Hi everyone,
We have had a set back..... Tim is back in hospital. Tim presented a slight temperature when having his routine PICC line redress on Tuesday. Doctors were concerned by this and ordered immediate blood tests and cultures. Unfortunately, Tim's neutrophils had dropped again and he has become neutropenic. Blood culture test results have indicated an infection in his body and it looks as though the infection is primarily in is in his PICC line. This means that the PICC in his left arm will have to come out and a new one put into his right.
Tim is coping incredibly well with all this. So much easier to deal with when you have been through it all before. On admission to the ward on Tuesday night when the nurse asked if he wore hearing aids he responded with "what?" and is English your first language, he said "Si". MMMMmmmm. The nurse thought he was hilarious!!!!!! (Note the sarcasm!!)
More to come, no doubt.
Love Andi xx.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Update 17/07/09
Hi everyone,
We have had an action packed couple of weeks. All things going well at the moment which is so lovely. Last week was very exciting for Tim as he was able to attend Windy Hill to see Josh participate in a clinic run by the players. It was fabulous and cold and both boys in their element! (see photos below)
John and Barbara (Tim's parents) took us to meet Dr. Ian Gawler OAM, at his Yarra Valley Living Centre in Yarra Junction. It was an incredible day, we had a tour of the property and met with Ian for an hour. It was an amazing encounter where Tim, myself and his parents had the opportunity to share our feelings with Ian and each other. He certainly has a genuine, energising presence about him and I found his compassion and eagerness to listen......really listen, completely heart warming. We felt so fortunate to meet him and give thanks to John for making it all happen. For those of you who don't know John worked for Gawler Foundation some years ago and is a personal friend of Ian. People travel from all over the globe to meet Ian, so we are incredibly lucky. He is planning to retire in March and Tim and I are hoping to attend his Life and Living 10 day retreat later in the year. This retreat is a transformative lifestyle based program that helps to overcome the challenges of cancer. Look out everyone.....Tim may come out this cancer journey a Vegan!!! Check out www.gawler.org for any more info on Ian and the Gawler Foundation.
I am saving the best news now for last..and that is the bone marrow biopsy result.....................(drum roll).............ALL CLEAR! We are thrilled! Of course this has given Tim a massive boost in spirit and confidence. We are making baby steps, but certainly they are forward, to recovery............YAY!!!!
Have a great week end. We are planning to too!!!
Love Andi.
We have had an action packed couple of weeks. All things going well at the moment which is so lovely. Last week was very exciting for Tim as he was able to attend Windy Hill to see Josh participate in a clinic run by the players. It was fabulous and cold and both boys in their element! (see photos below)
John and Barbara (Tim's parents) took us to meet Dr. Ian Gawler OAM, at his Yarra Valley Living Centre in Yarra Junction. It was an incredible day, we had a tour of the property and met with Ian for an hour. It was an amazing encounter where Tim, myself and his parents had the opportunity to share our feelings with Ian and each other. He certainly has a genuine, energising presence about him and I found his compassion and eagerness to listen......really listen, completely heart warming. We felt so fortunate to meet him and give thanks to John for making it all happen. For those of you who don't know John worked for Gawler Foundation some years ago and is a personal friend of Ian. People travel from all over the globe to meet Ian, so we are incredibly lucky. He is planning to retire in March and Tim and I are hoping to attend his Life and Living 10 day retreat later in the year. This retreat is a transformative lifestyle based program that helps to overcome the challenges of cancer. Look out everyone.....Tim may come out this cancer journey a Vegan!!! Check out www.gawler.org for any more info on Ian and the Gawler Foundation.
I am saving the best news now for last..and that is the bone marrow biopsy result.....................(
Have a great week end. We are planning to too!!!
Love Andi.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Update 7/7/09
Hello everyone,
Tim is home now after a turbulent week of feeling ok one minute to not good at all the next. It has been difficult to adjust to every moment, as a sense of security and flash of wellness is completely turned upside down 20 mins later by a bout of nausea and all over body aches. My nerves have been on tender hooks as we have done our utmost to psych neutropenia away.......and I think we may have been successful!!!!
This week saw Tim admitted for a night on Monday. He had spent the week end at home, but unfortunately couldn't bring himself to be upright nor eat or drink anything as he felt extreme nausea. He was due into day oncology for blood tests and faced up in pretty bad shape (threw up 15 times) and the doctors decided he needed to be in o/n. After some strong anti nausea, IV fluids for 24 hours and a cell boosting injection (GCSF) he was good to come home again.
After two days of feeling ok, Tim woke on Thursday morning to find himself covered in bruises. Called the hospital and the next thing we knew he was in again having a platelet transfusion. His platelets tested at 13 which is extremely low ( platelets test at around 450 in a normal, healthy person). This is what had caused the bruising and it is scary to think that it was just normal toss and turn in his sleep that instigated the outbreak. If platelets test 10 or under, you are in danger of a spontaneous bleed. Luckily Tim is right on to everything and acts on his intuition. This has saved his life more than once in the last 6 months. (Sounds so dramatic, but is actually true!!!)
The up times this week have included some lovely family time at home, eating home cooked meals and watching numerous games of AFL. Tim was treated by Andrew and Harry Belli on Saturday night to the Crown Palladium for Essendon's 84/85 Premiership reunion dinner. It was so lovely to see him suit up and enjoy a fun and memorable night. I think he would have rolled up there attached to a drip, he was so determined to go!!! We were all so pleased that he could. It meant a great deal to Tim to be there.
Tim is now waiting for his blood counts to come back up, then he will begin the re induction phase of treatment. This is more or less a repeat of everything he has already had, minus the radiation and 24 hour chemo infusions. Yes, we are definitely making progress, but the next few months still involve daily chemotherapy.
Take care,
Love Andi
xoxoxoxo
ps. The scratch on Tim's nose below was caused from vomiting too many times into a sick bag. (just in case you were wondering!!!! ......chemo...it's a bloodsport!!)
Tim is home now after a turbulent week of feeling ok one minute to not good at all the next. It has been difficult to adjust to every moment, as a sense of security and flash of wellness is completely turned upside down 20 mins later by a bout of nausea and all over body aches. My nerves have been on tender hooks as we have done our utmost to psych neutropenia away.......and I think we may have been successful!!!!
This week saw Tim admitted for a night on Monday. He had spent the week end at home, but unfortunately couldn't bring himself to be upright nor eat or drink anything as he felt extreme nausea. He was due into day oncology for blood tests and faced up in pretty bad shape (threw up 15 times) and the doctors decided he needed to be in o/n. After some strong anti nausea, IV fluids for 24 hours and a cell boosting injection (GCSF) he was good to come home again.
After two days of feeling ok, Tim woke on Thursday morning to find himself covered in bruises. Called the hospital and the next thing we knew he was in again having a platelet transfusion. His platelets tested at 13 which is extremely low ( platelets test at around 450 in a normal, healthy person). This is what had caused the bruising and it is scary to think that it was just normal toss and turn in his sleep that instigated the outbreak. If platelets test 10 or under, you are in danger of a spontaneous bleed. Luckily Tim is right on to everything and acts on his intuition. This has saved his life more than once in the last 6 months. (Sounds so dramatic, but is actually true!!!)
The up times this week have included some lovely family time at home, eating home cooked meals and watching numerous games of AFL. Tim was treated by Andrew and Harry Belli on Saturday night to the Crown Palladium for Essendon's 84/85 Premiership reunion dinner. It was so lovely to see him suit up and enjoy a fun and memorable night. I think he would have rolled up there attached to a drip, he was so determined to go!!! We were all so pleased that he could. It meant a great deal to Tim to be there.
Tim is now waiting for his blood counts to come back up, then he will begin the re induction phase of treatment. This is more or less a repeat of everything he has already had, minus the radiation and 24 hour chemo infusions. Yes, we are definitely making progress, but the next few months still involve daily chemotherapy.
Take care,
Love Andi
xoxoxoxo
ps. The scratch on Tim's nose below was caused from vomiting too many times into a sick bag. (just in case you were wondering!!!! ......chemo...it's a bloodsport!!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
