Gavin: NeutroPANIC

Pay attention, here's the science bit: Yesterday, Sonny was officially neutropenic. Neutrophils are found in the blood and fight infection. A normal level is around 2-8 but Sonny dropped below 1 due to the chemo which puts him at a higher risk of catching a serious infection and the ability to fight that infection off. Apart from that huge worry, the normal signs associated with an infection (snot, pus etc) won't be made and the only way to tell will be if he develops a temperature. If he does, it's back in for a couple of weeks while they run blood tests and pump him full of antibiotics just in case.

Finding the balance between knowing this and letting him go to school is a tough one. He could easily pick something up from one of the family and being out and about on the Blackstock Road is like dipping him in a petri dish. So, we're figuring that as long as the other parents do their job and let the school know if their kid has an illness, the benefit of being around his friends outweighs the risk.

In other news, he was back at the Whittington today as his line was blocked up and spent the rest of the day on the sofa, exhausted from his efforts at school. Oh, and Arsenal lost again last night but that's pretty normal these days I suppose. I've never liked Carling anyway.