KESJ: 20 February 2010

Sunday, February 21, 2010

20 February 2010

T+158

It was only one year ago today that Jeremy was first diagnosed with Leukaemia - yet it has felt like a much longer time. We still remember standing around in a small room, within the emergency department, stunned, and not knowing anything about what lay ahead. Previous memories of Leukaemia were of the few ads on Channel Ten as children.

The journey we walked has not been a pleasant one (no life threatening illness ever is), and we are grateful for the many blessings and support we have received along the way.

We are very thankful that Jeremy is now in remission, and that he is now so full of life.

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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.