Highlights from day 3 at Club chemo!

2330 10/10/09

Today was the first day that we have all been together since Anouk took up residency here at the Mc Elwain ward of The Royal Marsden, Sutton, UK......glad to see they kept the ward name easy for the kids to remember.

Neavey came up with me this morning after having a sleep over at Lottie & Katie's house & on the way up was keen to know if Anouk's hair had fallen out yet! It was a lovely moment to see them giving each other a hug when they met up on the ward....no mention of the hair after that.

Ward life is a lot better than it was in St Georges. Anouk's in a 3 bed room which we have all to ourselves at the moment. The parent bed folds out of the cupboard next to her bed & as a result .."mummy sleeps in the cupboard.."! The TV's actually work &....there is WIFI...as a result I am now able to use the new mac laptop I 'had' to by so as Catherine could have my old one for Hi 5 DVD requests. There's actually been a change on that front as Anouk was given "Annie" & "Oliver" on DVD & so far "Annie" is getting as many requests as Hi 5....which is a good considering the Hi 5 DVD gave up the ghost this evening. Like most hospitals its' bloody' hot so it shorts & t-shirts as the comfort option.

Drugs wise...there's a lot of them. As mentioned earlier, Anouk will get, in this first cycle, 5 different types of chemo drugs. Plus god knows how many other drugs to counteract sickness & anything else that may pop up. So far the 2 main side effects of the chemo drugs have been vomiting & high..ish blood pressure. One lot of chemo tonight went in for only an hour but she vomited 3 times shorty after it finished, Didn't seem to worry her though. Halfway way through a tiger parking she reminded me to hold the tube in her nose so it didn't fall out! It continues to amaze us that after all the poking & proding she's had over the last month she just seems to take it in her stride & get on with it...even as she is right now sleeping attached to 4 pumps.

Food wise she is still getting all she needs through her nose & doesn't seem too worried when we eat in front of her. She likes to lick salty chips & is then very happy to then pass them onto me!

There have been a steady stream of visitors & tonight Catherine's cousin David & his children Phillipa & Edward came in to say hello which was great. Earlier in the afternoon & great friend of mine Staff came in & very kindly bought & present for each of the girls. This is just another example of the amazing amount of love & support we have received from all of our friends & work collegues. The girls have both received many gifts & we need to apologise now as we have been crap & remembering who has sent it what etc. But we would just like to say to everyone who has sent in a present for both Anouk & Neave...thankyou so much. The girls are always very excited when they open presents & it puts a huge smile on the dial.

This afternoon Staff bought in "Quacka" the microwaveable duck!...yes you place "Quacka" in the microwave & heat it up...there is one of those heatable packs in it's tummy which means "Quacka" becomes a hot water bottle in 2 mins! You have too laugh.

There's no chemo going in tonight but lots of fluid & as such nappies changes..which have to kept & weighed to compare whats going in & coming out. She's now fast asleep...wish me luck!

Update.... nappy change completed...in conjunction with 3 more sleepy vomits...now it's back to snoring!