happy times in school

Thank God for seeing us through CA1 ... NEVER had it been so relaxing
for me... for once, I just let Samuel do what he wants though still
with some nagging to study. Samuel NEVER wants to miss school like before.

I have to go to school with him everyday, making at least 3 trips
fetching children to/from school. Have to spend time in school
even as I wait for him to finish his lessons(MATHS and SCIENCE only).







No complains at all just a heart of gratefulness to GOD to let Samuel
return to school finally. Thank HIM for all that HE provides -
supportive school (see toilet reserved for his sole usage),
classmates very tenderly 'babysit' him, and the laughters in the sun.

A lot of challenges ahead but we can trust HIS faithfulness.

Prayer requests

Pray for protection even as we prepare for chemo #10 this week.
Pray Samuel to be motivated for his studies ... even as we treat
his BIG 'C'(ancer) and the other small 'C'(omputer gaming).

finally... chemo #9 over ...

Thank God that this time sam's 24hr cct on 5/2 to 6/2 yielded a good BSA.

So chemo #9 proceeded uneventfully and we are to discharged on 8/2.

5 more chemo to go and we should be on the way to normalcy... though
with 1 week delay now...

However, we are cautioned to cut down his salt and step up on hydration so that
the chemo will not take a toil on his kidneys...

Prayer request

Sam to be able to adjust to school with so much going on and the right help to come to cheer him on to work hard but smart... with CA1 coming soon:>

That there will be God's joy and strength to run this race and be thankful
for all things...

chemo withheld...

Thank GOD that saw us through a week with me taking up the driving part finally...

Sam did a chromium EDTA at SGH as an outpatient was not good. This test is a
check on the functionality of his kidney.

As a result, upon admission on Wed, instead of chemo, we did a 24hr CCT
(collection of his urine sent for lab test). However, this time the result
was very good.

Which contradicts the test results of chromium EDTA and a previous 24hr CCT.

Therefore, the oncologists cannot ascertain clearly if chemo has taken a toll on
his kidney or not. There is even talks about changing a particular chemo drug
which may damage kidneys.

Now, the doctor decided that we should do another 24hr CCT (collection of urine)
on Sunday before admission on Monday again for chemo. In the meantime,
they will further investigate the findings of the EDTA with SGH.

Prof Tan suspected that while the chemo drugs are still strong in Sam, the
chemo drugs may have weakened his kidneys but as they wear off, his kidneys
recovered. However, she needs further test to ascertain this. They are very
cautious with proceeding as while there is a need to administer chemo drug
to eradicate the any lurking cancer cells, they do not want to permanently
damage his kidney.


Prayer requests

God's protection upon Samuel both physically and emotionally. He was initially
quite upset over the delay and perhaps also a bit anxious too.

Pray for God's healing hands to be upon the oncologist to decide on the
right and best course for treatment.

With so much disruption and activities going on, it is difficult for Sam to
focus on his studies. Pray for God's wisdom and help even as we try our
best to juggle all his needs.

Preparing to go back to school...

Sam was down with cough and running nose last Saturday.
Thank God he has recovered even faster than Caleb.

Much negotiation with the School and social worker,
Sam should be set to return to School on 25th Jan,
it is a meaningful milestone in the recovery pave for him.

To safeguard his health, we have decided to let him do only 2
subjects at school. Tutors have been sought out to help him
to self study at home and make up for potentially-to-miss
lessons due to his inpatient treatments.

Prayer request:
Good health, love and unity at home.

Meaningful and fruitful school and tuition sessons as Samuel
re-start his engine after nearly 7-month break.

Wishing all Samuel's supporters and prayer partners:

'HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR AND

MAY THE GOOD LORD BLESS YOU ABUNDANTLY IN THE NEW YEAR !'

Urine test has abnormal creatinine clearance ...

The result of pre-chemo (2nd of 8 chemo left) urine test has abnormal creatinine clearance. As a result, this time some chemo dosage was reduced by 30%. Doctors explained that this could be due to the cumulative effect of all chemos and advised us to reduce salt and sugar intake for the time being so as not to overload his kidneys.

For next chemo(3rd), a more complete chromium EDTA will be performed first to test the functionality of his kidney first.

Though this abnormality is not uncommon amongst cancer patients , pls pray for His protection over his organs.

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).

Histopathology results

We recieved the best Christmas present we can hope for when the surgeon told us that the histopathology results were "negative for malignancy" on the removed tumour and the surrounding muscle margin. No atypical cells are seen. They are 100% dead.

We thank the Lord for this very positive result. God's word is very powerful, and we have repeatedly used his word to curse the tumor in Jesus' name. Just as Jesus cursed the fig tree and it withered from the roots, the tumor in Sam has withered from its roots.

Sam will now embark on the 3rd phase of the treatment. This phase requires Sam to undergo 8 more rounds of chemo treatment to eradicate remaining cancel cells that may not have been killed earlier. Each treatment will require 3 - 4 days stay in the hospital, with an interval of 3 weeks in between treatments.

We will start the treatment on the coming Monday, 19th Dec and we will be back to KKH.....