So near yet so far...

We have had a week of ups and downs. Ellen was finally discharged from hospital last Sunday after 10 weeks in hospital. We were so pleased to be home and to be able to sleep in our own beds. We had to visit the hospital on Monday morning for Ellen to have a new Hickman line, chemotherapy into her spinal fluid and a bone marrow aspirate to check that there was still no leukaemia cells present. This went well and the aspirate result was clear. We then set off to Bristol on Tuesday evening for a pre-bone marrow transplant check up on Thursday. This involved blood tests for both Ellen and George and a long and very scarey conversation with Ellen's new consultant outlining all the terrible and potentially life-threatening things that may happen to Ellen during the course of the transplant. As we were getting ready to go back to Cambridge it became clear that both Ellen and George had a high temperature. Ellen was promptly admitted to the Bristol children's oncology ward for IV antibiotics and George was shipped off to the Grandparents as he is unable to come onto the ward when unwell. Ellen's temperature settled but she then had a big bleed, probably from her previous duodenal ulcer. This has caused her blood counts to drop again. The doctors here are now worried, however, that an alternative explanation for her counts to have dropped could be that Ellen may have had a relapse of her leukaemia; they therefore want to do a repeat bone marrow aspirate next week. If this is clear, the transplant will start on Friday 3rd June. If it is not clear, we will be sent home with no further treatment options. Again the long wait continues. Please keep everything crossed for our brave little girl.