Knit Your Square to Give Your Share - PART 4

mioliere

Thanks, Nursemaggie - I think teddies are a universal panacea and you're never too old for one, are you? I just imagine one there watching over him. Although he's almost fifteen, like most boys, he's a bit of a softy, and he still loves the crocheted blanket I made for him years ago.

Jean - I will look forward to your email about the spready.

Thanks to you all for all your kind words and positive vibes.

KathyXX

nursemaggie

mioliere I agree with the teddies. When my youngest boy was 15 he actually asked for a teddy for Christmas.

Teddy stinks as DS is 20 but still at that sweaty teenage stage. I have great difficulty in prizing Teddy off him to wash. He cuddles him every night.

With the NHS and cancer care you get the best treatment there is. I meant to say earlier I found out today my treatment per week costs nearly as much as my annual income. How would I manage without it. We should fight for it. I will have this treatment every day for the rest of my life. My operation and the 5 days I spent in intensive care would probably have cost around £40,000 each.

I will remember Sam in my prayers until you tell me he is better.

Went to Aldi tonight 9 large balls of yarn fell into my trolly. Only acrylic but then I am allergic to wool.

mioliere

Thank you so much, Nursemaggie. I am pleased your son still enjoys his teddy. I wish you all the best for the future; it's sad that you will have to have ongoing treatment, but the alternative doesn't bear thinking of, does it? My son and his wife are overwhelmed at the level of treatment and care that Sam is receiving - the doctors and nurses are wonderful, and they are dedicated to the work they do. It truly is a vocation, not just a job, to them. My family has needed the NHS on and off for as long as I can remember, and I shall always be grateful to it. Once I am back in the UK for good, I will never take it for granted the way I did before we moved to France. The NHS truly is the best health care in the world.

KathyXX

Pippa.S

kathy - continuing love and hugs being sent to you, Sam and your family x a teddy is a great idea he will love it and I bet he will keep it always, he may have 'manned up' but I am sure he will be touched when he receives it and will remember always who made it for him at a very difficult time in his life
OH and I have a very good friend who had leukaemia (AML) when he was 8 years old,I don't need to tell you how bad it was for him, he is now 65 still working, partners OH every week playing snooker, learned to salsa, did deep sea diving up to a few years ago and still rides a bike

f1 - same thing happened when Mom was in the brand spanking new Queen Elizabeth hospital here in Birmingham...runny strawberry jelly in a little plastic tub YUK!!!
The care was second to none but the grub was errrgh
chalky - know exactly what you mean 'been there done that' so MANY times and still never learn
jean - how is your OH coming along now hope he is well on the road to recovery
nursemaggie - ooo you had to say it now I got to go have a look at ALDI :rotfl:
anakat - love the thoughtful teddy pic x

I have a few things to update but I will leave them until the weekend, I need to sort them out

We were at the Dental Hospital for OH's check up today, seems the radiotherapy did some damage to his gums and some of his teeth, he had one out last time we went, trouble is it takes a long time to heal and the bleeding goes on so long, but eventually it does stop. Even just the check up really knocks him about, a combination I think of the long walk across town, the wait(an hour today) and the time in the chair(another hour) he was so tired when we got back I made him go have a nap, he has been asleep on the sofa for a couple of hours now

Love to you all and keep warm temperature is dropping here and snow is forecast brrrr
Love Annie xx

mioliere

Pippa; thanks for your kind words, and hearing about your friend has really encouraged me. To think that he has achieved all that having been so ill as a child is amazing, and I thank you so much for sharing his story. You've no idea how positive it has made me feel. I am so glad that he is still living life to the fullest. I am sending hugs to your OH, and hope that he is starting to recover from his trip to the Dental Hospital. If it does get really cold, I hope he doesn't have to go out for a while so that he can really rest up without having to fight the weather.

Just to keep you all up to date, I had a call from my son this morning and Sam is doing as well as can be and, so far, has not reacted badly to any of the chemo or other medications he is on, but it's early days yet, of course. He is now in a ward, not in a room of his own. He doesn't mind that but there is a six year old boy in there who is very ill, which Sam finds distressing, obviously. My son said the facilities on that floor are amazing; they have rooms with X-Boxes and other computer games, full Internet access, and a TV lounge. He and Sam watched two movies yesterday, so that helped take their minds of things. They are hoping that he can come home on Friday if he's up to it. My son and his wife want that but are worried about doing things right for him, and about infection control, but they will have a community nurse calling in on them every day, and she will also be on call, and they can take him straight back in to hospital if they need to. They have a lovely home with lots of space, so I think it will be easier to set things up for him than if they were stuck in a small flat. I don't know how long he will be allowed to stay at home, but I think it will do them all good. His sister, Lucy, is still very upset about how ill her brother is, and it will be good for them to spend time together at home rather than in hospital. One thing that has bothered him is that some of the nurses are young and attractive, and they've had to examine him - he's a bit shy, but his best friend was visiting him yesterday and rating the nurses out of 10. Poor Sam was embarrassed about that, but it shows that he's not focusing on his illness all the time, bless him. I am hoping that we can talk to him on Skype at the weekend, but that will be up to him. The good thing is that my son sounds a little more positive, and Sam is getting used to it now that he is a week down the line from the day he was diagnosed. I think it will do them all good to be at home together, even if it's only for a few days. I feel a little more positive, too; trying to get to sleep last night was a nightmare, so I hope I can get some sleep tonight. Thank you all for being there, and for being so caring.

I will try and get back on board with the whole thread in the next few days; it's been a difficult week waiting for news and coming to terms with it all, but things do seem more positive now, and I am feeling a little easier having talked to my son today.

KathyXX

chalky_75

Hello one and all. Lots and lots of love tucked in.xxxx
pippa what a wonderful story ... I am so glad it gas helped kathy I was telling my eldest daughter all about dear Sam and she was telling me of a friend of her partners who similarly had leukaemia and he has fully recovered and he and his wife are now expecting their first baby.

I hope Doh soon feels much better. What a shame to have such an upset.

Kathy I can only imagine what your nights are like. Everything becomes even more horrendous when you are trying to sleep. Each morning I pull, back the curtains and think that Sam is another day through his treatment . I so hope the weekend works out well. It will be so lovely for them to be all together. However, I am so glad the hospital is so well equipped and has so much to offer.

Maybe in a little while when things have settled a little bit we could resurrect our joint blanket venture and make a nice one for the hospital. Even if, for infection reasons it was not allowed on the ward we could donate one to the League of Friends Department at the hospital.

I know our lovely cyber sisters would be glad to help somewhere that has helped Sam so much .

Lots of love to all and big hugs to everyone with their hands overflowing.

dpixie

Hello everyone, I am sorry that I have been gone so long, but my hands have not been idle. Will update a bit more over the weekend. It really is just super to "see" you all. I am now smiling from ear to ear. Night night and will update soon.

Dpixie

chalky_75

yay!!!!!!!!! dpixie I have so often wondered about you and asked on here about you. That has made my day . Thrice welcome back!!!!!! Just in time to give kathy a big hug

mioliere

Hello, everyone

Chalky - yes, Pippa's story about her friend has helped enormously, and I am now finding that everyone seems to know someone who has had this horrid disease, but they have all had a good outcome and have gone on to lead normal lives. We are so lucky in the Western world to have the medical advances and the skills and expertise that make this possible. We all know that the road ahead is going to be long and difficult, especially for poor Sam, but I am so relieved that what he has is treatable and curable. I felt more relieved after my son's call yesterday than I imagined, because I actually fell straight to sleep when I went to bed last night, and slept all night, and I haven't done that for ages. It's still early days I know but, as you say, Chalky, each day is another day of treatment and another day off that initial five weeks that the doctors say will be the toughest. The idea of a joint blanket is a wonderful one - I have no idea if one would be allowed on the actual ward but, as you say, the League of Friends would always welcome one and find a good home for it in the hospital.

DPixie - how wonderful to hear from you! I do hope life is treating you well. Are you still in France? Please don't go AWOL again - we have missed you!

Pippa - hope OH has a better day today.

We have buzzards in our area and, for the very first time, a pair has built a nest in one of the oak trees at the bottom of the garden. We have not seen any babies yet, but the adults are very active and sit on our fence posts scanning the area for food - they are absolutely beautiful and I am keeping my camera, iPad, and mobile phone handy to take photos. We have never had them so close to the house, so it's a real treat. Something like that can really brighten up my day.

I hope you all have a great day.

KathyXX

mioliere

Me again. You may remember just before Christmas that I asked Zippychick (the OS board guide) if we could start Part 5 of Knit Your Square in the New Year. Dear Pink used to let me know if she thought the old one had got a bit too long, and would do the changeover for us. Sadly, she is no longer with us, so Zippychick said she would do it for us. The intention was to do it about now, a couple of weeks into January but, with what has been going on in my world, it had been put on the back burner. However, I will do a new post explaining what we do over the next couple of weeks, and aim to start Part 5 at the end of January.

I still think a Facebook group would be a good idea, but to complement this thread, not to replace it. We could post photos and news on both, then post links on here, so that no one misses out, but I know this thread means a lot to so many people, me included, so it will still be our ;Headquarters', if you know what I mean! I hope to work on both at the end of January.

Have a great day.

KathyXX