We are writing this to help people understand what Jake (and the whole family) is going through, and keep people up to date with his progress.
Most entries are by Bibi, as she is with Jake the vast majority of the time we have to spend in the hospital. Doug comes in for the major appointments with our doctor, visits almost every morning and/or evening, and spends the occasional night with Jake in the hospital. We both spend what time we can with Kai while Dianne (Doug's mum) looks after him, but this is only a few nights a week. Kai is not allowed on the Oncology ward when Jake is admitted, as he is young enough to be considered an infection risk to patients with low immunity.
The schedule of treatments is adjusted on the fly according to the response of Jake's body, so we don't get told about the next phase until almost the end of the current one. We are given a general indication about how intense we should expect it to be, but that's about it.
Treatment progression:
Looking back now, we're grateful in a way that Jake's particular cancer was so serious that very specialised drugs, radiation and a bone marrow transplant were required within the first 6 months, as otherwise treatment may have taken a lot longer and had a less definitive positive result. Some children go through a few chemotherapy protocols over many years as their cancer waxes and wanes, with varying degrees of success.