May Update
Early May and we were planning for our first trip away, Firstly a visit to BCH for James to have an endoscopy. James had an overnight stay and a General Anaesthetic in the morning during which the doctors thoroughly examined his tummy, all went smoothly and the doctors were pleased with his progress.
The one concern is that the levels of EBV virus have risen considerably since his transplant in January. The virus is common in the community and brings on glandular fever, however it can be a problem in bowel transplant patients as it can lead to a rare form of cancer by attacking the lymphatic B cells. Consequently James' immuno-suppressants have been reduced to give him a better chance of fighting it off. So far he seems to be coping with the reduced medication level well.
After our visit to BCH, during which Mum and Lauren stayed at home, we prepared for a trip down to Cornwall, our first time away as a family for over 2 years.
Everyone was up at 4am to start the journey down from Cheshire, 325 miles. James was thrilled that we were getting up in the middle of the night, and was asking which way it was to the beach as we were driving out of the drive, then at the first junction....and all the way to his grandparent's house. (Grandparents themselves had gone abroad on holiday). The trip down went well and we managed some time on the beach (coats on), trips to model railways, Seal Sanctury, and aquarium. Unfortunately the weather was not kind to us, but it was good to have a change of scenery.
On return we had some reasonable weather enabling James to play out in the garden. Dad returned to the office to try to get some work done.
James is still meant to keep away from crowds and groups of other children so trips to the playbarns etc are out of the question, and Jane is finding it difficult to keep James (and Lauren) entertained whilst stuck at home almost every day.
