Gavin: Another weekend...

Sonny had his mate round for a birthday sleepover last night. It went really well but Sonny is absolutely exhausted this morning. He's gone back to bed for a few hours to catch up. A small price to pay for playing Call of Duty until midnight.

While he's asleep, I've got a bit of time on my hands to put together a handy cut-out-and-keep guide for anyone interested in some of the finer details of Sonny's disease. It's worth reminded everyone that I'm not a medical professional and, if you do feel under the weather in any way, it's probably best to seek the advice of your GP rather than this list.

The A-Z of Sonny's Stuff...

A is for Aciclover. The drug he takes to stop him getting the cold sore virus I gave him as a baby. He takes it for the entire course of his treatment at 6am, midday, 6pm and midnight. Nice one dad.

B is for Biopsy. The only certain way of determining which cancer is present. And even then, Sonny needed two to be sure.

C is for cancer. A general term for many different types of disease. All are horrible.

D is for diagnosis "Ho paura che tuo figlio ha Lymphoma".

E is for ECG. A machine that monitors heart rate and bleeps annoyingly when it dips below a preset level. Never really been any use apart from to keep Sonny awake.

F is for food. A constant topic as taste buds change daily. The smell of toast makes him sick, haribos can be tolerated.

G is for Glandular fever. An infection contracted in hospital. Bad enough on it's own to be honest.

H is for Hickman Line. A permanent drip straight into Sonny's heart. When this gets removed, you start planning holidays (see I).

I is for Italy. Where we'll all be heading back as soon as we have the all clear to swim, eat pasta and relax.

J is for Junk food. Sonny has to eat chocolate for potassium, chips to put on fat, crisps to help with his salt content. Ruby can't believe it.

K is for Ketamin. Used as a horse tranquiliser and teenage party drug. Sonny had it constantly for two weeks to control the pain of Tiphilitis while not stopping bowel movements by using a drug such as morphine (see T)

L is for Lymphoma. Cancer of the lymphatic system. The specific type is determined through the cells present in the tumor (see B, M, C)

M is for Mediastinal Mass. The growth in his chest discovered in Italy originally thought to be pneumonia. Originally 900 cubic centimetres (about a cricket ball and a half)

N is for Neuropathy. The shortening of the muscles in his legs caused by the chemotherapy (see P).

O is for Oncologist. The name for someone who specialises in cancer.

P is for Physiotherapy. What Sonny has 3 times a day to enable him to walk properly again.

Q is for Quack. Our local GP who refused to take our call when we were in Italy as 'it would cost too much'.

R is for Ruby. A very brave little girl indeed.

S is for Sonny. Upbeat, positive, funny, scared, hard-working, patient, intelligent and amazing.

T is for Tiphilitis. An infection of the stomach Sonny contracted at the same time as Glandular Fever. One of the nastiest and dangerous things you can get. Just horrible.

U is for Unfair. 1 in 100,000 kids will get hodgkins Lymphoma. That's two full Arsenal stadiums.

V is for Vincristin. The nastiest chemo drug so far that's caused nerve damage in his feet. (see N, P).

W is for White blood cells. What gets reduced through chemo and stops the body fighting infection

X is for X-ray. Feels like about 600 of them to date.

Y is for Yell. What Sonny does whenever he comes round from an anaesthetic. Very funny hearing him call the doctors 'idiots' at the top of his voice.

Z is for Zoe. She's bloody amazing.