Back To School Plan . . .

Recently, Samuel’s medical condition has stabilised and is
assessed by his primary physician to be fit for school. Samuel aims to return
to school by 25th January 2012 (Wed) with the recommended environmental adaptations and infection measures in place.

As Samuel is scheduled to complete treatment in mid May, his condition
is expected to stabilize by end June 2012. Thereafter, upon review and approval
by the oncologist, he may be allowed to return to pre-illness lifestyle.

Despite persistent persuasion from principal, form teacher
and us to return to P5 where he missed term 2 completely, Samuel is vehement
about trying to catch up with P6. He insisted to try but we get his assurance
that he will be willing to give up if he cannot cope. We are now in the midst
of speeding up his self study for this purpose.

As Samuel has 4 months of light chemotherapy to complete, he
has a comparatively low immune system. This means that he would require some
special arrangements to safeguard his health. Thus, he will only attend lessons for the core subjects like EL, MA, SC, MT.

Tentatively, he still needs to seek the following treatments:

Physiotherapy weekly ; Oncologist weekly ; Ortho Surgeon monthly
·
Maintenance Chemotherapy: remaining 7 out of 8 cycles light inpatient chemotherapy

Samuel will be absent from school during the inpatient chemotherapy week.

Prayer requests

Once again, we will see the goodness of our Lord, learn to trust Him even more for greater things despite obstacles.

Samuel would benefit from the support and understanding from the school about his unique medical,emotional and academic needs. Samuel to
reintegrate physically and emotionally back to school well.

Pray against possible effects arising from the chemotherapy:

Physical

Appetite loss
Changes in body image
General fatigue - limited alertness and strength
Weak immune system; increased susceptibility to infections
Low blood counts e.g possible anaemia & low blood-clotting ability; may be easily bruised.
Risk of trauma to chest due to the intravenous catheter (port-the-cath)

Cognitive & Neuro-psychological

Possible difficulty with higher conceptual abilities e.g
problem-solving, Mathematics, assignments requiring multiple steps,
organizing/planning.

Pray that we will be able to work with the school effectively to
minimize disruptions due to treatment and reduce the need for follow-up by the
respective subject teachers

Pray that we will be able to seek out healthy, very experienced,
compassionate tutors who will be committed to teaching him to fulfill his
deepest need to ‘get back to normal’ soon.

This morning, I was encouraged by my QT reading which ends
with

...Ezra's faith in God's protection inspires me to pray for
my children's safety. After I have taken every precaution, I choose to trust
that GOD's strong hand that holds me will also hold them securely (Psa 63:8).