Around Australia with Mini Me

[Iguanasan]

Awww...

[QuietOne]

I'm sorry. Let them know, okay?

[Mad Aussie]

I will. Thanks Bambi, Ig and Q1.

I sent them a message but no answer yet ... I know they have service there, so I guess they just don't want to talk about it yet. I've been there so I understand completely.

[Mad Aussie]

Well ... they had Buddy Cremated and have now resumed their holiday. A few photos have started to show up once more.

So, we step back to before they arrived in Darwin and had learned of their dog, Buddy's, condition.

Some teens join in the birthday fun for Dean's 4th at a campground somewhere between Alice Springs and Darwin.


Graeme and Dean hiking up the Kings Canyon walk ...


Some Kings Canyon views ...







Graeme and Dean in the scrub

[Mad Aussie]

More Kings Canyon ...



Oh jeez ... Tourists!!




Corrugations on the road from Alice Springs to Kings Canyon. Corro's, as they are called out there, shook the lights out of Graeme's ute (Utility or 4x4 to you yanks etc) earlier in this thread.


Oncoming traffic


Whoop de Doo's in the bitumen

[Mad Aussie]

Statue of an Aboriginal woman and child. Not sure what it signifies or marks.


Another at the town of Aileron (wasn't that in Star Wars??? )


Next stop was the Devil's Marbles ... yet another significant geological area in the outback ...



You can see Dean in the foreground ...


Looking back down at what passes for a campground out there


Not sure how far Dean managed to push it??

[Mad Aussie]

A nice shot of Mandy by Graeme


Graeme at work behind his new Canon 50D. Mandy's P&S does a good job too unless this was with their old Canon 60D which still works occasionally I think.


Last few of the Devil's Marbles ...

[Mad Aussie]

Cool mural on the back of someones Camper ...


Now here's an interesting shot ... at the Daly Waters Pub.


A wall of money inside the main building!


and a wall of bra's too ...


Mandy and Dean enjoy a cold one


Thongs (Jandals in New Zealand and Flip Flops in the US I think?) hang from a ceiling ...




They are relaxed out there ...

[Mad Aussie]

Half way between Darwin and Alice Springs or not, they have modern payphones! Deans calls his cousins back in Queensland ...


Getting closer to Darwin now. The Bitter Springs ...


Very clear water at Bitter Springs







Ok ... that brings us up to date with their photos. I expect they'll be some from Darwin and also Kakadu soon before they head west towards Western Australia.

[Mad Aussie]

Now for the BAD news.

They may not make Western Australia. Graeme's Platelets have dropped to a count of only 128.

For those not sure what I'm on about, we've had some issues with cancer in our family over the years, as I realize, many of you will have also.
Recently my father has battled Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, Melonoma and Prostate Cancer ... all in the last couple of years or so. I've had a melonoma cut out of my neck and I'm currently trying to save enough money to have a procedure down for a lesser form of sun damage. My wife also had to have a skin cancer cut from her neck.

Graeme, at age 11, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma and was classed terminal. This form of cancer is aggressive and also very rare in children. We were told to prepare for his death. Positive thinking and support, along with a good medical team saw him go into remission against the odds thankfully.

Later, in his 30's, which was only a few short years back, Graeme was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, another rarity as it's highly unusual for someone to get both types (very different) of lymphoma. This time, instead of being aggressive the cancer was indolent, which means basically dormant or very slow progressing.

Graeme is trying to live life to it's fullest and spend as much time as he can with his wife and boy in case this time round he doesn't beat it. His body has seen many of the drugs used against lymphoma so that makes it harder to fight each time. However, drugs have improved and changed somewhat since he was eleven so that may in his favour, as is his age, mid 30's.

So ... platelets. Platelet are basically the element in your blood that causes clotting. An average adult has a count of around 200 - 400 x10 to the power of 9, per litre. We just drop the x10 stuff and just talk in the numbers easier to understand. So instead of having between 200 - 400 ... he is down to 128 at the last check last week. At 100 he needs to get back to where he can be treated properly.

Under 100 and the chances of internal bleeding and such complications are too prevalent.

A drop in platelets can be caused by other factors but are used as a reliable indicator for the onset of his disease.

Not happy news, and it's not over yet, but we may not see the end of this wonderful journey. This young family and those of us who love him may have to embark on another, one we've been on before and would rather not repeat.