30 May 2009

Hooray! Jeremy didn't have a fever, so he came home today! Hopefully he will not spike a fever during the next week or so, or he will be back in hospital for another stay. Otherwise, if all goes well, he will be visiting hospital clinic on Monday and Thursday next week for some chemo.

29 May 2009

We are thankful that Jeremy is coping OK with this week's chemo. One chemo is bright blue - the nurses call it Smurf Chemo! He is still happy and cheeky to the nurses, and likes to go outside and play in the hospital playground when the nurses (and the rain) allow him out! Hopefully, if he doesn't have a fever, he can go home tomorrow. We will meet with the bone marrow transplant team in a couple of weeks for a serious discussion of his treatment options.

25 May 2009

Jeremy went out to Westmead today to start a week of chemo. We are thankful that there was a bed for him in Camperdown Ward, and that his blood test today was reasonably good.
The transplant doctor has not been around today, so we hope to get more information tomorrow. Right now, we do not know when they plan to start the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT).

21 May 2009

The doctor telephoned today and told us that Jeremy still has numerous blast cells in his bone marrow, that he is considered as high risk, and that he will need a bone marrow transplant in a few months' time. We were very sad to hear this, especially since Jeremy has been so happy and active - he seems so "normal" and "healthy" that sometimes we had even forgotten that he has leukaemia. He will still be admitted to hospital on Monday for a week or so, but he will be given much more potent chemo drugs to try to reduce the number of blast cells. We will know more about his treatment regime on Monday.

19 May 2009

Jeremy had his Day 79 bone marrow aspirate today! We will know the results in a few weeks' time. Meanwhile, today he also started his next course of chemo. This involves some hospital stays for several nights while he receives some potent chemo drugs through a drip. His first hospital stay will start next Monday night - hopefully he will be home by the weekend, depending on how well his body responds to the chemo drugs.

15 May 2009

Today Jeremy visited the nuclear medicine department at hospital for a GFR (Glomerular Filtration Rate) test to check his kidney function. A special dye was injected into a vein in his arm. A sample of his blood was taken from his central line at 2 hours, 3 hours and 4 hours after the injection, to measure how much dye was still in his blood. The GFR test shows how well his kidneys are working by measuring how quickly the dye is removed from his blood. Jeremy will have his kidney function monitored regularly during treatment, because some chemo drugs have the potential to affect kidney function.

13 May 2009

Unfortunately, Jeremy's neutrophil count was too low for him to have his Day 79 bone marrow aspirate today - we will go back to hospital clinic on Tuesday to see if his neutrophil count is high enough to proceed. Neutrophils are white blood cells which fight infection.

11 May 2009

Jeremy's blood counts were OK again, so he didn't need any transfusions today. Hopefully, his blood counts will be OK on Wednesday so that he can have his Day 79 bone marrow aspirate - otherwise, it will be postponed. It will take a few weeks to obtain the results of his Day 79 bone marrow aspirate, as his bone marrow sample will need to be analysed at a molecular level.

8 May 2009

Jeremy's blood counts were OK today and no transfusion was required - it was a nice short visit to hospital clinic, and we were home in time for morning tea! We will go back on Monday for another blood test and checkup.

4 May 2009

Jeremy's blood counts were OK today, so he didn't need any blood transfusions. He will have another blood test and checkup on Friday.