Thursday 1st July 2004 ( Day minus 5 - Alex's Birthday )

We knew Alex was not feeling 100% because he did not want to eat his birthday cake. Other than a loss of appetite, there was nothing to really indicate he was all that ill.

Friday 2nd July 2004 ( Day minus 4 )

His temperature was quite high so Kirsten took him to the duty doctor at Ling House Surgery in Keighley. He identified tonsillitis as being the cause of the problem and prescribed an antibiotic.

Saturday 3rd July 2004 ( Day minus 3 )

Jon and Rania come to stay for the weekend. Alex was a little poorly but still willing to play. He had not consumed any food or liquids for 3 days.

Sunday 3rd July 2004 ( Day minus 2 )

Pub lunch with Joan, David, Rania and Jon. During the lunch Alex was not happy. On the way home Kirsten and Alex were dropped off at Airedale General Hospital to see the on-call GP. He told Kirsten that Alex was probably having a reaction to the antibiotic and should stop taking it.

He still had a high temperature and developed a panting. He was swollen all over but especially on his face.

Monday 5th July 2004 ( Day minus 1 )

His temperature was still high and he was panting even more. There was some bruising on his back, upper legs and groin that looked like he had been poked hard with the end of a knitting needle. We put it down to playing hard with Tom. Joan and I took him back to Ling House Surgery in Keighley. This time he was seen by his own doctor and she was very worried that he had not eaten or taken a drink for nearly five days so she admitted him to hospital.

At Airedale General Hospital, we were seen on Ward 17 by an SHO who diagnosed a heavy cold. Kirsten came in from work and Joan went back home. I went home for a rest and Joan came back to keep Kirsten company. During this time no-one came to see him.

Eventually a nurse came to say he would be discharged. He was still looking very bad, 5 days of not drinking and no drip since he looked well hydrated. We later found that this is a symptom of leukaemia.

Kirsten found, while changing his nappy, that he have a rather swollen willy. Joan insisted that a friend of the family who is a urologist at Airedale should be called to see Alex. Nick arrived and worked his magic on Alex's willy, reducing the swelling. I arrived back at Airedale during this operation and Joan went home to collect Tom from school. While he was without nappy, the consultant was called and noticed the bruising. She was worried that Alex's platelet count was low so ordered a blood test.

A while later we were taking into a quite room and told that Alex most probably had leukaemia and would need to be transfered to St James's in Leeds. We rang relatives and friends. We waited till midnight for an ambulance. It had been on the way several times but was diverted by 999 calls. I followed the ambulance in the car. The ambulance stopped once to put Alex into bed since he was not settling on his Mum's lap.