Decisions, decisions...

Yes, it's all been quiet here and whilst I'd like to say there's been no blog postings because we've been terribly busy, well, actually, it's been the opposite. Our tiredness has caught up with us all at a time when 32 boxes of our life's belongings have arrived from Spain, Leo undergoing chemo, Leo's eye still being sore (but better) and the weather is so changeable, no plans can be made from day to day.

Leo did well but was very sick again with his chemo at the weekend. Decisions need to be made about whether he has the maintenance chemo which would last 24 weeks and include one daily chemo tablet as well as weekly IV chemo via his central line for three out of every four weeks.

There's pro's and con's for deciding one way or the other but as directed by his doctors, if you search for clinical evidence as to which way to go, you'll only see positive research results. However, if there were negative research, it doesn't get published so you can essentially take the positive published articles with a pinch of salt (as his doctor has told us). Plus the upside we can expect from continuing his chemotherapy would only improve his chances of survival by between 2% and 5%. So this would improve his outcome to 52% to 55%, if the research is to be believed.

However, our doctors are advising they cannot advise on whether we choose one path or the other as they are not convinced either way. It is fundamentally down to PJ and I, although actually, if Leo won't take a tablet every day for 24 weeks, then one could say that he decides whether this treatment continues or not.

The downside are the risks of major infection due to his central line and his immuno-supressed system which if he's in nursery, could make the difference between life and death. Ultimately, if we decide to go for it with the additional treatment, are we only extending his life artificially and therefore hospital visits, when we should perhaps have faith in the current treatment protocol, and have faith that he'll be in the 50% that go on and survive the cancer after 5 years. Having faith at a time like this is questionable though...

We also spent today at the Eye Hospital and unfortunately it appears the vision in Leo's right eye is not as good as his left. The reason for this is unknown right now as it's too early to be due to the radiotherapy as this should creep up on him over the next few years, but it could be that the cancer caused more damage to his optic nerve than first thought.

Today was the first of three vision tests where the eye docs have been able to assess the left and right eye individually, so today is basically a benchmark. Shame his vision is already going or more affected than we'd first thought, but having said that, if Leo reaches the age of 40, healthy, having kicked cancer in the backside, with full remission and no major side effects but can only see with his left eye, then we'll take that right now...where do we sign?