Prayers as we prepare for 4th Chemo and Stem Cell Harvesting

This month, Samuel needs to go for peripheral blood stem cell harvesting
after the 4th chemo.


Stem cells are important cells because they can divide and change into many different types of cells that your body needs. Blood stem cells can be used
to treat certain types of cancer and other diseases. Peripheral blood stem
cell harvesting is a procedure that removes stem cells from your blood which
are then frozen and stored for possible use at a later stage. A person may
need blood stem cells to replace cells destroyed by treatments for cancer.


For further information, you may refer to

http://www.gosh.nhs.uk/gosh_families/information_sheets/peripheral_stem_cell_harvest/peripheral_stem_cell_harvest_families.html


Here is a list of activities that will take place :

06/9/11 Urine test

07/9/11 Admission for 4th chemo which starts with Pre-harvest
investigations and tentatively ends on 10/9/11

11/9/11 Daily G-CSF injections starts (to help his body make white blood cells)
Blood tests on TUE, THU, SAT to monitor his blood counts

19/9/11 Admission to hospital once it is confirmed that his
stem cells have been mobilised

Operation for Insertion of Vascatheter

20/9/11 Harvesting stem cells starts and hopefully can end on 22/9/11


Please pray specifically for these activities listed chronologically:

06/09/11 Urine test

Pray that Samuel will be disciplined to collect his urine for the whole day.
Once missed , we have to redo from start !
We may have to wait for a more suitable date for this collection to facilitate
this test.

07/09/11 Admission for 4th chemo

Pray for 4th chemo to totally remove the nodes from his lungs and shrink the tumour from his right calf such that earlier surgery is possible to remove the primary tumour.

Pray that there is NO need for a 5th and 6th chemo as planned in the treatment protocol.

Pray for functionalities of his right leg will not be compromised at all.

Pray that God will heal the fracture in his bone miraculously.
Have been warned by doctors against strenuous exercise lest this fracture is aggravated further.

Pray for protection of his vital organs and against all side effects
specifically vomitting. During 3rd chemo he had developed a slight diarrhoea too.

Pray that God will grant us one of the A class rooms in cancer ward (only 2 left)
to mimimise delays in treatments and near the experts for the pre-harvest investigations .

Pray that Samuel will overcome his probia of eating due to side effects of vomitting. As long as this issue persists, we may be forced to take class
A all the time because he will not allow food in the room.

Pray for hospital to consider providing a whole ward of class A rooms
for children with cancers/other ailments(that need isolation) in due of
the acute shortage of class A due to the on-going renovation.

[Having submitted my appeal to hospital, I am also exercising my faith in
GOD as I think this is not a selfish but feasible request that will benefit both patients and the cancer team that has to run over the place now]

[afternote for 3rd chemo.
Give thanks to GOD for HIS guidance(loud and clear) through a christian doctor
when we had to make the difficult choice between non-cancer ward (class A) and cancer ward (class B). Thank God that HE saw us through everything and there was only a minor hiccup towards the end. ]


Pre-harvest investigations

Pray that the various tests and investigations that he has to undergo can be expedited as he has to fast totally from 6 am. Pray for God’s comfort to be with him.


11/09/11 Daily G-CSF Injections

Thank God that a kind neighbour who is a nurse is willing to come to our place
to do this jab for Samuel. This saves us the daily trip to hospital.

Pray that God will keep her (and her backups) in perfect health and we will store and keep the medicine well.

Pray against all possible side effects - coughing, fever, easily become out of breath, swelling of the mouth, fever, diarrhoea, rash, abdominal pain, vomiting, hair loss and infection. This is first time that Samuel takes the daily G-CSF injections.

Blood tests

Pray that Samuel’s white blood cells to increase well according to plan and the day of the rapid increase can happen according to the date predicted.

19/9/11 Admission to Hospital once it is confirmed that stem cells have been mobilised

Pray that God will grant us wisdom to determine where to admit Samuel. Apparently, all the experts and devices are all housed in a ward which only has class B2
room (5 bedded). This is going to pose a big challenge for us.


Pray that God’s comfort for Samuel as he has to fast totally from 6 am for blood test and the operation to insert the vascatheter near his groin area.

Pray for smooth operation.


20/09/11 Harvesting stem cells.
Pray that god will send kind and experienced staff to take care of Samuel
during the harvesting of stem cells.

Pray for God’s comfort to be with Samuel as he has to remain in bed
during this harvesting of stem cells. Pray that he will be able to do
most of the things that he normally does - specifically reading and eating.

Pray against possible side effects of a drug given to stop the blood clotting.

Reports on CT Chest and MRI

Below are extracts on the above 2 reports received yesterday:

CT Chest:

Near resolution of two previously documented nodules in the right lower lobe. No new pulmonary nodules detected.

MRI:

There is a significant reduction of extraosseous soft tissue component around the right fibula. Small enhancing component ...could represent residual tumour.

We praise God for the near elimination of the cancel cells originally detected on Sam's right lung and also for the reduction in size of the lump on his right calf.
We thank you for all your prayers and support too.

While the lump in his right calf has almost disappeared, the tumour in the bone (right fibula) still exits. The process will now focus on saving the leg. Sam will proceed for his 4th Chemo treatment in 2 week's time. Afterwhich we will consult with the orthopedic surgeon for the next course of action on the leg (ie surgery process).

We appreciate your prayers for continued healing. Pray for:

a. tumour in the calf will continue to shrink so that it will not affect the nerves and major veins
b. amputation of the leg will no longer be needed
c. Sam's mental, physical and spiritual health to be strong.

Thank you.

Back to the hospital for Round 3 Chemo

We are back to the hospital for Round 3 of chemo treatment this morning.
The oncology ward is undergoing renovation, thus we are moved to a common ward for this stay.

The result for the CT scan is very encouraging.
The 2 spots originally found on the lungs have diminished in size.
From a 3mm and 4mm initial size, they are now visible only as spots.
No other spots are found.
The doctor concluded that the earlier 2 rounds of chemo is doing it's job.
We praise the Lord for His healing power.

The result on the MRI is available at the moment.

Meanwhile, we pray that Sam will make it thru the coming 72 hours of treatment without the nausea
and vomiting spells. We pray that this time of confinement to the bed will draw him closer to the Lord.

Prayers as we prepare for 3rd Chemo...

Thank GOD for all of you have been praying for us and supporting us in
many ways(eg marketing, run to libraries for Samuel's favourite titles,
buying his favourite stuff, sending Sam and I home after discharge).
May GOD bless all of you richly in return!


Pray for God's presence to go with us as we adapt to some changes this time.
- uncertainty of A ward, Derrick need to travel tomorrow nite.
Pray that we will have the frame-of-mind to rest in the faithfulness of
GOD to take care of every situation.


Pray specifically for effectiveness of the chemo drugs to destroy the
cancer cells, shrink the tumour(for possible early surgery to remove tumour)
and protection of Samuel's health. Two days ago, Samuel's nails have
darkened significantly. Earnest prayers of protection over his health
is coveted.


Pray that God will help us to cope when the chemo that causes greatest
discomfort is administrated(usually between 8 to 10 pm). Thank God for
answering our prayers during the 2nd chemo, HE helped Samuel to sleep
through this period.


Unfortunately, due to fear of vomit and unpleasant nasal feeling,
Samuel usually avoids food(consumes only 1 cup of milk, cornflake,
2-3 pieces of fruits, with other fluids per day). Pray for GOD's
grace to overcome this, and his input can be improved.


Pray for Caleb(with the LIMs again) and our homefront.


Tentatively, we will be in hospital from Tuesday to Friday.
A earnest request - as Samuel and I(Claire) may to wake up a few
times in the night, we need to catch up with our sleep
in the afternoon 2-4 pm.

Please refrain from calling us this time,
morning(our Peak time as doctors go through their rounds)
and nite (8-10 pm).

He Is Able Video from Samuel's classmates

Below is a video clip of Sam's classmates from St Hilda's Primary School performing and dedicating the song "He Is Able" to him.

Sam wants to say thank you to all his classmates and form teacher Ms Goh for their love and prayer support.

(sorry, video dont seemed to work!!)

Prayers as we prepare for CT scan and MRI scan...

God has been so good to us today! We are supposed to go to KKH
on 2 separate mornings for CT Scan and MRI scan initially.
A simple prayer answered on the spot - I go by faith to ask the
2 separate department nurses about combining CT scan and MRI scan
today - God answered ! Though we have to go back home first but
we can proceed to do everything today late afternoon. This saves
Sam the agony of doubling fasting and injecting the plug on his hand
twice.

This is a firm reminder to me that HE is in control and I need to
trust HIM even more.

My prayers for this day,

Dear Father-in-heaven,
Being just a 'human' mother, I agonise over the results of the
scans, nonetheless Lord help me to cast all these struggles to
you, grant me even the faith to believe and trust you for the
outcome. Remind me that no matter what happens, your love for
us never change - in romans 8. Yes, help me to choose to love,
worship you and trust you.

May our family be able to do as the palmist said in psa 62:5-6

Find rest, O our soul in God alone,
Our hope come from Him,
He alone is our rock and our salvation.
You are our fortress. We will not be shaken.

Amen.

Derrick is flying off late Tuesday next week. Doctors told us that
we cannot rush the imaging department for results. Please pray that
with the change this morning, he and I may get to know the results
firsthand on Tuesday.

AFTERNOTE : Imaging Department informed us that they need at least
1 week to process the results. thus we have to wait...

A sincere request, prayer partners may we request that you do not
'flood' us with phone calls too. We will post the results asap as it
is available.

Blood Count back to normal

The blood count check yesterday revealed very positive results, with all indicators back to the normal level. Praise the Lord.

This morning, we will be back to the hospital for the CT scan on his lungs. The previous scan showed 2 minor spots on his lungs. We are praying that this scan will reveal that the spots are gone, after 2 aggressive rounds of chemo treatment.

Tomorrow Sam will have his MRI on the tumor spot on his right leg. Pray that the result will show that the tumor has shrunk so that the surgeon can remove the tumor easily without permanent damage to the leg. If the tumor is still large, it will be difficult to save the leg and we pray against that.

Travel Plans for Derrick

Derrick will be travelling on Tuesday evening (16th Aug) for Melbourne.

I have already settled helpers for me for the 1st week.

Pray for journey mercy for Derrick. Claire and helpers to work
through smoothly the 3rd chemo phase.

prayer request for class A for 3rd chemo

Thank God for sister Wee Yee and sister Letitia (Samuel's godmother)
to take turns on/off to accompany me during 3rd chemo next week.
Letitia will also send us home upon discharge.

16 Aug - 19 Aug Third chemo
16 Aug - 23 Aug Derrick will be in Australia (tentatively 8 days);
he flies off late evening on 16 Aug.

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Prayer request
----------------

Due to upgrading renovation, cancer ward 75 (children's block) has shifted to
ward 61 (women block). Time frame tentatively 4-6 months.
Resulted in only 2 A class rooms in ward 61.

Although we may have booked A class for 3rd chemo,
other more life-threatening cases will be given priority.

If unavailable, will be given 2 choices :

(a) Class A in other NON-cancer wards

- Nurses are not enco-trained nurses,
so may not be as experienced as ward 61 nurses.

Encologist encourage us to downgrade to B class
if necessary and shift back to A class upon availability.

OR

(b) Stay put in B class(4 beds in 1 room) of ward 61

- only 1 parent can stay overnite;
- sam's needs may not be met
(he banned food in ward previously as it makes him very nasal,
need the quietness to sleep through 'vomit' periods when specific
chemo drug is administered usually 8-10 pm);
- shared facilities => more germs? lack of privacy ?

We really need God's blessing to secure A class in ward 61,
and guidance to choose what is best for Samuel.

Covet your prayer support in this matter specifically peace of mind
for me(Claire) to rest in the faithfulness of GOD to see us through

3rd chemo with the above changes.

Specific prayers for Samuel now ...

Pray for protection for Samuel as he is experiencing loosening of his
molars - that GOD will strengthen his gums n save his molars.
Bless his bone marrow so that lots of platelets will be produced to
prevent bleeding.


Pray for good report for CT scan and MRI. Bless encologist with wisdom
to prescribe the best treatment for Samuel. Help his body adjust to all the
chemo drugs so that there will be no adverse reaction.


Each nite, as Samuel lay down to rest, grant him deep restful sleep so
that he awake each morning thoroughly refreshed and in good cheer.
He had been talking in his sleep for past few nites.


Bless him with intimate time with the LORD such that the Lord
will speak to him and he can hear... he will find time for not just
computers, TV, and PsP but GOD and more wholesome activities.


Bless Claire to plan and prepare meals that are essential for Samuel
No overcooking and will awake his appetite.

We are back home recuperating

Sam was discharged on last Friday evening, went back to the hospital on Sat afternoon for the GCSF (Granulocyte colony stimulating factor - needed to stimulate the bone marrow to make more white blood cells) injection. We are now back home recuperating and nursing the body to prepare for the 3rd round of chemo treatment, scheduled for 16th Aug 2011.

Every Thursday, Sam will be needed to visit the oncologist and also have his blood check to determine the condition of his blood count, particularly on the WBC which determines his level of immunity.

2 key dates to look out for prior to the 3rd treatment. (1) 12th Aug, go back to hospital for CT scan. There were 2 small nodules found on his lungs during the initial diagnosis, so this scan is to check if the nodules are still there after 2 rounds of treatment. (2) 13th Aug, go back for MRI on the leg to check on the condition of the tumor. Physically, the tumor seemed to have shrunk, as the swell and hardness are gone. The MRI will confirm the condition and also help the surgeon to determine the next course of action. results of the CT scan and MRI will be made known to us on the 16th Aug.

Prayers needed:

1) Sam's appetite for food and drink to return, that his health will be nursed back to strength.
2) his WBC level will improve, especially after the GCSF injection, thus improving his immunity against external virus and bacteria.
3) positive results from both the CT scan and the MRI
4) Sam's spiritual walk with the Lord to be strengthened.
5) unity at home, and amongst the caregivers