Celebration Video 2008

Been tinkering whilst watching the X Factor Semi-Finals this evening and wanted to put together a nice, happy, fulfilling and essentially uplifting video of Leo. He's coming on leaps and bounds and doing brilliantly this week. His behaviour is returning to normal with fewer and fewer set-days at the various hospitals. He is also able to tell us how he is feeling which not only makes PJ and I feel better, but also helps lighten the load for him.

So enjoy this little video by clicking on the picture below of Leo playing merrily on the beach at Los Alcazares in Murcia back in April and of course, due to the issue with comments on here i.e. I cannot seem to find them once people post them after taking them off due to the personal nature, please, please do feel free to post your comments on the video site.

Thanks again for all your help and support; it's helped more than we could ever portray by words, photos or videos.

Off to support my cousin Nicola in the GRIM Challenge tomorrow and just to give you an idea...it's minus 2 outside as we speak so the course will be somewhat challenging!

Photos and video (I hope) to follow.

Thanks to all for your sponsorship; you've made it possible for Disney to be a real possibility for Leo this year and ahead of Christmas...it's just 8 days until we stroll up Main Street, Disneyland Paris and who knows how far away this whole cancer thing will feel then.

In a way, I am pleased we had that relapse scare a few weeks ago (with a massive dose of hindsight), as it means we're going this year and not waiting and waiting and waiting. We always seem to put things off until there may be a better time but hey, when it comes to living, there's no time like the present!



Merry Xmas 2008

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!

Boogie

Leo's always had great taste in music and so this time, it's a little boogie to Take That!

Been to the Pictures

Today brought Leo's first trip to the cinema ever and he just loved it! We watched Madagascar 2 and our good friends Mel and Shaun joined us, along with Leo's friend and their son Charlie, plus my sister Denise and her friend Rosie. A lovely time was had by all. Mel had even done homemade popcorn which Leo tucked into, kind of! Apart from half a bowl of spag bollast night, it's the only food he's had this week. So we'll be having a conversation again this week, with the doctors and dietitican to see if we can be doing something more to get nutrition into him.