Pandas and Red Noses

After the gloom of Tabby's recent bone marrow result, we took Monday afternoon off and went to the Zoo! It was great. We took the precaution of borrowing a wheelchair for Tabby. Quite a work out pushing it up hill all afternoon. When we got to the highest point, Tabby got out and walked for the rest of the day! Any resemblance to the wee chap in "Little Britain" is purely coincidental.

We saw the girl panda who did everything a cute and cuddley panda should do. Tabby was really happy. The male, I think, was still digesting bamboo shoots. No sign of "Kung-Fu Panda" there. More like "Can't Pooh Panda".

Thanks to the help of colleagues at the Royal Infirmary, I was able to join Donella and Tabby at the "Sick Kids" yesterday for the start of Tabby's new chemo regime. Tabby had her usual general anaesthetic and spinal chemo in the morning and in the afternoon started her intravenous infusion of cyclophosphamide through her "Wiggly". While we sat with her infusion, we were visited again by the "Clown Doctors" who gave Tabby a big red nose - to match her Dad's.

A previously unreported side effect of cyclophosphamide

Tabby's menu of chemotherapy over the next few months does read like an astronomer's star chart with names such as: 6-Mercaptopurine, Doxorubicin, PegAsparaginase, Cytarabine and Vincristine and many more. All names I remember from medical school but had no idea what they did. With all this, Tabby is now on other medicines to counter-act their side effects - mainly nausea and tummy pains.

It will take a couple of weeks before Tabby's new chemo regime takes effect so we have a window of opportunity over the next few days for Tabby to go to school for the odd visit or perhaps Sunday School. This largely depends on how she feels and whether her white cell remains high enough to resist any other child's sniffles and coughs she may come into contact with. By the end of the month we have been warned that school visits may not be possible for a while. "Hagan-Mail" continues to supply us with home work from Mrs Krumins for which we are all very grateful. Unlike Ewan's Higher Prelim revision, I can just about help Tabby with her work.

As ever we are always so grateful for everyone's goodwishes and help. Tabby was delighted to receive letters and get well cards recently from all her friends and teachers at Sunday Club and we would like to thank Maggie Lane and everyone at Kirkliston Parish Church for their continued prayers and support.


I hope the next blog will report that Tabby visited her classmates and that Scotland won the Calcutta Cup on Saturday.


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The Lawsons