BLOG | Von Tatchenstine's

An honest insight into daily life. Past and present highs and lows as a family of 9. Where we've been and where we are going. A place to organise thoughts and stories as we muddle through, this is the Von Tatchenstine's blog....

The realisation that it's really cancer

I slept uncomfortably in that little white room, the low hum and buzzing of machines, Dexters soft murmers in his sleep. It was the 20th...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Aug 24, 20204 min read

The 12 days of Christmas

As the chemo took effect, chunks of the tumour fell out of Dexter's nose. He had been wearing nose bandages since the biopsy and the...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Aug 11, 20207 min read

Why is gender disappointment such a taboo?

When I was pregnant in 2004. I knew Ethan was a boy, everything in my body told me, by the way he booted me from the inside. We didn't...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Aug 2, 20208 min read

Dark days with Dexter

The next day after surgery, Dexter slept away the morning hours. His line was in and tender but it was there for immediate use and the...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Jul 29, 202012 min read

Dreaming of a white Christmas

My sister and I were brought up in the Lulworth a quiet picturesque village on the edge of the south coast. Snuggled inside the secure...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Jul 21, 20207 min read

Blue lights and Amber care.

Hovering by our little boy, strapped onto a gurney in the hallway of the Poole hospital's children's unit, we tried to make small talk...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Jul 17, 202010 min read

The nightmare before Christmas - Part two from Jack's mind

I encouraged Rach to go home. There was no way we were hearing from the doctors this evening; it had gone eleven and I settled down in...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Jul 12, 20205 min read

The Nightmare before Christmas- part 1

D was no longer for Dexter, it was for despair. The night we were told the news that Dexter was so ill, we'd meant to be in London with...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Jul 10, 20206 min read

The Wait..

DECEMBER 4th 2019 The day arrived with the hustle and bustle of the teenagers arguing over who’d had breakfast and who was trying to...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Jul 3, 20208 min read

The holidays are coming... part 2

Sitting in a dim grey room, listening to our GP argue firmly with a stressed, over stretched doctor on the other end of the line seemed...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Jun 29, 20206 min read

The Holidays are coming..

With the beginning of December days away, the excitement of advent calendars and Christmas decks being put up spread thought the house...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Jun 29, 20204 min read

Starting in the middle..

I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a blog for years, only now in Lockdown after one of my precious children has been diagnosed...

Tatty Von Tatchenstine

Jun 16, 20203 min read