It is hard to believe that we are only three days away from moving back to Australia to live! We have had a lovely couple of days getting to know each other again and catch up on some sleep after our dreadful Thursday night both in Singapore and in the air for Michael, Cate and Charles. Georgie had treatment on Friday morning and we are off tomorrow morning for the two procedures - bone marrow aspiration and the spinal needle as well as all the chemo drugs. Not sure if they will want to give her anything else. Wait and see. We may also meet Georgie's Sydney doctor tomorrow so that will be wonderful. Michael had an extremely busy five days in Dhaka - lots of hugs (apparently) and not alot of sleep but he survived and made it to the airport Thursday night with two children and a reasonable amount of luggage. He was not totally sure what was in his bags but that was the least of his concerns that night.
We leave after midnight on Wednesday night and arrive at about 11am on Thursday. We will get the children settled and then the three of us will head off to Westmead for orientation and then back the next day to start next phase of treatment.
We shall keep you all posted. Love Sx
Hey Sally, this blog is a wonderful idea and a great way to stay connected! Good to hear from you and have an update on Georgie's progress...so glad to hear she's doing well and it was lovely to see the photos, she looks great. Good luck to all of you as you leave for Australia, and start on the re-settling process for the family and Georgie's treatment. Miss you terribly, and our thoughts and prayers are with you. Love and God Bless, Shalini
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to start the blog xxx
ReplyDeleteLook forward to seeing you all once you are settled. With all our love and thoughts everyday. Sally Thompson
Excellent idea to set up this blogspot. And Tara said that she had talked to Georgie over Skype, it is wonderful to have these new technologies so that we can stay in touch and support eachother long distance, also for the children. This is just a short post to try this out. Thanks again for setting this up and know are thoughts are with you. Love and hugs, Ellen
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to hear news of you all as we are thinking of you everyday.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how you can actually find your children teaching you how to be strong, practical and to just get on with things. They are truly amazing and Georgie looks like she is doing great.
Hope you are doing well too it is very hard at the start as you struggle to learn this language that you don't really want to learn with talk of white blood counts, spinal taps etc.. but it does get less bewildering.
I am sure it will be really good for you all to be together in Sydney.
Wishing you all the best with settling in and our thoughts are with you all for the journey ahead. xxx
Sal, Mike and Georgie - thinking of you today and hope that it goes by quickly and you are home resting before you know it! Look forward to a hug tomorrow! Love Andrea xxx
ReplyDeleteDearest Sally, Michael, Cate, Charles and Gorgeous Gorgie
ReplyDeleteI hope you remember me Georgie I was teaching you swimming in Bangladesh and I said that you would make a very good butterfly swimmer - well after you have finished your chemo you will be able to jump back in the water and continue.
You and I must like doing things the same as I have just finished 5 months of chemo myself and for the first week of each chemo session I was also very tired, but then you jump out of bed, start eating and wanting to visit friends.
I have been on the Sunshine Coast for the last 6 months but will be coming through Sydney for a few days around Easter time on my way to Tonga where we are working and it would be great to catch up if possible. My thoughts are with you Sally and Michael, its not an easy journey but with your strength and devotion to your children - Gorgeous Gorgie will be fighting fit very soon.
Love
Kate Dixon
Hello Sal, Mike and the kids
ReplyDeleteIts a great idea to have this blog and to know what is actually happening with little Georgie.
We are now in the lent season and it is a time for prayer. I will keep her in my daily prayers to the good Lord.
Stay in touch and settle well back in Sydney. I shall take care of your stuff.
Love and best wishes
henry
Homebound
Hi Sally, I never did get round to joining Facebook and this is my first time blogging! Wow! isn't technology fab if you just give it a try. Thanks to you and Andrea for starting the Blog and posting the photos, you all look GREAT especially Georgie, she's a brave wee girl. Have a good day tomorrow catching up with Sandy and Dawn. Good luck with all that lies ahead, we'll be thinking of you all. Safe travels. lots of love Lorraine xx
ReplyDeleteHello Sally
ReplyDeleteWishing all the Seymours a happy, calm and safe homeward journey this evening.
Tell the kids that Dhaka just isn't the same without them...and that any time they want to come back to visit, there's many many many people that would be so happy to see them. Shangma is missing Charles so much that she still gets tears in her eyes if we talk about him for too long!
We'll all be thinking of you and Georgie in the next days as you start this new phase in her road to recovery.
xxxxx Emma
Hi Sal, Mike, Georgie, Cate and Charles,
ReplyDeleteWe will miss you in Singapore! Hope the next phase of settling into Oz is as smooth as possible. We will be thinking of you every step of the way. Keep the blog going, it seems to be working!
Lots of love
The Hatzi's
xx
FINALLY..... AN UPDATE
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone - I had hoped to write sooner but the days since we arrived in Sydney have flown. We have been back ten days which is also hard to believe. I am still to unpack my suitcase but the rest of the family are organised. We have only spent two days at Westmead Children's - the first day back to meet some of the doctors and nurses and have an orientation of the Oncology wing and then last Monday for a full day of treatment. It was an interesting day spent sitting in the clinic with many other children and their parents. All the children seemed to have a different type of illness and so no ones treatment is the same. It was fairly confronting and by the end of that long day I felt extremely drained. Georgie did really well and took most of it in her stride. We came home with a large brown paper bag of medicines - chemo drug, antibiotics, mouth washes etc.... and then the oncology nurse has made three house calls to administer her one of her daily doses of chemo using her porta cath. It is fantastic that Westmead have this service which saves us three trips to the hospital in a week for this next phase of treatment. This second phase lasts for 28 days. Daphne and Dianne are the two nurses and they are just wonderful.
Tomorrow we are out there for 7.30am as G has to have a general for a lumbar puncture - chemo to the brain and her other chemo drug. Not sure how long we shall be there. Each time you go they take a blood test to check her levels so we shall see how they are as to when she will have to go out for some more transfusions. So far she is doing very well. She is looking great. Still has alot of hair. Just shows how much she started with as it is everywhere all the time.
We went to the two public schools that we were able to choose between given our current address and we have decided to send the girls to Pymble Public School. Cate starts tomorrow and is so excited. We have bought uniforms and school shoes to great excitment and Georgie is also really wanting to go as well so we shall see how the beginning of the week goes. We are still deciding which class she will go into. Cate will be in Year 3.
We have been car shopping and house hunting...... one much easier than the other. Shall keep you posted there.
It is wonderful to be back with Jill and Dave and to have seen the aunts and uncles and cousins last weekend. We had a lovely play with the Smiths last Saturday afternoon and looking forward to catching up with other friends over the next few weeks.
We have to get our clocks into Sydney time as the bedtimes are alittle out of whack. Late to bed but sleeping in so it does feel like we are on holidays (sort of...).
Michael is enjoying spending time with all of us - Bruiser is keeping us all on our toes. What an understatement!
I am doing fine. Still does not feel like we are back to live but I am sure that will change as some regular activities start up ... school, work...
We are missing our Dhaka "family" and all our buddies in Singapore who all took such wonderful care of us and helped and supported us in so many ways. We so appreciated everything that you all did and feel so fortunate to have such wonderful friends in our lives.
Not sure if this will work but shall try to post then perhaps I will need to get further instructions again... Lots of love Sally
Thanks for the great long update Sally! Good to read your news. I hope the transition will be smooth for Georgie and that she'll settle in easily--and that goes for all of you of course! Hugs from Dhaka, Ellen
ReplyDeleteHi Sally,
ReplyDeleteAndrea had told me about this blog. I think it's a great idea.
You are all looking great! Be Strong!
It's been a while since we have spoken but my thoughts are with you and your family at this time.
I hope to catch up again some time and will keep checking this blog for good news!
Julia
Hi Sally,
ReplyDeleteYour photos are gorgeous, it is wonderful reading your news and hearing such a positive voice. I wish you all the best for your further settling down in Sydney. I miss your amazing positive smile and spirit here in Dhaka. The health care in Australia sounds wonderful,I am certain that your beautiful daughter will be fit and able to enjoy her school life fully really soon. Good luck to you all, our thoughts are with you every day.
A big hug, Hilary
My first blog, not sure how it works but guess it will appear somewhere.
ReplyDeleteA big thanks to our Irish cousins whose presents arrived at exactly the right time. St Patricks day saw the Postman at the door - the kids loved the balloons etc. We have so enjoyed having Michael & Sally & family with us these past 2 months. Georgie is amazing, Cate very well behaved and Charles an absolute handfull.
Dave & Jill (grandparents)
To our next door neighbours!
ReplyDeleteLovely to have finally met you yesterday, Sally! I always see you running backwards and forwards and we have just waved hello, now at least I know your face. How bizarre that we were to finally meet up in a doctors room! Thank you for sharing this blog with us. Georgie is an incredibly brave little girl and the rest of the family so positive, a true inspiration. Please remember that we are truly a few metres away from you so if there is anything we can do to help, babysit, meals, a chat, a quick play etc please do not hesitate to knock on our door. We wish you all lots of strength and continued positive thinking as Georgie continues her journey to recovery. Love from Lara, Nick, Leah and Rowan