Category: Héloïse’s leukemia

Héloïse’s last checks (myelography and lumbar puncture) have shown that the disease has indeed recessed. The treatment is now finished. It will only be regular checks from now on, for the 5 coming years.

Ce soir j’ai croisé
Un jeune homme et une dame agée
Leurs yeux de la même couleur
Ils ont touché mon cœur

J’étais allé voir ma fille
Dans une de ces chambres stériles
Et je devais repartir
Pour manger et dormir

J’étais dans un lieu surprenant
Ou n’entrent pas les enfants
Sauf bien sur ceux qui sont là
Où les fenêtres ne s’ouvrent pas

Malgré tout j’étais presque heureux
Tout n’allait pas pour le mieux
Mais quand même une certaine chance
Nous avait souri vu les circonstances

Puis j’appris et je compris
Pourquoi ces gens m’avaient saisi
Pourquoi mon cœur s’est arrêté
Lorsqu’en silence ils m’ont regardé

Ce soir j’ai croisé
Un jeune homme et une dame agée
Leurs yeux de la même couleur
Rouge, couleur de pleurs

12 mars 2013.

One year ago, Ana Paula called me home early to bring Héloïse to hospital as she had pain in her foot. She still associates her foot pain to her long stay in hospital and the never ending treatment.

Hopefully, one year from now, the treatment will be finished, her hair will have regrown to more girl-looking size, and we will all take a deep breath. Then one day she will know that it was not just foot pain.

Thanks to the Lions Sport Action and their partner Disneyland Paris, we went to this wonderful park beginning of this month. The children and parents had so much fun!!! There are some pictures of Héloïse and Ana Paula in the slide show on the Lions page, in particular on the last slide.

This has been an unexpected and wonderful escape to our every-day routine of the last months, so thanks to all those who made this happen, especially Mr Guy Matelot.

That’s it, everybody went back to school. Or should I say schools? Pierre is doing kayak and saxophone while Héloïse is restarting dance and starts musical awakening.

Héloïse has decided that she could ride her bike without training wheels, so she did! Now she dreams of swimming with her brother which should be possible tomorrow as she had her stitches removed today.

She’s also looking forward to going back to school 🙂

It’s been more than a week that Héloïse had her septic shock, and she just went out today of the hospital. Her dream of swimming in the sea is not at reach yet as she is still to have her stitches removed where the catheter used to be 🙁

I feel a bit sad for her, but it’s so good to have her home again, and without catheter at last!

So Tuesday was going to be the day Héloïse would free herself from her catheter. And indeed it has been. But after a black Monday when she started vomiting, got up to 40°C of temperature and down to 8/3 of blood pressure!

Very bad infection indeed that will keep her in hospital for a week to fully treat it, when she was dreaming of swimming in the sea with her big brother. Despite all that courage that amazes us every day, she got very sad, and I almost cried myself while hugging and kissing her.

But yesterday she was better and at night we played a lot. We slept late, hand in hand, and the prospect of getting out of intensive care today to go back to her quarters in Hôpital L’Archet makes her day. At least we saw her little body react quickly which shows that her cells are in order.

Thankfully my parents had come to give a hand with the expected busy routine. They ended up looking after the two boys, food and more. Strange birthday for my father!

This is excellent news: Héloïse’s primary treatment is now finished has she just had her myelogram done. She should hopefully be starting her maintenance chemotherapy tomorrow, for 18 months.

Phase 5 started well and things are going smoothly. Héloïse has now lost her hair and looks like a swollen baby as the previous phase made her eat like there is no tomorrow. But she is calming down now and should get back to her slim features quickly.