Adelaide here we come!

Hello everyone! We trust you are all well............. The last 6 weeks has felt like an eternity as we waited to hear more about the dates for Venita's treatment, and as most will know, Ezekiel also spent 8 days in the Women's & Children's Hospital undergoing a heap of tests. We had travelled to Adelaide for Ezekiel’s scheduled overnight ward oxymetry and were only meant to stay in Adelaide for 2 nights! Instead, Ezekiel underwent a whole range of tests over 8 days but no other clear answers have become evident at this stage, except that the size of his kidneys are not allowing much space for his stomach. His lack of stomach space has been a problem for some time however the sudden drop in fluid/solids intake has been a concern and there has been little weight gain. This is being monitored closely.

It was on the Thursday night, the day after Ezekiel got discharged and we had arrived home in Mt Gambier, that we received confirmation of Venita’s appointments etc. This meant we had to be back in Adelaide the following Monday 28th June for Venita to begin her tests and pre-assessments for the Bone Marrow Transplant. Once again God’s perfect timing was orchestrated on the Friday with the Leukaemia Foundation confirming that we had a Unit available to us from the Monday! The same day Allan resigned from work and worked his last shift. We then had two days to organise what we needed to take to Adelaide and left early on the Monday with a trailer load of Ezekiel’s stuff!

We have been blessed with a lovely 2 bedroom Unit supplied by the Leukaemia Foundation for the duration of Venita’s treatment, however long that may be. It is approx 8 km from the Royal Adelaide Hospital where Venita will be treated. We will upload some pictures of the Unit in the next day or so.

After arriving in Adelaide Venita underwent a series of tests; another Bone Marrow Biopsy & Blood Tests, Gated Blood Pool Scan to assess heart function, ECG, Dental Review, VRE Screen, CT Scan of Sinuses, Chest & Upper Abdomen, Lung Function tests, Education on Transplant Procedures and also Blood Transfusions. This was a long week and Allan was definitely straight into the role of full time Carer for Ezekiel! It is not an easy task keeping a 17 month old happy, all day for 4 days in a hospital!

At the end of a tiring and busy week we spent a lazy Saturday in the Unit before preparing to return back to Mount Gambier for one last week. We spent the week gathering our stuff to take back to Adelaide, catching up with friends and in between, Allan and Dad W ripped down the ceiling and walls in our back room. While we are in Adelaide Dad W is going to complete some much needed renovations to the house, particularly to make sure that it is hygienic for when Venita and Ezekiel both return.

We then officially left the Mount on Monday 12th July 2010 for Adelaide where we will be for up to 8-12 months whilst Venita undergoes her treatment. It has been an extremely busy time and it wasn’t until we went to update our blog that we realised how long it has been since our last update. We are sorry that we weren’t able to visit/contact everyone before we left but we will endeavour to update our blog more regularly as hopefully now that we are settled and have a little bit of order in our lives we will have more time. Thank you to absolutely everyone for your kind words, prayers, gifts and support. We just cannot express how much we appreciate and love each and every one of you and it has been totally overwhelming the love that has been shown to us. Particularly we must thank Ros Pasfield, a very dear and loved Friend of ours, who has initiated Fundraising to assist with the medical costs for Ezekiel and Venita. Thank you.

Finally to let you know, any mail can still be sent to: PO Box 2104, MOUNT GAMBIER SA 5290 as our mail has been redirected to our Unit. If anyone is in Adelaide and would like to visit, Allan can be contacted on his mobile for our address etc. Unfortunately anyone with any kind of infection/virus etc will not be able to visit due to Ezekiel’s and Venita’s health needs. Lastly if you would like to contact us for more information you can leave a comment on here or email: venitiajw@hotmail.com

Blessings to you all,

Allan, Venita & Ezekiel. xx