Lemon

Thankfully Padi didnt need any breakthrough relief yesterday although he had had one dose today. Right now he's enjoying a film (The Help) with Moli. Since Moli finished her GCSE exams she's had a little more time on her hands. One pleasant commitment was to make each member of the family a dish of our choice in turn.
Last night was Padi's turn with donuts.

He did manage one, after his scrambled egg on toast. As delicious as they were, in Padi's book, nothing quite beats McDonalds! But we're gently coaxing his palate - there's a bit of a lemon theme. His eyes light up at the mention of lemon drizzle cake and, this morning, he breakfasted on crumpet with home-made lemon curd.
Mol featured Pads and his likes in a piece for her recent Art GCSE:
The hospital forms the skyline and that's Padi's silhouette on the left.

Padi is greatly comforted by everyone's prayers. He's come to terms with the fact that he can't go out any more and is just a delight to visit. I think he must have been enduring a fair bit of pain recently because he's been quite a bit brighter since the diamorphine dose went up. The medics were reluctant to raise the dose if he was simply spiking a couple of times every few days but he was waking up in severe pain - barely able to move his head and requiring more fast-acting analgesia.

Pad and Pod's Hands tapestry

Pod Clare was over again yesterday (13/9/2012). We had instructions to get some jazzy material and draw around our hand: these the raw materials for Pad and Pod's latest creation. www.podclare.co.uk
Each of the hands is given a colour theme. For instance, mine is slightly colour-blind. Boaz's is stark, like his brown eyes... I'll leave you to work out the rest ;)
Pads has just one more visit left after this, all sponsored by LATCH

Pads has been enjoying a less mobile existence since the holidays ended. It's not always easy to work out what's for the best in terms of activity and encouraging him to engage in it.

Pads and Pod

It was great to speak with our nurse this morning about all kinds of issues concerning Pads' care. We talked through some options for 'learning' which P has recently shown an interest in. The idea is a bit formative at the moment, but we really want to enable him to reach his potential without our inhibitions or expectations limiting what he attempts. This afternoon was given over to art with Pod. She'd helped the Brain Tumour Support Group create a mosaic and Kay (LATCH social worker) had the idea of funding her to spend individual time with Pads. On her first visit, after they'd working up some ideas, out came the paint. The name Jackson Pollock had been mentioned so I had visions of a new-style and far more colourful garden, but the process was a lot more sedate than that. Nevertheless, Pads was really pleased with the whole experience and rightly delighted with the result.

Here's the finished article:

We're pleased that the PSP-Go went for the respectable sum of £53.23 - thanks to Catherine and Malcolm for organising that for us. That money goes straight to the 'Kids Cancer Charity'.

Ink art framed

Further to the ink art Pads did... we collected the framed edition yesterday and it looks really good. I am still thinking about how best to go about auctioning them for charity. One of the key questions is whether to offer to get them framed - it really does enhance them. I'd have to do a deal with the framers or else take a more 'budget' route. Any thoughts can be added as comments here or else mail me.
Click on the image to get a clearer view of it.