunately Saturday morning saw no change to Celia's condition so I took Max and Mabel up to the hospital in the afternoon. We ventured down to the hospital's cafe and sat at an outside table as it was a beautiful day plus I thought fresh air would do Celia good. After 5 minutes, however, she was struggling and wanted to go back to bed.  Usually when she is sick the only things that can bring a smile to her face are Max and Mabel but not today so Andy left with the kids and I settled in for a long evening. The hospital is pretty deserted at weekends as they try to discharge as many patients as possible on a Friday. All the playrooms are shut, the Ronald McDonald room has reduced hours and there are no play therapists so the atmosphere on the children's ward is very flat which is most frustrating if your child happens to be inconveniently sick outside Monday to Friday working hours!?

I saw a few parents today who were obviously at the start of their cancer journey; the shell-shocked expression and red hospital bag were the main giveaway signs.

The Redkite charity give all parents one of these red beach bags when your child is diagnosed with cancer so when you pass another parent with 'the bag', you swap empathetic smiles because even if you don't know each other, you both know a lot of the the same people!

Her temperature was still 38.8 at midnight so it is unlikely we will get out tomorrow as it needs to be stable for 24 hours.  

Another holiday cancelled

Friday 13th Feb

Celia's temperature remains high and all she wants to do is sleep and stare mindlessly at the TV. The white cells in her urine are decreasing which is good sign.
 As per usual I got no sleep last night as Celia's bed is right beside the entrance to the ward so every coming and going was accompanied by a door bang loud enough to shake the whole room and for some reason the alarm on her drip kept going off every 5 minutes - that bleep will haunt me til the end of my days!

Celia has to stay in hospital tonight as her temperature isn't stabilising and she isn't eating or drinking so our long weekend to Phillip Island has most definitely been canceled. That is the 3rd holiday we have had to cancel and it is so upsetting to see the disappointment on the kids faces.

Looking on the bright side, Celia's blood counts remain high and I am getting a chance to catch up on my book group reading.

Ronald McDonald Family Room

 Once again I am eternally grateful to the Ronald McDonald house charity for providing the most amazing parent room where you can grab breakfast ( they even have a pancake machine!) have a shower, do laundry or relax in a chillout room.

 Andy and the kids came up at about 4pm and we planned to swap over for the night shift. There were a few tears and cries for mummy to stay but she got over it quickly enough.

One good thing about all this is that it reminds you what is important in life so when I got home I had a bath with Max and Mabel. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've made the time and effort to have a bath with the kids. They were so delighted to splash around with me and for once not have me screaming about flooding the bathroom - mental note to self: chill out a bit more!

 

Bad memories flooding back

Thursday 12th Feb.

The distant memories of what we went through in 2013 have come flooding back this week as our day to day life is turned upside down once again.
You must drop everything if Celia's temperature goes over 37.8 degrees and head straight to Monash Cancer Centre so we've been there Friday, Monday, Tuesday and all of today. Her temperature is still spiking at 39.7 even after 4 doses of intravenous antibiotics so she's being admitted overnight.
Until this week I'd forgotten what a logistical nightmare an unscheduled hospital visit poses.
Today, for example, I had to get 2 preschool children to kinder and Crèche, Celia to hospital, then go back and collect Mabel a couple of hours later, pick up overnight bag, get back to hospital where I had left Celia on her own for over an hour and a half which you aren't supposed to do, try and arrange a pick up for Max which proved too hard so Andy cancelled an important client meeting. As we only have one car Andy had to train it to the hospital, collect Mabel then pick up Max.
Back in April and May 2013 our life was like that almost every day and you never knew how long you were going to be in hospital so a lot of the time it just seemed easier to take all 3 children with me which was a nightmare of a different sort!
My memory of how tortuous those first few months were had faded until Celia was admitted to the children's ward today and now it feels like it was only yesterday (obviously I am not just referring to the logistical problems; fearing your child might not make it and witnessing their constant pain also contributed to the stress somewhat!). I suppose it is a bit like child birth, the memory of the pain fades with time, but I honestly don't know how we coped back then. I use the word 'coped' very loosely as in hind sight I actually didn't cope at all.
Today after just 4 days of this 'inconvenience' I was back to my 'bear with a sore head' act (screaming at the children, screaming at any driver in front of me who dared drive under the maximum speed limit, screaming at a radio DJ for being so idiotic - you get the picture). My anxiety levels were through the roof and that's what I was like perpetually between April and December 2013.
Thankfully this afternoon I got a grip of myself, reprioritised and with a bit of slow breathing I brought my anxiety levels down but it is something I've mastered far too late. Because I now recognise the signs I'd like to help other parents who are at the start of this journey and encourage them to seek help if they are experiencing symptoms of anxiety. I also want to offer them hope as it can seem very bleak in those first few months so I've volunteered to be a 'blood buddy' for a new program the Leukaemia Foundation are setting up. Basically I would be paired up with parents of newly diagnosed children and act as their 'buddy'.
I would have found this really helpful in the early months as the fear of the unknown was a huge contributor to the stress. I've had my interview and completed the training modules so I'm just waiting to be put in touch with my first participant.
Talking about bad memories being dredged up, Celia's dinner just arrived and as I lifted the lid of her plate, that hospital food smell hit my nostrils and I almost wretched.

It evoked such a vivid memory of what I had to endure for almost 3 months back in 2012 when I was incarcerated here with problem bump/child number 3. I'll never forget the night I ordered chicken curry and they had run out of rice so I got curry with a lump of wet mashed potato just like the one in this photo?!?  Monash you have been really great to us over the years but I am so hoping I never have to spend another night here!

Our first music video!

Goodness, we don't post for months and now here I am putting up 2 in one day!
I just received a link to the music video Celia and I participated in a few months ago at the cancer centre.
The parents of a little boy called Bailey who unfortunately lost his battle with cancer, set up a charity in his memory and this video was filmed as part of a fundraiser called 'Bailey's Day' that raises money for Monash Childrens hospital. His amazing parents are in this video as well as most of the wonderful staff that have helped us on this journey.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxPQ_nlEp0jzVEpaRHR2ajljZzg/view?usp=sharing

A reminder that we haven't reached the finish line just yet

After hearing that the end of Celia's treatment was within touching distance (June) and being told on Friday that her blood counts were so good we could drop the next fortnightly blood test, Andy and I were obviously feeling very elated.  And even though Celia was on steroids at the weekend we let her start swim lessons on Saturday (in an outdoor pool as indoor pools are still out off limits), then we had a mother & daughter day out on Sunday to visit the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition.  As you can see from her sketches it provided our budding artist/fashion designer with some fantastic inspiration!

As the title suggests we came crashing back to reality on Monday as Celia spiked a temperature of 39 degrees and we had to get her hooked up to an antibiotic drip for a few hours. As her blood counts remained high they let us go home which surprised me, but we had to return to hospital for some more intravenous antibiotics yesterday. She has still got a high temperature today and remains very lethargic but hopefully the test results of the cultures they took will be back this afternoon and we can treat whatever infection she has accordingly.
We have our annual family camp with the wonderful Camp Quality cancer charity this weekend so fingers crossed Celia makes a very speedy recovery as the whole family is looking forward to it but this does serve as a timely reminder that she is not out of the woods just yet.

Countdown is on

It has been a long time since we wrote the blog. I will do a catch up one soon, sharing all our memories of a lovely Christmas, a couple of weekend breaks and a period of almost total normality on the Celia health front. The big news however as of today, Friday 30th January is that we have a treatment end date to look forward to. It was confirmed today that Celia's chemo will officially end in June 2015 so we are into the last 5 months of treatment.
The countdown has started!
Fingers crossed that everything goes to planned and this schedule stays intact. It should align very nicely with our citizenship timeline.
 Life is on the up.
Have a happy weekend everyone...and good luck Andy Murray in the Australian Open final.

Mabel's first day at creche and Celia's first day in grade 1