Christian’s latest check up went well again, he will now be having 6 monthly check ups.
Christian has always loved dancing, even when he was unwell and tiny he was a funky mover…
Here he is a few years later and much healthier
Tag Archives: tests
Good News
Christian has been complaining about leg pains for the last few weeks, mostly at the bottom of his right leg. This has obviously been worrying us as these were the symptoms when his cancer last relapsed to the bone. We told the Marsden about it at his review before Christmas and he was booked in for a bone scan today. Christian was incredibly brave, he had to have a cannular in a vein in his arm to give him a shot of radioactive material for the scan and blood tests. There were no tears or complaints and he laid perfectly still for nearly an hour for the bone scan. I think he enjoyed his recent celebrity status as all of the doctors and nurses commented on recognising him from the recent fund raising brochure for The Royal Marsden! Kathy Pritchard Jones, his doctor, was kind enough to stay late after work to check the scan and said that she was pretty confident it was all clear but would need final confirmation from a radiologist. She has just called us (8.00pm Friday) to tell us that she has got hold of a radiologist who agrees that everything is clear. He, obviously, still needs to go back for regular checks but for the moment life is good. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
More Tests
Last week Christian had some tests at the Royal Marsden – a blood test, a bone scan and a chest x-ray. The good news is that all is still clear. We had been a bit worried as he had a really nasty bug earlier this month with a very high temperature, and an upset stomach, so it was a real relief when the results came back. Both Henry and Christian had their last day at Eaton House the Manor this week and are looking forward to starting at The New Beacon in Sevenoaks after Easter.
Happy New Year
Claudia took Christian into the Marsden for his 3 monthly check up today. He had a chest x-ray, a leg x-ray, and an abdominal ultrasound. The chest and tummy are fine and we should get the result of the leg x-ray in a couple of days. The leg x-ray was done at the last moment, more as a marker than because there is any sign of a problem
Christian has been on good form recently, he is enjoying school and had a great Christmas.
I have recently heard from Sean Bonnington from St George’s with some good news, the details are here and here. We are obviously over the moon that the funds raised have been so effective and are very grateful for all of you who so kindly donated, ran, or in many cases, did both. If anybody is considering a sponsored event I would appreciate it if you would consider the Christian Blandford fund at St George’s as a beneficiary, please contact me for details.
By the way Christian goes to the Royal Marsden in Sutton, not the one in Chelsea which was so sadly damaged by fire this week.
Happy New Year!
Peter Blandford’s photo
Great news and new day at school
28th September 2007
Last week Christian had a bone scan and a CT scan and the results came back today, he is clear of cancer!
We’ve got a long way to go and he is still in danger from the treatment, his kidney function, for example, is still not what it should be, but we are obviously very relieved. There was a strange moment in the school car park when he started back at school. A whisper went around the crowds of parents and teachers when they saw Christian, and as he stood there looking confused, a round of applause went up from everybody around him.
Posted in Blog, Christian's Story. Tagged with Christian's Story, Eaton House the Manor, tests, The Second Round.
MRI
We took Christian in for an MRI scan today at the Royal Marsden. It was done under a general anesthetic as he needed to stay still for over an hour as it was done. He always finds general anesthetic a bit upsetting but has recovered well and is now in a good mood. We will get the results of the scan on Friday when we go back to see Kathy Pritchard Jones. It is an important result as we will find out if there has been any spreading of cancer since the treatment began. He has had some aches and pains recently which are, apparently, common when on chemotherapy but each one is clearly a worry.
Posted in Blog, Christian's Story. Tagged with Christian's Story, Kathy Pritchard Jones, MRI, tests, The royal, The Second Round.
MRI and CT results
Wednesday 15th November 2006
The good news is that the MRI scan and the CT scan results show that there has been no spreading anywhere beyond his lower left femur (knee).
In order to confirm the fact that it is a return of the clear cell sarcoma he needs to have a bone biopsy which will be done in Stanmore Hospital early next week. The results from that should take a couple of days, but they would be very surprised if it’s anything else.
Christian is already booked into The Marsden next Thursday to fit a Hickman line (like the portacath he had before but with two points of access) and they will take a sample of bone marrow at that time to check if there has been any spreading there.
The exact protocol for treatment will be decided after the results of the bone biopsy but is likely to be every three weeks with alternate drugs. One of these will be an outpatient treatment and the other he will have to stay in overnight. After a series of courses (in about 18 weeks) he will be admitted for intensive chemotherapy which will be administered as an inpatient at the Royal Marsden over two weeks.
Claudia and I would like to thank all our friends and family for their support, it really makes a difference. I will try to keep this site updated with the technical stuff as quickly as possible.
Posted in Blog, Christian's Story. Tagged with Christian's Story, Clear Cell Sarcoma, Kidney, relapse, tests, The Royal Marsden, The Second Round.
Shattering News
Friday 10th November 2006
After a year of peace, Christian had a Bone Scan on Wednesday because he has been having a sore knee. It appears that there is a “an area of increased uptake on the Lower Femur of the left knee”. The most likely reason is that the same cancer he had has come back in his bones. He is booked in for a MRI on Monday and a CT scan on Tuesday, after that they will hopefully be able to determine the best next step.
He is likely to need a biopsy and then secondary chemotherapy. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news….
Posted in Blog, Christian's Story. Tagged with Christian's Story, hope, relapse, tests, The Second Round.
Good and Bad News
Good news and bad news: the good news is that Christian has been in a fantastic mood for the last couple of days, he was very taken with his cousins Elizabeth and Thomas who came around for a barbecue yesterday (Elena took some photos hereand here).
The bad news is that the blood cultures from Friday’s blood tests show that the bug in his portacath has not been cleared up. He will need the portacath removed in an operation, then a series of antibiotics and then the portacath replaced in a different operation. He will probably go into St George’s tomorrow for the first operation.
His hemoglobin levels are a bit low too so he’s going in to St George’s for a blood transfusion this afternoon, which will take a few hours.
Posted in Blog, Christian's Story. Tagged with Christian's Story, Infection, Portacath, tests, The first round.
