03/15/2010
by Michael Wells What a day! Every once and awhile life sort of throws a few nasty curveballs at you and this weekend we saw more than our fair share. The conditioning chemotherapy is doing exactly what’s it’s supposed to and we have a rather sick baby on our hands. Brady actually had a pretty good Saturday night but Sunday was a blur. Brady went from severe bouts of vomiting followed by horrific diarrhea and this cycle was repeated too many times to count. Sunday we also had to bath him every 4-6 hours and throughout this he continued to be his ever pleasant inquisitive baby. Added to this was our neighbor sending us photos of the damage to our property from the storm which whipped through the Northeast yesterday. Five 40foot trees up-rooted, one just happened to land on the roof of our shed and more than half of our new fence blown down as well. Somehow, in a different time this would have totally upset us but right now it’s nothing more than an inconvenience. I came home tonight to get “things” settled here but our main focus is not trees and material stuff it’s our baby. Tomorrow it’s – Oops! We lost power last night; so I am finishing this Monday morning. Today Brady starts a new chemo drug and more importantly is having his broviac catheter replaced. He will be sedated and hopefully they will be able to use the same incision to insert a new catheter. Unexpected surgeries are always trying because we don’t know what time it will take place and Brady will be NPO (nil per os meaning to withhold oral food and fluids from a patient) from midnight until after surgery. I sure hope the surgery takes place early. So, the power is back and I have to get “things” started to fix the mess in our yard but first I must inject myself for the most important event in my life; Brady’s peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. It really no big deal for me just a little needle in my large belly. Until next time; prayers, hugs and good thoughts are needed more than ever…by Sherrie Wells I hate this disease Surgery canceled at noon, rescheduled for Tuesday, they were to busy with emergencies (after denying him food/bottled/water for hours) Conflicting opinions from doctors on how “bad” his broviac line is Three attempts to get a Foley catheter inserted, had to call in a urologist Pain, screaming, crying, tubes, pumps, bells, noise Vomiting every 10-15 minutes since 8pm More drugs than I care to list Leukemia just stinks…
“8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer” is a series of posts revisiting the journal kept by Sherrie and Michael Wells during the cancer diagnosis and treatment of their son, Brady Michael. Hopefully these entires will provide an understanding of the journey families face when dealing with these horrific diseases and of the important work the Hugs for Brady Foundation does.