update Justin - June

Hi to all our family and friends.....

 

Sorry about the long silence. We are good J and so happy that Justin has finished his 9^th treatment! So there are only 3 more to go. End treatment date for the 31^st July.

Justin has struggled with nausea a lot the past couple of treatments and we have tried all types of things (like lemon leaves to block the smells while having chemo) to natural nausea tablets (that we were advised against taking as they may interfere with the chemo) he has now been put on a stronger tablet which has seem to help a bit.

 

Justin’s Haematologist, Dr du Toit, increased the dosage of chemo by about 10% the last 2 chemo’s as he wants to see a greater drop in his white blood count. A high white blood count is good so that Justin is able to have chemo without it being dangerous to his immune system but there needs to be a variation between the weeks as this means the chemo is reaching the places furthest away (like the bone marrow)

 

Our general health has been gr8, esp. that many people around us have had flu & colds. Praise God for no infections!

Dr Du Toit said that after end of treatment, Justin will need to wait about 2 months and then have a scan to check on how things have progressed.

We are feeling like the Sunflower ward at Constantiaberg has become like a 2^nd home to us. We are so grateful for the level of professionalism and care that Justin receives. Do you know that it is the only ward in the world that offers their patients to lie down when they are receiving their chemo? All other facilities make their patients sit in chairs. Justin has a mixture of pre-med, quaterzone, steroids, antihistamine and nausea meds via a drip before he starts with the chemo and then sleeps, so he is grateful to be able to lie down! World class facility!

 

We praise and thank God for his “journey mercies” thus far! We have learnt to trust God for the day ahead of us and to leave everything at his feet (although human nature often means we take this back – it’s a habit of daily surrendering our lives to God and His purposes!) We have our hard days and then great days too – so we rejoice in the good and hold on to God even tighter in the not so good ones!

 

Deuteronomy 31.8 says “ the Lord himself goes before you, and is with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged”

 

Thank you for all your continued support and prayers! We appreciate them lots!

 

All our love

Justin and jenny