at long last..... sorry!

This post is shockingly overdue.... sorry!
No real reason for such a long silence, except life.

Lola is making progress each day with her arm function. It's a long haul and physiotherapy is rarely met with squeals of glee - three lots of 20 minutes a day sounds so manageable, but relies on everything else in the day running smoothly and temperaments being conducive. We manage it most days and intersperse bowling games and throwing plastic frogs at one another to up the interest level.

The new chemotherapy regime has, so far, proved less harsh and Lola has recovered from each round well enough to spend several days a week in school, sit her SATs tests, go go-karting and occasionally spend a few hours with friends. It's fantastic to see more of the old Lola. She is able to enjoy the company of her sisters again and I hear far more laughter than I have in a long while. She has convinced me that she will be flying to Italy in the October half-term, and nothing will stop her. So.... we now all have flights booked!

Sadly, my incredibly special Grandad Ivan died a few weeks ago. He was on a mine-sweeper on the River Orwell during the war and loved this area with a passion. His Altzheimer's meant that for many years he was prone to repetition and he could never talk to us enough about Shotley and the HMS Ganges. The morning after he died, the girls made boats for their Great Grandad with their own special messages to him. After school we went down to the river, skimmed stones across the water and sailed the boats. I will try to attach some of the photos. It was a beautiful and comforting way to say goodbye.

Since then, Greta has recovered from a horrendous bout of chicken pox and looks almost healthy again, Nancy has been braver than I could ever be and stood in front of the school in assembly to sing 'Imagine' unaccompanied and Lola has taken part in an inter-schools Spelling Bee Competition.... life is never dull! Oh... and I managed another far too short but fantastic weekend in Italy. It rained... and rained... but I had the loveliest time. Thanks Laura and Alvise for delicious lunch in Orvieto, to Davide and Helene for crazy ping-pong mania and to Joe for birthday presents, walks, encouraging me to eat my body weight in gelato and helping me to relax. xxx

My on-going mission continues to be the consumption of calories by Lola. She was given special dispensation by the dietician to remain NG free until next chemo on the understanding that her weight rises above 30kilos. It's a hard, frustrating battle and it's not going well. i think she has tried, and rejected, almost every supplement going whilst desperately wanting to achieve the goal. It's heart-rending to see because she is eating quite well, especially in comparison to the few months before her op. Unfortunately, it's not enough to gain weight and the dreaded tube is looming. Sometimes she rages and last week said it was my fault she wasn't gaining as I was encouraging her to enjoy life and so she wasn't sitting around on the sofa enough to gain weight!! Great words of wisdom.....