Pirate Tooth Jasper

I must start by telling you what a brave boy we have. He is such a trooper. He had dental surgery earlier this month.

One of his molars had been causing him trouble for the longest time, so we went (ages ago) to the dental department at our Children's Hopsital.

For those that are not aware, we have dental for our kids as part of primary school care... we had been to see the dentist there, but they are all too keen to take thousands of x-rays and are not really after what is best for the patient, but what they can do to earn their federal funding (well, that is my opinion..). As Jasper has everything done through PMH (the childrens hospital), we got a referral from the oncology dept to the dental dept.

FINALLY we got the appointment, and were told that they would rather administer a general anaesthetic and have a look at everything... that took months, and finally it was time...

It was a very long day, getting to the hospital at 10am, into surgery at 1:15pm, not out of surgery til 4:10pm, then leaving the hospital at 7:30pm, and home at 8:30pm.

I was a bit stressed at how long it took, but apparently nearly 3 hours is normal for dental!

The end result is that one of his molars now has a crown on it. He is pretty excited about it, as it is his pirate tooth!
There was some pain in the gum for a few days, but all is good now.

We had to go back to the hospital the next day for an endocronology appointment. We are now in the system with Endo, so they will track his growth as we go along and make sure he tracks on course!
So far, he is just on the lower 3rd percentile, as he always has been, and as long as he keeps tracking on the chart the right way, we have no need to worry.
Sad news is that if he did not have FA, he would have been about 187cm tall... no chance of that with FA, he is a shorty, and always will be!!

We are getting full winter weather here at the moment.. cold days and freezing nights with rain, rain and more rain.
Only 4 more weeks of it, and we will be back on our way to America and Camp Sunshine.. more of that in another post!

Thanks for reading.

Brooke

Jasper's Surgery

Well, yesterday was the date for Jasper's annual bone marrow biopsy. It was a bit easier this year for him to understand why he could not eat after dinner the night before, and why he had to be hungry and thirsty all morning.

We got to the hospital about 8am, had bloods done at 8.30 and were in theatre by 10.30.

This year was a bit different, as they had to have a skin sample for some testing they are going to do for us in the USA. It is all part of the complementation testing thing we have been trying to get sorted for the last 2 1/2 years. Keep your fingers crossed that we get some answers this time, or we are out of options!!

So the surgery normally takes 20 minutes.. Jasper's bone marrow was really stubborn this year, and it took 1 hour. Not nice.

Anaesthetic also makes him really aggressive and scary when he wakes up, to they gave him something to sleep a lot longer, and he was good when he woke up. It was strange though, he woke up, needed the toilet, was too dizzy to walk (understandable), and then said he had a sore tummy, and proceeded to dry reach over my shoulder (thank goodness for the empty stomach!). He sipped water, went a really pale shade of white and back to sleep on me.
When he woke up again (SpongeBob was on!) he was a strange shade of grey and then went green. I have never seen it before, and freaked out a bit.
They put some fluids in his cannula and he was drinking a bit too, and slowly his colour returned!!

Then it was time to have some food, and all he wanted was an icy pole (popsicle). The ward always has icecream etc on hand, so that was no worries!!
Take out the cannula, have a flu shot, and 20 minutes later we were on our way.

Jasper still felt pretty sick, and slept all the way home.
He is very tender this morning, but eating well, and just taking it easy.

I think the flu shot site is the sorest bit!!! one little needle, rather than the big one they used in his back, or the site where they took out the chunk of skin on his wrist!!! He was awake for the flu shot, not the operation, so it is funny what has the trauma associated with it!

He has bandaids every where, and bandages, and REFUSES to take his name bracelet of his ankle! He was on best behaviour, and had most of the nurses eating out of his hand!!

His bloods are all really good - as I have come to expect, and we should have some results from the biopsy in the next few weeks. I will update again when I have more to report!

Thanks for reading.

Brooke

No news is Good News!!

I see that it has been a while since I posted, do since I have some time, here is another post!!
We have no news, and you know that no news is good news!!
Jasper has his bone marrow biopsy coming up after Easter, but other than that, all is good!
He is loving his new school and doing really well.

On the weekend we caught up with our friends Helen and Ray at Kings Park. We have not seen each other for a couple of months, and the boys had a big cuddle when they saw each other.

Here is Jasper on the big dinosaur at the park.. Here, way off in the distance you can see a little red spot, that is Jasper when he ran to Ray when they first arrived.. very sweet.. I should zoom in on it, but hey, use your imagination!!!

We had a stinking hot day here on Sunday, and as part of the normal weekend routine, Jasper and I go to the local markets to do the fruit and vegetable shopping for the week. There is a $2 shop that he always likes to spend his pocketmoney at. This week he had spent his pocket money on a present for his girlfriend (more detail below), and so I bought him the $2-shop thing.. he decided on water balloons!

Paul, Jasper and I went out and threw about 20 at each other... I was the loudest screamer and the one that got the wettest!!!

Then Jasper's big brother came home, so round 2 for Jasper began.. I took photos of this one. It was so funny!

Here are the boys putting all the water balloons in a bucket - prepared for battle!!!

They did not burst too easily, so Brent is chasing Jasper around the front garden and squeezing the balloons over him! Jasper was running as fast as he could and laughing hysterically!!!

Getting wet... he gave up running - it was VERY hot.

I am an evil mummy... when Brent and Jas had the balloons in the bucket, they had the bucket filled with water as well... when all the balloons had been burst, I told Brent to get the bucket and tip it over Jasper.

Jas did not hear, so I had him distracted with picking up the balloon "casings". The water was pretty cold! Lucky he thought it was funny!!

This is payback. Brent is a good sport and kneeled down when Jasper threw the bucket of water back at him!!

Ok, so the pocket money this week... Jasper has had a crush on the same girl for over 1 year now. They no longer go to the same school, or see each other very often, but she is still his number one!!

He has been wanting to buy Talea (that is her name) a ring for the last 6 months or so (because apparently that is what you do when you get married.. hmm). I finally let him, and here is what he chose!

It is a sparkly pink butterfly! So cute. He has been practicing getting on one knee when he gives it to her! I dont think he will do it though - I hope not!! He is only 5 1/2, so a bit young to commit to a life long relationship!

All I heard all weekend long was "when is Talea home, when can I see her" etc etc... from first thing in the morning to last thing at night.

I was getting pretty fed up with it. It is cute, but get over it already!!! He is going over today after school for a play and to present the gift!!

I will post again at some point with the BMA stuff. All will be good. I know it! He is the healthiest little thing in the world, and we are very lucky!

Thanks for reading.

Brooke

Sydney Trip

Do I have some photos for you!! Paul, Jasper and I just arrived home from Sydney, NSW this afternoon.. we went there for Paul's younger brothers wedding.
This first photo was taken in Matt and Christine's house (that is Paul's brother and his wife). Jasper just loved their dog - Coco. She took a while to warm up to us, but it was not long before she was all over Jas and loving the attention (for the most part!)



Here are three of the brothers and their babies - from left to right there is Paul and Jasper, Shaune and Indiana, and Matt and Jai.
It is the first time we have met Jai and Indiana, so there were a few photos taken of them!

This is Jasper, Paul and I just before we left for the wedding. Paul was a groomsman and looked really handsome! The tie and kerchief matched the bridesmaid dresses. It was a gorgeous colour.

This is in the church (it was a Catholic wedding). Left to right - Shaune (best man), Michael (brother), Kerry (Shaune and Matt's mum), Matt, Alan (father to all 4 boys), and Paul. It was really nice that Matt had asked his 3 brothers to be his groomsmen. They don't look alike, but they are brothers!

Here is my handsome man. He took over the camera for most of the rest of the day and night. Who could say no to a photo from this face?



Here is a Jasper shot - Christine's dress was amazingly beautiful. Her grandmother and mother made it for her. Amazing.

Here are the boys and Christine outside the church.

Jasper and his Poppy Miles. Jas does not get to see this Poppy very often as he lives on the other side of Australia, but it does not take him too long to get up for a snuggle, and you can just see how much his poppy loves him!



Here is Jas with one of the pretty ladies he took a shine to! This is Sally and she is Shaune's girlfriend (and Indiana's mum). Jasper took about 47 photos of her, and they even had a dance together.


The beautiful bride with her beautiful baby! (photo by Jasper)


Jas' Uncle Matt - photo by Jasper.


My boy and I on the dance floor - until someone better came along for him to dance with!!


... like his dad!!!

more snuggle time with Poppy.



The day after... it was really hot on the Sunday, so when Matt and Christine got home, the boys went for a swim. It was a nice way to cool off!

Jasper and Paul saying goodbye to Nanna Kerry (Shaune and Matt's mum).


I could not resist taking this shot.. We had gone to Paul and Matt's dad's place and the boys were both leaning against the car with their arms crossed.. it was so funny!


Paul and his dad.

This shot was too cute to not include. This is when we got home from the wedding and I put Jasper to bed. He was asleep in the car and barely moved when I carried him into the house. He was sleeping in Jai's room, and Jai was with his Nonna. Jasper decided that rather than taking the cot mattress out and putting it on the floor to sleep on, he would sleep in Jai's cot!!!
Oh, the benefits of being 14kg at 5 1/2!!! This is one that we will have to put up at his 21st!!

We had a great time and really enjoyed every minute we were there. Another good thing that happened on the way home was getting upgraded to business class!!
We had a few very late nights and early mornings, so are ready for bed NOW, and it is only 7.20pm!!

Thanks for reading, and will post again soon.

Brooke
xxx

First Day of School

Well, the summer school holidays are over, and Jasper is back at school.

He has started at a brand new school this year, and so far so good! He has a lovely teacher and the kids seem pretty nice!

He was so nervous about going to a school where he did not know anyone. Once he got there though, he was happy to be there, and is excited now in the mornings to get dressed and go!

Here he is on Monday morning eating his weetbix for breakfast! He looks pretty confident and happy... but wait!

Once we finally got dressed and out the door, this is the little nervous wreck that I had! he would not put his arms down for anything! he is shoe-less as he did not want to wear his nice new school shoes, he wanted to wear his old ones, and they were in the car!!

Then we have day 3. Jasper was more than happy to pose for a nice photo, not a nervous photo! He loves his school, and thinks his teacher is pretty cool too - and he loves his new school shoes!

We can't just have "nice" photos taken where Jasper is concerned... He wanted some silly ones too! I have just added one.. but there were many!

I don't know who thought that white shirts on primary school kids was a good idea... I am washing the one he wears every evening - orange, paint and dirt so far! Lucky they come out easy!

I am feeling a little lost without my shadow, but he is only in half days for the first 2 weeks, then it is full time. It is exhausting for him, even just with half days, but he loves it!

There is nothing else to report. I will post next week - we are going to Sydney this weekend (about 5 1/2 hours flight away) because Paul's little brother is getting married! I am sure to have some pics from our 4 days there!

Thanks for reading.

Brooke

Blood Test Results

Jasper had his regular 3 monthly blood tests today. It was the first one that I have not been totally scared of the results for.

We are so lucky that Jasper's blood is so healthy, that I don't really have a need to worry.

Jasper was ok going in.. he knew it was just a thumb prick, not a vein drain! It makes him much happier.

He is mesmerised with the blood coming out and going into the vial and onto the slide. I can't watch for fear I will pass out!!!

As predicted, his blood is perfect and there is no dramas!

The best thing is that his weight has hit 14kg even!!! I was so excited, and his height is 105.2cm. I think that is growth of about 3.5cm in 3 months.. pretty cool!!

For anyone interested, his bloods were as follows:

White Cells: 5.40 (norm range 5.00 -17.00)
Haemoglobin: 131 (norm range 110 - 145)
Platelets: 160 (norm range 150 - 400)
Neutrophils: 1.57 (norm range 1.50 - 8.50)
Red Cells: 3.87 (norm range 3.90 - 6.00)

These results are pretty steady, and the doctors are really happy with him.

Next medical news will be in April when he is due for his Bone Marrow Aspiration.. then we should be able to go to 6 monthly blood tests (fingers crossed).

Paul is home from work this week, so we are looking forward to spending some good family time together.

No more news for now.

Thanks for reading!

Brooke

Off to the Zoo we go!

Well, it is the Summer school holidays here at the moment.. we start the week before Christmas and the kids go back to school at the start of February.

Jasper and I have been spending a lot of time at the beach and at my mum and dad's pool! It has been pretty warm here since Christmas, lately it has been 37C (98 - 99F). We get the sea breeze early though, and that means I don't need to kick on the airconditioner most days.

Well, the other day we went to the Perth zoo with our good mates Helen and Ray. In case you have not read any earlier posts, Ray has Fanconi Anaemia like Jasper. We met them when we all went to Adelaide in September 08 for the first FA Australia Camp.

We have not seen Helen and Ray in ages, so it was nice to have a catch up!

Here are some shots of our adventure.

Right inside the gate there is this momma gorilla with her baby (just a statue!). It is a given that everyone sits there and had a cuddle at some point in their visit.

Next we saw these big tortises. This one was eating his breakfast! It is ages away from the fence, and totally HUGE!

The boys liked the rhino butt pointing at them.. made me think of that song... "I like big butts..." you know the one!!

The most amazing thing happened when we stopped for a drink.. (we were waiting for the nocturnal house to open) Tricia the elephant walked right by us on her morning walk.. I have never seen an elephant so close before, and she was beautiful!

The boys thought it was icypole time.. it was warm, and only 10am!

Then on for a ride of the carousel!

Here are those tortises again.. all be it statues of them! Another "must have" photo at the zoo.

Here are Jasper and Ray at the orangutang enclosure.. There is a cheeky little monkey hanging in the background. They were all just chilling out because of the heat.

We stopped at the park area for a sit, and to let the kids play. Here they are at the water area... jasper was trying to drink the water, and Ray was posing!!
Here are Ray, Helen and Jasper at the end of the zoo trip.

We had a great time, and Jasper was totally exhausted after this..

Jasper has his next blood test due on the 19th January, so I will post again then!!

Thanks for checking in on us, remember to leave a message, Jasper loves reading them!

Brooke