Kirra was playing in the ward when Mr. Richards came in and told us the Spine scan was all clear. The first good news in four days. Kirra was only allowed water up until 11.30am then nil by mouth until her operation. We took her down to theatre at 2.45pm. I managed to take Paula out for a couple of hours,  a walk, a meal and straight back to the Hospital. We didn't hear anything until 7.15pm. The operation went well, and Kirra was being transferred to John Radcliffe Hospital Paediatric ICU. The ambulance had left by the time we got to recovery, So we hopped in a taxi the 2 miles to the John Radcliffe Hospital. When we got to the ICU Kirra was on a ventilator, she had drips and tubes and wires all over her little body, but she was alive and stable. Mr. Richards was happy with the operation and felt he had removed all of the brain tumour. His best guess was the Brain Tumour was benign, but we would have to wait 5 days for the full biopsy results.

Kirra looked good considering what she had just been through. Her neck was swollen to twice its normal size and she was still very drowsy. When she became more awake she tried to pull her ventilator out, about 10.30 it was decided to remove it before she did. Luckily she managed quite well without it until she started to vomit large green chunks, this happened about 5 times during the day. We were quite distressed until we realised it was the remains of the two oranges she'd eaten the day before. Mr. Richards and Dr. Mann both came round and were very pleased with her progress.  The next day Kirra had improved again, her swelling had gone down a lot and she was quite responsive. She's now on Ondansetron ( Anti Sick medicine) to try to stop her vomiting after eating anything. At 7.30pm she was moved back to the Radcliffe Infirmary again.

Kirra's doing well, she's just on a drip to keep her fluid level up and to administer her drugs ( pain killers and anti sick.) She is still vomiting a lot, but this is a common side effect after the operation she had had.

• Day 8 Cerebrospinal Fluid starts leaking.

Kirra's wound has been dry up until now, a dissolvable stitch has come loose and there is a slight leak from her head. A surgeon and the Ward registrar inspected Kirra's wound and after consulting with Mr. Richards they decided to send Kirra for a CT scan. This will show if there is a build up of fluid on the brain (Hydrocephalus), causing excess pressure on the wound. Paula carries Kirra to the CT scanner and Kirra manages to keep still for the scan ( no anaesthetic needed.) The scan shows only a very slight excess fluid and it is decided to see if it settles down on its own.

• Day 9 Results of Biopsy