About
Our journey through our son Henry's bone marrow transplant. We want to journal this to encourage and share God's work.
Henry's Diagnosis
After a long time having a persistent cough, on 31st October 2019 my son Henry, when he was only 15 months old, was diagnosed with Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) which is a rare blood cancer, and Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) which is a genetic condition that causes tumours to grow along your nerves. The tumours are usually non-cancerous (benign) but may cause a range of symptoms. There is no cure for NF1, but to cure JMML Henry needs a bone marrow transplant in Bristol which is happening July 2020.
Hope. Trust. Believe.
Even though we are in a difficult season at the moment, we have always believed that God has been with us throughout everything. He has been in control of every detail and the timing of it all. Henry has remained stable, allowing the medical teams plenty of time to run tests and select the best donor (he had 4,500 matches!) allowing for a more successful transplant.
We want to share our journey in the hope that it would be an encouragement and give hope. Also, to share God's work through it all. We hope, trust and believe... and Henry will conquer this!
Treatment
We travelled to Bristol by air ambulance on 5th July 2020 and started the conditioning stage of Henry's treatment. This lasted 10 days, then on 15th July Henry received his bone marrow transplant.
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There were a few set backs such as infections but Henry done so well. He took an extreme case of engraftment syndrome meaning his body accepted the donor cells very quickly. After only a few weeks his engraftment was 98%, then a short time later it was 100%. We got discharged back to Clic House for just under 2 weeks, then got sent home back to Belfast on 16th September to continue his medication. So far all is good! Praise God!
"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
Romans 8:37 NIV
Why Conquer?
The idea 'Conquer' all started back in September 2017, and it all started with a seed, literally. It was given to me by God, through a conker. Since finding this conker, God unravelled a lot of stuff in me and to me, and lead me through many internal battles in my mind. Things I had to deal with such as fear and past hurts, and things I was running from. Looking back, I now know it was all preparing me for this season we are in with Henry. God works in amazing ways. I typed up the story behind the idea and you can read it at the following link.
I'm planning to type up the entire journey as I've been journaling ever since the diagnosis and there's so much I want to share and encourage people with.
Let’s Get in Touch
We would love to connect with as many people as possible.