“Mum, Mum, I have enough hair for a hair clip!” Emily’s hair is growing heaps. She is feeling awesome at the moment and has put on one and a half kilograms since her last round of treatment. She has been to school as much as she can and has loved every minute of it. Yesterday, […]
Emily finished round 2 of her Antibody Therapy on Friday morning and recovered within 24 hours. As horrible as the treatment is, fortunately she bounces back quickly, unlike chemo where she would get home and bottom out, spiking temps, vomiting and often ending up back in hospital. Emily felt well enough to attend her classmate’s Halloween […]
Emily commenced her second round of antibody therapy yesterday morning. She coped well for the first few hours, then the side effects kicked in and she had a very unsettled night. She developed a worrisome rash and had an unrelenting cough that caused her to vomit. Today wasn’t much better… Emily was unrecognisable today. I […]
Emily is at home now after a tiring week in hospital receiving a treatment that produces a mass number of white blood cells. The side effects were supposed to be severe flu like symptoms but fortunately Emily coped well. Her appetite decreased dramatically though and another gastric tube had to be put in today. She […]
Emily has enjoyed some time with family and friends throughout the holidays. Last week she went to a two day drama course with her cousin Jaymee and performed as a bird in a Little Red Riding Hood play. Kath said, “she was cute and confident”. This week Emily is back in hospital. A 96 hour […]
Emily has been at home this week but has been making daily trips to the hospital for blood test etc. Check out the following site, Treating Neurobalstoma – CBS News Video (make sure you watch the video). Scroll down to Hayley’s Story, the one with the 2 girls holding hands. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/29/eveningnews/main6912677.shtml
My name is Vanessa and I am one of the blog administrators and went to high school with Katherine. I would like to share my thoughts and what I have seen through this latest round of treatment. I had the privilege of spending some one-on-one time with Emily on Tuesday night. Going through this journey […]
Some pics of Emily and a very wary and concerned Mother! Taken when her pain had subsided a bit. She would not look at the camera. Emily has almost completed her first block of antibody treatment. She is the second child in NZ to have the treatment so a specific team of nurses and doctors have […]
This week Emily has been having some preliminary tests to ensure she is well enough for the antibody therapy that will commence on Mon Sept 20th. She has had heart tests, kidney function tests, blood tests etc. Lots of daily appointments. All of the tests have been ok which means the treatment can take place. Whilst […]
Yesterday was Emily’s 7th Birthday. Her mum and dad organised a surprise party with her her classmates. They were entertained by a magician, followed by afternoon tea and cake. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this such a special day for Emily. Vanessa & Leona
What a day in Christchurch. The Wooddin’s spent a lot of the day in their ‘bunker’. Four children take a while to round up at 4.35 in the morning! Tonight they’re all sleeping on a mattress in the lounge – together.
Emily and her family have almost recovered from the swine flu. Em was able to use tamiflu so has recovered much quicker than the rest of the family. Coming up this week are a number of tests prior to starting the antibody therapy. Today she had a heart scan, to check her heart is strong enough […]
Emily has 2 radiation treatments to go. She is coping really well. The oncologist has given the go ahead for Emily to have half days at school when she is up to it. Next week there will be loads of appointments in preparation to start the antibody therapy. Hopefully she will get to go to […]
Day 6 of radiation treatment today. Emily is starting to get a red patch on her back that looks like mild sunburn. Emily also had a blood transfusion today as her iron levels have to remain above 100 throughout the radiation treatment. They were 98. She was not impressed to be in hospital for the […]
Emily is coping well with her radiation treatment so far. She has vomitted a few times but overall it’s well controlled with anti nausea medication. A walk in the park compared to previous treatments. 9 treatments to go. Emily will be commencing the antibody therapy regime on September 11th. The day after her 7th birthday! […]
Today Emily had the first of her 14 days of radiation treatment. It was fairly stress free and the actual treatment only took about two minutes. Took longer to get there and back home. The petrol vouchers all the kind people gave to us are definitely being put to good use considering we have to […]
Hi everyone, Kath here. Thought I’d do a quick blog update and thank everybody again for their continuous support and concern for Emily and our family. It has helped us significantly throughout the last 8 months. We are extremely appreciative. Emily is doing well at home. She continues to have frequent visits from the Outreach […]
Emily is continuing to do well at home. She is having a CT scan tomorrow to plan for her radiation treatment. This treatment will start on Monday 9 August and will require 3 weeks worth of daily half hour appointments (the radiation procedure itself takes about 3 minutes). Leona
Emily got home from hospital yesterday afternoon. She is exhausted and has lost 2 kgs. She is off all pain relief. The Wooddins are now waiting to hear when the radiation treatment will take place. We will give more details about this when we know what’s happening. For the time being, the focus will be […]
Emily is still in hospital recovering from her surgery. She is out of the High Dependency Unit and back in CHOC. She is not allowed to eat until her bowels are working properly, as they don’t function for a few days after surgery. Kath said that Emily is “hungry, grumpy and sore but otherwise healing […]
Emily’s surgery today was successful. The tumor had shrunk to the size of a marble (at diagnosis it was the size of a peach) and shared the same blood supply as the kidney so it was also removed. All went well. She has been sleeping for most of the day. Due to space on this […]
Emily is back in hospital for a few days getting IV antibiotics to clear up an infection around the nephrostomy (tube) site. Her surgery is scheduled for the 16th of July. Vanessa
Yesterday Emily and Jaymee had a lovely visit with Margaret Mahy at her Governors Bay home. Thanks to Aunty Chris for organising this special outing. We are waiting on a surgery date to remove Emily’s left kidney and the tumour which is attached. She is enjoying time at home with the odd visit to […]
At 12:31am on Saturday 26 June, Kath and Gary welcomed Luke Thomas Wooddin (7lb 3) into the world. The Wooddin’s are all doing well and are loving this happy and exciting time. Leona & Vanessa
Emily is doing well. She has been in hospital this afternoon for a platelets transfusion. Emily has asked us to tell everyone that she doesn’t want any more presents, as she wants to enjoy her birthday (in September)….. we think that’s fair enough. Kath has said, that whilst she has been appreciative of the gifts, she has been […]
After 26 days in hospital, Emily got to go home today! The stem cell transplant means her immunity will be compromised for the next few months so she is on a multitude of medications. Emily will continue to have frequent trips into the hospital for various tests and medication adjustments. The next treatment will be […]
Emily is improving a little bit each day. At the moment she is having trouble tolerating her nasogastric feed and has been vomiting at times. It can take a while for the gut to adjust after the effects of the chemo and mucositis. Emily won’t be able to go home until her nutrition is sorted. […]
Emily was weaned off the morphine today. She will be slowly weaning off the intravenous nutrition over the next few days. Tonight Emily is very tired but more comfortable. Beads of courage – 423! Leona
This photo gives an indication of how much poking and prodding Emily has to cope with each day – every couple of hours the nurses are required to take blood and give several medications through her Hickman line. Stem cells are expected to begin grafting 10-21 days after being infused. Yesterday was day 10 and […]
Emily is a little brighter today. A huge thank you to everyone for the cards, letters, meals, messages, positive thoughts, babysitting etc. Your support makes a real difference to the Wooddin’s. A special message for Room 7 – “Thank you for your cards, I love the dot to dots and stuff. I thought they were really cute. They made […]