And Breathe...

A collective sigh of relief as Leo's MRI scan is unchanged and chest x-ray is clear.

The only things we need to follow now for the next two months until his next chest x-ray is to check whether he's developing cataracts, and also get some decent sunglasses to protect his eyes in this sweltering summer we're due!

Plus we're going to have his height and weight followed up at an oncology-endocrine clinic to ensure he is growing as he should. I did joke that height is not exactly part of Leo's genetic make-up but in all seriousness, this could prove even more problematic.

The damage done by the radiotherapy, plus the 7 months of chemotherapy which arrested his development altogether, combine to slow and even stop his growth over the next year or so. He's grown about 2 cms in one year and whilst he lost lots of weight during treatment, he's only now back where he was when diagnosed. So a close eye is needed to see when they decide the time is right for the growth hormone process to start.

The lump we found on Leo's right arm is not too much of a concern as it's not discernably bigger in the past week. This is good news as rhabdomyosarcomas grow very aggressively and very quickly. It has not grown or if it has, it's growing very slowly so just keeping an eye on things for now.

So life continues for the next few weeks and the process of increased anxiety starts all over again until his next chest x-ray in two months time. This is a completely irrational emotional reaction as cancer does not wait for x-rays and scans. If it decides to grow, it will do so and the rational thought process is that the cancer could now be growing and we won't know about it for 2 months! That might be a good thing to not know about it though as at least we can try to continue as though it's not here? Does that make sense?

If you don't know you have cancer, your quality of life is surely better because as soon as that death sentence is cast, and that's what it would be if it comes back, life then changes in ways I will not allow myself to even think about ...

Tomorrow's another day ... and I will embrace it as though it's our last ... yet again and s I do every day.

I am so grateful to be able to spend my days with Leo. He's a joy and a treat to be with - I may even share with you some of his most recent artwork which is outstanding, but then I would say that as the most proud mum in the world, ever!