07/13/2010
by Sherrie Wells Brady came through his surgery yesterday with flying colors. He left the hospital and made his rounds thanking everyone for the great care that he has received. As we were about to depart, he even had a surprise visit from Mr. Jones (CEO of RWJU Hospital). We picked up all of his prescriptions and then we went food shopping. Brady has quite the appetite and ate a roll, six crackers, and five grape tomatoes before we left the supermarket. Then we came home to unpack and get the house organized. Two large boxes of supplies were delivered and Nurse Pam came to our home to make sure that everything was in order. Brady had a wonderful dinner at Confectionately Yours and devoured ice cream, the owners would not let us pay and gave Brady too much Elmo stuffed animals. Thank you! We did something really fun tonight; we went for a walk in the rain. Brady kept giggling and saying, “rain, wet, messy”. It was so much fun. It is mid-night now and our little boy is having some discomfort. I gave him some medicine and he wanted to go for another walk. Michael volunteered for this round, yeah! He is such a wonderful “da da”. I hope that we each get a little bit of sleep tonight as the past couple of nights have been lacking. We also got the results back from Brady’s biopsy, he has between 96-99% cancer and it is spreading terribly fast. Remember all of the children fighting this battle and hug someone you love a little tighter than usual.To do list…
- DONATE BLOOD AND DONATE PLATELETS! I know it seems like a simple gesture, but it really does have a lot of meaning. I can not stress this enough. Every time the nurses hang a bag of donated blood/platelets for Brady, I literally cry and say out loud, “thank you to Brady’s anonymous volunteer donor.” Blood centers have an ongoing need for both blood and platelets. Platelets have a shorter shelf-life than blood, and are especially important for cancer patients. To find a donation site near you https://www.aabb.org/tm/donation/Pages/Blood-Bank-Locator.aspx
- SAVE A LIFE AND REGISTER TO BE A BONE MARROW DONOR! If you become a donor, marrow cells are collected from the backside of your pelvic bone using a special syringe. Prior to having this one to two hour outpatient surgical procedure, you will receive anesthesia so no pain is experienced. Donors can expect to feel discomfort in their lower back and may experience side effects from the anesthesia, such as nausea or a sore throat. Did you know that your marrow completely regenerates itself within just a few short weeks? Find out more at: https://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html
- PRESENTS! Please purchase a gift and bring it to your local hospital to give to a child with cancer at any time throughout the year (Cancer does not wait for Christmas to arrive). Please tell the child life specialists what age range it is appropriate for as well as if it is for a boy or a girl. Remember, Brady has already been blessed with toys and would rather see the gift go to another child in need. Trust me, what you may consider to be a small gift will mean the world to a child and their family. Locate a hospital near you at: [link removed]
- HUGS! Seriously, give someone a hug for Brady to raise awareness of pediatric cancer. It might spark them to hug someone and keep the chain of events rolling. Not the touchy feely kind of person? Then start with a handshake or a pat on the back! Warning: Affection is contagious! XO
- CURE! Please help the Hugs for Brady Foundation find a CURE for this hideous disease. Did you know that every penny goes directly to help the hematology/oncology floor without even one cent being diverted to administrative fees, salaries, marketing expenses, etc? That’s incredible! On behalf of every child with cancer, we thank you. Donations can be made via Brady’s website: https://hugsforbrady.org/donations/
Donations to the Hugs for Brady Fund™ can also be mailed to:
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation 10 Plum Street, Suite 910, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Make checks payable to: RWJUH Foundation Memo section: Hugs for Brady Fund™ Or Call (732) 937-8750 for Visa, MasterCard, or American Express Please mention: Hugs for Brady Fund™ All donations are 100% tax deductible (Tax ID# 27-3921673) No donation amount is too small & no donation amount is ever too large!“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.