Along came spring, and yet another month of treatment...

And so August made way for September and September 1st marked the first day of Spring and more specifically Day 57 of 84 of Round 3 for us. Only 1 more month before this round is finished and we start a new round. In one way it does make us feel quite excited as there is only a bit more than a year left before our treatment will finish, so it reminds us how far we've come so far, but it also does remind us how "never-ending" this treatment process is. It is always the same, never changing (well sometimes it changes a bit depending on blood levels) and the end of one month marks the the start of the next and the end of one round marks the start of the next.

The bit that I sometimes find the hardest is that people assume because it's been a while since diagnosis and because Bianca looks okay, then we must be done with treatment. "Well, no, actually we are still very much on treatment and will still be until next year September and until then it means chemo every single day".

Today the school informed me that they've had their 3rd case of chickenpox the last couple of weeks, so I decided to ask Bianca's doctor about what we are supposed to do. Each time I phone, they pretty much say the same thing "Bianca's already getting the Acyclovir and IVIG that they would give kids with chickenpox exposure" and he confirmed that basically at the moment, Bianca is probably the least likely patient to get chickenpox (as she is getting monthly IVIG transfustions as well as daily oral Acyclovir tablets) and so we don't really have to worry at all. There is still a chance she may actually develop chickenpox, but then they will give her IV meds and possibly up her current dosage of her oral meds. So all good.

Bianca has had a bit of a cough and definitely a runny nose, but she seems fine, happy, no fevers and so he is not worried about it. Her neutrophils are a bit higher than they would like to see, but that is probably because of the infection she currently has. Her one ear is a little bit red (probably a bit of a viral infection), and if it does become sore or she develops a fever, then the GP can give her antibiotics. So until then, we won't worry too much. That is good to know.

Her counts are otherwise really really good and so she remains on the 100% dose oral chemo.

So today was one long day, but good results and we can't complain. As always they are really efficient here, we have a great doctor and our nurse today (Nurse Amanda) was excellent. We've had Nurse Nicky before and she is just as great! The next appointment will be on the 29th of September and that will be our 3 monthly theatre day.

One aspect of being at a busier place is that it opens my eyes to the journeys of the other people and it really does make you realise just how much you have to be thankful for and when I look at our situation - we have just so much to be thankful for!