The last few weeks have been particularly busy in the Barratt household with lots of ups and downs.
Thomas was very excited last week as it was his birthday. Where on earth have the last 6 years gone? For the first time ever, I was unable to arrange a party to celebrate him turning 6 but Thomas was fine with this (he got an extra gift as compensation). He got lots of lovely presents including a new fishing rod so him and Paul can go catch our dinner one night!
We had a lovely family day at the nearby mountain (Nebo) where we had a sausage sizzle and the boys made a paracute out of a carrier bag for Thomas's toy power ranger! They had so much fun and Paul's expertise in toy paracute making didn't go unnoticed! We had a lovely evening out with friends at the local bowls club last Friday(yes bowls club)! Its the closest thing to a pub where we can also get a chinese meal and all in walking distance from our house-bonus,no driving so more drinks to be had!
Last week wasn't so great for me.I had a few moments of utter worry and being scared about what if? I quickly pulled myself together and things are fine again now! Those dark moments are so scary but I suppose its something we have to deal with as its the reality of Charlie's illness. I just remind myself that his prognosis is good so fingers crossed we have no complications along the way.
Thomas has been on his school holidays for the past week and we have been busy going to the beach, meeting up with friends,going for picnics and going to the park. We're fortunate enough to have gorgeous weather at the moment with temperatures around 24C so being outdoors and away from too many people (for Charlies sake) is working out well. Another week of school holidays and I may go mad though!!!
We had lunch round at a friends house yesterday, then headed out to the hospital for Charlie's treatment whilst Tom stayed and played in the water with his friends. The school holidays are always a little tricky with childcare as I don't like Thomas to see what Charlie goes through plus its such a long,boring day sat there which again isn't fair on Tom.
Charlie screamed most of the way to the hospital, asking me not to take him.I managed to settle him then once we arrived at the ward,he started again. He was hysterical. There was nothing at all I could do to console him and it was a horrible experience whereby I felt so helpless and just wanted to take him away from it all. These kind of moments really hit me hard and make me wish I had my friends and family around for support.
We waited around to see the consultant and as I'd suspected,Charlie's neutrophil's (infection fighting) were low again this week. He has been fighting off a runny nose so we were told that this may have contributed to lower counts. The consultant informed me that his chemotherapy would not be able to be increased this week due to his low counts but he would still go ahead with the chemo,just at the same dose as last week. We spoke about Charlie's anxiety around coming to the hospital and the doctor said she would have a chat with our Occupational Therapist and ask her to do some work with us around this to try to alleviate some of his worries.
After seeing the consultant we waited around for the chemotherapy to be made up and then Charlie laid on the bed whislt the nurses hooked him up to the "robot" which again, he wasnt happy about but tollerated well considering. I had promised him some chips from the cafe downstairs as this was a special treat for being a brave boy,only to find that when we'd finished at 6.30pm, they were closed!
Never mind, we headed home and daddy's chips hit the spot. Charlie was just happy to be home and playing with his big brother again and I was just glad to be out of that horrible place!
Thursday 22 September 2011
Sunday 4 September 2011
Blog 8-My birthday weekend!! 5.9.11
The last 2 weeks have been much rosier for the Barratt family. We had to say a sad farewell to my mum and dad and the boys have really missed them not being around. Charlie kept forgetting they'd gone, and often shouted for grandad to come and play with him!
Charlie was unable to go ahead with his treatment until last week due to his neutrophils being a little too low so we had 3 weeks off from the hospital which gave us some sense of normality. However, it was great that he was able to go ahead last week with his treatment (I say "great" as its something he has to have to make him better but I know its not really great to wish your child to go ahead and have a lumbar puncture and chemotherapy)!
He was a very upset little boy who begged me not to take him. Once I started up the car engine I heard this little voice say "Dont go mummy,I dont like hospital". It was a very hard day for both of us and by the time we got home in the afternoon, I was exhausted with all the reasurrance I tried to give him throughout the procedures he had.Charlie on the other hand, was full of beans, busy running round playing games with Thomas!! He is so resilliant and just gets on with what he has to,though he tires very easily.
Friday was playgroup day and Charlie was lively and energetic so we went along and had a lovely morning. It was just what was needed after Thursday being so intense and distressing. A few of the mums came up to us and asked how things were going with his treatment which is lovely of them to care, but sometimes I wish we could just blend in. Whilst he has a bald head, I think thats out of the question! I was a little concerned about Charlie getting any colds,coughs or worse from playgroup but things seem fine and we were glad we went along.Its so important we try to keep things are normal as we can when hes well not only for his sake, but for all of us and attending playgroup does just that.
Saturday was my birthday-21 again before you ask! And I was so overwhelmed by the thought Paul had put into my gifts. Amongst them, he had bought a canvas with a beautiful picture of the boys beaming with laughter on it from a holiday we had in Budle Bay,Northumbria last year. They looked like they didnt have a care in the world and were so happy. The picture has so much meaning to it and just made me cry!
Saturday evening, and we went to the fireworks display arranged by Brisbane council to celebrate my birthday. Oh ok, they were for the riverfire display they put on every year. Thomas asked how they knew it was my birthday though so I played along with it and told him daddy had rung them up to tell them. We went to Paul's office to enjoy the display and it was amazing. Thomas and Charlie loved the fireworks and I was later told that Thomas was telling 2 little girls he'd befriended why his brother had no hair. He explained that he had cancer and that hes given medicine at the hospital and the medicine doesnt know whether to kill the good cells or bad ones so it kills all of them....I hadnt realised he had taken any of the information in we'd been telling him so this was good to hear but also not really the right setting,bless him!
We spent Sunday busily socialising,making the most of Charlie being well. We visited some friends in the morning and then went to a BBQ at the local mountain with a friend I'd made through school. It was a lovely day and the children played happily whilst we chatted and ate!
Thomas is back to school today and was excited to do his "Show and Tell" on the Riverfire display we saw at the weekend. Charlie and I had a coffee break in Paddington with one of the new friends I'd made and then came home to the cleaning! So as you can see, all's very normal and boring with us at the moment.Just the way I like it!!
Charlie was unable to go ahead with his treatment until last week due to his neutrophils being a little too low so we had 3 weeks off from the hospital which gave us some sense of normality. However, it was great that he was able to go ahead last week with his treatment (I say "great" as its something he has to have to make him better but I know its not really great to wish your child to go ahead and have a lumbar puncture and chemotherapy)!
He was a very upset little boy who begged me not to take him. Once I started up the car engine I heard this little voice say "Dont go mummy,I dont like hospital". It was a very hard day for both of us and by the time we got home in the afternoon, I was exhausted with all the reasurrance I tried to give him throughout the procedures he had.Charlie on the other hand, was full of beans, busy running round playing games with Thomas!! He is so resilliant and just gets on with what he has to,though he tires very easily.
Friday was playgroup day and Charlie was lively and energetic so we went along and had a lovely morning. It was just what was needed after Thursday being so intense and distressing. A few of the mums came up to us and asked how things were going with his treatment which is lovely of them to care, but sometimes I wish we could just blend in. Whilst he has a bald head, I think thats out of the question! I was a little concerned about Charlie getting any colds,coughs or worse from playgroup but things seem fine and we were glad we went along.Its so important we try to keep things are normal as we can when hes well not only for his sake, but for all of us and attending playgroup does just that.
Saturday was my birthday-21 again before you ask! And I was so overwhelmed by the thought Paul had put into my gifts. Amongst them, he had bought a canvas with a beautiful picture of the boys beaming with laughter on it from a holiday we had in Budle Bay,Northumbria last year. They looked like they didnt have a care in the world and were so happy. The picture has so much meaning to it and just made me cry!
Saturday evening, and we went to the fireworks display arranged by Brisbane council to celebrate my birthday. Oh ok, they were for the riverfire display they put on every year. Thomas asked how they knew it was my birthday though so I played along with it and told him daddy had rung them up to tell them. We went to Paul's office to enjoy the display and it was amazing. Thomas and Charlie loved the fireworks and I was later told that Thomas was telling 2 little girls he'd befriended why his brother had no hair. He explained that he had cancer and that hes given medicine at the hospital and the medicine doesnt know whether to kill the good cells or bad ones so it kills all of them....I hadnt realised he had taken any of the information in we'd been telling him so this was good to hear but also not really the right setting,bless him!
We spent Sunday busily socialising,making the most of Charlie being well. We visited some friends in the morning and then went to a BBQ at the local mountain with a friend I'd made through school. It was a lovely day and the children played happily whilst we chatted and ate!
Thomas is back to school today and was excited to do his "Show and Tell" on the Riverfire display we saw at the weekend. Charlie and I had a coffee break in Paddington with one of the new friends I'd made and then came home to the cleaning! So as you can see, all's very normal and boring with us at the moment.Just the way I like it!!
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