6 min read

Farewell Esther

May 2016 was my last month with my precious daughter, I cannot believe that almost three years have gone by since then. A lot has changed, and in some way it seems ages ago I held my gorgeous girl in my arms. We got back from our holiday in Newquay at the end of April and May was a very […]

6 min read

Memories – Palliative care

We started palliative care in March 2016. Initially after we had the devastating news that Esther’s tumour started growing again, I wanted to restart treatment, to find another chemo protocol to stop the cancer spreading and have my precious daughter back. The reality was that because the disease progression happened so shorty after front line treatment and because the tumour […]

6 min read

Memories – The storm hits again

This and the following post will be very hard for me to write, but I want to record and share with the world the rest of my journey with my precious Angel Esther, because it feels the right thing to do.  The first half of 2016 has been undoubtedly the hardest time of all my life. In January I went […]

5 min read

Memories – Normal Life Again

In October 2015 the intensive cancer treatment planned for Esther, according to the standard protocol used internationally for the type of tumor she had, finally came to an end. After 9 long months in and out of hospitals we were very relieved to see the end of it, although we still had to continue with her maintenance treatment and regular […]

7 min read

Memories – Radiotherapy

On 24th August 2015, just after our holiday in Italy and Alice’s baptism, Esther started Radiotherapy treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. After intensive chemotherapy Esther’s tumour in the primary site (her right arm) was almost completely gone, however the protocol for Esther’s high aggressive cancer routinely includes localised treatment in form of surgery and/or radiotherapy. The latest […]

6 min read

Memories – Holidays in Italy

On the 11th August 2015 Esther, Alice, Simon-Peter and myself went on holiday to my home town in Northern Italy to visit my family and spend a week at the seaside. If you are reading this blog and wondering if it is possible to organise a holiday abroad while your child is having cancer treatment, my advice is: just be […]

8 min read

Memories – End of chemo and Looking Forward

During spring and beginning of summer 2015 we were in and out of hospitals for chemo treatment and doctor’s visits. Esther was doing remarkably well: even-though she was on a very heavy chemo regimen she was well, not having any problems with eating, being sick or poorly. If it hadn’t been for her pretty bold head and stylish hats you […]

7 min read

Alice’s birth story

On the 5th March 2015 Esther was admitted at Worcester Royal Hospital with febrile neutrophenia. As the other times this happened, she was fine in herself, but had low neutrophils count in the blood and spiked a temperature above 38C, which meant that we had to stay at the children ward under antibiotic drip, to avoid the risk of developing […]

7 min read

Memories – Chemo Treatment

As I have already explained in my previous post, when Esther was diagnosed with cancer and her treatment plan was put in place by her consultant, I was very much afraid of its effect on my beautiful daughter: I was scared that it would have changed her and hurt her. I guess this is a normal fear for any mother […]

11 min read

Memories – Diagnosis

Three years ago around this time Esther was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of paediatric cancer. She was 2 years and 9 months old. Up to then Esther had been happy and healthy: she was developing well and she was seldom poorly. On the evening of the 4th of December 2014 when I picked her up from […]