03/17/2010
by Michael Wells What a day! Where do I begin? Well, Brady is doing wonderfully well; little vomiting and his Foley catheter was removed. He’s napping now and from the little I’ve seen him appears to be in great shape. My day on the other hand; celebrated Murphy’s Law as opposed to St. Patrick. It started off OK, with me giving myself what I thought was the final injection of Neupogen and then it was off to the aphaeresis department to start the peripheral blood stem cell transplantation process. After a few attempts to find the “right” vein in my arms and then hands we finally get hooked up to collection machine and we are cooking. Two hours into the process and my vein stops giving blood. Hey, no problem: just tap another vein. Well, this is where Murphy’s Law reared his ugly head. After a total of 11 attempts to find a “good” vein with needles getting bigger and bigger in size, they decided to stop. We were only 20% into the procedure and did not collect enough stem cells. So, tomorrow I am off to the big people’s hospital (University of Penn) to have a central line surgically placed in my neck. I am also getting twice the amount and twice the number of injections (tonight & tomorrow) of Neupogen to stimulate good stem cells. I know this is nothing more than another “speed bump” but it’s time to re-pave the highways. I’m sitting here looking like a human pin cushion and whining like a baby. So, tomorrow is another collection day and Friday will be Day Zero or transplantation day for Brady. I truly like what “my friend Mike Matarrese who is recovering from cancer and had the exact procedure Brady is having exactly one year ago, “You guys know my history with the same procedure last year. But even more ironic is that the 19th Friday, will be the one year anniversary of my “Zero day”. That’s when all my #’s were wiped out and I received my stem cells. People that I have spoken to that have had this done, have said to recognize this day as a new birthday and a new beginning”. I think Mike is onto something and Brady deserves to have more than one birthday. So, this Friday it’s: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADY!!! Until next time, continue to offer your prayers, good thoughts and hug someone Irish for Brady… PS I sort of jumped the gun as Brady has been vomiting from 7 until 9:30 non-stop. Hopefully the Zofran will settle his stomach.“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.