[Week Eight]

Alex slept very well. He's had the best night yet with only one early hours screaming when he lost his dummy.

Joan looked after Alex most of the day as I went to work in York and Kirsten went to Ilkley.

We're still unsure whether to bring Tom back during the week instead of staying at Joan and Davids. It may be unsettling for him if we have to disappear during the night back to the hospital if Alex develops a temperature. Saying all that we really want him around so he came back with Kirsten.

I rang the hospital and talked to nurse Mark who said that we don't need to go to clinic in the morning since he had a blood test on Monday and he's due another on Thursday.

Alex seems like a normal one-year-old just now. I'm sure people expect a really sickly child when the see him but the only outward sign is his feeding tube. For us it's an additional problem of a few medications, taking regular temperatures, overnight feeds and overt cleanliness. Not too much of a problem but it does not allow us to have normal work patterns and there's the added stress knowing that he may still be infected anytime.

Note that even though Alex is looking well, he is still neutropenic. A good description from www.neutropenia.ca puts Alex in perspective...

The level of neutropenia may vary considerably. In general, the blood of healthy adults contains about 1500 to 7000 neutrophils per mm3 (1.5 - 7.0 x 109 /1). In children under 6 years of age the neutrophil count may be lower. The severity of neutropenia generally depends on the absolute neutrophil count (ANC) and is described as follows:

Mild neutropenia, when the ANC falls below a lower limit of 1500 per mm3 (1.5 x 109 /1), but remains higher than 1000 per mm3 (1.0 x 109 /1).
Moderate neutropenia, when the ANC falls between 500 per mm3 and 1000 per mm3 (0.5 x 109 /1 - 1.0 x 109 /1)
Severe neutropenia, when the ANC falls below 500 per mm3 (0.5 x 109 /1)

I've just seen the bank holiday weather forecast on TV: "Looking good" - great a nice long weekend and on Friday Alex is due to start his next cycle of chemotherapy. Well, anything to make him better.

We all slept in a little today. Tom was groggy but still dressed for school. Alex marched around in a good mood. Then once Tom and Kirsten had gone, he went back to bed for a couple of hours.

At 11 my Aunt Tricia and David arrived to see Alex. They had travelled up from Oxford to show support. I think they were a little shocked by how well Alex looked. Mum, Dad, Tricia and David took Alex to the cafe at Cliffe Castle while the sun was out.

Then Alex went back to bed for an afternoon kip. It's lovely to see how many people are touched by Alex and how friends and family will go out of their way to help and show support. Tricia and David driving all the way for the day and of course Andrew nearly jumping ship in the middle of the North Sea when he first was told are just two examples.