The original purpose of this blog was to keep people informed throughout Emily’s Journey. Yesterday a celebration was held to remember her life. We all have our own memories and will keep her in our hearts. This blog will not be updated again as we give Emily’s family privacy to grieve and forge a new […]
Tomorrow there will be a private closed funeral for Emily. There will be 25 people at this funeral at Katherine and Gary’s invitation. Just to confirm, the public celebration will be held on Sunday 4th November at 2pm at the Rolleston Community Centre. This will be a child friendly memorial and everybody is welcome. If […]
A memorial service to celebrate Emily’s life will be held on Sunday, 4th November 2012 at the Rolleston Community Centre, Rolleston Drive at 2pm. Please wear colour (Emily’s favourite colour was orange – even if she always wore pink!). This celebration is being planned with children in mind. Please ensure your shoes are non-marking, stiletto […]
Hi Everyone, Emily passed away peacefully at home this morning. I was with Emily holding her hand when she took her final wee breaths. Gary and Aunty Chris were there too. The last thing she said to me was at 3am this morning while I was helping her with something…she said, “Sorry I woke you […]
Hi everyone, Emily is getting more and more tired as the days go by. She is dozing intermittently throughout the day in our bed watching/listening to DVD’s. She walks from the bedroom to the couch and that’s about it. No complaints of pain which is still well managed. Emily is not interested in playing with […]
Hi Everyone, We (Leona & Vanessa) are feeling completely helpless watching on in these final stages, and we know you all are too. As you know, Kath and Gary have expressed their desire to have this time as a family and no practical help is wanted. We really want them to be able to continue […]
Hi everyone, Emily is much the same but more lethargic each day. Everything is being well managed at home pain wise. She is still on oral meds though may need to go to a morphine pump if taking pills becomes a problem. Just trying to get through each day. If I don’t return phone calls, […]
Emily is much the same but the gradual decline is evident. Em now has swollen puffy legs due to her liver and/or heart beginning to fail. The legs are swollen due to the fluids in her body pooling to her peripheries to take the pressure off vital organs. She is still passing the occasional fresh […]
Hi everyone (A fairly graphic account of Emily’s current health status …) Emily is looking beyond terrible at the moment health wise. Very yellow/grey looking and is slowing down a lot in terms of everyday life. She is very hunched over when she walks now and just looks so so sick :( She is having […]
For those that may not already know, our 5th child Alex Robert Wooddin was born on October 5th at 4.47am weighing 7 pound 1 ounce. He is perfect and his big brothers and sisters adore him! Busy times in the Wooddin household! Kath & Gary We know many of you are excited about meeting Alex […]
Emily drew this picture of Smurfette on the magna-doodle – what an awesome artist! Not much to report other than that Em is still managing reasonably well on her current pain relief regime . The morphine is giving her upset stomachs off and on. She can be feeling good in the morning and terrible in […]
Hi everyone, Emily seems pretty settled at the moment and seems to be taking everything in her stride. She has the occasional melt down but she is more than entitled to those. Too tired for school but seems very content just having nice times at home with her family. Emily is still playing with her […]
Hi everyone, The last few days for Emily have been really up and down. Friday was terrible. She was in loads of pain, sweating profusely, had three sleeps throughout the day and barely ate one thing. She was seen by district nurses and her morphine doses have been increased should we need to give a […]
Hi Everyone, Emily turned 9 on Monday and spent the entire day at school at her request. She had wonderful birthday celebrations and was spoilt rotten :). Thank you to all that made it a very special birthday and for all the gifts/cards in the post. Cancer wise, Emily’s pain is still well managed. She […]
Hi everyone, Emily’s pain is still well managed at this stage. She has required extra morphine doses for break through pain on a couple of occasions but on the whole she doesn’t complain much. She is a tough cookie. Goodness knows what she is actually putting up with without letting on. Spends most of her […]
Emily has just had a lovely 9th birthday celebration with a few of her close friends (her actual birthday is not til the 10th of Sept). Went to the movie “Brave,” out for lunch, and then back home for birthday cake. She had to take a morphine tablet after climbing the stairs to the movie […]
Hi everyone, Emily is doing ok. Very tired and sleeping in until 10 or 11am in the mornings lately. This will be due to both the stronger doses of morphine and the disease progression no doubt. She has required further morphine for break through pain a couple of times over the past few days but on the […]
Emily is having a rest day tomorrow (Wednesday) and they will be having absolutely NO visitors. Please respect Kath’s wishes, as she too needs some space and uninterrupted time to spend with Emily.
Hi everyone, Good news and bad news. Good news is Emily managed to get to the Child Cancer “Stars of Courage” kids ball on Friday night and has had a great weekend with family that have come down from up north. Emily met her baby cousin Flynn for the first time and we got some cool photos […]
Hi everyone, Emily’s pain is still being very well managed at this stage with the long acting morphine. Had a visit from the palliative care nurse yesterday and we have a plan in place for when pain worsens. Very difficult reading this plan but it ticks all our boxes in terms of how we want […]
Just a quick update to let everyone know that Emily’s pain is being well managed with slow release morphine 12 hourly . We are able to give her extra morphine for break through pain if need be. She hasn’t required the extra thus far. She has been more content and can actually walk around now that the pain is being […]
Hi everyone, Over the last couple of days Emily has gone down hill quite dramatically and is now requiring oral Morphine to control her pain. The pain in her legs is so severe she can barely walk. She had this pain at her initial diagnosis in 2010. Emily also found a lump on her head. Again, […]
Hi everyone. Just thought I’d do a blog update as a lot of people have been concerned as to why Emily has been away from school for the last couple of weeks. Thanks for your your texts. Apologies if I have been unable to reply. Over the past two weeks Em has been having random pains […]
Not the best week in the Wooddin household this week! Charlotte and Luke have had the flu all week, both spiking temps of 39.5 degrees at times and Emily has been experiencing ongoing back and leg pain over the last couple of days. Any bony or muscular pain Emily experiences concerns me as prior to her initial diagnosis in 2010 her bone […]
Today marks 4 months since we found out Emily had relapsed. She continues to do well and is outside on the trampoline as I type this. Went to watch Ice Age 4 as a family today then the kids all devoured sushi for lunch. Em is still pain free and happy. Awesome!
Hi Everyone. Emily had a great day today and got the opportunity to go to the art studio of Tony Cribb. Tony gave her one of his tin man books with a personal message in the front. Emily said in the car “I will treasure this..” Tony painted a tin man picture titled “Bucketloads of […]
Yesterday marked 3 months since we found out Emily’s cancer had returned. She is still holding her own with absolutely no medical intervention and looks great! We are continuing with the “ignorance is bliss” way of life for now and doing our best to not let cancer get in the way of living. So thankful […]
We were supposed to have a follow up appointment with the Radiation Oncologist today to talk to Emily about how she is getting on since the radiation treatment she had to her jaw in March. She refused to attend the appointment saying “ What is the point in driving all the way there and all […]