We had a day trip to Sydney yesterday to see another doctor just to get a second opinion on the whole situation.
Despite spending near enough to 9 hours in the car (which reminded us why we left Sydney), it was a good day.
We had a good chat with the doctor who reinforced that we were doing the right things at the moment and helped track out what sort of options may be worth considering into the future. In essence, it's really keep on going and don't stop asking questions.
After the doctor, we had lunch at one of my favourite restaurants which I first visited over 30 years ago; Lee's Fortuna Court in Crows Nest. Very tasty meal starting with chicken wrapped in rice paper, crispy skin duck and scallops with snow peas. At the end, Alison's fortune cookie read, "Good news is on its way to you". We'll be keeping our eyes open.
Aside from that, it was the first time I can recall spending 9 hours alone with Ali for many, many years. That alone was pretty special and made the trip all worthwhile.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Doc & Cap treatment no. 3: Day 5
All is going fine so far. Alison has responded as well as can be expected to her latest round of chemo.
She is up and about and getting out to the shops and doing things for short spells. She wears out quickly and needs a sleep but at least she has some energy.
Certainly, she is feeling much better than last time when she ended up in hospital.
Happily, there's not much to report on the health front.
As for other matters, Harry enjoyed his birthday and is very happy to be 8 years old (I know it's a cliché, but the time really has gone SO quickly). He had a busy day with swimming, grandparents visiting and then out for dinner. Annelise handled her brother getting most of the attention very well and must be maturing somewhat.
She is up and about and getting out to the shops and doing things for short spells. She wears out quickly and needs a sleep but at least she has some energy.
Certainly, she is feeling much better than last time when she ended up in hospital.
Happily, there's not much to report on the health front.
As for other matters, Harry enjoyed his birthday and is very happy to be 8 years old (I know it's a cliché, but the time really has gone SO quickly). He had a busy day with swimming, grandparents visiting and then out for dinner. Annelise handled her brother getting most of the attention very well and must be maturing somewhat.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Doc & Cap treatment no. 3: Day 0
Hi all
Treatment went ahead today as planned. So far, Ali has been trooping on very well. She had a little snooze earlier in the day just before the kids came home from school but has otherwise been able to stay awake.
We've just come inside to put the kids to bed after sitting outside in the backyard for the past 1/2 hour. Temperature is still warm and a cool breeze was starting to pick up just as dusk was settling in.
The kids were running around the yard and jumping on the trampoline having lots of fun. Everything seemed so peaceful and comfortable.
Ali will probably head off to bed early tonight and try to get some rest. She spent much of last night tossing and turning and didn't sleep very well so I'm sure she'll welcome the fresh sheets tonight.
Hope life is treating you all well and I'll keep posting updates over the next couple of weeks to let you know how Ali is coping with this cycle. They do appear to be catching up with her and her recovery time is slowly extending. We'll be hoping there are no unplanned trips to the hospital this time.
That's all for now, take care.
Treatment went ahead today as planned. So far, Ali has been trooping on very well. She had a little snooze earlier in the day just before the kids came home from school but has otherwise been able to stay awake.
We've just come inside to put the kids to bed after sitting outside in the backyard for the past 1/2 hour. Temperature is still warm and a cool breeze was starting to pick up just as dusk was settling in.
The kids were running around the yard and jumping on the trampoline having lots of fun. Everything seemed so peaceful and comfortable.
Ali will probably head off to bed early tonight and try to get some rest. She spent much of last night tossing and turning and didn't sleep very well so I'm sure she'll welcome the fresh sheets tonight.
Hope life is treating you all well and I'll keep posting updates over the next couple of weeks to let you know how Ali is coping with this cycle. They do appear to be catching up with her and her recovery time is slowly extending. We'll be hoping there are no unplanned trips to the hospital this time.
That's all for now, take care.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Things are settling down
Compared to last weekend, this one has been downright boring. And thank goodness for that!
We still had Halloween, Little Athletics, baking cakes (an Armenian nutmeg cake - delicious), a trip out to a farm, futsal (Harry did) and friends to visit, but no hospital. Even without the chemo, Ali would probably have fair enough reason to be feeling tired by the time Sunday night comes on around.
She seems to be starting to get on top of things. By now we would usually expect to be rolling into the period between treatments where she should start to pick up and begin feeling normal again. Not quite happening yet but hopefully in the next few days she'll be back to being herself.
It's a school day tomorrow so at least there should be a couple of hours during the day when she'll get some peace (assuming nothing else is planned).
In case anyone has tried to phone, our line is up the creek at the moment and has been since Friday. Optus says that it is looking into it and all should be fixed by Tuesday night. Until then, mobile or email is the best way to catch us if you need to.
We still had Halloween, Little Athletics, baking cakes (an Armenian nutmeg cake - delicious), a trip out to a farm, futsal (Harry did) and friends to visit, but no hospital. Even without the chemo, Ali would probably have fair enough reason to be feeling tired by the time Sunday night comes on around.
She seems to be starting to get on top of things. By now we would usually expect to be rolling into the period between treatments where she should start to pick up and begin feeling normal again. Not quite happening yet but hopefully in the next few days she'll be back to being herself.
It's a school day tomorrow so at least there should be a couple of hours during the day when she'll get some peace (assuming nothing else is planned).
In case anyone has tried to phone, our line is up the creek at the moment and has been since Friday. Optus says that it is looking into it and all should be fixed by Tuesday night. Until then, mobile or email is the best way to catch us if you need to.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Home from hospital
Ali is home!
The oncologist saw her earlier in the day and took some blood tests. The plan was that if her neutrophil levels were at 1.00 or higher, then she would be able to come home. In the end, the results cam back at 1.03; just good enough to get her out of hospital.
She's still pretty quiet but feeling much better than she was on the weekend.
I'm expecting a few quiet days ahead but it is good to have her home.
Thanks for all you good wishes and kind thoughts over the weekend.
The oncologist saw her earlier in the day and took some blood tests. The plan was that if her neutrophil levels were at 1.00 or higher, then she would be able to come home. In the end, the results cam back at 1.03; just good enough to get her out of hospital.
She's still pretty quiet but feeling much better than she was on the weekend.
I'm expecting a few quiet days ahead but it is good to have her home.
Thanks for all you good wishes and kind thoughts over the weekend.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Hospital updates - Sunday 26/10
11:00 am - Ali is still in the emergency ward as they try to find a bed for her. The plan at this stage is to find somewhere that she can be in a room by herself to minimise the risk of infection and to get her under the watch of an oncologist. She's asking for her 1/4 strength A2 skinny latte and a newspaper so she's not feeling too bad.
3:00 pm - We now have a room and the coffee was delivered. Ali moved in just after 12:00pm. It hasn't all been smooth sailing though.
When I went to visit, they couldn't find her on the computers. Half a dozen phone calls later and there was still no Alison Pike resident in the wards. This is after I had been speaking with her and she was just about to jump into the shower, so I knew she was there!
The receptionist got someone to cover for her and made her way to the ward to give them a hard time while I bought the coffee and a sandwich for Alison. We finally managed to find Alison in room no. 1, leaving a very frustrated receptionist apologising for her colleagues.
So as far as it all goes, she is doing pretty well. Her temperature is back down to normal and she is eating. We still need to gown up, with mask & gloves when we visit and Ali is on a special neutropenic diet to minimise any chance of infection.
Maybe if she is still in there on Friday we can draw scary faces on our masks for Halloween.
3:00 pm - We now have a room and the coffee was delivered. Ali moved in just after 12:00pm. It hasn't all been smooth sailing though.
When I went to visit, they couldn't find her on the computers. Half a dozen phone calls later and there was still no Alison Pike resident in the wards. This is after I had been speaking with her and she was just about to jump into the shower, so I knew she was there!
The receptionist got someone to cover for her and made her way to the ward to give them a hard time while I bought the coffee and a sandwich for Alison. We finally managed to find Alison in room no. 1, leaving a very frustrated receptionist apologising for her colleagues.
So as far as it all goes, she is doing pretty well. Her temperature is back down to normal and she is eating. We still need to gown up, with mask & gloves when we visit and Ali is on a special neutropenic diet to minimise any chance of infection.
Maybe if she is still in there on Friday we can draw scary faces on our masks for Halloween.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
High temperature and a trip to the hospital
Hi all - unfortunately Ali is spending tonight in the hospital. Nothing too serious at this stage, she's had a high temperature and her immune system is down so they are keeping her in for observation and isolation.
Since yesterday, Ali's had a bit of a temperature, been feeling unwell and had the chills. This alone wasn't unexpected as 'flu-like' symptoms are common with one of her medications. Today though, when her temperature hit 39 degrees, we thought it was worth checking in with the community nurses.
The community nurse recommended we take Ali into emergency and let the doctors work out what to do next.
We went to Calvary emergency ward and moved through the first part of the system fairly quickly. Ali had her bloods taken and came back with low neutrophils, meaning her immune system was down.
At this stage, the doctors are recommending that she stays in for a few days. When the kids and I went back in to drop off some clothes, toothbrush etc. we had to put on masks and a gown so that we didn't bring in any infection. The kids thought it was odd and that we looked like a couple of ducks (the masks were yellow).
Right now, Ali is still processing through the emergency ward as they work out where to put her in the main hospital.
In summary, certainly not how we planned to spend the night, but then, there's no reason to panic either. As we find out more, I'll update the blog.
Since yesterday, Ali's had a bit of a temperature, been feeling unwell and had the chills. This alone wasn't unexpected as 'flu-like' symptoms are common with one of her medications. Today though, when her temperature hit 39 degrees, we thought it was worth checking in with the community nurses.
The community nurse recommended we take Ali into emergency and let the doctors work out what to do next.
We went to Calvary emergency ward and moved through the first part of the system fairly quickly. Ali had her bloods taken and came back with low neutrophils, meaning her immune system was down.
At this stage, the doctors are recommending that she stays in for a few days. When the kids and I went back in to drop off some clothes, toothbrush etc. we had to put on masks and a gown so that we didn't bring in any infection. The kids thought it was odd and that we looked like a couple of ducks (the masks were yellow).
Right now, Ali is still processing through the emergency ward as they work out where to put her in the main hospital.
In summary, certainly not how we planned to spend the night, but then, there's no reason to panic either. As we find out more, I'll update the blog.
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