Week 11

Goin on for week 11, I think we know 75% of the hospital by now! Not true but feels that way sometimes. Indra is having a surgery this week to put a port in so they can take out the IV line in his arm. He has been working hard with the physio's, occupational therapist and speech therapist and improving day by day. Slowly he is regaining his strength. Hopefully he will be able to eat REAL food again soon.

We had Braden and Arti up for a visit yesterday - he was so happy to see his couzy bro's!!!!!!

FYI...

INDRA IS AWESOME AND HE JUST AMAZES ME WITH HIS INNER POTENTIAL :P

ALL OUR LOVE GOES TO GANGSTA NANNA WHO HAD A CAR ACCIDENT TODAY, WE ARE VERY HAPPY THAT SHE WAS NOT SERIOUSLY HURT - UNLIKE THE CAR (SO I HEAR) AND ARE THINKIN OF YOU NAN XXX

Posting comments...

A few people have told me they have had trouble posting comments. If you run into any problems please email me and I will post for you :)

kgiyanto@gmail.com

GOSSIP!

Its my birthday today guys and Indra has given me the best present ever! He said mum yesterday. It was a bit shaky and a bit of a mumble but he is finally trying to talk... even if he just says one word a day, I'll be happy with that. I cant tell you all how fantastic it is to see little improvements everyday.

SCAN...

Well guys, its looking good. The doctors have said that the tumour has reduced dramatically infact they think most of whats seen on the scan is now blood clot from the big haemorrhage he suffered just after the first treatment. He will still continue to have chemotherapy and his rehabilitation is still a long way to go as he has suffered a huge trauma to the brain but everyday he is amazing us with his fighting spirit. Hopefully with time the clot will resolve. We have a long recovery ahead and lots of rehabilitation but with time we hope Inj can get back to his happy smiley self :)

WEEK 9

It's Sunday and very quiet here on 3b. No doctors or physios to come bugging us like on the weekdays. We are patiently waiting for results to come through from the MRI... hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday. Indra has been showing some signs of improvement this week and we even got a smile!!!

Our love goes out to Bryce today as he has had to have emergency surgery and will be here for a few days.

MRI scan on Thursday...

This will be our only scan for another 6-8wks, lets hope chemo is working and we have some positive changes!

Tomorrow we will have been here for 7 weeks and going on for week 8!

What Is A Germ Cell Tumour?

Germ cell tumours are rare, boys are more likely to be affected than girls and teenagers more than small children. During pregnancy, germ cells travel from the yolk sac along the umbilical cord to the developing baby usually to form the testes or the ovaries.

Sometimes some germ cells move to other parts of the body where they can develop into tumours including the brain although it is less common. Indra's is at the pineal region.

There are two types of germ cell tumour, germinoma's and non-germinomatous (secreting) tumours.

Indra has a non-germinomatous tumour. They are a mixed group of tumours made up of a mixture of germ cell types. They can be treated with chemotherapy, radiation and sometimes surgery.

Wow...

Hi everyone! Thanks for all your comments and joining in our blog. I cant wait for when Indra can read about how many people are sending good wishes his way. Thanks again to all our lovely friends... means the world to us to have such love coming our way :)

Oh Yeah...

If you have pics, poems or anything else that you cant put on comments then i will try my best to add them on, just send to my email :) kgiyanto@gmail.com

All comments have to be approved by myself so may not be instantly on the blog

Welcome!

Hi all... welcome to Indra's blog and a little bit of history on how the story goes...

Indra was diagnosed with a brain tumour on the 22nd June 2009. It is cancerous and very aggressive. It is a non-germinomatous germ cell tumour.

There were very few symptoms, just a few headaches in the preceeding week and double vision two days before diagnosis. Little did we know that a simple trip to an eye doctor has turned Indra's world upside down.

That was only six and a half weeks ago. Since then Indra has had six operations on his head to relieve pressure and two cycles of chemotherapy to try and shrink the tumour. It cannot be operated on at the moment as it is too dangerous. He has been to ICU four times and I cant even imagine how hard it has been for him. All of this surgery and treatment has taken its toll.

Unfortunately Indra is unable to talk to us right now but we are hopeful that one day soon he will start to speak again. All of Indra's symptoms are an effect of pressure in the brain. For the moment we just have to wait and see how this chemotherapy has worked. He may have a surgery further down the track to remove some of the tumour. We have no idea when Indra will be able to leave the hospital.

We hope he will be up for visits soon but this is going to be a long treatment process and a long recovery so please be patient and trust our judgement. We love Indra very much and miss having him at home.

This is a place where we want everyone to share their thoughts and feelings. I know Indra would think its a great idea!