Tuesday, June 30, 2009

30 June 2009

Praise God! The doctor rang this afternoon with good news! Jeremy's blast cell count has come down to 3-4% on an initial examination with the microscope, so technically he is in remission (under 5% is classified as remission). Jeremy will be admitted to hospital tomorrow for the start of another course of the same high dose chemo, which means a week of Mitozantrone (blue Smurf chemo!) and Cytarabine as an inpatient, followed by 2 weeks of Vincristine and Asparaginase as a clinic outpatient. The doctor also expects him to be admitted again to hospital during those 2 weeks for a fever. Hopefully, after his fever goes away and his counts come up again, he will have a bone marrow transplant.



To God be the glory for His wonderful healing hand upon Jeremy!

Friday, June 26, 2009

26 June 2009

Jeremy went to hospital clinic today for a checkup. His blood counts are up, so the doctor has scheduled his next bone marrow aspirate on Monday. We are praying that the results of this bone marrow aspirate will miraculously show no blast cells at all.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

24 June 2009

Jeremy was discharged from hospital last night, after a red blood cell transfusion. He is very happy to be home again, and his appetite is slowly returning.



This afternoon we were greatly encouraged and strengthened when some of the pastors and elders from our church came over to pray for his healing and to anoint him with oil.



Thank you to all who are faithfully praying for Jeremy.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

21 June 2009

The past few days have been filled with terrible sadness, as Ken and I try to come to terms with what the bone marrow transplant doctor told us. We wanted to share this with you, and also to ask for your prayers for a miraculous healing of our little boy.



On Thursday and Friday, the bone marrow transplant doctor met with us and spoke honestly about Jeremy's prognosis. He told us that -


- Jeremy's peculiar type of ALL has been extremely resistant to standard chemo (eg. his Day 79 bone marrow aspirate still had 69% blast cells, when he should have had almost 0%)


- Jeremy will have another bone marrow aspirate in a few weeks' time when his blood counts recover, and then probably another course of chemo followed by another bone marrow aspirate


- If there are still too many blast cells in these next 2 bone marrow aspirates, this means that Jeremy's leukaemia is growing faster than his good bone marrow cells and a bone marrow transplant will not be able to cure him


- Even if his blast cells come down to almost 0%, there are significant risks involved in the bone marrow transplant process and he may not be cured or even survive


- The bone marrow transplant team will do all they can in working towards Jeremy having a bone marrow transplant, but in the end it will depend on his body's response to the previous and the next round of chemo



We know that our God is a good and loving God, and we pray that in His mercy He will completely cure Jeremy.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

20 June 2009

Jeremy is still in hospital with fevers. However, the good news is that his white blood cell count is slowing coming up. Ken came to hospital yesterday, and Jeremy was surprised and pleased to see him. We went for a little "picnic lunch" outside and then played at the playground. Ken stayed with him last night, and will stay again tonight.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

16 June 2009

Jeremy and Eleanor are still in hospital. Nothing has been grown from his blood cultures in the past week. Jeremy is still having fevers of 39-40 degrees, and has not yet regained his appetite. He is nibbling at things like a mouse.

Friday, June 12, 2009

12 June 2009

It’s been over a week in hospital, and Jeremy is still spiking fevers on a regular basis each day. At least his recent fevers have not been as high as when he was admitted, and they now respond to Panadol. He is still on antibiotics, and had to have another platelet transfusion and red blood cell transfusion today. His white blood cell count is very low, and his neutrophils are non-existent! His appetite has gone, and it is difficult to tempt him to eat anything. According to the doctors, this is all to be expected after being given high dose chemo!



However, when he is afebrile, he is happy to go for little walks inside the hospital and to attend hospital playgroup on Wednesday and Thursday this week. He even came to the parents’ craft morning on Tuesday! We know when a fever is starting, because he begins to shake and say “I’m cold, I’m cold”. We also know when he is feeling better, because he is cheeky to the nurses and chatty again.



Ken is going to spend tonight and tomorrow night with him, and this afternoon we were thrilled to see him gobble up the food that he had “ordered” Ken to cook for him! Hopefully, he will keep up this eating pattern for the rest of the weekend and beyond!


Tuesday, June 9, 2009

8 June 2009

As Monday was a public holiday, it was another chance to spend time out there with Jeremy. His temperature went over 40 degrees, so the doctors increased the dosage of his meds. Thankfully, they have not grown anything else from his blood cultures (lets hope it stays that way). At this stage, it looks like he will be staying there a bit longer than we originally anticipated.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

7 June 2009

Oops! Spoke too soon! Jeremy's temperature went up high again last night, and this morning he still has a fever.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

6 June 2009

Jeremy and I spent the whole of Thursday night in the emergency department because the hospital was full! After taking some blood samples, he was connected to a drip and given second line antibiotics. He had a spectacular allergic reaction to his platelet transfusion, despite having been given Hydrocortisone and Phenergan beforehand - his whole body was covered in lumpy, itchy hives!





Around 2pm on Friday, we were thankful to be moved to Camperdown Ward (the oncology ward). Jeremy continued to have a high fever, and was neither active nor hungry. The doctor told us that he has a couple of infections in his blood, which can be treated by antibiotics. He will remain in hospital for over a week, until the infections have cleared up.





Today, Jeremy had a red blood cell transfusion, but still had a very high fever. It was only this evening when his temperature went back to normal.













































































Jeremy asked Ken to stay with him tonight (Saturday night) - this will be Ken's first "sleepover" in hospital!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

4 June 2009

The doctors had sort of expected this to happen last week. We had been hoping to avoid it. Jeremy started getting lethargic this afternoon, and after some out of character napping, we discovered he had developed a fever this evening. So they've headed back to Westmead tonight.



Update: Blood count results came back. Very low white blood cell count, low platelet count and low haemaglobin. So he's up for a transfusion tonight and probably tomorrow as well.

3 June 2009

Wednesday was a relatively routine visit to clinic, but it turned out a fair bit longer than expected. There was waiting, waiting, and more waiting. Both managed to spend more than enough time playing Crash Bandicoot on the Playstations in clinic!

Monday, June 1, 2009

1 June 2009

Jeremy went to hospital clinic today for Vincristine (through a drip via his central line) and Asparaginase (intramuscular injection into his bottom). He will go back on Wednesday and Friday of this week, instead of Thursday, for more Asparaginase.