And so our journey continues . . . .

The catheter op was successful yesterday and x- rays all clear . When awake Vanya had lots of pain that Panado syrup could not handle , nor her kicking tantrums . What did work was some Vala..drops { can't remember the exact name but will soon }- sorted her out in 5 minutes flat for the rest of the stay .

It's Saturday lunchtime and we just arrived home with Vanya after spending the night in hospital .
We should have come home yesterday already but had a slight complication - the blood test showed low HB{Haemoglobin} which is never a good sign we learn and more often than not requires a blood transfusion .

We waited form 2pm to 7pm for the blood to arrive {which we discover is the norm so get used it we must} - from there it was to be a 4 hour transfusion ,a 1L bag of human blood delivered in a cooler box with ice brick from the blood bank  . All went well for the first hour and then Vanya got the cold shivers , teeth chattering etc. We discover it's called Rigor ,  when she is actually hot in temperature and body but reacting this way at the same time . It's the first time she has ever had a blood test or foreign substance in her body { this type anyway} .

Dr. Stefan orders the transfusion to stop immediately and to connect a saline drip and administer Panado syrup to contain the temperature which was hovering at 38 ! and requests that we are to stay hospitalised for the night for monitoring .

An extra bed was arranged for me next to Vanya and we soon got a good , relatively undisturbed nights rest . They only monitored Vanyas temperature through the night and vital stats -all was fine .

Early this morning we had to draw 4 tubes of blood for testing both her counts and the blood that was used for transfusion . I learn from the sister that their is normal packed blood bags and filtered blood , she does not say much more , but I make a note to discuss with the Dr.

We remain in good spirits and Vanya hears we can go home and slowly becomes more mobile and ready to go when Mommy comes to fetch us . We have already planned a picnic at home inside as all the brothers and sisters are together this weekend , and it's amazing how compassionate and empathetic they are . . great kids really bonding more than ever before - we are blessed and truly grateful for the love , prayer and support we are receiving daily from all or friends , family , colleagues .

Our first chemo session through the new chest catheter has been moved to Tuesday due to the public holiday Monday , so we look forward to a nice family weekend together , good food , movies and lots of love and quality time . There is such a calmness in our home right now and I am being called to the picnic right now  ! got to go ...

Decided I would round off and then join them for the movie , also saw all my typos and discovered an edit posts section to fix it quickly. I still have to add phtos and finalise page layouts and all but will do as time goes on.

We were given a " what to watch for with chemo'' sheet to share with all family members and it covers Mouth sores , appetite , nausea & vomitting , bowel habits and tiredness - with tips and advice on what we can do .

We also still need to watch other signs very carefully and get to hospital when necessary . These include fever , red blotchy bruises under the skin { needs platelet transfusion} , deep anemic eye area { dehydration} too mention a few .

For now , all things are so normal it's hard to believe what we are all still to face these tough times ahead .
We must gather our courage and stamina in these good times too see us through the harder one's for we know that Vanya has started healing already , slowly but surely .

. You see , we believe that if you will it , it is no legend and we shall not question Gods bigger plan for our family and loved ones .

To the few of you following our blog so far , thanks so much for it's nice to share and we welcome any advice as to what or how we should be sharing our events as they unfold . If it's too emotional and sad , or to formal , whatever let us know so we can share it in even a better way , and Bless you and your families !