Our new residence!!

Hi Folks, How are we all this evening? Thanks for joining us again here at the Blog.

Its been a busy old day for us here as we made our way to Manchester this morning, the folks came over to help gather last minute things and wave us off, bless them!! Thank you guys!!

We are here in our new residence of Room 1, The Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, we are looking to decorate the room with some nice paintings to help make it as homely as possible. Phoebe and I wasted no time in starting our painting project and I have painted some colourful hearts which we have placed on the large window facing into the main corridor of the hospital, we thought it would be nice for people to recognise where Phoebe's room is!! Inspired by my friend Jude and the fabulous Emma Bridgewater Pottery of Stoke. Phoebe loves painting and has made some lovely pieces which we have placed above her bed. We are launching our picture competition and we ask if it would be possible for you to get your brushes or pencils out and get squiggling!! Send them over to The Royal Manchester where we will feature them on the blog throughout Phoebe's stay here. You guys can vote for the winner and they will win a rather lovely prize!! ....So over to you guys now!! - Address at the end....

We have made the most of our time being at home and here was Phoebe yesterday at Trentham Gardens late afternoon when it was a little quieter, enjoying the fresh air and feeding the ducks! I'm sure a few of you won't recognize her now that she has her new 'hair do' disguised by her favourite hat along with popping on a few kilo's with the steroids and fine dining!!!

Rob our consultant returned to the ward today following a well earned break and he was thrilled with Phoebe, its amazing how the treatment given over the last couple of weeks, considering how poorly she was, has made a huge difference and placed her in the best possible position to undertake the grueling regime of chemotherapy ready for her new stem cells.

The treatment begins tomorrow and there is some apprehension and this is one of the hardest days where we can expect Phoebe to be unwell, she may have a fever with shaking and possible vomitting. When we recall back to her previous transplant, she coped with this fairly well although she had a slightly raised temperature and was a little uncomfortable but nothing to major as we remember.

Phoebe was due to have an MRI scan tomorrow to check her brain, giving us a baseline before commencing the treatment for the transplant. This is due to the fact that her condition, HLH, was seen in the base of the brain or CNS (central nervous system). We may have to re-think this as she is booked in for 5pm and we need to starve her for 5 hours...can you imagine that??? along with commencing the conditioning treatment which may make her feel a little offside. We will await to hear the decision on this tomorrow morning.

OK..now a favour to ask...is anyone heading to Ikea in the next week? We are looking to get Phoebe some of the colourful plates, bowls, cups and cutlery from the childrens section. Ideally we would like a couple of packs of each so we can label them up ready for sterilising....we would be extremely grateful if you could contact us and we can arrange to collect and pay for them....Thanks in anticipation...xxx

So folks, we will leave it there for tonight, thanks everyone for popping by and updating with us each day, we truly appreciate the support and time taken out of your busy day!!

Until tomorrow....

Much love dear friends, rest easy now.
Lynn, Ade, Phoebe and Spirit Eleanor xxxx

Address to send your art:
Miss Phoebe Oldfield,
Room 1, Bone Marrow Transplant Unit,
Royal Manchester Children's Hospital,
Hathersage Road,
Manchester
M13 9WL