Positive news, weakness & strength
Thursday, 26 May 2011 at 09:33
Taken from original diary on Facebook
Charlotte was originally on the theatre list for Thursday afternoon to have the Hickman line put into her chest, but I was told Tuesday night that they had put her on the emergency list for Wednesday instead? She was allowed no food after 2am & no water after 6am, she slept through & woke at 7am...asked for a drink, to be told no. Lost count of how many times she asked for a drink of water, begging me & then later for food as well. The anaesthetist came to see us 9.30 & said she go down mid-late morning.
In the meantime the playworker came with her big doll & photo picture book to explain to what she was going to have done. The line is put in near her collar bone, into a vein and then the other end is burrowed along under her skin & comes out on her chest. After being explained Charlotte was adamant she did not want a nice new Mr Wiggly in her tummy! The line will stay ther until her treatment is finished, she can't let it get wet for 3 months!! She will get a little fabric bag that fastens round her body and the end of the line that is hanging out of her body will go into the bag under her clothing. It will mean from now on for any blood test, treatments, other med's i.e. IV antibiotics if she has infection can be just put into this and she doesn't have to keep having canulars or seperate blood tests.
Mid morning came & went, as did lunch and part of the afternoon. At 3 I went to find out what was happening as felt it was unfair to keep a 3 year old waiting so long when she hadn't eaten for 23 hours or even had a drink of water for 18 hours. Finally the anaesthetist came back at 6.35 and said Charlotte was next, the last case was "on the table"...know why she's an anaesthestist and not a Dr dealing with people all the time...she could have at least said the last patient is still being operated on! We finally left the ward at 8pm & Charlotte went to sleep 8.20. I went down to collect her in recovery at 10pm to be greeted by a hysterical little girl who was in the arms of a nurse...for Charlotte's own safety as she was going to be off the trolley otherwise. Sadly seeing Mummy didn't help calm her & when she saw the line & dressings she flipped even more, begging me to take it away & stop it hurting...was soo hard when she's crying, begging & pleading to her mummy for that & so young. She finally settled after being sick.
We had some really positive news about Charlotte's leukaemia. The last of her initial test results came back from Salisbury. This test was to have a close look at the genetic make up of Charlotte's leukaemia cells, they can fall into different types and this gives a good indication of prognosis and can also determine the strength of the chemo regime needed. So even though the other tests had been as 'good' as they could be, I still had to be prepared that this result could be bad news and change what I'd been told previously. Thank the Lord, it was good news & the 'genetics' are the better sort, which means her prognosis is good on the regime of chemo she's on.
A couple of weeks ago in care group we were talking about weakness & strength and I was reminded about a verse in Corinthians, which I shared. On the 15th May in the evening service the verse came into my mind again, but I couldn't find it to share then. On Sunday just gone, Heather text me to tell me the verse Jean had put on this weeks notice sheet - it was the same verse. A couple of days ago Sarah (a relative of my special friends & neighbours, the 'Harkness's) wrote the same verse on my Facebook wall; 2 Corinthians 12:9 - "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". Therefore I will boast all more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. The next verse I also like which reads; That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For then when I am weak, I am strong.
I always thought that I had to be strong all the time and and couldn't be weak and bit by bit as my life has changed and things happened over the last 3 years and now with this situation I'm learning you don't have to be strong all the time & actually from these verses learn that actually showing my weaknesses makes me a stronger person.
Charlotte was originally on the theatre list for Thursday afternoon to have the Hickman line put into her chest, but I was told Tuesday night that they had put her on the emergency list for Wednesday instead? She was allowed no food after 2am & no water after 6am, she slept through & woke at 7am...asked for a drink, to be told no. Lost count of how many times she asked for a drink of water, begging me & then later for food as well. The anaesthetist came to see us 9.30 & said she go down mid-late morning.
In the meantime the playworker came with her big doll & photo picture book to explain to what she was going to have done. The line is put in near her collar bone, into a vein and then the other end is burrowed along under her skin & comes out on her chest. After being explained Charlotte was adamant she did not want a nice new Mr Wiggly in her tummy! The line will stay ther until her treatment is finished, she can't let it get wet for 3 months!! She will get a little fabric bag that fastens round her body and the end of the line that is hanging out of her body will go into the bag under her clothing. It will mean from now on for any blood test, treatments, other med's i.e. IV antibiotics if she has infection can be just put into this and she doesn't have to keep having canulars or seperate blood tests.
Mid morning came & went, as did lunch and part of the afternoon. At 3 I went to find out what was happening as felt it was unfair to keep a 3 year old waiting so long when she hadn't eaten for 23 hours or even had a drink of water for 18 hours. Finally the anaesthetist came back at 6.35 and said Charlotte was next, the last case was "on the table"...know why she's an anaesthestist and not a Dr dealing with people all the time...she could have at least said the last patient is still being operated on! We finally left the ward at 8pm & Charlotte went to sleep 8.20. I went down to collect her in recovery at 10pm to be greeted by a hysterical little girl who was in the arms of a nurse...for Charlotte's own safety as she was going to be off the trolley otherwise. Sadly seeing Mummy didn't help calm her & when she saw the line & dressings she flipped even more, begging me to take it away & stop it hurting...was soo hard when she's crying, begging & pleading to her mummy for that & so young. She finally settled after being sick.
We had some really positive news about Charlotte's leukaemia. The last of her initial test results came back from Salisbury. This test was to have a close look at the genetic make up of Charlotte's leukaemia cells, they can fall into different types and this gives a good indication of prognosis and can also determine the strength of the chemo regime needed. So even though the other tests had been as 'good' as they could be, I still had to be prepared that this result could be bad news and change what I'd been told previously. Thank the Lord, it was good news & the 'genetics' are the better sort, which means her prognosis is good on the regime of chemo she's on.
A couple of weeks ago in care group we were talking about weakness & strength and I was reminded about a verse in Corinthians, which I shared. On the 15th May in the evening service the verse came into my mind again, but I couldn't find it to share then. On Sunday just gone, Heather text me to tell me the verse Jean had put on this weeks notice sheet - it was the same verse. A couple of days ago Sarah (a relative of my special friends & neighbours, the 'Harkness's) wrote the same verse on my Facebook wall; 2 Corinthians 12:9 - "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". Therefore I will boast all more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. The next verse I also like which reads; That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For then when I am weak, I am strong.I always thought that I had to be strong all the time and and couldn't be weak and bit by bit as my life has changed and things happened over the last 3 years and now with this situation I'm learning you don't have to be strong all the time & actually from these verses learn that actually showing my weaknesses makes me a stronger person.
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