No weight change :-(

I took the Waif to The Maudsley yesterday. Her new school is further away so we couldn't get there until 4.15 for our 4pm appointment (Waif doesn't want to miss any school) which left us a little short of time as the psych was on duty at 5pm.

Cuttting to the chase, Waif weighted 100g more than last time, and the time before. But her new school skirt has a belt on it and Waif had a big drink of water just before being weighed so I reckon her weight is the same or even very slightly less than last time. Basically, her weight has remained the same throughout her treatment since September, whilst she had grown 2cm and, obviously, got older, making her weight for age and height diminish :-( This is despite the fact that she is eating fine in front of me.....not 3,000 calories a day, I am sure (no sauces, no butter, crusts cut off, negotiations hard) but at least 1800 calories, so I am surprised and deeply worried that she has not gained weight.

The psych told us that he is free next week, then away for a week, then back for a week and then finishing. Really, since it has been decided that Waif should be on weekly appointments, the psych had only been available fortnightly. Hmmmm... perhaps a new guy won't be a bad thing. I am going to phone the Team Leader and see if I can request someone with more experience. Whilst this psych is a lovely chap, he is still learning and never seems to get to the point - we just have nice chats about what Wiaf is up to at school. Or rather, he initiates a nice chat, Waif refuses to talk in more than monosyllables and I fill in politely with detail and encouragement.

I am wondering if Waif might be depressed: she bursts into tears very easily eg when the cleaner cleaned her room after Waif had asked for noone to go in there.

Meanwhile, I have heard rumours from Waif''s friend at her new school that she is throwing away her lunch.

Waif mentioned to the psych that she has been asked to try out for the school netball team - this is a large part of the reason why she wanted to change schools to somewhere nearer, to have the time and flexibility to get into teams and go to matches. The psych said that she wasn't to play netball as she needs to conserve calories. Waif was devastated.

I have taken a unilateral decision that we will ignore that diktat- netball is a quick game and doesn't involve a lot of fitness training. Waif has instead agreed that she will eat something extra on netball days. I would rather Waif had a normal, healthy lifestyle that she can then keep up, than that she has to give up everything she loves and sink into gloom. I hope she will build up some muscle. I will however be VERY STRICT on the extra food she has to eat. I hope I am doing the right thing.........I know how difficult she would find not being allowed to participate in netball. I am however going to ensure that she doesn't go out for runs etc which she had been doing. In St Lucia, there is no doubt that she did a lot of sport - she would never stop and relax: reading a book was not an option.

So I have two goals this morning: 1. Phone the Maudsley and ask for a senior psych

2. Finally arrange Waif's neck scan.

3. Write to her old headmistress to thank her for the lovely letter she sent saying that Waif was welcome back any time and that we did not have to pay fees in lieu of notice.

UPDATE: 1. The hospital never received the scan form :-( The GP receptionist is adamant that it was sent. Ho hum, we are starting again with another form today and a 3 day wait before I am to call the hospital (according to the GP). Mind you, when I called the hospital just now they said that I COULDN'T make an appointment by phone but had to wait for them to post one out to Waif, and then let them know if it was inconvenient. What a stupid system! I am glad I am not trying to fit this around work.....

2. The "team co-ordinator" is the nutritionist, a capable middle aged woman. Whilst she is not a medic, she seems to have plenty of authority and experience so might not be too bad a person to talk to to ask for an experienced psych next time in view of Waif's lack of progress. She is to call me back on Monday as she is in interviews today.