Dear Vivienne,

Thanks for the email, we are all hanging in there, it's very stressful much of
the time and no day is in anyway predictable.  He is just about to have a new
proceedure today in preparation for the stem cell transplant in June, we have
had (yesterday) the meeting regarding the hundreds of serious risks and feel
pretty shaken up by that.  And now we are steeling ourselves for the actual
total body irradiation in two/three weeks time, just before the stem cell
transplant from Ben. Jake remains relatively bouyant (anxious understandabley
today) and we a bundle of nerves.

He is full time in hospital at the moment though we occasionally get day or 36
hour reprieves and he is allowed out for a concert.  At the moment though he is
on an essentail daily drip to continue to treat his brain lesion which poses a
serious threat when his immune system is knocked out by the radiotherapy.  The
doctors are constantly trying to balance treatment of the brain with treatment
of the lieukaemia  - they both need opposite treatments so constant balancing
one way and then the other is what they are trying.  Thanks so much for your
thoughts and prayers
with best wishes,

Jonathan 

Senior Lecturer in Education
Canterbury Christ Church University