26 September 2012

T+1,107

Today Jeremy went to hospital for a bone density scan, a pulmonary function test, an eye checkup and to see the bone marrow transplant doctor.

For his bone density scan, he lay on this bed and the machine moved slowly down his body taking a scan of his skeleton, which the operator printed out and gave to him as a souvenir!

For his pulmonary function test, he sat in this box with a peg on his nose and blew really hard and long into the purple mouthpiece.  The test measures the total volume of air inside his lungs.  He was allowed to keep the peg and mouthpiece afterwards!

Thank God that:

• his growth is good
• his 3-year blood results are good
• his lungs are good
• his eyes are good (even better than mine with glasses on!)
• the bone marrow transplant doctor wants to see Jeremy again in a year, instead of 6 months.

19 September 2012

T+1100

This morning we were proud to be invited to this term's Honour Assembly where Jeremy received a citizenship Honour Award for "always trying to be helpful in class and to others".

Yesterday he went to hospital for a few checkups.  The dentist is happy with his teeth, and just put a bit of fluoride on them.  However, he showed us Jeremy's teeth X-ray which was taken in April 2012, and told us that his adult molar roots are about 1/3 the length that they should be.  This is due to all the chemo and radiation that he had to have, and there is nothing that we can do about it.  Calcium won't help, but at least we know that he has to be very careful as it is easier for his teeth to be knocked out.  He must wear a mouthguard if he plays contact sports etc.

He also had a skin prick test for peanuts.  Although a tiny lump did appear on his skin, the immunologist was not worried as Jeremy has been eating 3 roasted peanuts every morning (he prefers them to Peanut M&Ms).  She has written to our school principal to let him know that Jeremy is no longer allergic and can be taken off the school medical alert list - Jeremy is very happy to be off the list!

He was very brave and didn't complain when they took 11 tubes of blood from him for his 3 year bloods!  We will get the results of his blood tests next week when we see the bone marrow transplant doctor.

15 September 2012

Thank God for 3 years post transplant!

 

Jeremy and Stephanie celebrated with their cousins at Wizzy World after school yesterday, and today they enjoyed going to the Willoughby Spring Fair and watching the parade.  But it had been an extremely busy week at school and all the excitement caught up to him at dinner tonight, when he spiked a fever of 38.1.  Thinking back, we are thankful we no longer have to rush him to hospital whenever he has a fever - we can just give him Panadol and let him rest at home!

21 May 2012

T+979

Jeremy lost his first tooth tonight!

His tooth had been a bit wobbly for a while, but became much looser thanks to being hit in the mouth with a soccer ball at lunchtime today. He was worried about his tooth falling out during his swimming lesson this afternoon, but was happy to go swimming when told that his teacher would be able to dive down and retrieve it if required!  But his tooth waited until the middle of dinner to come out, and Jeremy was pleased to be given lots of frozen jelly pencils and grapes to stop the bleeding.

19 May 2012

T+977

Thanks to Camp Quality, we had an enjoyable outing to the zoo today. It was Jeremy's first time to Taronga Zoo and he ran around giving the animals a rating!

Animal exhibit ratings out of 10. Lowest score is 1 and maximum is 10

Alligators - 1
Birds - 2
Corroboree frogs - 4
Reptile World (snakes, lizards etc) - 10 (started with an inert Komodo Dragon but got better ...)
Giraffes - 8
Chimpanzees - 8
Bongo 6
Barbary Sheep - Missing?
Himalayan Tahr - 1 (they were very stinky!)
Meerkats - 6 (not very exciting and not that many – better at Mogo Zoo)
Pygmy Hippopotamus - 2
Dhole - 6
Fennec Foxes - 6
Snow Leopards - 8
Tigers - 10 (one walked around a bit)
Lions - 6 (they were lying around and didn’t get up)
Gorillas - 1
Seal Show - 10
Elephants - 8 (although they were stinky!)
Bird Show - 8 (although his parents thought it was much more interesting and exciting than the Seal Show)
Tortoises - 4
Red Pandas - 1 (couldn’t see any)
Tropical Aviary - 1
Deer - 1 (stinky Bambi!)
Malayan Tapirs - 1
Binturongs - 2
Otters - 1 (in hiding)
Fishing Cats - 4
Penguins - 10
Sky Safari ride - 10

Birthdays and all

It was with great joy that we were able to help Jeremy celebrate his 7th birthday with his family. We continue to thank God for his healing, and that we can enjoy watching our little boy grow up, tantrums and all :)

18 April 2012

T+946

Jeremy went to hospital clinic this morning for a 6 monthly checkup. His physical exam was OK and he was pleased that he didn't need a blood test! However, the doctor told us that the dentist had ordered an X-ray of his mouth because still has all his baby teeth, so we went to medical imaging afterwards. The radiologist will report back to the dentist, who will then discuss his results with the doctor.

Jeremy also had a skin prick test for peanut and egg. He had a tiny reaction to peanut, but we are not concerned as he is still eating his medicinal dose of Peanut M&Ms on a regular basis. There was no reaction to egg, but this was to be expected - after all, he had eaten fried egg white for breakfast (he refuses to eat the egg yolk!).

His next visit to hospital clinic will be his 3 year post-transplant checkup in September.