November Ups and Downs

There are times when it is difficult to think of anything to write in this blog. I certainly don’t want it to become dull and repetitive. November has been neither dull nor repetitive.

Tabby and Donella - star quality

Things kicked off on the first weekend of November  when Tabby and Donella took part in the “It’s good 2 give” fashion show. This took place in the performing arts centre at Stewarts Melville College – a great venue. Along with another 40 or so models, Tabby and Donella were assigned three fashion boutiques around Edinburgh and in the run up to the event attended each for fittings etc .

Receiving the plaudits

On the day of the Show, all the models had their hair done by   Charlie Millerand his team . For those of us expecting something out of the “Women’s Institute” – dream on. The show was glitz and glamour at its finest.    Organised by the wonderful  Lynne Mcnicoll, the show was hosted by Grant Stott – ably assisted by three girls who have all been on the Ward 2 Roller-coaster. All the models were affiliated to Ward 2 at the “Sick Kids” – either patients, family, staff or friends.  I was asked up on stage and interviewed by Grant Stott about Tabby, the last 12 months and “It’s good 2 give”.

"Hurry up Lynne!" (Only joking)

The show was terrific. It was so good to see so many patients and “ex – patients” taking part and at times was quite moving. Tabby looked wonderful in each of her  outfits – she and Donella seemed very at home on the cat-walk. In the last set, Tabby appeared in a lovely bridesmaid dress with a fur stole while Donella wore a show-stopping red glittery ball gown (apologies for inadequate fashion speak). She looked stunning.  It was hard not to break into a cheesy Chris de Burgh song (Lady in Red). It was even harder not to buy “that dress” for Donella. Anyway it was a great day – we had a ball.

Tabby and Kelly Brown, Scotland Captain

A week later, as the “orthopaedic” member of the medical team at the Scotland New Zealand rugby international, James Robson (team doctor) invited Tabby and me to a training session to meet some of the players. I picked Tabby up from school and we went along to Murrayfield to watch the last hour of a training session.  James had set this all up. Throughout the time players would come over and chat to Tabby and pause for a photo. At the end of the session 8 or 9 of the guys jogged across the pitch and presented Tabby with a signed Scottish Rugby jersey and an SRU fleece.  The biggest guys in the team, Al, Jim and Richie then picked Tabby up and put her on their shoulders – about 10 feet up in the air!  Tabby called them her “Gentle Giants”.  It was good fun and I am pleased to report that Tabby was nearly as excited as I was!

Nick, Mike, Jim, Richie and Al

I would like to thank James and all the guys who took the time to come and have a chat with Tabby and have a photo. You could never meet a nicer bunch of people who train so hard and are so keen to help out. The recent Autumn Series results and loss of their coach seems scant reward for all their hard work. Keep it going lads!

Proof that I am as tall as Richie Gray

Tabby continues to work hard at school and really enjoys her after school clubs. Her favourites are “Funky Fitness” and “Street Dance”.  She is also in the choir. In fact P3 will be singing “Silent Night” in German in the carol service. Last week, Tabby found the music on her I pod and we discovered her practicing in her bedroom. She sounded truly angelic. At times one almost forgets that Tabby is still in the middle of her chemotherapy – until the week of steroids that is. Last week we certainly witnessed a short fuse of frustration against a background level of general grumpiness!  When the steroids stop she is back to our usual Tabby. Over the last month her appetite has been poor. Big on carbohydrate and low on protein. She told me recently, that meat and sausages now taste like pooh. I believe this is a common complaint with those on chemotherapy and not a reflection of Donella’s cooking.  At the moment her diet comprises chicken and “Nutella”.

As a consequence of her chemotherapy, Tabby’s neutrophil count has continued to decline. In fact her mercaptopurine and methotrexate was stopped a fortnight ago to allow some recovery. Despite that, Tabby awoke on Tuesday morning with a high temperature. Bags packed, Donella and Tabby were off to the “Sick Kids” again. She is now back in her usual room in Ward 2.   After 3 days we still have not found the bug and suspect it’s a virus. Her temperature is coming down although with the occasional spike of pyrexia to keep everyone on their toes.  At the moment, Tabby has no neutrophils – none  whatsoever- it seems. So at the moment she is on high doses of intravenous antibiotics until her temperature comes down and she grows a few more neutrophils.  

Just when you think everything is running smoothly!

Finally, this evening Tabby popped out of  Wd 2 briefly to deliver a quiz sheet to “Radio Lollipop”. Fifteen minutes later, she still had not returned. Donella went to investigate and found her in the “Radio Lollipop” studio being interviewed – live on air! She was on air for ten minutes talking about herself, her family, the cats and favourite holidays. The only thing she didn’t do was plug her new book. Next week she will be appearing on Parkinson and Jonathon Ross.

Donella has spent the last 3 nights in hospital with her and I will take over on Friday. I hope Tabby gets out soon because we are off to see the Pantomime “Mother Goose” at the Kings next week!

Here’s hoping for a Christmas Tabby  and all of us can enjoy. Christmas blog to follow

 

Merry Christmas,

 

The Lawsons

Happy Halloween!

The “Tabby News” blog is still going strong. Posts are now monthly – hopefully to reflect fewer ongoing trials and tribulations as Tabby progresses through her maintenance therapy. 

 

At the start of the month, Donella and I were invited to Carol’s  “Sound of Music” **th  birthday party.  All guests had to dress on a “Sound of Music” theme. Tabby and  I watched the film and decided upon  “These are a few of my favourite things”. Although I wore the outfit I think you will agree that Tabby looks  pretty cool as a “Brown paper parcel wrapped up with string”.

Later that weekend, we went through to Glasgow to see the recently opened “Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome”. It is just one part of a multi-sport complex and will be a wonderful  venue for the Commonwealth Games. I am not sure any of us have been converted to track cycling -  the arena has to be kept at a constant high temperature and the banking at either end is pretty steep. I think I would be too slow and simply slide down to the floor of the arena.

The following week, Tabby was invited to Libby’s party at “Kiss the Fish” in Stockbridge. She had a wonderful evening of grafts and decopatch.

Despite all that has happened over the last 10 months, Tabby has never lost her determination and competitive nature. The final swimming lesson before half-term at David Lloyd finished with a race for all the children having lessons on a Saturday morning  -“A float of your choice and 2 lengths of the pool”. Yes, you guessed it.  Having just returned to swimming lessons, Tabby dug in and won. She had the biggest smile of the week.  What can you say?

On 15^th October, Donella and I took a flight to Nice and spent 3 days in the village of Eze on the cote d’azure for a short break. What about Tabby? Auntie Anne and cousin Rory kindly came down from Wick to “Tabby sit”. They all went o see the new “Madagascar” movie in 3-D. Tabby says, “It was so much better than great!” Thankyou so much to Anne and Rory for keeping an eye on Tabby while we were away .

Last weekend, Tabby and Donella went to a fashion show rehearsal. They, along with a few others, are both modelling clothes from a variety of shops and boutiques around Edinburgh.  This is being organised by Lynne McNicoll’s “It’s good 2 give” charity. There has been a lot of swaggering up and down the hall as they practice their “cat-walk” walk. Thankfully, we have not yet had any Naomi Campbell-esque tantrums. As someone with negligible dress sense, I am relieved to report that I have not been invited to take part. I will report back in the next blog as to how things go – unless “Hello” or “Harper’s and Queen” get there first.

Halloween has come  - and gone. Tabby, with Donella’s help made a wonderful pumpkin lantern. Despite that, we had no “Guisers” at all last night. I reckon the  Halloween decorations at the front door scared everyone away

 

 

Thanks everyone for reading the blog

 

Tha Lawsons

"Pedal 4 Paul" special

Once again, a bit of a delay since the last blog post. This is good. No news is good news. As I reported on the most recent post, Tabby is now on her Maintenance Chemotherapy. This is a more predictable regime of 4 weekly cycles. Week one consists of daily steroids then after week 2 a day in hospital, general anaesthetic and more spinal chemotherapy. The rest of the time is daily mercaptopurine – and some other stuff.  Tonight, for example, Tabby had  a total of 10 tablets to swallow. I am amazed how she does it. Lastly she had to swallow 5ml of some syrup. Having taken it I told her she had to jump up and down quickly.

“Why am I jumping up and down Dad?”

“Because I forgot to shake to bottle!”   - The old ones are the best?!?.

Two weekends ago we were given 2 tickets to see the ballet, “Cinderella” at the Festival Theatre.  These were donated by a local charity. Donella took Tabby and they both really enjoyed the event.

The big event of the last few days was the Glasgow – Edinburgh cycle ride. A few friends and I joined the “Pedal 4 Paul” team raising funds for the charity “It’s good 2 give” . The evening before the event, Tabby and I went to a bar-b-q to get our team tee shirts and a banner to put at the bottom of our driveway. Our house is actually on the cycle route. Lynne, the Founder of the charity asked Tabby what other  goodies would she like to have in the ward fridge apart from juice, fruit and fromage frais. Tabby replied, “raw carrots, humous, pepperami, cheese strings and a beer for Dad”.

Tabby and Paul's banner

The next morning, having put up the banner at the bottom of our driveway we all set off for Glasgow.  We arrived at Glasgow Green at 8am, joined the queue to start and set off on our bikes at 9.15. The first 10 miles were chaotic – lots of traffic, traffic lights and 9,000 other cyclist. We stopped at Avonbridge where we met up with Donella and Michelle, who were also doing the ride but had decided to avoid the “Official start” at Glasgow Green. At Linlithgow we stopped and met up with Paul’s  mum, Ruth, albeit arriving an hour or so later than we had planned.  In exchange for muffins, Ruth got a hug from 5 sweaty cyclists. When we arrived at Kirkliston, our banner was still up and we were met by Tabby, Olivia , Ewan, Sean and sister in law Ruth who plied us with Champagne and Pizza -so much better than Gatorade and energy gels. 

Ruth, Tabby, Sean, Olivia and Ewan

After the champagne, the next 10 miles to Edinburgh drifted past – almost effortlessly.  We finished up at Murrayfield Stadium and met up with Lynne and the gang once more.  When we got home, I found Donella making tea and coffee for other “Pedal 4 Paul” team members who were still cycling through Kirkliston. All in all, it was a great day in so many ways and thankyou to all of you who sponsored me and my pals with our current total creeping up to £3,000.

Tabby’s hair has continued to grow back. It has not come back red although when I picked her up from school today in the pouring rain, it was all spikey.  With a set of dungarees, she would be the spitting image or “Oor Willie”

No harm trying things out!

At the moment, Tabby is doing pretty well, she is back at school, has returned to Sunday school and is back at her swimming lessons. She wanted to play tennis today, but we are well aware that she is a bit thin and finds long walks and stairs a challenge and really cannot run because of leg pains and muscle wasting. I am sure it will all comeback. Anyway, as things go I plan to reduce blog posts to a monthly post which, I hope,  will reflect a less eventful few months ahead.

Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to the poor chap, who I overtook on the cycle run as we approached the Cramond Brig. Seeing this bloke on his bike wearing a green padded suit I thought he was a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle”.

“Hey are you Donatello or Leonardo?” I called out as I breezed past.

“Naw, ye ejit. Ah’m the Incredible Hulk”. Concerned I may have made him angry, I accelerated away.

Al, Johnnie, Angus, Tabby, Me (Cycle shorts issue!) & Derek

As ever, thanks for reading,

The Lawsons

Back to School and "Street-Dance"

I have to admit it has been a while since my last post on this blog. My apologies.  I am pleased to report a gradual improvement in things generally. The most obvious thing is the reappearance of Tabby’s hair. At first it was a light downy covering – a bit like stroking a peach, quite blonde as well. Today Tabby’s hair is looking a bit thicker - almost kiwi fruit-esque. However, there are a lot of red-heads on Donella’s side of the family, so I am concerned the next look may be a coconut if we continue the fruit analogy!

Ready for a Bar-b-que at St Andrews



In for a top up

Along with her hair, Tabby’s appetite has also started to re-emerge. Two weeks ago we went up to St.Andrew’s to get the keys for Olivia’s flat for 2^nd year at university. We had lunch at an outdoor Bar-b-que restaurant and Tabby devoured a whole medium-rare sirloin steak.  Ironically her blood results later that week were still a bit low, so we were back at the “Sick Kids” for a top up transfusion. As ever Tabby was very jolly and chatting to patients and nurses  in the ward. One dad told us that his daughter was back in the ward with a temperature and a cough and the Doctors had diagnosed  the common “rhinovirus” as the cause.  To which Tabby replied “Does that mean she has grown a horn?” Her wit was too quick for us Dads. I think her blood transfusion was donated by a comedian. That weekend, Tabby had a “Sleep-over” at her friend Ruby’s house. It was the first time in ages that Tabby has had a night away. Tabby loved going to “Yo Sushi”

Last Wednesday, Tabby was due to have more chemotherapy but – you guessed it -  her blood count was still too low. Yet another delay. Instead she had her first day of Primary 3. The highlight so far has been the “Street –Dance” lessons. She comes home to show us what she has been taught. I have to say she is certainly throwing down some crazy shapes (I think that is what you are supposed to say).

Ready to start Primary 3

Last weekend went well. On Saturday morning I took Tabby back to her swimming lessons at the David Lloyd. It was really good to see everyone there again and the instructors made Tabby really welcome. They had often been asking how she was getting on.  This was her first lesson since December 5^th last year when she was too cold and tired to finish the lesson....  Anyway, she is in the same group as Poppy once more and by the end of the lesson was thrashing around the pool along with everyone else. Whatsmore, I didn’t get criticised on my ability to tie Tabby’s hair into bunches or a pony tail afterwards as I usually do.

That afternoon, Tabby and I went to a bar-b-que at Richard and Julie’s cottage in St Abbs. After a wonderful  lunch, we all trooped down to the beach to run on the sands, explore rock pools and paddle in the sea. Then back to the cottage for pudding.  It was the sort of afternoon Enid Blyton would write about in the “Famous Five”, although lashings of ginger beer were replaced with just lashings of beer! When we got back to Edinburgh (7pm) Tabby and I joined Donella at John and Felicity’s Lunchtime drinks party.  With an impromptu disco, Tabby was back in there with more of  her “Street Dance”.

On Sunday morning, Tabby went to Sunday School, where Ewan is currently a “Sunday Club” helper. At this point, we would like to thank everyone in Sunday Club for their lovely “Get well” cards and presents. Tabby loves them and has shown them to everybody.

As I mentioned in the last blog, a group of us are taking part in the Glasgow to Edinburgh cycle ride as team “Pedal 4 Paul” to raise funds for our local childhood cancer charity “It’s good 2 give”. With a bit of luck, hopefully we will have a bit of a tailwind from the west! If you would like to sponsor me, I have set up a sponsorship website via the link below:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GRAHAMLAWSON

If you see any of us cycling past on Sunday 9^th September give us a cheer. Alternatively visit the link above to see what we are doing.

Finally, Tabby started her “Maintenance Chemotherapy” today. Although it goes on for around 80 weeks (yes 80 weeks), it means that her high dose, Intensive Chemotherapy regime is now behind her.  We reckon this is a bit of good news. I know that it is a “school day” etc but suspect we will join Tabby in a quiet toast to herself and the Staff of Ward 2. Who knows?  We may even do some “Street Dance”!

 

As always, Thank you for reading this blog.

 

The Lawsons

 

Brave

Following the hiccups and stutters of the last few weeks, we now appear to be back on an even keel.  Although Tabby made an excellent recovery from her shingles, her blood count remained too low for her to resume her chemo – so another week’s delay.  We are now back on the “Delayed Intensification Regime” albeit more delayed than originally planned.  Another three weeks of this then we move onto “Maintenance Therapy”.

Tabby and Mischief the cat

The weekend before last,  we all took the train to Glasgow to meet  Donella’s  sister, Grace  with  John, Hannah and Andrew who had flown over from  Los Angeles to come to the Olympics.  It puts us to shame insomuch they have travelled 6,500 mile to see the games and we did not even manage the 300 miles or so from Edinburgh. Oh well, next time!?!?  Anyway, Grace works for Mattel ( The Barbie people) as Vice President of H.R and presented Tabby with a unique gift – “Ella”, Barbie’s friend who  has had chemotherapy and has no hair.  As you can imagine she does have an assortment of wigs and scarves. I believe it was produced at the request of the CEO of Mattel  in response to a friend’s situation.  It seems that Tabby’s “Ella” is the first one in the UK. These will be produced in greater numbers next year  but only available to charities and children in hospital. I think they both look great.

Tabby and Ella

We had a wonderful day in Glasgow.  Even the rain held off – almost.  We then got the train home and slept soundly until we got home.  Tabby always enjoys a train ride – as does her Dad

Bald on bald

 The Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe have now kicked off.  Donella took Tabby and her friend Poppy to see  “Mr Brown.... and his singing Tiger”. I think they enjoyed it.  Tabby is going to see some more shows over the next few days  with Poppy and Ruby.

On Sunday, Tabby and I were back at the “Sick Kids” for the 4^th consecutive day of Cytarabine injections. We had planned to go for a cycle afterwards but you will remember that the weather on Sunday was awful. Instead we went to the Disney shop! Sadly I could not find anything my size but Tabby found  pretty cool outfit - Princess Merida from "Brave". Next week we are going to watch “Brave” the new Disney film which is about a brave wee Scottish princess called Merida who did not want to conform – or behave like a princess.  Need I say more?  Tabby is even more brave than “Brave”.

Princess Tabitha

On Sunday 9^th September, a  team of us  will take part in the Glasgow – Edinburgh Cycle run to raise funds for our charity “Its good 2 give”. We are “Team Pedal for Paul”.  I have set up a fundraising website so that if anyone reading this blog would like to sponsor me for the ride. The link is:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GRAHAMLAWSON

Your donation will go to an extremely good cause – a charity that has helped us and hundreds of families like us to cope with childhood cancer.

I now have a month to grow my Bradley Wiggins sideburns.

As ever, thankyou for reading this blog,

The Lawsons

Strawberries and Kandinsky

What else do you do with blue rubber gloves?

Having signed off the last blog, I packed my bag and the following morning swapped with Donella and stayed with Tabby in her side room in ward 3 at the Sick kids for the next 4 days. I have to say it was really nice spending time with her – playing games, watching films, painting and drawing – without distractions like work. Whatsmore I didn’t spill or drop a bedpan all week!

It was not easy to get a full night’s sleep. Tabby has her temperature, pulse and blood pressure checked regularly. Her infusion pump of the anti-viral medicine “Acyclovir” and iv fluid drip are constantly adjusted and re-charged with the pump often alarming if there is a blockage or a bubble in the system. Tabby was obviously  far more accustomed to it than I and seemed to sleep through all of this. As ever the staff of ward 3 were wonderful .

Tabby was such a good wee patient – effectively isolated in her room and being “barrier nursed” because of her infectious shingles. This meant she stayed in her room for 9 consecutive days. I don’t think she ever complained. I am happy to say that things have moved on since the days of the notorious isolation ward “toast diet”:

Patient: “Nurse, I’ve had toast for breakfast, beans on toast for lunch and egg on toast for supper. Why do I get so much toast every day?”

Nurse: “Because that’s all we can slide under the door!”

I was able to creep out in the evenings for some fresh air – at the “Earl of Marchmont”. Very therapeutic and a chance to reflect on the day's events!  Tabby was finally allowed home on Tuesday now taking her acyclovir as a tablet. Because of these unexpected events, yet again, her chemotherapy regime has been delayed.

"I can even wear it"

Tabby fell asleep in the car on the way home. Then, having arrived home burst into tears. Her tears, however were short lived thanks to a special present waiting for her. Stuart and Susan from Cheshire sent Tabby her very own Candy-Floss Machine. It is great. Tabby and Ewan have used it nearly every night since it arrived. There is, however, definitely a knack to it. Most evenings we have clouds of pink candy floss wafting across the kitchen.

On Friday we became tourists. Donella, Tabby and I went on an open top bus  tour of Edinburgh. This was the only afternoon of warm summer weather we have had for a while. It was good fun, something we had been meaning to do with Tabby for ages. To complete the tourist day we then went to the National Gallery and (at Tabby’s request) went round the “Van Gogh to Kandinsky” exhibition. Tabby had been learning about  Kandinsky at school and thought it was pretty cool to see the real thing! We then had Afternoon tea in the Gallery restaurant - a fine day out.

Discussing symbolist landscape painting in Europe 1880-1910

After everything that has gone on over the last few weeks – including 9 days bed rest, Tabby told us that following an afternoon of playing with her  friend Danielle, her legs were really quite tired and sore. On Friday, in Prince’s Street gardens she tried to run to chase Donella. She looked like she had just run a marathon – which I suppose is what she is doing every week.

Yesterday, Olivia and Ewan took Tabby to Craigie, Farm nearby, to go Stawberry picking. Despite the picture, they did come home with an awful lot of strawberries. They all made strawberry cup-cakes. I could not say who’s were the best.

Tomorrow is a new week. Blood tests on Monday, intrathecal methotrexate under G.A and cylcophosphamide infusion on Wednesday, daily infusions of cytarabine Thursday to Sunday. Hopefully we will be back on course to finish off “Delayed Intensification no.1” as soon as possible.

I am now trying to get back into training for the Glasgow to Edinburgh Cycle ride in September which I am doing for our local charity “Its Good 2 Give”.  By the next post, I hope to have set up a sponsorship website (should you wish to contribute). In the meantime I’ll get back onto the turbo-trainer although watching repeats of “Inspector Morse” at the same time may not have a major effect on increasing my aerobic capacity.

Thanks for reading,

The Lawsons

Shingles and Spells

It has certainly been a hectic two weeks since the last blog update. You will remember that Tabby had been a little under the weather but seemed to be getting back to her old self. Two Saturdays ago, friends, Juliet and Sean hosted a Wimbledon themed charity afternoon tea. Loads of wonderful cakes and sandwiches and games and puzzles to play. Great fun in aid of “Its Good 2 Give” and “Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund”. Lots of money raised and still counting.

"How many tennis balls in the box?"

That evening, Donella and I had been invited out to dinner. Tabby had earlier complained of a sore ear. Before we left we checked her temperature - 38.6 C . Cancel dinner (5 minutes notice – sorry Mark and Kelda!) and off to the “Sick Kids”. In A&E until 10pm then back to wd 2. It is testament to the staff of Wd 2 at the “Sick Kids” that Tabby is never obviously upset at being re-admitted to the ward – old friends, great nurses and respite from those bumbling amateurs Mum and Dad. As ever, Donella stayed in Hospital with Tabby.  Ewan and Olivia sadly are never impressed with my home cooking.

Ewan with a day's supply of chicken nuggets

During Tabby’s hospital stay, the hospital radio station – “Radio Lollipop” held a competition for the best spell in “Sick Kids Magic Week”.  Given that Tabby has not yet relinquished her two loose front teeth, we concocted the “Loose Tooth in ma Mooth” spell and sent it in.  More later. Tabby had high dose iv antibiotics for three days then home on tablets. Oh well!  We had expected Tabby to be vulnerable to infections resulting in admission such as this to hospital from time to time. This was the first time after six months of chemo. Because of this episode her next round of chemo was postponed.

When Tabby returned home we noted she had a couple of red patches on her foot – a bit sensitive but not looking like an infection. Late on Saturday night (4days ago) the red patch developed a blistered “vesicular” appearance. Even an Orthopaedic surgeon can recognise shingles! Sunday morning  and we are back to A&E at the ”Sick Kids”. By this time not only were the lesions very painful and sensitive but she also had lesions on her knee and thigh. With a contagious condition Tabby was not admitted to Ward 2 with all those immuno-compromised children.

We are now in Ward 3 . The bad news is she is in a side room and not allowed out until the lesions have healed. The good news is that for the first time we can get mobile phone reception! Tabby is now on high dose iv Acyclovir through her “Wiggly”. This can be a bit rough on her kidneys so she also has a lot of iv fluids as well, which means a pee every hour or so – or so it seems. Her neutrophil white cell count was rock-bottom and probably  explains the onset of Shingles.

Last night he people from Radio Lollipop came up to ward 3 and told us that Tabby had won the “Spell” prize. They gave her a certificate and a  balloon craft game and read out her spell over the hospital radio.  She even had a request played over the radio - not that I had ever heard of the song she asked for. Tabby was absolutely delighted.

As you will see our first 2 weeks of school holidays has really not gone as we had anticipated. Despite 2 hospital admissions and the pain of shingles, Tabby’s mood has never faltered. Funny, inquisitive, cheeky and verging on the manic – she has really kept us going. Tomorrow heralds a change of plan. Up until now, Donella has stayed in hospital at night with Tabby – sleeping on a camp bed in her room.  I guess it’s my turn now. After I finish writing this, I am off to pack my bag - lap-top, videos for Tabby and me, fruit, sweets and sensible pyjamas. I hope I don't snore too loudly.  I may have the odd stroll to the “Earl of Marchmont” if all goes well – simply for a breath of fresh air of course.

Yet more trivial pursuits

 As ever, thank you all so much for reading this blog and a special thanks to everyone for their good wishes and support.  

 The Lawsons

Candy-floss and Chemo

If you read the last blog, you will know that we were looking forward to seeing the musical “Oliver” at the Edinburgh Playhouse – if Tabitha was well enough.  As far as Tabby was concerned, not going was never an option. The show was absolutely stunning in every way. Even better was seeing Tabby sitting on the edge of her seat, loving every minute and singing every word with not a care in the world. One of our best days since this leukaemia was diagnosed.

"Let the show begin"

Apart from “Oliver”, the last three weeks have been a lot harder than than we anticipated. The return to Doxorubicin and Vincristine has seen off the last of Tabby’s hair and to all intents and purposes she has none left. The alternate weeks of high dose steroids have really had a profound effect on Tabby. Moody, miserable and irritable – not a law firm – but simply the effect the steroids have on her. Equally distressing is the fact that Tabby has complete insight into her behaviour both during and after each course of steroids and is aware of how despondent and frustrated she becomes. Similarly, when she stops the steroids, she rapidly resurfaces again as our usual bubbly and cheerful girl as if awakening from a really bad dream.

On Sunday, for example, we had toyed with the idea of going to the Highland Show. Tabby was  very keen, I was less so.  Knee deep mud and cow poo did not seem ideal for a girl with short welly boots few functioning white blood cells. It then became apparent that Tabby’s desire to go was not a love of things rural but simply the opportunity to buy candy-floss. We did not go but instead spent the morning trying to establish where one could buy candy-floss on a Sunday morning!  Tabby was inconsolable. The effects of steroids again.

Sadly, Tabby’s last week of primary 2 coincided with a week of steroids. She had a lovely time at Katie and Freya’s party last Sunday running around and playing. On Monday, however, she got to school but felt too tired and weary to stay and for the last 3 days has had a really sore back. As a result, poor Tabby missed all the end of term games and parties at the school. She was terribly upset and we did not really get the chance to thank her teacher, Mrs Krumins , for all her help over the last six months. Last night Tabby’s back was so sore we  ‘phoned ward 2 at the “Sick Kids”. I thought we may be making another unscheduled stay in Ward 2 but following their advice regarding alternative analgesia she seemed to settle and had a fair night’s sleep. These last three or four days have been particularly hard and for the first time in many weeks she simply looked so unwell and frail.

99.9% of the time, we manage to maintain a form of normality, going to school, seeing friends and family and enjoying days out – all largely buoyed up by Tabby’s irrepressible good humour.   When Tabby is down and sore and unwell, it can be very difficult to keep a lid on the “What if?” demons.  It doesn’t bear dwelling upon.  You have to give yourself a shake, give her a huge cuddle and remind yourself that in theory Tabby is in remission and she has all the factors which would  indicate a good prognosis and cure. The only reason I feel able to put these somewhat gloomy thoughts on the blog is that having had her last dose of this course steroids yesterday, Tabby’s back pain is settling and she has once again re-emerged from her steroid induced malaise and is back to her usual cheeky and animated self.

 How can I get rid of 2 loose front teeth?

We have another five weeks of this “Delayed intensification no.1” before moving onto  “Maintenance Cycles” – for the next eighty weeks!

Finally we would like to thank Mrs Krumins, Mrs Meakin and Mrs Ryecroft at Mary Erskine School for their wonderful kindness and support over the last 6 months.

As ever thankyou for reading the blog. We have lots of nice things coming up over the next week or so and promise to report these next time.

The Lawsons

"Consider Yourself"

At the last blog, Tabby had just completed her eight week regime of increasing doses of methotrexate. We were expecting a 2 week interlude before returning to the fray – the “Delayed Intensification no.1”.  Actually we got it wrong – there was no 2 week holiday and Tabby was straight back to the “Sick Kids” for  the next challenge.  This involves 8 different chemotherapy agents at various intervals over the next eight weeks. Again, the high dose steroids seem to have the most profound effects.  I was away in London with Ewan during the first week of June. We returned as Tabby finished her first  seven day course of steroids of this regime. For the first time in ages she looked genuinely tired, miserable and down.  Having not seen her for a week it was really a shock.

On Sunday she went to Sunday school and although she had a nice time was completely washed out for the rest of the day.  She just didn’t know what to do with herself.  Her favourite games and dvd’s held no appeal. Her steroids stopped (for the moment) on Monday and she has since returned to her normal cheerful self.  This evening Tabby stated that she slept so much last week “...because she couldn’t think what else to do!” The only upside of the steroids I can see is her appetite return and she has gained 1kg since the start of June.

Ewan and I were in London at the start of the month ostensibly for his work experience week although it did coincide with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It was a good time to be in London. Back home, Tabby – or was it really the Queen? – celebrated the Diamond Jubilee in regal manner.

School this week has been a bit erratic due to  combination of  chemotherapy at the “Sick Kids” and  feeling off colour. We have had an “about –turn” on arriving at school, an unscheduled “come and get me” after an hour and one day off. Today was Tabby’s “Special Day” at school – a day where she is allowed to go to the front of the queues , she wears a special badge and classmates stand up and say nice things about her.  This is not a day to miss – although, as ever, she had to leave early for more chemotherapy this afternoon.

This weekend we are off to see the musical “Oliver” at the Playhouse. This is Tabby’s favourite musical. We have already seen a steroid induced “Food glorious food” this week and without doubt they do make her a bit “Ron Moody”! On Monday we go back to hospital where in the words of Fagan “We are reviewing, the situation....”.  

I have now run out of “Oliver” puns.

As ever, Thank you for reading this blog,

The Lawsons

Tabby 1 Escalating Capizzi 0

Three weeks since the last blog post. I must be slipping! As ever, a lot has happened since the last blog. Tabby had another two escalating doses of IV methotrexate with the usual side effects of tummy pain and complete loss of appetite but she has now completed the “Escalating Capizzi” regime. She tolerated all five cycles and did not need to go to be admitted to hospital. What a star – what a relief! Each week her weight has wobbled around that which the doctors would suggest NG feeding. This is naso-gastric feeding where a small tube is passed into her stomach via her nose so we can feed her liquidised food or supplements. Last week, eating her spaghetti, she asked what sort of food would go down the tube if she had one. Just spaghetti because that’s all that will fit - that and tomato soup.  

"Special Soup from Joy at Murrayfield"

We would all hate that and have handfuls of coins to put in her pockets next time she is weighed.  She is 4 days post last methotrexate injection and is just emerging from her “Can’t eat, won’t eat” phase. Hopefully her  weight will not have dropped any more and so we will avoid the NG tube.

Grannie and Grandpa visited us last week and Grandpa had his  **th birthday while they were here. We didn’t put all the candles on the cake as that would have been a significant fire risk! Anyway, Tabby enjoyed presenting the cake to Grandpa.

On Friday, Donella and I attended The Stewarts’ Melville Charity Fantoosh, with one of the Charities being “Its Good 2 Give”.  I was asked to say a few  words about Tabby and the charity.  With Donella’s words of encouragement – “Don’t go rambling on” – I gave a personal account of how “Its Good 2 Give” has helped us.  It’s a hard topic to talk about without spoiling everyone’s evening.  One colleague told me it was a passionate speech but that could have been the three glasses of champagne I consumed beforehand.

It was a super night and an awful lot of money was raised for the charities

You will have noticed that we had a flash of summer over the last week which has been great for us all. On Saturday we went swimming and on Sunday, Tabby was back to Sunday school. The rest of the weekend, Tabby has been out playing in the garden non-stop and yesterday she and the rest of her class p2K spent the day at the Botanical Gardens.  

Tabby now has a 2 week holiday from any more chemotherapy. Hooray! This should give her the chance to recover from the Capizzi duel. The next phase is labelled “ Delayed intensification no.1” Here we revisit all our old friends from the astronomer’s map – Cytarabine, Mercaptopurine and  Peg Asparaginase to name but a few.  We also kick off with 2 more weeks of appetite inducing steroids so I guess it will be back to Costa Coffee for the daily Ham and Cheese Paninis. 

Dancing with Mischief

At the risk of sounding like an old worn out record, we are constantly amazed at how resilient and chirpy Tabby has been throughout this time. Last year at the school sports, she won all her races even beating the boys. This week, at a practice event  she came rolling in at the back of the field.  Although irritated at the time, she knows she will be out at the front again soon!

 

Thanks for reading,

 

The Lawsons

Too busy to be poorly!

It has been a busy couple of weeks since Tabby’s Birthday with parties, school, chemo and the P2 Show. I will try to keep it brief!

Tabby’s birthday was 2 days after her IV methotrexate and as ever 2-3 days later she felt pretty down and flat and so for the rest of the week did not make school. By Sunday however she was feeling much brighter and for the first time since she was diagnosed with ALL we took her to Church and Sunday School. She had such a lovely, warm welcome from everyone. It was one of those things that restores a feeling of normality once more. You will see that for her birthday, Tabby got a battery powered "Quad Bike". It is rather slow. If she likes it and can go in straight lines, we may get her a sit-on lawn mower next year!

That weekend, Donella and I were invited to the Retiral Dinner of one of my senior Haematology colleagues. It was a very pleasant evening and I can only sympathise with the medical team of Wd2 at the “Sick Kids” who are looking after the Lawsons by day and then are faced with them on a night out! We were on our best behaviour.

I had a Birthday last Tuesday (still in my 40’s – just) so it was back to Pizza Express. Tabby is currently in Pizza mode so is happy to eat garlic doughballs and Pizza. We are just happy there is something she can face eating. There are many times when the poor thing feels genuinely hungry and so Donella will prepare whatever Tabby has requested only for her appetite to evaporate into thin air. It is so frustrating for them both. The protein and carbohydrate drinks are still described as “Yeuch!”

The following morning Tabby was back at the “Sick Kids” for blood tests. Donella was given the news by Dr Thomas that they had not been able to see any sign of leukaemia in Tabby’s most recent bone marrow test. She suggested that Tabby was in remission. I read Donella’s text between surgical cases that morning. I have to confess to a range of mixed emotions. Firstly, have I understood the message correctly? Secondly joy –and not a dry eye in the theatre scrub room followed by “How exactly was the bone marrow analysed?” We now know that the bone marrow biopsy was not tested in the molecular/DNA way as in the super sensitive MRD a few weeks ago but was examined by microscope which is obviously less sensitive. Whatever! – it is still good news and shows we are heading in the right direction. Typical Doctor’s response I guess, being over analytical.

                                                  One of the King's Men

The next morning Tabby was back to “Sick Kids” for her ever increasing dose of IV Methotrexate then back to school in the afternoon because the next day (Friday) was a big day – the P2 Show. On Friday morning Tabby went to school for the dress rehearsal and in the afternoon was back at the “Sick Kids” for her intramuscular injection of asparaginase (the sore one). The show must go on. In time honoured tradition Tabby was back at school that evening to take part in “Humpty Dumpty-was he pushed or did he fall?”. She sang and danced her heart out as one of the King's Men. You could not seriously imagine that she was loaded up with anti sickness tablets, anti heartburn tablets and in the previous 48 hours had received enough chemotherapy to flatten an ox. I really do not know how she does it.

                                                  Ruby and Tabby's Birthday

There was no let up on Saturday - Time to Party! Tabby shared her 7^th Birthday Party with her friend Ruby at “Kiss the Fish” in Edinburgh. Along with friends from school they had an afternoon of “Decopatch”(I’m not sure what that is either). They all seemed to have a terrific time and we must thank Ruby’s mum, Christina for all the organisation and catering. Inevitably by Monday Tabby was starting to wilt - the combination of a hectic weekend and the delayed effects of the methotrexate. She could not face breakfast but was determined to go to school – for the class photo. We were not surprised when we got a call from the school at lunchtime saying that she had a sore tummy, felt unwell and wanted to go home. She slept for the next 14 hours.

There are times when you simply cannot give her enough cuddles.

Tomorrow it’s back to the “Sick Kids” for a general anaesthetic, lumbar puncture and spinal methotrexate. You will see from the photo that despite a busy time Tabby's 2 front teeth are still there but are so loose that they are literally “Hanging by the skin of their teeth”. I wonder if the anaesthetist could oblige the Tooth Fairy tomorrow?

As ever, thankyou so much for reading this blog

Keep in touch,

The Lawsons