Author: Oana

Dear Georgie: 100 things

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    My precious boy, there are so many things you will miss here on earth I would have loved you to enjoy. 1. A splash in the sea 2. Warm, buttery toast 3. The feel of the rain on your cheeks 4. Teething 5. Play dates and mums and tots 6. Watermelon 7. Mosquito bites 8. Ice cream 9. Bedtime stories 10. Christmas mornings 11. Warm socks 12. Sippy cups 13. Toy trains and airplanes 14. Cuddles in mummy and daddy’s bed in the morning 15. Squabbles with Emma 16. Learning to share toys 17. Potty training 18. Bee stings 19. Superman dreams 20. Playing football with daddy 21. Learning to cook with mummy 22. Scones 23. iPad games and movies 24. Playgroup 25. The local library 26. Big boy pants 27. Your first girlfriend in primary school 28. Your first kiss 29. Your first heartbreak 30. Finding your true love 31. Sex 32. Your first summer job 33. Your first paid job 34. Your primary school teachers 35. Making friends 36. Finding out …

What we found unhelpful while looking after a terminally ill child

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I need to rant. I so do!  Although we found most people helpful considerate, kind and understanding during the past two months, there were things that time and again tipped us over the edge. I am not writing this post to make people feel bad but to let people know what is appropriate and what is not when someone’s baby or child is very ill. 1. Don’t say stupid things like “chemo kills” to a parent whose baby is about to start chemotherapy! The evening before Georgie was due to start his treatment a “friend” kept Alex up with emails about how dangerous chemo is for the human body and how is eventually kills…And actually,dear “friend”, it doesn’t. Most children undergoing chemo go through it successfully and their lives are restored back to health. This comes from nurses who have been working in the cancer ward for decades. Georgie’s case has been atypical and unique. Doctors were astounded he didn’t respond to treatment. The norm would have been that he did. So please, please, check …

Advice we found helpful with an ill child

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Since we found out Georgie was ill we received a lot of support and practical help, for which we are enormously grateful. One of the other things we found really helpful was talking to people who have been through the same experience or similar. So here are pieces of advice we found precious and have been clinging on: 1. Don’t blame yourself! I have wracked my brain trying to figure out if I did something that might have caused the onset of Georgie’s leukemia. Was it that McDonald’s meal? The stress I had during pregnancy? Taking him to have his vaccines? The “what ifs” are torturous but the reality is that we have done nothing to have caused his illness. It just happened. To an apparently healthy baby. And there was nothing we could have done to prevent it. 2. Don’t ask “Why?” A father whose baby went through a similar experience told us something that left us breathless. He had prayed a lot about his baby’s illness and God asked him: “Why not?” We …

#Morning Stories

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I live with my heart split in two. I have two lives at the moment. One is a “normal”, day to day existence where I go shopping for clothes with my four year old and we share a bun in a coffee shop. The other one is the world of central lines and chemo treatment and tube feeds. The heart-breaking bit is that they are all for my wee baby who is not even four months old… Days before Georgie was diagnosed, I signed up for the #MorningStories Challenge. Back then, the challenge would have been to get both kids dressed and ready by 8.45, in time to get Emma to playgroup! Oh, if I could turn back the time… Now, the challenges are much more complex. I try not to think at the other side of my life while I am with one of the children. Try not to worry about them missing me and me missing essential tidbits of their daily existence. A smile, a gurgle, a picture being painted, a deep thought …

What the future holds…

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I am spending 24 hours home with Emma, trying to catch up with what is happening in her wee life. As you can imagine, she is struggling to comprehend the situation and has found various means of coping with it. Like her daddy, she has resorted to chocolate for comfort and like her mummy, she gurns and moans over every small inconvenience…Being home with her and trying to recreate some normality would hopefully see her settling a bit and starting to eat proper food again. Two days ago we had a chat with the hematologist looking after Georgie. As his case is so rare (she was telling us that the medical journals have only 60 cases documented of his condition, with only one other baby his age having ever had this before!) she is still learning herself. She told us that in the next few days and weeks she will try and contact experts in the area, both in Europe and elsewhere, and try and get their opinion on the outcome of this situation. As …