Last Monday, the 13th, when Jimmy went for bloods his platelet count had come up from 68 to 107. This past Monday Jimmy had bloods taken again and we had our follow up appointment with Prof and they are now standing at 121. Prof has decided to give the Cortisone another two weeks to see they if they can continue to work their stuff. If Jimmy's platelets keep improving at the current rate then we are hoping that in two weeks time Prof will start weening Jimmy off the Cortisone over a period of 6 weeks. During this time we will monitor his platelets weekly. If there is no change and they stay up then Jimmy can at long last start the one year of maintenance on Thalidomide. If it however happens that it is only the Cortisone which is serving to keep his platelet count up then he will have to go on to some other medication as he cannot stay on Cortisone long term due to all the side effects and Prof will have a look and the situation and decide on the road forward.
Jimmy's white blood cell count is at 6.5, this being the highest it has been since he was diagnosed, except of course when he was on Neupogen injections to boost his wbc. His red blood cell count is slightly low and his haemoglobin is now in the normal parameters.
The 3rd school term started on Monday so it's back to routine with homework, sport and projects. We look forward to the Bergvliet Derby day on Friday night and Saturday and it's freezing cold and there is rail forecast for Friday night. I can believe that a year has passed. I distinctly remember saying these same words this time last year in my blog. Loren and Shannon have the start of Matric prelims at the beginning of September, Matric dance at the beginning of October and Matric finals start end October. Min dae....
We spent a lovely family day out during the holidays which is rare these days with the kids getting older. Even a family photo is quite a thing to organise! We took ourselves off to Canalwalk and did some clothes shopping for the kids and then enjoyed a lovely Portuguese lunch at the Diaz Tavern in Cape Town. From here we were off to Newlands to watch the Springboks in top form and what an awesome win it was.
 |
| Some family photos taken at the Diaz Tavern |
 |
| A testament as to just how well Jimmy is looking |
 |
| We missed you Megan |
And this photograph was a walk Jimmy and I took just before sunset at our beautiful beach in Fish Hoek.
1 comment:
What a joy, wonderful to see!!!
Post a Comment