07/25/2010
by Michael Wells Saturday and it was truly deja-vu all over again! Brady after going to sleep at around 2:00am slept until about 10:00 am and when he woke up wanted a cheese burger. So, off we go to Burger King in search of a cheese burger. Normally, you cannot buy a cheeseburger before 11:00am but George the Manager was kind enough to sell us a happy meal with a cheese burger. We drove over to Grammy & Papa’s where Brady ate his burger and went for a rather long “tractor” ride with his grandfather. Brady took a nap in the afternoon and all seemed to be as “normal” as possible. But sometime around 7:00pm while Sherrie and I were at our neighbor’s house discussing a Halloween fundraiser, we received a panic call from Grandma that Brady was bleeding from one of his catheter lines. It turned out to be the same line that was causing us problems last night and Sherrie immediately phoned Nurse Practitioner Donna (at her home) and she was at our home in less than 10 minutes. Donna changed all of Brady’s lines and end fittings and life was back to normal. Donna is just an incredible person whom I would appoint to Sainthood if I were the Pope. Thank you Donna! Well, by the time Donna left, Brady was just a little wound-up so off we went on one of our 10:00pm walks around the neighborhood. It was beautiful night for a walk and Brady was very pleased he could see the “full moon.” He just loves pointing to the sky and saying “moon”. Finally, at 1:00am Brady was fast asleep! As I said, it was another Yogi Day! On the bright side, Brady’s spirits are for the most part, excellent and he is just as quick witted as ever. This is in light of him having lost most of his mobility and having a great deal of trouble just standing. He continues to have frequent temperature spikes and occasionally will cry out in pain. At times, his breathing is labored but he is still holding his own. Brady is just a remarkable child and continues to impress me in the manner in which he continues adjust to this horrific disease. Today thanks to Monica & John Vermeulen of the Ashley Lauren Foundation, there will be a pony, a goat and a dog in our yard today. I understand the pony and the dog but I’m not quite sure about the goat. Anyway, it should be fun to see Brady taking his first pony ride. Thank you Monica & John for making this happen. Also, a quick thank you to my lifelong friend Russ Kniehl and lovely wife Sue for the delicious Edible Arrangement. It arrived on Friday and I think it’s just about consumed. It’s once again after 5:00 am and I guess I really should try to get some rest. So on this Sunday morning, let’s try to make prayers, hugs and good thoughts the only de-ja-vue events of the day…“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.