Happy and Sad Tears
Tomorrow Hugo will take part in his school sports day. It’s his second one, but his first since finishing treatment. This upcoming event has brought to head a mix of emotions that I have been feeling for a while. Firstly…
Finding the Balance
I started to write this blog post a few weeks ago. I was full of excitement and enthusiasm for the start of the new year. We’d been waiting a long time for this, for our first cancer free calendar year…
End of Treatment Bubble
It has now been three weeks since Hugo took his last dose of chemotherapy. So what does life on the other side look like? In many ways it doesn’t look very different to life on treatment. There has been medication…
Getting my Spark Back
In just a few days Hugo will finish his treatment. A thousand thoughts and feelings have been racing around in my head over the last few weeks. Many of them positive, but some feel negative and selfish. It’s difficult to…
Leaving Normality
A couple of months ago, on the way back from a hospital appointment, Hugo asked me what it felt like when I had my bumpy taken out. Bumpy is our name for Hugo’s port-a-cath/central line. The little device that sits…
What happens next?
During our last appointment at GOSH, our oncology nurse specialist answered the all important question – ‘what happens when treatment ends?’ I’ve asked many questions relating to this along the way. Always hesitantly, not wanting to look too far ahead,…
Day in the Life – Steroids
Hugo encounters many different side effects from both the leukaemia and the medication he takes for it, but on a day to day basis, steroids are definitely the cause of the most challenging (which is why they get a blog…
Broken Pieces
A couple of weeks ago I found myself at our local hospital. Not a particularly unusual occurrence given Hugo’s situation. However this time I wasn’t there for Hugo, I was there for me. I’d been to the doctors that morning…
Things I Have Learnt
It has now been 2 years since Hugo was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. 24 months of our strange, new, cancer filled life. The learning curve has been steep and I’m pretty sure it’s not done yet. Here are a…
Watching and Waiting
When Hugo started the maintenance phase of treatment 14 months ago, we were warned that there would be hospital admissions. That Hugo’s low immunity would make him susceptible to infections and that his inability to fight these infections would likely…