30/11/09 Day 18. Health has returned and so has the attitude.

Slept in and in a devilish mood. Arguementative and frustrating. He's almost the same old Owen.
Starting to recognise faces on the ward. Kids that left before us, going home for a break who return for the same reasons. A fever or infection. We start to realise that this is a fairly common cycle, where you go home, bursting with excitement, hoping that it will be for a while and return back, deflated, through emergency. At emergency, you present a letter showing that your child is receiving chemotherapy and they are immediately ushered into a room and treated. The protocol is to hit them with broad and potent antibiotics within 10 minutes as their immune system is severely depleted and a trivial bug is life threatening. It was a real surprise as he was in such great spirits. This is more serious than I first thought, and all for the opportunity to go home and sleep in your bed for a night, smell fresh air and catch up with friends. For his mental health, it is worth the risk according to those who know. Not so good for ours. Ah well.... He is still happy...

29/11/09 Day 17. Back in the Oncology ward.

33 hrs out of hospital, 16 hours in Emergency on a trolley. Did not make a lot of sense. Finally moved to Oncology at 1.30pm with a few terse phone calls to the Hospital, from Lee, pushing things along. Back in exactly the same bed as before.
Bloods have re-invigorated O. Hungry and in good spirits.
Lost 2 kgs in weight since Day 1.
Chemo round was stopped because of his fever. They have just restarted it..
Getting a lot of information, some conflicting about what next. For now, I will assume that we will be in for at least 5 days while antibiotics are used to protect him. Then a rest, and 2nd round of Chemo will start. Possibly will not be home for a while..

28/11/09 Day 16. Back in hospital. 33 hrs after going home... as predicted.

Another nice day at home. Went to his mate's birthday party for a short visit. Needed to leave because he was tired. Played with his toys, looked at his vegie garden that Grandad built while he was in hospital. Ate well.

Mobile nurse came around at 8pm and found his temperature up at 38.3 degrees. Call through to the ward and advised to go straight to emergency. Repacked everything. In by 9.30 pm... 33 hrs after leaving. Pumps connected, antibiotics, X-ray, platelets and 2 blood transfusions.

Big night.........

Checking out the new vegie patch.
2 Tomato plants, 2 corn and 1 capsicum.
Should be ready for Xmas.
Had to sit down cos I was tired..

27/11/09 Day 15. He's out!!!

Owen had trouble sleeping because of the excitement. Desperately wants to see Miss Casey and his classmates.. Woke up. Again, no appetite and a typically, a few vomits. Then waits for his finger prick and excitedly tells everyone that drops in that he is leaving for a bit. Drops into school and catches up with Miss Casey and some of his classmates. Hopefully, he will see the rest soon.
With his trusty vomit bag by his side, he spends the afternoon with Mum completing home jobs, pizza for dinner with family friends, medicine from the mobile nurse at 8.00 then off to bed.
Exhausted...

26/11/09 Day 14. Disconnection of pumps. Ready to go home.

Owen is perky and pumped. He has his final pump disconnected and has managed to fill in the day, assisting with the handing out of ice creams, watching the building works and packing up as he readies to go home. He has a slight stoop as he walks because of his main line, but he is singing, humming, dancing (until he sat down because of nausea), and very chatty. All we need is the obstreperous and Owen is back....
Lets hope he gets some quality time at home as they think he will be back in sooner rather than later.





New sleep buddies. Declan the Redkite Bear (Given to me in the Hospital). My drink bottle, my TV remote and nurse call button and vomit bag...

25/11/09 Day 13. Wednesday

Feeling better again. Sitting at the window watching the New Hospital being built.
Owen is responding well to treatment and is not succumbing to nausea...
Then a surprise... Would we like to take him home?.... We are shocked, a little scared but happy.
We are told that they can complete his round of chemotherapy at home with the District Nursing service administering his medication. Despite the joy, we are warned that it will most likely be short lived as he will be back with a fever. Oh well, We would all like to sleep in our beds for once.
Owen is rapt...

24/11/09 Day 12. Tuesday

Feeling better all the time but still no hunger despite threats of a feeding tube up the nose. The feeding tube is quite common in this ward.

Does not want to discuss what foods are available and pushes lollies away. With chemotherapy, the taste sensation change and children move away from sweet foods to savoury foods.

Man. 3 bandaids...
Finger pricks for blood sucks......!

23/11/09 Day 11. Monday

Flat and no hunger for food. Throwing up but still plucky.

An interesting thing happened when a lady from "Comfort First" came. They come around and talk to children about their mental health. Cancer treatment can be a long one and very exhausting mentally. 11 days in hospital and he has had 19 finger pricks, 3 operations etc, etc. He is given a string with his name, a good luck charm, and a Koala from the Koala Foundation. He then puts on different colour and shaped beads, each signifying the number of times and types of procedures he has endured. This becomes his "stripes" or badge of honour. He, like other children display them proudly on their pump stands or keep them close by for comfort. The "Beaded Journey" becomes a significant part of their life.
1st blood transfusion today........

22/11/09 Day 10. Sunday. Feeling better

Feeling better today. Though not eating much.

Hangin' with me Bro, playing PSP.

21/11/09 Day 9. Saturday.

Feeling well. Visitors dropped in and Owen is chatty and cheeky. Fell flat in the afternoon and nauseous. Started throwing up from 4pm - 8pm then perked up. Crashed not long afterwards for a heavy nights sleep.

20/11/09 Day 8. The big chat with the Doctors and Chemo begins

The diagnosis on what type of Leukaemia is still inconclusive and ongoing with samples being sent to other hospitals for testing. To those that have been researching, we are told that Owen has both AML and ALL. It is predominantly AML. Uncommon but not unheard of. It will be treated as AML and as more information comes in, then the treatment will be tailored to suit. We are told to put the next 4-5 weeks on hold as the hospital will be Owens home. He will get a round of Chemotherapy lasting 10 days. Then he will rest for 18 days before the next round. During these rest periods, his immunity will be depleted and this is when he will be vulnerable to infection. We will end up at the Childrens if his health deteriorates and we are warned that this is most likely.



Chemotherapy starts......







Serious Plumbing
1 Double pump
2 Single pumps
4 pumps total..........













Check out my sprinkler system
Bit messy though.....
Must talk to the plumbers.

19/11/09 Day 7. Hickman/Central line fitted

Fasting again. Then another operation and my Hickman line is fitted allowing all my medication to go straight into my heart.

18/11/09 Day 6. Clown Doctors and Helicopters

My doctors decided to get my Hickman/Central line fitted today, so I was fasting all day. This made me very grumpy. No food and noooo water. Also was interviewed on Royal Childrens own television station, and met the funniest, funniest clowns ever. "The Clown Doctors".

After waiting all day, 2 helicopters landed with sick children from a bus crash. So at 9.00pm I was told that they had to work on the crash children instead of me. I was moved to the Cancer Ward and ate at 9.30pm.


Operation to fit my red nose.

My room looks over the Helipad.

Helicopters come in everyday.
These are from the bus crash

Dr doctor and Dr tickle were very funny. They had tonnes of knock/knock jokes. Fart and poo jokes.

Everyone laughed..

17/11/09 Day 5. 2nd Op. Bone marrow sample

Inconclusive results with the 1st test... Back into theatre for a bone marrow sample to try to confirm what type of leukaemia it is.

"that is my hip, not my bum and, damn, a

Wiggles band aid"

16/11/09 Day 4. 1st Op. Lumbar pucture and marrow aspirant

After an anxious and tearful weekend, oddly enough we looked forward to the first vist to theatre so we could start getting answers.

2 pumps...

And my stand which will follow me everywhere, toilet, shower, everywhere...

14/11/09 Day 2 Relaxing. 1st pump

Got my 1st pump. Relaxing, watching my own TV. Cool...

Friday the 13th Nov 2009. Day 1

Owen was unwell the night before. He complained of a sore knee, swollen neck glands and had a limp that seemed to come and go.
Off to the Doctors for a check up and a day off school. Dr Molloy was concerned having seen Owen 4 weeks earlier, with the same swollen glands. He ordered blood tests then and found nothing unusual. A new set of blood tests were ordered, with results expected on Monday. A phone call came through at 6pm from the clinic, telling us to go straight to the Royal Children's Hospital. We were told to pack for an overnight stay, and that Owen's bloods showed severe anaemia. We knew that things were not good.....
The unfortunate news was broken to us at 10pm, then we broke the news to Owen, who bravely took it all in.

Thick masses of hair.

Check out that crop of hair..

Moptop eats a lollypop..

Gentle Giant.. The protector

Cousin Maya

Safety First... Right.. Lets get to work

Owen, the worker, in his favourite outfit. Dressed up, ready to take on any project.