Monday, 15 February - Sunday, 28 February 2010

Drew has had a pretty good 2 weeks. Monday we were off to see Dr Frank and all went well and then Tuesday we went to see the Opthamologist and Drew thought he'd won the lottery. Normally he would have eye drops put in which help the Dr look at Drew's eyes and they sting quite a bit, but the Dr was happy not to put them in today and Drew was ecstatic. The rest of the week was spent at school. On the weekend we had a great weekend away with Camp Quality at Riverwood Downs, Monkerai Valley. All the boys had a great time in the river on the rapids and in the great hall playing tennis and other ball games, the food was great and it was very relaxing. Sunday was Kurt's birthday and he was presented with a birthday cake at breakfast as he and Kyle were leaving early for the start of their football season. They had mixed success, the birthday boy didn't get a win, going down 5-2, but Kyle's team came from 2 nil down to win 3-2. Monday we were back at John Hunter for Drew to have his 6 monthly bone marrow aspirant on a different ward to usual. It was a marathon day, arriving at 7.15am, Drew wasn't called to theatre until 12.20pm, we still didn't go up to theatre for another 30 minutes. Once we arrived up there an emergency caesarian had to be done (on someone else, not Drew), so we were told it would be another hour, which turned into 2 hours. Drew finally went to sleep at 3.00pm, to his credit he handled it well, Mum on the other hand wasn't impressed. We returned to the old familiar ward as the one we were originally admitted to had shut for the day, if that doesn't say something I don't know what does. Finally at 7pm that night,for what is less than a 30 minute procedure, we left for home. Fingers crossed the results come back negative. Drew wasn't able to compete at his swimming carnival the next day, but went to cheer his brother Dane along. Wednesday afternoon was Drew's football grading, he was very excited about that. The weekend came around again and this week the results were reversed with Kurt having a 4-0 win and Kyle a 5-2 loss. It was a very hot day and although being a reluctant spectator, Drew handled it very well. Back to hospital for blood tests tomorrow.

Monday, 8 February - Sunday, 13 February 2010

Off to school on Monday and then off to the Mariners postponed game on Monday night. They beat the Jets YEAH, Drew was impressed. Back to hospital on Tuesday for bloods. His kidney function was about the same as Thursday but as Drew was finishing the acyclovir today, the Dr's were hoping it would return to normal - he just has to drink and I have to watch him, but he has been fine. Off to school for the rest of the week without any hitches. On Friday the dog must of decided it had been a bit of a quiet week for me and he would liven it up - he had a seizure only I didn't know that at the time, he was just shaking and then went limp and I thought he had died. I rushed him to the vet and kept thinking on the way how am I going to tell the boys, their dog who was perfectly normal this morning had died. Thankfully he was fine and came home later that afternoon and was running around the backyard. Drew's Make-A-Wish hasn't come through yet, but they are trying really hard and there are a few other kids who have also asked to go to the World Cup. The Make-A-Wish Foundation gave Drew 2 tickets to see the stage show of Top Gear, which he really enjoyed and thought was the best show ever - he couldn't of done that a few months ago. Back to hospital for bloods tomorrow and to see Dr Frank, hopefully all will be well and we won't have to go back this week.

Monday 1 February - Sunday 7 February 2010

It has been a bit of a mixed bag this week. Drew went off to school on Monday and Tuesday but has been quite grumpy. I'm sure it's taking it out of him but he refuses to admit he is tired. He definitely wasn't 100% because we had prawns for his brother's birthday, the first time in over 6 months for him and he had 1 and put them in the fridge for the next day. He got one of the Library Monitors positions so he was quite chuffed about that. On Tuesday a little sore which looked suspiciously like a cold sore appeared at the side of his mouth, so it was off to the local Dr on Wednesday morning, who conferred with Dr Frank and Drew was placed on acyclovir and then off to school. Thursday was back for bloods, which went without a hitch, and then to see Dr Frank. All was good and Dr Frank stopped his steroids and didn't want to see Drew until Monday week. Drew and the boys went for a swim in an indoor pool that afternoon and then on the way home we got a call from Dr Frank that Drew's electrolytes and kidney function were a bit dodgy and he would have to go back the next day for another blood test. The next day we had a blood collector who we hadn't had before and she used the arm which can be a bit hard, well she couldn't get blood, Drew was screaming as she dug around and I was just knotting up inside. I took him out and let him calm down and after a while, to his credit, he was ready to go back and have another go, we then got the collector who did it the day before and he doesn't even feel it go in and it is done and dusted in 30 seconds. His kidney function his slightly better than yesterday but still not great, so now we will come back on Tuesday for more bloods. All his brothers soccer games and the Mariners were cancelled on the weekend due to the rain and he couldn't go to the cricket nets so he was a bit disappointed about that, but glad he wasn't in hospital.

Monday 25 January - Sunday 31 January 2010

Drew had a huge week this week. Back to see Dr Frank on Monday & bloods, which were no problem. Dr Frank has reduced steroids to every 2nd day and doesn't want to see Drew until Thursday of next week. Yeah! Australia Day Drew wore himself out swimming in our neighbours pool for about 3 hours once the sun had petered out, he was exhausted but happy. Wednesday was a trip up to John Hunter to see Jodie and iron out any anxieties we may have about going back to school (Mum has plenty) tomorrow. Thursday the big day arrived, Drew was so excited, we walked to school, he was looking for me when they went off to class, gave me a big wave and off he went. The other Mum whose little boy returned to school after his treatment from cancer, had tears in her eyes as well, but we both held it together. I couldn't stand it any longer and 30 minutes before bell time I had to go up to school. Drew had a great day and was all ready for Friday. Today he walked there and back. He has now been at school longer than for the whole of last year. Saturday was another huge day with Drew registering for football (soccer), he's disappointed the season doesn't start until April. Sunday was out for dinner to celebrate big brother Kyle's 15th birthday tomorrow.