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Blood test results for James and Charis

It's been quite a week in the Fraser household, featuring James's liver issues, David going to Joburg for the day on Wednesday and Charis being taken for a precautionary blood test to make sure she doesn't have leukemia!

Liver results

We went to see the gastro-enterologist today as planned to check out why James's liver enzyme levels were high. He said that the most likely reason is that some of the drugs he's on can gradually produce toxicity in the liver over protracted periods of time. This can eventually produce liver scarring etc which is not reversible, but if caught early enough, they can sometimes switch the drugs etc so that it doesn't have a permanent effect.

Livers and sisters

Over the last month James has been feeling nauseous a fair amount (he hasn't really struggled with this over the previous few months) - often retching at the sight of food and/or not wanting to eat, which has been quite stretching... it's been a little bit better the last week but still there. On Thursday they did some blood tests on him and his liver enzyme levels were quite high, which could be a cause, so tomorrow we're taking him to see a gastroenterologist about it (they told us not to worry or panic! Nice reassuring people, these medical folks are :-))

Macrophage dreams and spleens

With all his treatment, James has gotten interested in the different blood cells and how they work. His favourites are the macrophages which are white blood cells that do a cunning trick of growing arms to swallow bacteria etc (see an amazing animation and a time-lapse video).

Bone Marrow results

James had his Bone Marrow Biopsy (which happens routinely every 3 months) and Lumbar Puncture (and monthly intravenous chemo!) last week. The operation went smoothly, although he felt a lot more queasy than usual and ended up throwing up all over the car. David had to go straight off to conduct an interview after dropping us at home ... so it made it interesting for him with the state of the car!!!!) We got the results on Tuesday, telling us that he is still clear from leukemia! The Prof (his doctor in charge of his treatment) explained to us that we are exactly where you should be ... but you've got a long road left to walk! These were honest, but sobering words for us and reminded us of the continued need for prayer in many dimensions! We thank God that He is our strong foundation, never shifting or 'wobbled' by events or difficult happenings!

Spring visit and colds

Unfortunately we've all come down with colds this week. James woke up crying on Thursday night with a sore ear from an ear infection. He saw his paediatrician the next day with the nice side-benefit that she saw how he's been limping. So he's going to see a physio some time which may help. It's a nice relief to feel that we have some medical support on this.

Fuzzy Leg Pain

James has been having leg pains intermittently over the last year. They've tended to be sudden and severe. At times his legs also buckle underneath him. But it's been sporadic and the doctors have struggled to work out what causes it.

Holiday in Hermanus and neurologism

We had a wonderful holiday at Volmoed in Hermanus. It's a most beautiful Christian retreat center in the Hemel-en-Aarde (Heaven and Earth) valley that we've been to for church camps and also for holidays from time to time, so it was so lovely to go back there. We also had an afternoon at the beach which was just lovely for James and Charis...

James's birthday

We had a fantastic day on Wednesday celebrating James's birthday. His bedroom and the lounge got decorated the night before with streamers and balloons; he had breakfast in bed (and we all joined him); and I took the day off so we could all have fun together.
We went to Aunty Elle for morning tea, then off to the Scratch Patch at the Waterfront where we all had lots of fun collecting semi-precious stones.
Fish and chips for lunch (although James didn't want any) and then James and Charis were both so tired they fell asleep in the car. We went to century city, put Charis in her pram and James in a trolley (with a blanket!) and let them both sleep while we had a drink together (a nice unexpected treat!)
Then we went to the Science Center which is basically a gigantic play area so that although little kids may not appreciate everything that's being taught through the activities they can certainly have fun!
Visited the Loizides on the way home and then had Gramps and Granny round for pizza in the evening - and James even ordered it over the phone! (With some coaching from mum...)
There's definitely something special about taking time out to celebrate!

James onto maintenance therapy - Celebration

Haven't updated this blog over the last few months - we had to return from Japan because of James being diagnosed with Leukemia in August... and have since then been going through fairly intense treatment with him.

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