Transplant Day +103 - Just a litle stepback but all will be well!!

Good Evening Dear Bloggers,

Thanks for popping by and we hope all is well with you Bloggers out there!!

Surprisingly we find ourselves writing this update from Manchester having been admitted Sunday evening.

After a good weekend getting out and about, spending a thoroughly enjoyable Saturday with Estelle and the Fundraising event at the Tollgate in the Evening, we…well I at least was ready for a relaxing Mothering Sunday! (Hope you all enjoyed it too!) The local band 'Crysis' did an excellent job of keeping us all entertained on Saturday evening and thanks to all the folks who joined us at the Tollgate, we raised some great funds with a raffle and auction and special thanks go to Brian and the band for arranging the evening. Thanks too to Bob for giving your time! It was great to see our friends there.. On the right is a pic of Phillomena and Debbie…enjoyed catching up…thanks for the giggles!!

Having promised Margaret and Frank who were kindly babysitting for us on Saturday evening, we headed home after a couple of hours and a good catch up with our friends. Phoebe was very settled up to when Margaret text me to say all was well. She was sick within seconds of sending it and Margaret never knew she could climb the stairs so fast. We arrived home to find neither of them relaxing in the sitting room. Ade and I then darted upstairs to find them both sorting the aftermath in Phoebe’s room. They were totally brilliant and we could see that Phoebe was very comfortable with Margaret as she keenly watched everything Frank was doing to clean the room and sort her bed. We eventually settled her again and crept downstairs to enjoy a cuppa but thank goodness for the Mothers instincts I just knew to check on Phoebs and it was a good job too as she had another bout again..we will be glad to finally say Goodbye to the Norovirus for good.

Since our last visit here on Friday for Phoebe’s EBV treatment, Ade and I noticed she hadn’t quite been feeling quite herself seemingly more irritated and impatient with things, no appetite at all, waking in the night and being quite clingy, which is so unlike her. By Sunday teatime Phoebe had developed a temperature and without any doubt we monitored it for an hour and called the hospital who asked to head over to Manchester as soon as possible.

The staff have been brilliant and Rob has left no stone unturned organising numerous tests to ensure that Phoebe’s temperature and potential infection is treated as effectively as possible. Daily blood tests have been taken along with cultures which we are awaiting on the results. Phoebe’s weight has surprisingly increased a little and we continue with our daily battle against the Norovirus. During our many conversations with the nurses here, they have said how outstanding and unusual it has been for us to remain at home for 100 days following transplant and discharge without a temperature but I guess the advice of semi-isolation and the restrictions of contact are for a reason. We have been following the advice of the staff here and this appears to have paid off so far. With the blood tests results coming through we see that Phoebe is neutropenic (low white blood count) and her red blood count was also low therefore she required a blood transfusion last night. This morning Phoebe appeared much brighter in herself even though she has been very restless during the past few nights.

It has been quite strange returning for a brief stay here on the Transplant unit, having been here for a few days it serves as a constant reminder of how lucky we are to have the wonderful comforts of home and the tremendous support around us. The troops arrived yesterday to make the day a little easier for us, bringing a wonderful array of sandwiches and snacks!! – Their motto should be ‘have buffet will travel!!’. They are amazing, Bless ‘em!!

Here is Phoebe enjoying some music therapy!!

The folks stayed home today with Mum and Dad very kindly heading over to ours to give the house a clean through ready for us to come home…believe me I seriously count my blessings each day….we are looking forward to hopefully returning home tomorrow.

We had a wonderful visit from Sister Monica today and bless her she is always so surprised and delighted when we offer her a drink and time for a chat. Sister does a wonderful job here supporting people even though she has a little trouble in her mobility, she always makes the effort to get round and see her folks.

Phoebe has made a great recovery from her temperature and I am also pleased to say that Ade and I are really well considering our lack of sleep during the last few nights so as its getting a little late now we will bid you all farewell until our next posting hopefully from Sunny Stoke!!

For Gary….Keep the faith all will be well…!!!

‘Our Angels are here to help and guide us on our journey….their love is unconditional, invite them along, be open to their guidance through intuition, thoughts and dreams….well what are you waiting
for?...!!!

Much love…rest easy folks

Lynn, Ade, Phoebe and Spirit Eleanor xxxx