Sunday, February 16, 2014

It's official... he is over 25kg!!!

Ok, it may not seem like a big deal, but EVERY time we go to the hospital to get weighed and measured (we, being Jasper, not me), he is hovering just under the 25kg mark..
Our last "weight" appointment was with a different department, so when they said he was 25.2kg, I just smiled and said to Jasper "don't get excited, we need to weigh on 3B scales". 3B is OUR department! That is the oncology ward, and I like to compare apples with apples, so there is only one set of scales I trust implicitly!
Well, today was the day. He is OFFICIALLY 25.65kg! (about 56.5lb).
I used to always say to him when he was under 25kg that he was grounded until he was over 25kg! The grounding is over!

Well, that was the fun part of the day... the blood draw was the awful part.

With FA, Jasper does not get a lot of choices. He is at the mercy of procedures and doctors. One of the choices he does get is around blood draws. He NEVER has a vein drain, ALWAYS a thumb prick. They get enough from that for a Full Blood Count (FBC) and for lipids (cholesterol).
Anyone who is anyone at our hospital knows that Jasper and needles are not friends. The only way they get decent amounts of blood for more detailed analysis is when he is under anaesthetic for his annual bone marrow biopsy... They are aware, they are happy to wait...

We go in today for a standard FBC, all is good. We get called, and all is good.
She says "which arm", I say "it has to be the left thumb, the right thumb is no good".
She looks confused, and reads the referral... I get scared...
She tells me 3B have requested a thyroid function, so need to use an arm, not a thumb.
Cue hysterical crying from Jasper with panicked yells of  "I'm not going to, I wont do it, you can't make me".
Cue crying from this mummy...

It was horrible. The LOVELY phlebotomy lady went to get some help... I told Jasper that if he didn't let the lady do the blood draw, they would get the big security guard to come sit on him to hold him down...
It took a bit of time, 2 ladies, and a snuggle from me, but we got there...

I am a firm believer that you can cry if you're scared... It is good for you... Jasper tells me he is not brave because he cried.. I said he WAS brave, because he was scared, and didn't move... he let them do what they needed to, and didn't move.

Enough of that, onto some counts... they couldn't print them out - it just kept spitting out blank paper, so I had to write it down.

Height: 132.5cm
Weight: 25.65kg

Haemaglobin 127
White Blood Cells 3.7
Platelets 131
Neutrophils 1.06
MCV 104

They are all pretty steady. Platelets went up a bit, MCV came down fractionally, white cells are down a bit - but he has been a bit off, so that is understandable.

All in all, no real change.

Plastics appointment Friday as a follow up for his thumb - we are going to be in trouble with that one!

Thanks for reading.

Brooke

Sunday, February 2, 2014

School 2014

Well, today marks the day that I officially have no kids at home during school hours, 3 days a week...
Back to school 2014 sees Jasper entering Year 5, and Molly beginning Kindergarten.
It is a brand new school they are attending, and both were pretty excited!










I cried a couple of little tears saying goodbye to Molly. She was ok after a little bit to have her daddy and I go.. we will see if that continues tomorrow!

The first day of Kindy is bitter sweet for me.. it also marks the anniversary of the day that I was told of Jasper's FA diagnosis, 7 years ago. He was on his first day at Kindy when I got that phone call.

You always seem to remember specifics of traumatic events... and I remember the date and time of  that phone call, where I was, who I was with... It is forever in my memory.
Now look at him! 10 1/2, fighting fit, and in 5th Grade!!!
And little Molly, looking so grown up at only 3 1/2, traipsing off to school saying "it's ok, you can go" to me!

Time flies, my babies have grown. February 3rd 2014, a whole new exciting time of growth for these Miles children!

Thanks for reading.

Brooke