KESJ: 4 October 2009

Monday, October 5, 2009

4 October 2009

T+19

Jeremy's cough is getting worse, and it started affecting his sleep last night. He started developing this cough after transplant, and it started getting worse over the past few days (since the tube came out). The doctors have already done chest x-rays and fungo-grams, which show his chect is clear, but the coughing is distressing for him (and tires him out). The explanation we are being given is that this coughing is due to the mucositis causing irritation in his throat.

Jeremy had a platelet transfusion today, and the pre-medication contributed to him having another sleepy day.

He has been a good boy and taken his medicines (coca cola assisted) and for the time being, they will hold off reinserting the nasogastric tube.

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Definitions

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) - a rapidly progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. ALL affects the type of developing white blood cells known as lymphocytes. It is the most common form of childhood leukaemia, and the most common type of childhood cancer. It also occurs in adults.

Blast cells - immature blood cells normally found in the bone marrow. Blast cells normally constitute up to 5% of all bone marrow cells. These cells divide and replenish all the normal blood cells in the marrow and circulating blood. Acute leukaemia is characterised by an accumulation of abnormal blast cells that take over the marrow and spill out into the blood stream.

Bone marrow transplant - the process of replacing bone marrow cells (stem cells) that are unhealthy, with stem cells that are healthy. The healthy stem cells are re-infused intravenously through the central line, after very strong chemotherapy and/or radiation to kill unhealthy stem cells. The re-infusion of healthy stem cells essentially rescues the patient from the chemotherapy and/or radiation, by enabling his or her bone marrow to start producing new blood cells.