KESJ: 6 February 2010

Saturday, February 6, 2010

6 February 2010

T+144

The first week of school is over, and although Jeremy did not manage to attend everyday, he still had plenty of craft and worksheets to put up on our walls! Although it has only been 8 days since he has come home from hospital, it feels like a lot longer than that.

We seem to get exhausted (mentally and physically) each time that Jeremy gets stuck at hospital for an unexpected stay, and it takes us time to get back into a "normal routine". However, looking back we are thankful for God's timing and blessings - for example, now we don't have to worry about a central line when Jeremy is at school!

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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.