Treatment

My doctor says I will need 4-6 intensive sessions of chemotherapy over the next 6 months. Each session is 7-10 days long. I will have to stay in hospital all the time and won't be able to venture out of my bed. I will really dislike it because I like to be out and about exploring the surroundings. Argh ... the only comforting thoughts are that Mummy & Daddy will be with me most of the time and the doctors and nurses at the Paediatrics Inpatient Cancer Centre (PICC) are very nice to me (they play with me and sing nursery rhymes). But I don't like them when they try to poke needles into my body and hook me up with tubes - I cried more in the last week than all of my first year put together. When I had Mr Hickman inserted, the Sister at PICC surprised me with a big Elmo balloon and one of the doctors pasted Pooh Bear stickers on my dressing.

I will not be able to have visitors or come into contact with people unnecessarily during this period. Daddy and Mummy will also have to minimise contact with others. I will be extremely weak and vulnerable after each chemo session. The week following chemo is most critical for me. I cannot afford to risk even a simple infection, which can be deadly to me.

I am supposed to begin treatment sometime next week. During this time, if you would like to know the progress of my treatment, please visit my blog page. I will try to update it every few days when I get the chance to.

I hope I will respond well to chemotherapy and that the cancer will be in complete remission so I do not need a bone marrow transplant. I am also hoping that I will not get a relapse so that I can be cured of cancer. I want to be able to live a normal life like the rest of the general population. Wish me luck.