What a day! In the words of Gary, “It’s been an eventful day for the Wooddin’s in Hotel Hagley!” Emily has been feeling miserable with the mucositis causing more pain and another temperature today. Another antibiotic has been added and her morphine has been increased to keep her comfortable throughout this time. Gary is in […]
Today has been a quiet day in hospital for Emily and Kath. Em has been feeling miserable from the mucositis and is now on continuous morphine to combat the pain she has been experiencing. She has also started on an antibiotic as she spiked a temperature this evening. Emily said she is feeling settled tonight. […]
Emily has been quite flat today. Evidence of mucositis is beginning to show. Mucositis is the painful inflammation and ulceration of the mucous membranes lining the digestive tract and is an inevitable side effect of high dose chemotherapy. Tonight Emily’s throat is extremely sore, making talking and swallowing difficult. Tomorrow Emily will be put back on TPN feeding, this […]
There is not much news from the hospital today. Emily has had some nausea and is not interested in eating very much at the moment. Gary is holding down the fort at home and is turning into a domestic whizz – folding the washing and doing the groceries as well as keeping Jack and Charlotte […]
Today was a big day! Today Emily had her stem cells re-infused. This involved slowly syringing 8 x 25ml bags of her stem cells into her central line. Whilst the procedure itself is painless, the substance that preserved the stem cells while they were frozen caused major stomach cramps, ear pain and arm pain. Emily […]
Today Emily had her infusion of Melphalan, a super high dose chemo. Emily began vomiting within two hours of the infusion but brightened up as the day went on. The effects of the chemo from the past week are starting to show and will get worse before they get better. Emily’s stem cells will be […]
No news today. Em continues to be in isolation as she will be for the entirety of the stem cell procedure. Gary is with Emily in hospital tonight. Vanessa & Leona
Em’s spirits were high today and she loved spending time with her cousins. Above is a picture of Emily with Jake. Vanessa & Leona
Emily’s chemo started at midnight last night. She has to take sixteen chemo tablets every 6 hours for the next few days. Emily is in complete isolation and is not very happy about staying in her room. Leona & Vanessa
Emily has had a great 2 weeks at home. She has enjoyed spending some time with her family and has had ‘play-dates’ with her close friends. One highlight was being able to go on the children’s TV show What Now with her cousin Jaymee. With Emily continuing treatment we are organising meals etc to assist during the […]
Emily is starting ‘high dose chemotherapy’ on Thursday 27th May. They will be administering the chemo over the course of approximately a week and then the stem cells will be infused. The stem cells will then have to graft into her bone marrow which takes approximately 3 weeks. Emily should recover from these procedures by the […]
There is still no news as to when Emily’s next treatment will take place. In the meantime, she has been enjoying some happy time at home feeling great! Leona & Vanessa
Emily has over 320 Beads of Courage. She has had a nice weekend at home. Vanessa & Leona.
Emily went to school for a few hours this morning. She joined her class in a performance of a song called ‘Bad Hair Day’ in the school assembly. We are laughing at the irony – perhaps it would have been more fitting to be called ‘No Hair Day’. We are expecting to find out on […]
Look at this cute, cheeky, happy girl! Emily was in hospital today for a few minor treatments in preparation for what is to come. Still no news on the timing of the next treatment. Below is a picture of Emily and her friend Melanie enjoying some playtime together in CHOC. Vanessa & Leona
The Wooddins had a quality weekend at home together which included an outing to Orana Park yesterday. When a lady walked past them with a llama, Jack said, “Look, it’s a sheep horse!” Emily was able to spend some time at school today. She was excited to wear her school uniform. Kath and Gary are […]
Unfortunately they didn’t get enough stem cells yesterday so the procedure was repeated this afternoon. Emily was told at the very last minute to avoid anxiety. Gary has been with Emily this afternoon and is staying with her tonight. Vanessa & Leona.
Today Emily had her stem cell collection. She was miserable. Fingers crossed they’ve got enough. If not then it will be repeated tomorrow (see explanation of procedure on previous entry). This is a picture of Emily during the procedure this afternoon. Vanessa & Leona
The following information outlines Emily’s upcoming treatment. As mentioned in previous blogs, this treatment will include high dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. Emily will have an autologous stem cell transplant. This means Emily’s own stem cells will be used. They will be collected prior to the high dose chemo and then returned to […]
The Wooddins have had a lovely week at home together. Emily is hospital having a blood transfusion today. She is having a general anesthetic tomorrow to insert a line in her femoral artery in preparation for taking her stem cells when they are at an optimal level. Leona & Vanessa
Emily spent two and a half hours at school today. She loved doing the school work and socialising with her friends again. Kath is trying to give Emily as many ‘normal’ experiences as possible before the dreaded ‘high dose’ chemotherapy that is ahead of her in the coming weeks. The high dose therapy will mean […]
Emily went to school to visit her class for half an hour today. The children were excited to see her and she very candidly and confidently told everyone what is happening in her world at the moment. This evening Emily went into hospital for her first round of injections in preparation for stem cell collection. […]
Emily has coped well with her 8th round of chemo (3 days worth). She is home now but will be having daily injections to stimulate the growth of stem cells which will be harvested when they are at an optimal level. We will explain the stem cell collection procedure closer to collection time. Emily will […]
Emily is in hospital tonight having her 8th round of chemo. No other news. Vanessa & Leona
Yesterday Emily had a general anaesthetic to have bone marrow taken for testing. Today the doctor rang and said there was zero evidence of neuroblastoma in the bone marrow. More FANTASTIC news! Yet more reason to continue celebrating today. Kath and Gary would like to say thank you again to everyone for the support they […]
Today Kath and Gary received pleasing results from the CT scan Emily had on Friday. As mentioned previously, Emily had a dye injected before her scan to highlight the neuroblastoma cancer cells in her body. The scan from Friday revealed a significant and amazing reduction in the amount of cancer remaining in Emily’s bones. Kath […]
Another good day at home, eating ice-cream and hanging out with the neighbours. Normal school holiday type behaviour. Lots of colouring-in today. Vanessa & Leona
Emily is back home after 17 hectic nights in hospital recovering from the infection she had in her bowel. They are very happy to be home! Yesterday Emily had a staging scan to assess the size of the tumor. The results will indicate whether the tumor is small enough to be removed or whether further […]
Gary is working away quietly in the background threading tiny beads onto a bracelet. He is a man of many talents! I should also mention that he managed to burn the popcorn so terribly that it stank out the entire CHOC ward as well as the children’s ward next door! It was so burnt it […]
Emily is still being weaned off her intravenous feeds. They are slowly integrating food back into her diet, just gradually so her stomach can handle it. Gary is spending tonight in hospital with Em. Emily saw an ad on TV today about a Mothers Day competition which you have to write in and say why […]