Friday 24 August 2007

Friday 23rd August

Apologies if this takes a while to get around, dad’s away this week so the normal distribution method is not in place.

Adam had a consult this Tuesday with the prof and we got the results of the initial test on his bone marrow aspirate from last week, this test showed no bad cells which is excellent news, we hope to get the results of the detailed chromosome test next week and if this too is clear then we can once again breathe a small sigh of relief for a while.

The prof was quite surprised and he said that they are not sure exactly what has done the trick but he thinks it is the Rituximub antibody treatment and so they will review the ongoing treatment next week.

It’s a fine balance between increasing the dosage of the drugs which has a detrimental effect on his bone marrows production of normal cells such as platelets and ensuring that a high enough dose is given to keep the disease at bay.

In addition, we are keen to use any window of opportunity whilst his marrow is normal to try and get some further healing on his exposed heel bone to his right foot. The hyperbaric oxygen option is still being considered but at £20k or more one gets the feeling that cost may be an issue for the health trust. Other possible new options are to use a platelet rich compound that uses donor platelets in high concentration applied to the wound to try and stimulate the growth of new tissue.

It’s all complex and a very finely balanced situation. But for now at least, his focus is on planning for his birthday so his mind is focused!

Our thoughts go out to Dan, Karen and Kay at the moment, Dan’s dad passed away yesterday, he and Kay managed their dream of giving up on the rat race, moving to Australia and living the life they wanted, how many of us truly get to do that I wonder? John.. good on ya mate! We’ll chuck another shrimp on the barbie for you…..


Love to all.

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