There's a Panda in my Bellybutton

I Am...Ryan I previously published a similar post called I Am... Autism which was a mini-interview with Ryan that gave an insight into his autistic mind. This post is a different interview and a little more light-hearted as our recent posts about his cancer journey have been anything but. So here goes. Grab a quick break and enjoy... WITHOUT any prompting, ask your child these questions & write down EXACTLY what they say. It is a great and funny way to find out exactly what they think. Ryan, Age: 15 1. What is something Mummy always says to you? You need to take your meds. 2. What makes Mummy happy? Me. 3. What makes Mummy sad? Not having me. 4. How does Mummy make you laugh? She doesn't. 5. What was Mummy like as a child? I don't know I wasn’t there. 6. How old is Mummy? 30 plus 10 ish. 7. How tall is Mummy? Shorter than me. 8. What is Mummy's favourite thing to do? Nag. 9. What does Mummy do when you're not here? Drink. 10. If M

The Importance of Attendance If you read any news articles on education, correspondence from your child’s school, or are simply clued up on parenting then you will know the importance of school attendance. Schools place a great deal of focus on targets and will often offer incentives and competitions to encourage and increase attendance figures, but what if your child has a serious illness. What happens if they really are not well enough to attend school. What happens then? Attendance targets at Ryan's school are currently set at 95% attendance for the school year. Therefore realistically your child can only miss 10 school days due to illness. Medical appointments such as GP or Dentist do not count, but you are encouraged to make these appointments outside of the school day where feasibly possible. If your child consistently misses school, even if it is only one day a week, that equates to 39 days over the school year. Even missing one day in a week results in pressure on the

Cancer Free On 5th August 2017 we hit a new milestone. Three months post-chemo and cancer-free . I can't believe the progress Ryan has made, it has astounded even me. The doctors are impressed and I'm impressed. His hair is growing back beautifully. It just looks like a really short crew cut now. He has put on a wonderful amount of weight that puts him now absolutely on the typical average scale for his height and age. He also no longer has Adrenal Insufficiency either which surprised even the doctors that he recovered so quickly. We now need to go and buy him new clothes because he's grown so well and improved so much and I’ll need to buy a new school uniform ready for September. Ryan’s sleep patterns are still a mess though, to the point he is almost nocturnal and that's not for want of trying to form some sort of routine by waking him in the mornings and letting the dogs into his room, but he does seem to tire still quite easily and he did manage to pick up