Returning to normal life.....

Hey Folks,

It’s good to be with you again and thanks for joining us here on Phoebe’s Blog.

It still astounds us with the sheer amount of support we continue to receive from you all and for this we will be eternally grateful…we feel very humbled xx

Hope this update finds you all well and ready for the weekend ahead….we have lots to update you on, mainly from our journey out and about last week along with our recent blood results……

Ok, since we last blogged, I have been in contact with lots of you and been inundated with messages, texts and calls thanking me for getting back to writing about Phoebe’s Progress, again, I this leaves me completely overwhelmed by the encouragement, enthusiasm and enjoyment you all show after reading the updates….its bizarre really, never thought I’d ever do anything like this…or….even to have gone through what we have with our children….how life pans out hey!!! One thing I am sure about is that whatever we have faced I know my life has been enriched with amazing blessings and having my family and just truly great friends surrounding me. Bless you xxx

Miss Phoebe, she is hilarious and absolutely keeps us on our toes!! At the moment, she is doing really well, her appetite has returned with gusto and she is healthily gaining weight, there is some good plumpness to her legs, it’s great to see. Also Phoebs is having the very normal bumps, falls, bruises and scratches that every child goes through, its strange to say that we’re upset we see these things happen but in some small way a bit pleased as it means she has the strength and ability to get up and about, enjoying some climbing, falling down and getting straight back up again….she is so determined, it’s a joy to see her enjoying life…

Now, regarding the bloods, we have seen some stability over the last couple of tests although the T-Cells have reduced again. These are particularly important ones for Phoebe so we are willing them to stabilise too. Rob remains optimistic that we shall see the bloods level out and we also remain positive but realistic at the same time in preparation just in case the transplant needs to be repeated, just can’t relax too much yet…but soon we hope.

There are many aspects of our life that are at last returning to normal and one of these is work….Ade is back and busy at the Tollgate which is fabulous and I am returning to my normal hours for three days per week. There isn’t one moment I forget how lucky I am to be able to work part time, it’s nice to go into the office without the normal humdrum feeling we can sometimes get and enjoy having another focus. Both of our parents and my cousin Margaret are helping us out by having Phoebe each week for us. They all enjoy the time with Phoebe on their own and Phoebe is full of energy, she just wants to play, sing, dance, climb and run, run, run, .run off..…this is great fun her as she thinks it’s a game whilst everyone else catches their breath!!! Phoebe definitely keeps us all sharp and on our toes, you wait, it won’t be long for she’s got her backpack on and off for her sleepovers!!!

Talking of travels, we’ve enjoyed some nice days out and in particular, last Thursday. Some of you may know my dear friends Theresa and Helen who I’ve known for some 34 years now….aaarrrggghh, did I just say that??? Phew..Well, we all have children now and decided to take our girls Darcy, Macie and Phoebs out to Amerton Farm. It was lovely to spend some time with the girls and to catch up; they are all growing so fast. As Macie had a little sniffle Helen was concerned but I assured her that we can distance Phoebe a little and make sure we used the anti-bacterial gel, to be fair we could be in a queue anywhere and Phoebe could pick up a bug or virus from a stranger, at least we can have some control I guess.

The morning was action packed, visiting the resident animals in the small farm yard, obviously with Phoebe we kept our distance but they all thoroughly enjoyed watching and listening to the animals, Phoebe loved the pigs and the goats, one of which appeared to be in the latter stages of pregnancy bless her, looked like she had a fair few in there!! As children have now returned to school, the play barn was fairly quiet so the girls could pretty much have the place to themselves. It’s excellent for smaller children having climbing frames, hiding places, slides etc. Phoebe experienced a bouncy castle for the first time and absolutely loved it, it was surreal, both of us rolling around and having a really good belly laugh together, there were some beautiful moments sharing our bond and these will stay with me forever. Macie loved the bouncy castles but particularly enjoyed the bikes and completely mastered one, there was no stopping her, she had it to a tee!! Now with Darcy, she just has no fear at all, my heart is always in my mouth so to speak, she stuns me to see how Darcy gets around so quickly….I guess having three older brothers …she has been toughened up and is ready to give them a run for their money!!! Aaah, it was nice to see the girls have some time together and amazing to be back out in the world and just enjoying time with friends.

On Friday Phoebe started with a little sniffle, of course I didn’t dare tell Helen at first she would have been mortified bless her and happened to txt me the next day to check if Phoebe was ok, Helen was ok and to be fair Phoebs has been fairly well with it, it hasn’t seemed to have interrupted her sleep or general mood, she’s been good really, which has been important to see and with no temperature, its giving the immune system some extra work to do and its coping well, hopefully onwards and upwards!!!

On Friday we had a lovely visit from Rosemary, Phoebe’s health visitor who came to see her for her two year check. Rosemary is delighted with Phoebe’s progress and has no concerns regarding development etc, she enjoyed the interaction with Phoebe and was so pleased to see her progress. Rosemary explained that Phoebe is on the list to have the swine flu vaccination in the next couple of weeks so we will keep you informed on how that goes… Phoebe’s vocabulary continues to flourish along with her confidence to try new things especially new tastes… and finding her tucking into a tray of Ferrero Rocher before breakfast!!! Talking of tastes we can remember the struggle of trying to give Phoebe her meds before the transplant, this became much easier with nasal tube but now Phoebe is getting used to taking her Penicillin everyday and amazes us with her maturity and acceptance of it.

Saturday morning was for Ade and Phoebe to spend a little time together whilst I met our friend Sarah in town for breakfast and a good catch up. Its nice to have a break away and its important to us to see our friends and have some time out but the feeling when I see Phoebe again is just great, she makes me feel extremely special…and of course Ade too.!!! They came and joined us late morning, Sarah and I took the opportunity for a relaxing stroll and sat for a while in the Queens Gardens in Newcastle, it was lovely to just sit and bath in the sunshine and chat. Looking forward to catching up again soon Sarah. Xx

After joining up with Ade and Phoebs we popped over to see our friends Mark, Jan, Noah and birthday girl Freya!!! We managed to catch up with Mark’s Mum and Dad too who we haven’t seen in such a long time, its great to be getting out and about again, we have really missed catching up with our friends. After a brief visit to drop Freya’s gift and say hi, Phoebs had a little unfortunate accident in the garden, we headed home with a grazed nose, boo….the guys then followed us a little later to continue our catch up, see the caravan and for the kids to have dinner together, what a perfect end to a truly lovely day. Freya is very sweet and loves reading the blog so a special mention for you honey!!!….Glad you enjoyed your birthday weekend sweetheart, see you all soon x

What a fantastic busy weekend, Sunday morning found us heading over to watch our friend’s Jo and Rob’s son Jack play football for his team Abbey Hulton United!! They did well and Jack did a sterling job, well done Jack, very proud of you!!
It was nice to get out in the sunshine and enjoy the fresh air, Phoebe loved it and it was great to catch up with you guys too, look forward to seeing you on the walk this weekend. Xxx

Mum and Dad served up a fabulous tasty lunch of a rich cottage pie, Phoebe absolutely demolished it and sat ready for pudding whilst enthusiastically saying ‘Cheers’ to everyone!! Not being our usual relaxing traditional Sunday lunch Mum, Auntie Winnie and I were going on a pilgrimage to Birmingham Cathedral for the visit of St Therese of Lisieux’s relics. It’s got to be some years, probably …aaargh…scarily about 25 years since I last went on a bus trip!! Phoebe was more than happy to stay with Daddy, Uncle Gary, Auntie Lisa and Grandad and as we left, Phoebs was on her way out for her first walk with Lisa, …there was a little look of apprehension on Lisa’s face but I knew she would be ok!!! The whole weekend had been just fabulous and Sunday was no exception, a really lovely day, travelling down and enjoying the company of my friend Pam and hitching up with Darcy’s mum, Theresa outside the Cathedral. During the visit, the Cathedral saw a few thousand people pass through the doors and we felt privileged to be there, it had a wonderful energy around the place and we asked for many blessings placing our prayer petitions to St. Therese. The Cathedral was packed out and we managed to secure some seats as a small group left. As we walked to take seats for the special mass, I noticed there was a small silver disc on the floor, I bent down and saw it had St.Therese on it, turning around to ask if anyone had lost it, there was a hush as the mass was about start. Regardless of the somewhat obvious fact that someone had dropped it there, I found it in front of my seat, I’ve learnt to maybe just open my mind and accept that I was meant to find it and maybe trust it to be a little confirmation that my prayers have been heard. I kept it in my hand the entire mass and journey home…

Its now Thursday and the week has gone incredibly fast after a good few days at work, we now concentrate on the weekend ahead as it is our dear Eleanor’s Birthday, can you believe she would have been 6 on Saturday….6!! where has the time gone??? We have some lovely plans for a few of us to head out for a walk in Dovedale, Derbyshire, having a small picnic and heading back to Stoke to have an early dinner together.

What are your plans for the weekend?? We’ll keep you all posted and take a few good photo’s for the next update.

Well it’s 1.05am and I feel the need to head to bed for a little lie down!!! So for now everyone, take care and I look forward to hearing your plans….

Much love..

For Eleanor…….Happy Birthday Sweetheart, May God and Casper!! be keeping you safe my darling xxx

Lynn, Ade, Phoebe and Spirit Eleanor xxx