Well 3 sleeps till Christmas and we're looking forward to having a bit of a break from work and hospital and most importantly spending time with the family.
It's hard to imagine it's already nearly 11 months since Luke was first diagnosed with leukaemia. As a quick update on Luke’s journey - he has endured 5 cycles of intensive chemotherapy lasting about 8 weeks each. He has one more intensive cycle starting 3 January and this will take us through till the end of February. We can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel; however he still has a long way to go with maintenance chemo till around May 2013. So far so good as Luke has been achieving remission at the end of each cycle, so that’s all we can ask. Even though he’s had lots of lows, he has had some good times during the year, such as getting his drivers licence, being able to drive his sporty Nissan 300ZX, turning 18, and getting through Year 12 successfully.
It was great to see Luke graduate last Wednesday. He put in a lot of effort to do the work set for him. As mentioned earlier in the year, Luke was unable to sit the AST tests at school as he was neutropenic, so he was given an exemption. His ATAR score (or university entrance score) was worked out pro-rata based on the work he did in Year 11 and 12. He achieved an ATAR of 87.95, so that was an amazing effort and we are really proud of him.
He has just heard that he's been accepted into the University of Canberra to undertake a Bachelor of Information Technology. So that's really exciting to know what the future holds for him. This was an early round placement due to the Principal's recommendation application that was submitted by his college. However, given Luke's ATAR score he would have gotten into university based on his own work. Luke and I went to the university today to talk to the course convener to get an idea about whether he would be able to manage full time study and discuss the possibility that he would be neutropenic during the first few weeks of uni. He was very helpful and we've devised a plan for first semester that should see him having easier units that he can manage without having to go into uni for lectures and tutorials. So hopefully all goes well.
I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support and understanding throughout the year. We really appreciate it.
If there’s anything this journey has taught me it’s not to take anything for granted and to treasure every moment with your family. So on that note – I wish you and your family a very safe and happy Christmas and a prosperous and healthy New Year.
I'll be in touch in the New Year.
Monday 1st December 2010
Not long until Christmas - and unfortunately I'm not organised at all!
We finally have a completed kitchen and it's great. We are really happy with it all. I've finished painting the kitchen as well as the skirting boards so now I can sit back and admire it all.
Luke is going well. He has finished all his school work and no longer has me to nag him about getting his work finished. Nothing like doing a terms work of maths in a day and sitting the test!! Don't know how he did it but at least it's all done now.
His Year 12 Graduation ceremony will be on the 15th December. Hopefully he remains well and won't slip into neutropenia so that he can get to the ceremony. He will finish this cycle of chemo next Wednesday. We then see the specialist on Thursday to see how long of a break he will have before starting his last 8 week intensive chemo cycle. Hopefully they will give him a good 3 week break and let him have Xmas off. All being well the last cycle should finish by the end of February next year. We also need to see with the specialist how the maintenance chemo works after that. We know he will need maintenance chemo for at least 2 years and each cycles runs for 12 weeks however we don't know how much of a gap between cycles he gets.
Likewise we will need to see if he is going to have a bone marrow biopsy at the end of this cycle to see if he is still in remission. So at the moment Luke is tracking well and apart from not having a great deal of energy and feeling "off" somedays, this cycle is going without incident (other than his initial hives which seem to have settled down - he has been taking anti-histamines.
Amy decided she wanted to get a job to get some money to buy all the clothes that she keeps "needing". She started her first shift at Donut King at the Tuggeranong Hyperdome. She was a bit anxious at first, especially about the uniform that really isn't that flattering. However when I picked her up last night she had a big smile and enjoyed herself. So it will be good for her to have her own money coming in.
Murray's Mum, Ann, had her 70th birthday party last Saturday. A great night was had by all. I've attached a photo of Ann and Ross with all the grandkids.
Hopefully I'll update in a few weeks before Xmas, about the graduation and what the specialist has said.
We finally have a completed kitchen and it's great. We are really happy with it all. I've finished painting the kitchen as well as the skirting boards so now I can sit back and admire it all.
Luke is going well. He has finished all his school work and no longer has me to nag him about getting his work finished. Nothing like doing a terms work of maths in a day and sitting the test!! Don't know how he did it but at least it's all done now.
His Year 12 Graduation ceremony will be on the 15th December. Hopefully he remains well and won't slip into neutropenia so that he can get to the ceremony. He will finish this cycle of chemo next Wednesday. We then see the specialist on Thursday to see how long of a break he will have before starting his last 8 week intensive chemo cycle. Hopefully they will give him a good 3 week break and let him have Xmas off. All being well the last cycle should finish by the end of February next year. We also need to see with the specialist how the maintenance chemo works after that. We know he will need maintenance chemo for at least 2 years and each cycles runs for 12 weeks however we don't know how much of a gap between cycles he gets.
Likewise we will need to see if he is going to have a bone marrow biopsy at the end of this cycle to see if he is still in remission. So at the moment Luke is tracking well and apart from not having a great deal of energy and feeling "off" somedays, this cycle is going without incident (other than his initial hives which seem to have settled down - he has been taking anti-histamines.
Amy decided she wanted to get a job to get some money to buy all the clothes that she keeps "needing". She started her first shift at Donut King at the Tuggeranong Hyperdome. She was a bit anxious at first, especially about the uniform that really isn't that flattering. However when I picked her up last night she had a big smile and enjoyed herself. So it will be good for her to have her own money coming in.
Murray's Mum, Ann, had her 70th birthday party last Saturday. A great night was had by all. I've attached a photo of Ann and Ross with all the grandkids.
Hopefully I'll update in a few weeks before Xmas, about the graduation and what the specialist has said.
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