I went to the doctors this morning, so I could have my 18 month injections.
So, what's the big deal with that?
Well... I have a bit of a history with my immunisation injections.
Sometimes, I've stopped breathing after getting an immunisation injection.
So, this time... I'm much bigger and I'm much stronger
and we are being brave and confident...
I won't end up in hospital tonight!
That's where I had my first immunisation injections.
Twelve hours after the injection, I stopped breathing.
Mum and Dad were driving to Sydney to see me.
It was early in the morning, and they had had some trouble getting through to anyone in the ward. Whenever they were not with me, they rang for check ups. Finally, when they were still in the Illawarra, they got through to the ward.
The nurses told them I had had some trouble with my breathing
and I had gone back on to a CPAP machine.
Mum could hear me screaming in the background. I hated the CPAP machine.
I needed to stay on CPAP for over a week, and then Mum begged them
to take the CPAP off me and put me on oxygen prongs, which they did.
but no one really believed them.
They told Mum she could stay overnight at the hospital,
if she really wanted to, just in case.
Sure enough, at about 11pm, Mum's phone rang.
I was having trouble with my breathing, again.
It had been 12 hours since the injection
and they had to put me back on oxygen prongs.
This time, I pulled the oxygen prongs out after 24 hours and,
because I was breathing well enough, the nurses left them out.
I stayed overnight in hospital.
But, I was very good and I kept breathing on my own, all night!
When I had my 12 month injections, we knew about the mass on my liver,
but hadn't officially been told it was hepatoblastoma (cancer).
We went ahead with my injections, even though there were problems with my liver. I didn't stay in hospital for these ones, and I was fine with my breathing.
Getting my injections makes us worry a little bit.
So, when my oncologists told Mum and Dad that the chemotherapy
would mean I would have no immunity and I would need
to get all of my immune injections again, they were worried...
and a little sad and a little frustrated!
All those times I had suffered and stopped breathing were for nothing!
People might argue that we are better not to get the immune injections, and actually, a nurse judged Mum a bit, because she was making me get them...
But, you might remember when I had just been cleared of cancer,
and still had my central line in...
we had a couple of chicken pox scares.
Children undergoing chemotherapy are very, very vulnerable
to the chicken pox virus, and it can be fatal to them.
Those few weeks, where we had had some contact with people
who were around kids with chicken pox were frightening!
Being immunised takes away that fear!
So, today, at two and a half, I had my 18 month injections.
Mum just took me to my lovely doctor.
The doctor and nurses were a bit worried about me and made me stay longer
than the standard 15 minutes. They understand that the 12 hour period
is the scary time, and they asked Mum what her plans were... just in case.
So tonight, I'm sleeping on an angel care monitor
and we are ready to call an ambulance, if we need to.
But, we're being strong and confident...
I'm bigger and stronger, and we'll all get a good nights sleep.
(Well, I will. They will still be stressing about me all night!)