Friday, February 27, 2009

Friday evening: from hospital to restaurant

Friday morning update

Paul had a choppy night. Dad is now negotiating the terms of his dismissal.

More importantly, the chest scan result came in "unchanged" which likely means that the minuscule nodule that was there in the first scan was nothing to worry about. If it were a met, it would probably have shrunk or grown.

Fingers crossed.

We should clear today.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Wednesday & Thursday: 3rd & 4th day at hospital



Wednesday was a bad day for Paul: he had a short night due to the many nurse checks, was exhausted, had nausea and no appetite.

His dad arrived from Beirut and Clara came to the hospital with him.

Paul improved in late afternoon as the physiotherapist Louise took him and Clara to the gym. He played mini-bowling, basket-ball and tennis and his smile returned.

Thursday he was better. He got his private tutorship in the morning, then the day school, and inevitably, took a deep and very long nap.

Methotrexate is almost out of his body now and he should be out of hospital tomorrow. We're praying he won't have mouth ulcers this time.

Clara went to visit her cousins in Hamburg.

Tonight Paul wanted to replace dad with mum "under the obviously exaggerated pretense of his sonorous snoring"*. But his parents held tight in full solidarity and mum is enjoying silence at home.

* Official statement written by dad himself



Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Tuesday: 2nd day at hospital



Paul had a good night of sleep as the ward is almost empty (which didn't help Dominique to sleep though..I did however bring the home linen).

The 4h Methotrexate chemo only started late in the afternoon as Paul needed to be hydrated first.

Meanwhile he had a private tutorship, then 30mns fun physio exercises with Louise. She promised to take him tomorrow to the gym studio within the hospital for more sports games.

Then he had the day school with Marya.

Jeddo and Téta came, replacing mum who went to work.

Clara came to visit Paul as well.

Paul was nauseous in the evening but a movie helped to forget.

He'll spend the night in shameful luxury, in an individual room as there were only two kids in the ward, Paul and his neighbour whose parents brought her food from the nearby Burger King. The sheer smell made Paul nauseous and mum had to spray some "good" odor ... which in turn made the neighbour sick. There was only one solution left: To open a single room for each one of them!

Monday: 1st day in hospital

12h at the hospital for 2 Xrays of 5mns (all normal) .. a bit of a wasted time yesterday afternoon at the hospital, but well.. NHS is doing a lot of good things for us.

So chemo is starting today at midday only. The reason is they need to check his catheter line is well placed and not infected (they might move it a bit this am to allow for a better cleaning).

Paul, with his favourite caregiver Corinne, had a good lunch prepared by Téta (she arrived yesterday from Beirut and ...spent her first morning in our kitchen).

In the afternoon, there was a celebration in the ward for Lewis who is doing his last chemo. He has some magician skills and taught one trick to Paul.

Téta, Jeddo and mum stayed with him till Dominique came to take over for the night.

They had a good laugh with the neighbours, 8y old Marya and her mother, who reassured Paul on the Stanmore surgery experience (planned for March 16). Yes Marya's scar is not so bad and should go away with time. Besides Paul is looking differently at bionic Marya after seeing her Xray of the bad leg showing the famous prosthesis.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Sunday 23 Feb




Paul was a bit nauseous today (anticipation for the hospital tomorrow?). He had no appetite (ate too much lately?).

The working team (Dominique, mum, Clara, Nathalie and Daniele) toured at Harrods Food to bring a large variety of ready meals (his taste changes everyday and it is perfectly unpredictable). No success.

He emerged only late in the afternoon, just in time for the visits: Jamil, Michel and Anna; then Dolly, Gino and Carla.

Michel then took him and Corinne for a movie on his big screen at home.

Otherwise Paul is making do with a midget ping pong table that Suzy brought him in order to somewhat alleviate the frustration of not being able to enjoy the real ping pong table which he got as a Christmas present and which awaits him at home in Beirut. He played often with Clara and Corinne and challenges anyone to beat his record of 22 continuous exchanges.

Tomorrow (Monday) we’re going midday to hospital for chemo starting Tuesday.

We should be back home on Friday.

Saturday, February 21, 2009


Another long night of sleep, then late breakfast with Corinne, Suzy, Clara and mum.

Paul did some homework before lunch in an Italian restaurant with Esther, Michel and their two daughters, along with Suzy and Corinne.

We have all been eating so much over the last few days, in full solidarity with Paul, that we all became kind of puffy. As you can see in the picture, Paul's example was too good not to follow. In his case, this is no waste as he'll be starting this Monday two weeks of nasty Methotrexate whose secondary effects are ulcers (which means Paul will have trouble to eat.

Corinne, Suzy, Clara and Paul (in his wheelchair) had a long stroll in Hyde Park, with Suzy sharing her encyclopaedic knowledge of all things canine.

As always Paul is in great spirits.

Friday, February 20, 2009



Mum is back and discovered Paul had experienced an intense social and family life during her absence. As he has taken the habit of sleeping late, he wakes up as late as 10am... just in time for his private tutorships.

He is doing very well.

Every day while this blog was paused, he dragged his aunt Dominique and cousin Kathleen to a different restaurant for lunch and in the afternoon he had them play backgammon or watch DVDs with him (he insisted to watch "La vie en rose" with his aunt). Yesterday evening, he had dinner with his cousins Nathalie, Kathleen and her friend Vanessa and they had a good laugh as Paul was questionning Vanessa about her private life..

Clara and Suzie returned from Crans-Montana today, very happy of their vacation.

Corinne landed this morning, so the house if full.

Paul had a piano lesson and is getting prepared for his grade 1 exam.


Monday, February 16, 2009

A Full School Schedule


As school break means teachers are free, yesterday was a full school day ... at home for Paul.

Once he finished his science test, Mrs de Beaufort came to give him a geography test. In between the 2nd test and a physics class, he had 20mns to swallow a "Boeuf Strogonoff" soaked in red wine upon his special request.

In the afternoon, the community nurse came to inject him some drugs that increase his blood cells (it is standard treatment for cancer patients in order to minimize infection risk and chemo delays). It is given during ten days. Really great service from the NHS as nurses and other care professionals come home to limit patients' travels to the hospital.

Then Paul took a one hour nap to prepare for dinner at the restaurant with Rima, Nabil and Fabiola (again he prudently swallowed an antinausea pill before going...).

Today will be more quiet: Reading, studying, relaxing. Oh and that Wii ...

For dinner, the Diabs, the Habibs and Paul will be celebrating Kathleen's birthday.

Dominique and Kathleen are staying at home for the next three days to replace mum who is going on a business trip. Next post will be on Saturday

Today in Crans-Montana ...


Sunday, February 15, 2009



Late wake up, homework in the morning, a science exam taken at home, lunch in yet another restaurant ...

Oh the routine ...

Jean-Paul (II but not the Polish one) and his son Alexandre visited. And more of the family ...

Next week is another week away from hospital. As school is closed for ski resort hunting season, Paul will endeavor to catch up with the subjects he is not yet fully up-to-date with, with the help of teachers from the Lycée.



Above from left to right: Jean Paul I (mum's; not a ghost) and Jean Paul II (not a ghost either), two Diabs and mum

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Clara and Suzy left early this morning for Crans-Montana.

Paul is very well and challenged mum with maths exercises upon waking up...
We had our usual Habib lunch (despite brave Anne-Marie being on duty at the hospital).

In the afternoon, Dominique and Daniele kept company with Paul while mum escaped to the movies. Then Francis visited.

As the plan was for a late Valentine dinner with many of us, we successfully negotiated with Paul for a 2h nap. We had dinner in a French restaurant with Dominique, Anne-Marie and families.



Friday, February 13, 2009

A Joyous Cacophony










Paul had a private science tutorship this morning. Then he asked Suzy to take him to Benihana for lunch. To make sure he would enjoy the experience, he prudently took antinausea medecines before (he has learned by now how and when to control some secondary effects).

In the afternoon, Felix visited.

And then a flurry of women and girls arrived in a whirlwind: Dominique and Kathleen, Esther with Anna and Sophie, Clara, Suzy, mum. In the midst of an inevitable cacophony, he managed to take Esther aside to solve a complicated maths exercise.

In the evening, his godfather Michel passed by on his way from the airport with some Swiss chocolate.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

The photographer is back...


Paul and Youssef


Paul and Andrew

Paul is very well and had almost no nausea over the last two days.
Jean-Paul took care of him during mum's trip and managed to make him gain another kilo (key ahead of nasty Methotrexate in 10 days). Paul's weight is back to normal.

He had private tutorship every day this week. He took some exams and obtained good grades. He was excited to go to school today and his class greeted him with applauses as always. Paul is now wondering why every time...

He had visits from friends in the afternoons: Andrew on Wednesday, and Sacha and Youssef today.

Suzy is spending a few days with us and is taking Clara to ski on Saturday for a week in Crans-Montana, along with her sister and kids (Clara's quasi cousins: Say this fast).



Paul, Sacha and Suzy

Monday, February 9, 2009

Free at last

Mum is away on business!

No photos ... and not too much text either.

Paul had a French tutorship with Mme de Beaufort then Andrew visited.

No fever, some fatigue and a lot of energy ... often. Still the ups and downs ...

Maybe some school tomorrow.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Ups and Downs



Paul had a difficult night, waking up often and remaining nauseous in the morning. He went back to bed after breakfast and re-emerged at noon.

His cousin Daniele prepared him lunch and took him out on his wheelchair to buy his preferred candies as he is not strong enough to walk on his crutches for too long.

In the afternoon, Max and Paul visited him, and the Wii-shaped monster reared its electronic head again, triumphantly, until the visit of persistent, patient, loving Oumayya forced it back to its den.


Saturday, February 7, 2009

Busy saturday


Paul had a good night and was just slightly nauseous today.

Grandma left for Beirut this morning.

Mrs de Beaufort, Paul's French and History/Geography professor at the Lycée, made us a surprise visit this morning with her four adorable kids.

We then had our usual saturday lunch at the Habibs'. Then Paul went with Myriam to borrow a Louis de Funès film.

And the Wii is back in active duty. Why can't this thing just overheat and stop after a few hours?

A message of love from Paul's best friend at home

Friday, February 6, 2009

Back home tonight


Finally I managed to get a few pictures of Rima. She made us a surprise early this morning at the hospital by bringing some fresh crepes. Paul then challenged her and his grandma at the "Incollables" (a game of trivia) but the antinausea drugs got the better of him and he fell asleep around noon.

Unexpectedly, we were discharged in the afternoon and Paul is thrilled to be free from the hospital for two weeks.

Paul feels very well. The extra antinausea he was given is efficient and we hope he'll live a mostly normal life over the next two weeks.

School HE'S COMING!


Thursday, February 5, 2009

Celebration in the ward



Paul is still doing well after 48h of chemo. Thanks to a higher dosage of antinausea medicine, he is much less nauseous than during cycle 1 when he was under the same 72h of continuous Cisplatin and Doxorubicin.

Today Rima was kind enough to come at 8:30am to replace Mum who went to work. She took care of Paul until grandma arrived with Paul's home-cooked lunch.

Paul had a computer drawing lesson at the day school, along with Lewis who has the same age. Tomorrow they should finish up the masterpieces.

Later in the afternoon, there was a departure celebration and a magician's performance in the ward for a girl who completed her 9-month treatment.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009


Paul started chemo on Tuesday afternoon.

He is fine today despite a slight continuous nausea.

He had a maths lesson at the hospital day school, then grandma spent the afternoon with him. Luckily he has an individual Playstation next to his bed to distract him.

In the evening, Paul had a visitor and we had a sushi party.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

We finally made it to the hospital


Finally the hospital called to tell us to come for chemo cycle 2 (out of 6) ... the one that wouldn't start.

Each cycle is 5 weeks, out of which Paul spends 3 in hospital (from Sunday pm or monday am to Thursday pm). There are 6 cycles in total, normally ending in August. At the end of cycle 2 (probably mid-March), Paul will undergo a limb-salvage surgery.

Paul is feeling very well. The day started with a snowball battle with Pat and Jean-Paul. At the hospital, while he was waiting for blood results (mandatory to start chemo as blood counts should be above certain thresholds), he was taken to the playroom where he did some pottery. Later he had a French tutorship.

Then grandma played cards with him for the rest of the afternoon.

Finally the doc measured the perimeter of his leg at the level of the tumour and noted it was half a centimeter shorter than at the beginning of chemo, which probably suggests the tumour is shrinking.

Paul will stay at the hospital till Saturday morning.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Ice Age: chemo 2 delayed again




Ice Age in the UK: we woke up today thinking we were in a ski resort. Snow was all over. The hospital called to tell us to stay at home because nurses and doctors were unable to come to work. Despite all my offers to help them so Paul could resume chemo today (such as providing transportation of nurses from home to and from hospital and chemo medicines from the pharmacy), the NHS ward was under crisis management.

Well, at least Paul was happy to remain one extra day at home. Clara too as school was closed as well.

The hospital will call us tomorrow morning to let us know if we can go.