Our New Normal

So a week of stomach bugs, coughs, colds, rubbish weather, more trips to the hospital and all those other normal things of winter life in the UK...and life really does feel like it's returning to normal; well, a new sort of normal! Things will be even more normal when PJ starts his new job in January, as well as work for me and perhaps Leo will do four mornings at school instead of three afternoons.

Something else which is normal..well, relatively...is Leo's eye-sight. He attended the Eye Hospital again yesterday and he was in the mood to co-operate and as such, we've ascertained his left eye (the good one) is spot on for his age and the right one is nearly there too. So what's causing the squint and light-sensitivity? Well, probably cataracts! Which is no surprise of course, as we always knew that he would be a candidate for cataracts due to the radiotherapy, and to be honest, PJ and I were kind of quite relieved. Parents relieved their son only has cataracts..well, that's today's reality. This is normal for a child who has been through what his body has been put through.

The next step is that Leo's Hickmann line should be taken out under another general anaesthetic (his 35th this year) and the date at the moment is next Friday, December 12th. Of course, it may not happen if emergency surgery is required on other children. It'll be great if they take it out next Friday as it's another step towards normality plus we can start going swimming again about 2-3 weeks once it's been removed! Woo hoo! Leo was just starting to get to grips with swimming in Spain with his friends Jack, Saul, Neva and Lexi on regular jaunts to Jack's house and their lovely hated outdoor pool. Gosh, how long ago does that feel now??? It was April when Leo last went swimming and jumped like Buzz Lightyear into Marie, Jack and Craig's pool!

Here's to those lovely sunshine-filled days and here's to a 'normal' future. Our new normal, that is!