04/30/2010
by Michael Wells Yesterday Brady was at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to have his broviac catheter removed and to have a bone marrow aspiration performed. A bone marrow aspiration is removes a small amount of bone marrow fluid and cells through a needle put into the hip. This procedure is much less invasive than a bone marrow biopsy which actually removes bone marrow. Anyway, the results of the aspirate are just beyond words,”we see NOT a hint of cancer.” While Brady still has a long road ahead of him before we can ensure the beast is beaten, for right now we are on cloud 9 and it’s just wonderful. Brady is still not able to intermingle with people and will still be making weekly trips to CHOP for blood work and exams but our baby is free of cancer. It’s just remarkable and I do believe your spiritual outpouring played a major role in his success. Thank you will never, never be sufficient.However, for every success story like Brady’s there is an opposite side of the coin. During our journey we have come to know so many wonderful parents and children battling pediatric cancer. One of them is a young boy named; Mark Levine. Here’s Tracy’s (Mark’s Mom) latest Caringbridge journal entry: After spending such an unbelievable week away with our family living our life as if it was without cancer it hurts me to say that our reality has set back in. Mark’s CT this week revealed that they tumors in his lungs have returned and grown to the size and location that they are no longer operable. We are going to try and keep things at bay with two new chemo drugs in the hope that over time something new will come up and new things do come up every day that will shrink them to the size that they can be safely removed. Until then, we will hope and pray as we have been all along. Thank you for all of the phone calls, emails and texts. Sorry I can’t return them all right now. I just want to spend every minute with Mark making sure that he is happy. He loves reading all of the guestbook entries so keep them coming. I know that everyone is praying just as hard as we are for the miracle that we need right now. Please continue and know that we are continuing to fight and are staying strong as a family. Love to everyone. Tracey
So, I am going to say good-bye for now with a request; please hug someone you love, think good thoughts and a prayer for Mark. He can use all the help you can give him!
“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.