07/26/2010
by Michael Wells Sherrie was up around 2:00am this morning and wrote the following: Well, we now know the reason for the goat named Ernie; to make us all chuckle as he delivered a “special” gift on Aunt Ellen and Uncle Frank’s front lawn. That’s right; when you can’t make it to the farm, have the farm come to you. Brady had a wonderful time riding his very large pony (“horse” as he kept calling it) named Willie for about two hours. We went up and down our street and into the wooded path in the park right next to our home. We were concerned that Brady might be scared but as Michael brought him to pet the pony all we heard was “horse, ride, horse, ride, horse, ride”. So, Kristen Stinson from Team Goddard at Yellowbrook Farm held Brady on her lap and placed his two IV pumps in a backpack on her back. And off they went. I was really expecting this to last all of ten seconds before I heard ma-ma or da-da as he was six feet high, riding a pony, with a complete stranger. Instead, he made himself right at home. About an hour into it he even requested to drink his bottle of water while continuing to ride. Well, it is now after 3:00am and “things” have once again settled down. Brady woke up with a temperature around 104˚, at least that’s where we stopped taking his temperature. He proceeded to have a lovely vomiting episode and it was just awful. The poor little guy has just suffered so much. But we (Sherrie) managed to get him settled down and he is back sleeping and Sherrie decided to call it a night as well. Yesterday was another typical day. Brady continues to battle this disease with his all. He was in the mood to go walking before the pony arrived. Willy the Pony was the biggest pony I have ever seen; 12 hands tall or 48” to the top of his back. Anyway, we must have walked for more than 2 hours and it was only 94˚ with humidity levels of Calcutta. After Willy the Pony, Ernie the Goat left, Brady took a nice long nap but at 8:00pm we were at Grammy’s walking again. Brady loves to be in motion. But all and all it was a very special day; it was just adorable to see our son on top of this pony riding through the park and around the neighborhood as if he were the Lord of the Manor We are just so very thankful to Kristen of Team Goddard at Yellowbrook Farm and Monica Vermeulen of the Ashley Lauren Foundation for arranging this. They made our baby very happy and for that we sincerely thank you. Well, it’s Monday morning and I need to get my day started, until next time; prayers, hugs and good thoughts (along with the yummy cupcakes from our friend Christine) are keeping us together so please continue them!“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.