Tabby and her "Wiggly"

Sunday was a big day for us. Tabby had the last of her dexamethasone steroids. As you will have seen by the pictures, they have had a considerable effect on her appearance. Fortunately, I think even after three days, we have noticed that her appetite is slowly returning to normal portions and the kitchen is no longer a "24 hour deli".

Sunday morning and Tabby's last steroid tablet for the moment

On Tuesday we had a problem with Tabby's "Wiggly". For children needing regular intra-venous access, particularly with some of the nasty chemotherapy agents, they have a little device inserted under the skin. It is like a small plastic bubble with a metal backing. Under a general anaesthetic this is inserted sub-cutaneously on her chest wall and a tube leading from this is passed into one of the large veins in the base of her neck. It all sounds pretty horrible. Every time Tabby needs a blood test or injection, the skin over the "porta-cath" is numbed with anaesthetic cream and a special needle attached to a small catheter can be inserted through the skin into the bubble. This needle and catheter combo is called a "Wiggly". Yesterday it stopped working properly.

Cue another unscheduled visit to the "Sick Kids".

Tabby and I went to the X-ray dept where under a continuous x-ray image machine we could see dye passing down the tube, but a blood clot acting like a flap valve was preventing blood from being drawn back up. "No problem", "Very common" we were told. Our nurse squirted some "Mister Muscle" clot-buster into Tabby's wiggly and we went home.

This morning Donella took Tabby back to the "Sick Kids". The clot buster had worked and Tabby was able to have another lumbar puncture and spinal chemotherapy under general anaesthetic. After an hour of lying flat(ish) Tabby and Donella went home (via Costa coffee and the statutory cheese and ham panini).

We still do not have the reults of last week's bone marrow test but we are reassured that the delay is not a bad sign. Hopefully we'll find out by the end of the week.

Tabby has asked me to say "Hi" and "Thankyou" to all her friends in primary 2K at school. You will remember that her class all contributed to a special "Get Well Soon" build-a-bear not long after she went into hospital. It appears they could have bought many more bears with the money raised! P2k has kindly donated the extra money to the charity "Its good to give". Like many families in the same position, the Lawsons remain so grateful for the work and generosity of this local charity.

Happy Burns Night,
The Lawsons