In December 2008, our son Jake was diagnosed with Pre-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), or cancer of the white blood cells. There are different types of chromosome mutations that cause it, and his is called Philadelphia, which is much rarer in children than in adults.
The journal tells the story of the intense battle that took place in our son's body for a year and a half. It was fought by: doctors and nurses at the Royal Children's Hospital with surgery, medicine, radiation and a great deal of skill, Bibi and I with love, care, patience and grim determination, Jake with smiles, jokes and incredible resilience (bolstered by the amazing Oncology staff at RCH), as well as the luck we needed to overcome unfavourable statistics. The photos show some of the changes that his body went through.
Thank you to friends, family, teachers and others who supported Jake and our family in so many different ways during this ordeal. Challenge and Camp Quality provided amazing events that he became healthy enough to attend during his recovery and the following years.
As we now only return to hospital for annual checkups, this site will no longer be updated. The last entry is Recovery 2 in April 2010.
An overview of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) can be found at the Leukaemia Foundation.