Next stage

Saskia had another bone marrow biopsy today to check once more if there is anything else going on regarding her platelets. The previous biopsy showed that there were the so-called "megakaryocytic" from which the platelets are being produced, but just not enough. There are several theories as to why this is and one of them is that the body reacts as if there is an infection somewhere in the system or that the bone marrow is damaged beyond repair.
I just stick with this last one as it is the easiest to understand. There has been so much poison injected into her system, that parts of the functions of the bone marrow just cannot be repaired.
Saskia is now on a daily dose of steroids, to see if this will increase the production of platelets.
On Monday 03 February she will go back to hospital and irrespective of the platelet count, she will start her next chemo therapy.
This one will be the same one which she had early November of which she had a very bad reaction to (and which was the cause of the drop in platelets for the last two months). This means that she will have to stay in hospital for a minimum of 5 nights but potentially 7 nights, depending on how she reacts. Last time we were back in hospital within 24 hrs of being discharged and we do not want to repeat. So she will remain in hospital until she can keep some food and drinks in her stomach.

We are immeasurably thankful for all your prayers for Saskia. She is an amazingly strong girl and never lets herself down too much. We ask you to keep praying for her and us, specifically over the course of next week when she will receive this very strong dose of chemo.