DAY AFTER DAY!

Chelation therapy continues! Night after night....at 10 p.m. they hook Mr. T. up to the pump till 8 a.m....7 nights on and 2 off. They are hoping to get rid of the excess iron.

The Oncology Team have started a new procedure: The process is called phlebotomy, which means removing blood. Depending on how severe the iron overload is, a pint of blood is taken once or twice a week for several months to a year, occasionally longer. Blood ferritin levels are tested after every four phlebotomies to monitor iron levels. The goal is to bring blood ferritin levels to the low end of normal and keep them there (that means less than 9 to 50 micrograms of blood ferritin per liter). Depending on the amount of overload at diagnosis, reaching normal levels can take up to 100 phlebotomies.
The Oncology team take a cup of blood from my grandson and replace it with saline in the hope that they are removing iron. Hopefully his body can make more blood without the excess iron. They say this will continue till January. Once every 2nd week blood work is done to determine his level of iron. Apparently if the iron in his body is ignored..this can cause severe side effects from liver disease, heart disease and worse. I have a lot of faith in the Oncology Team. They are dedicated, hard-working and never second guess anything. They are in constant touch with all the other cancer centers in the world on a weekly basis.....and they take the time to answer all our questions. We are definitely on a winning team! We have faith in them and in God! Who could ask for anything more? Your prayers and comments are always appreciated. Thank you!

Mr. T's attitude and sense of humour prevail. The nurse's, doctor's and maintenance workers love to stop by just to see what we're up to. With Mr. T...you just never know! Thanks everyone for all the kind comments and prayers! It seems to be working!