My blog posts are usually reflective on the happenings of 2012, and this one is no different.
This week last year was Paul's first 'chemo week'. On the Monday we travelled to Addenbrookes to attend his chemo clinic appointment. He had blood taken and we were shown round the chemo unit where he would be having the treatment. We had been told by Papworth that he could have it on Tuesday (and then he would be fine for Christmas!?!) but he had been booked in for Thursday.
On the Thursday we travelled back for 9am ready for treatment to commence. Paul was shown to a nice comfy chair and I was given one of those wheelie office chairs. The treatment took 9 hours, so you can imagine it wasn't the comfiest of chairs to sit on. Nevermind, that was a very small price to pay for what Paul had to go through. Paul's nurse explained everything to us and we had a bag of tablets to bring home with us. We left the unit around 6pm.
Half an hour after leaving the hospital and whilst driving home Paul had to open the car window to be sick! Great we thought, that has had a very quick negative effect. I stopped in a layby but we then managed to carry on our journey to my parents house.
Paul was sick a further two times and I was straight on the phone to the emergency help line number. They suggested I call our doctors out. I did this and we made our way home to await their arrival. Two very nice on call emergency doctors came to the house and gave Paul some tablets to stick in his cheek. They left and said they should work quickly but Paul might be sick one more time. He was sick three more times so I rang them again. They came out and gave him at injection at around midnight. We were then able to both get some sleep.
By just before 9am the next morning though, Paul was being sick again. I rang the hospital and they asked us to make our way back to the chemo unit. Our drive there was quite interesting. Paul by this point was just feeling so unwell and exhausted, he had to sit in the back of the car with a bucket and his head against the window. We made it without event and I was luckily able to drop him right at the doors of the chemo unit and I went to park the car (and make the mad dash across the hospital to get to him).
Paul was put on fluids and monitored closely. They also prescribed a much stronger medication for sickness. He was transferred to the ward but told he would more than likely be able to go home that night. The doctor came to see him and gave us the choice of him staying in or not. We took the staying in option so that we knew he would be ok before coming home again. He came out of hospital the next day Saturday 22nd December. Luckily after that he was not sick any more.
However, being sick so violently and so quickly had left Paul in quite a lot of pain and he wasn't really able to enjoy Christmas. He was utterly exhausted as well and spend a lot of time in bed.
In 2012 we didn't really think about Christmas until about the 23rd December. This year December has been a great month for us! Ethan turned 3 and we had a lovely party with his friends. We had a holiday at Center Parcs Winter Wonderland where we visited the real Reindeer and the singing Reindeer daily and Ethan was lucky enough to visit Father Christmas and have his photo taken. This week Ethan has started Nursery (ready for January) and we couldn't be prouder of what a confident little man he is turning into, no tears on drop off whatsoever, just a kiss and a wave and a bye Mummy!
I think it is safe to say that Christmas 2013 will be a completely different story to 2012. Paul is in excellent health and we will be spending it with the people that mean the most to us and helped us through December 2012 and beyond and continue to support us on a daily basis.
That just leaves me to wish everyone who reads this a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy 2014! We have high hopes that we can make it to December 2014 in the same position we are now xx
