Red Letter Day!

This morning (Saturday) I was surprised and delighted by a phone call from Matt to tell me that Phoebe was being allowed out for an hour to the park opposite the hospital.  I have never been so thrilled to spend an hour in a park!  The sun was shining and the five of us got an hour of near normality – Phoebe even fancied a few licks of Rachel’s ice cream!

Phoebe’s isolation room overlooks the road and the park, and during the week Reuben and I had waved to Phoebe and blown kisses up to her at the window, but I never expected to be able to hold her hand or give her a cuddle as we sat on the grass.  She looked so sweet, unselfconscious in her head-covering made out of an NHS pillow case!

Our main concern this week has continued to be the tiny amount of food she is consuming; even the liquid nutrients going through her nasal tube get vomited back up so that her body is receiving very little nutrition.  But her spirits remain amazingly bright and she keeps busy with drawing, craft and school work.  She has an hour a day with a teacher, and is also being sent work from her school to help her keep up with what the rest of her class is doing.



Meanwhile Reuben continues to enjoy his mornings at nursery, and our afternoons together have included picnic lunches in the garden, scooting, football, games of Memory (which he wins easily!), jigsaws and playing with Bramble the dog.

Blessings and challenges!

We are very touched by the imaginative ways that people are finding to encourage and support Phoebe and all of us.  A friend of our friends (ie someone we don’t know at all) has sent some books for Phoebe to enjoy; local friends have invited Reuben to come round to play; someone in our Life Group worked in our garden yesterday and replaced some of our many weeds with beetroot plants!  Matt’s brother-in-law’s parents drove to Sheffield from Cardiff bringing delicious cakes and cooked and shared a meal with us.  A dear friend from Guildford who was in Sheffield with her student daughter popped in for a cuppa on Sunday.  A supporter of the Good News Project in Mandritsara has sent a book he hopes will encourage Rachel and Matt.  These expressions of love and concern really do hearten us and give us the courage we need to live through these difficult days.

On Monday when Rachel got home from the hospital, Reuben greeted her with behaviour that appeared designed to “punish” her, the first time he’s shown any outward sign of feeling troubled by his unusual new life.  He is only 3 so doesn’t have the words to articulate his fears or confusion.  Please do pray for him, and for wisdom for me and his parents as we try to explain to him why things have to be as they are even though it’s not what we would choose. 

First Round Complete

The best way to update you with how the last week has gone is to quote from Matt and Rachel’s Facebook entry:

Phoebe passing time in hospital before isolation began

Today was the last day of cycle #1 of Phoebe's chemo. She had a mixed week with several very good days and a couple bad days. Today she had pain in her joints from the final dose of chemo they gave her and from the build up of GCSF (Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor) injections she has had over the last 3 days. GCSF makes her body's bone marrow produce more white blood cells and boosts her immune system.

Her platelet count is now dropping and dipped below 50 yesterday (yours and mine would be between 200-400!). This means her immune system is now weak and will probably get weaker throughout this week before it begins to climb again. As a matter of precaution she is now on antibiotics to help fight off any potential illnesses which will begin to attack her now that her body's defense system is down.

Please continue to pray for her and us. Thank you to all of those who have so generously been providing us with meals.

Specific things to pray for:

- Phoebe not to get any secondary illnesses. Not only would this set back when she can have her next dose of chemo it could potentially be life threatening.

- Rachel and I to have continued wisdom in parenting her and Reubs.

- For Phoebe to have minimal side effects from chemotherapy, both short and long term.

- For Phoebe's appetite and taste buds to settle down to normal again. This is highly unlikely while being treated but eating/drinking are often a battle, even when given through her nasal feeding tube she still vomits them up. Drs are working to combat this but she needs calories and nutrients to help her get better!

- For Phoebe and us to not go stir crazy in her room!

Big hugs to you all! We miss life's normality and wish we could see more of our friends and family!

Isolation Begins

While Marcus is away in Madagascar his technically challenged wife won’t be able to supply up to date photos for the blog I’m afraid!  Our son Jon is posting the updates for me, and will add photos he already has on file.

Since the chemo began Phoebe has been even less interested in eating than she was before.  On Sunday she fancied a rhubarb muffin – but by the time her school friend’s kind grandma had baked them and the friend and her mum delivered them to the hospital, she didn’t want one after all!  Never mind, Phoebe enjoyed waving and blowing kisses to Evie through the window.

Helen, who used to look after Phoebe one day a week when she was very young and is a dear friend of the family, went in to be with her on Sunday morning so that Matt, Rachel and Reuben could all be in church together.  Singing great songs about our salvation and the hope of heaven, and hearing Phoebe prayed for, always brings tears to our eyes, but it is so good to be with our Christian family and be reminded of the truths which sustain us during these difficult days.  Helen will also sleep in with Phoebe two nights a week to enable Matt and Rachel to have some time together.

Rachel wrote today:
Phoebe had a cheerful day yesterday, (Sunday) much less vomiting thankfully and a good night's sleep last night. Today she will be given her stem cells back and we move into the isolation room due to lack of immunity. Please pray against infections & secondary illnesses during the next few weeks. She has also been fitted with a NG feeding tube, it was an ordeal getting it in and she's sad about it, but hopefully she soon gets used to the feel of it and it relieves the pressure on us constantly trying to encourage her to eat and drink.


Mean while Reuben and I are getting along fine together, and we are all enjoying the lovely meals supplied by our church friends.

Chemo - First day completed!

Don’t worry, we don’t intend to give you a daily digest for the rest of the year!  But we thought you’d like to know that Phoebe’s first day back in hospital to start chemotherapy has passed well.  

The drugs are administered via lines attached to the “wigglies” that were inserted into her chest months ago, and she has coped well today.  She is on the oncology ward at the children’s hospital, not yet in isolation, so Grandma was able to call in as well as Mummy, Daddy and Helen (who is a close friend of the Lollars and will be one of the four adults permitted to see Phoebe when she is in isolation).  

Meanwhile Reuben went back to nursery and spent the afternoon with Grandma cheerfully enough.  Matt had surgery on his elbow today, just to add to the mix!  He needed some repair to an old injury site.

We are very aware that lots of people are praying for Phoebe and all of us, even people we’ve never met, and we do feel the benefit of this support.  

There is a long road yet to travel but today’s first steps have gone well.

Update about Phoebe - 10 June

Yesterday morning we received a phone call from Phoebe asking if she could spend the night at our house. She had been told that she would not see us very much while she was in hospital. She came about 7pm, allowing some bedtime stories. This morning we had the joy of cuddles in bed before we had to get up for breakfast. 


Rachel and Matt have recently made this entry on the 'PrayForPhoebe' FaceBook page.

We just put the kids to bed together for the last time in a long time. Phoebe's chemo starts tomorrow & life is going to be very different for the next 6-12 months. I feel sad but I pray that our Lord Jesus will heal Phoebe through the chemo & will help these next few months go as quickly & painlessly as possible for all of us. Please pray for us when you think of us, especially for Phoebe.

Pray specifically for:

- The cycles between chemo to be faster than anticipated. This will only happen if she heals faster than expected.

- Fewer chemo side effects than expected.

- Us to be able to make good memories and forget the dark days throughout his process.

- Us to find joy in Jesus and the hope of eternity with Him!

- Rachel's & my marriage as the next few months will be difficult as we pass each other often & see each other little.

- Reuben as he copes with not seeing/playing with Phoebe and as he is juggled about between Rach, me, grandparents and friends.

- For the Holy Spirit to comfort us and for us to sense God's nearness.

- For all of our family who aren't able to be with us through this time. It's very difficult on them to be far away from Sheffield.

- Most of all pray the chemo does its job and kills all the cancer in Phoebe's body.

Thank you for ongoing concern and prayers for Phoebe and the family.

Blog changes

Hello! we have decided to split our blog into two parts. The original blog (cullis13.blogspot.co.uk) will continue to be about us and our involvement with Mandritsara. You can also access it by going to www.marcusandjen.org.uk. Those who originally subscribed to get this by email will continue to do so, until you 'unsubscribe' at the foot of the emailed blog entries.

We have created this new blog for Phoebe. It has copies of all the previous blogs about Phoebe. We are now aware that news about Phoebe will be ongoing, and it makes sense to have a dedicated blog. You can access this by going to www.prayforPhoebe.org. 
If you want to continue receiving email updates about Phoebe you need to type your email address in the top right hand corner of this page. You will receive an email to confirm this, which you must respond to.

Thanks for all your interest and concern. 
Marcus and Jen