Calpol and Cuddles

William woke on Monday with a sore throat. He was totally bemused and troubled by it. Strange really as he must have had several sore throats in the past. Maybe he was feeling so unwell in general that a sore throat was barely noticed. The new healthy and energetic Wills noticed allright! He is so brave about big things but a sore throat or a snotty nose have him running around in circles asking me incessantly to 'help!' and 'do something!'.

He was not himself at all on Monday. No toys came out, not even his engines and the slightest sip of water was obviously painful, so much so that he stopped drinking all together and I had to give him water through his gastrostomy for the first time in several weeks. He was virtually silent all day as he refused to swallow his saliva and had a constant mouthful. I was concerned as last time he became unwell we ended up back in hospital with pneumonia. I called the transplant team who just told me to keep a watching brief.

He went to bed at 6 pm and, after an unsettled first half of the night, slept until I finally woke him at 10am the next morning. I knew the next day would be the make or break day and was relieved to find his sore throat gone. He was clingy, cuddly and very snotty so we spent most of the day cuddling on the sofa, watching Cbeebies. I hate him being ill but it was kind of cosy really once I had managed to reassure myself that he was OK and this was just a normal cold, made worse by his immunosupression. Calpol took the edge of his sore nose and kept his temperature down.

As for today, he was running around again, glugging water and more than making up for the lack of talking he did earlier in the week. He is certainly made of strong stuff!

Hope came back from her French exchange yesterday evening. She walked through the door looking a good few years older than she did when she left, thanks to a new style of make-up and some accesories purchased in Paris. She is growing up so fast. One of the sadest things of the last few years is how much of the closing years of her childhood I lost - she is quite the teenager now. I can make the most of that phase of her life with her but can't get some of those precious childhood moments back. She is not too old for cuddles yet though!