01/30/2010 by Michael Wells A quick update on Brady’s condition; he is continuing to spike temperatures with the latest at 4:15am hitting 102.3˚. Sherrie just phoned me to tell me about the on-call Resident who was going to start treating Brady for a fungal infection as supposedly he was instructed to do. This very potent… [Read More]
January Journal Entries
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 98
01/29/2010 by Michael Wells Brady’s health continues to mirror yesterday; he is still febrile and has a morphine drip line to help ease his apparent discomfort. His blood counts were slightly improved and are headed in the right direction. I arrived at the hospital around 8:00pm and he was very excited to see me. At… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 97
01/28/2010 by Michael Wells Good morning or late night or whatever… I’m up and I have been for the past 3 hours or so. We had technical problems with Brady IV pumps; they kept occluding. And every time the IV lines are blocks the pumps start a ringing sound that at 3:00am resembles the horn… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 96
01/27/2010 by Michael Wells It’s Wednesday night and I have the “watch.” Today other than an Electrocardiogram was a rather an uneventful day in the continuing saga of Brady’s war with cancer. While, he still is somewhat febrile, battling nausea and diarrhea he continues to be in good spirits; courtesy of his morphine drip line…. [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 95
01/26/2010 by Michael Wells Goodmorning to all of Brady’s friend’s & family, It is 11:30am and Brady just nodded off to sleep. He has been getting a constant morphine drip for generalized pain as well as tylenol throughout the night to keep his fevers under control (less than 103°). He was in pain this morning… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 94
01/25/2010 by Michael Wells Normally, if someone were to ask me about a dreary, cold, rainy Monday I would tell you it’s a typical blue Monday, but not today. We have some good news and some great news. First the good news: Brady, or should I say Sherrie and I have finally learned to understand… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 93
01/24/2010 by Michael Wells A quick entry to bring you up to date on how Brady is doing – Brady was fast a sleep by 7:00pm and wide awake at 3:00am. He woke up with some apparent pain and he was given a little Tylenol with codeine and now he is sitting in his crib… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 92
01/23/2010 by Michael Wells I’m listening to Led Zeppelin (headphones), Brady napping, and Sherrie’s on her way home for some much needed and overdue rest. And right at this moment life is pretty good! While Brady is still febrile with sporadic vomiting he seems to be holding steady around 102°. His other vitals are fine… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 91
01/22/2010 by Michael Wells I arrived at the hospital a little after 8:00pm tonight to find Brady running a temperature (100.8°) and having vomited twice already. Yet, this astonishing toddler was still in relatively great spirits. We had a very light dinner consisting of cookies and jell-o. After dinner because he was not up to… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 90
01/20/2010 by Michael Wells Wednesday night and I have the “watch.” I think there must be a few nurses and/or staff members reading Brady’s journal as everyone has made an extra effort to point out the fact (to me) they were washing their hands. All I can say is; “thank you.” Tonight Brady had his… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 89
01/19/2010 by Michael Wells A very short entry this morning as I am on my way to NYC and must get my butt in gear. Brady is doing excellent. Other than a vomiting episode Monday morning he continues on the path of lower blood counts and hopefully driving his cancer into remission. No exact numbers… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 88
01/17/2010 by Michael Wells Early Sunday morning or late Saturday night whichever works best for you? I had the distinct pleasure of spending most of Saturday alone with Brady. Sherrie spent Friday night at home and took care of several personal items on Saturday. I was with my son from the time he woke up… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 87
01/15/2010 by Michael Wells It’s just about 9:00pm, Sherrie is home, Brady is trying to sleep and I have the “watch.” Today was another wonderful day in paradise. Brady has surgery today at 1:30pm and I cannot begin to tell just how upsetting this mid-day surgery scheduling is for a toddler. I am absolutely not… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 86
01/14/2010 by Michael Wells Last night was an uneventful night with a few exceptions. For the past several days Brady has either prematurely entered the “terrible two’s” or has had it with living in his cage of a crib in a hospital. I am not sure if either of these reasons are accurate but WOW… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 85
01/12/2010 by Michael Wells Monday Morning Finally my beautiful son is asleep and it’s 6:00am. It was a night for the record books. Brady didn’t nod-off until 11:00pm and no sooner would Brady be snoozing when the door to our room would open and it was either Aaron his med tech wanting to take his… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 84
01/10/2010 by Michael Wells I was speaking with Dr. Pan one of the members of Dr. Drachtman’s group and while it is far from the time to “throw the towel in” it’s getting to the time in the game when the outcome is seriously in question. This disease has no conscience it has no soul… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 83
01/09/2010 by Michael Wells Well, it’s Saturday afternoon and I am listening to my favorite internet radio station – Pandora. It’s really cool and I have my number 1 son Stephen to thank for turning me onto it. Speaking of my son Stephen; Sherrie, Brady and me wishing you a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Love ya… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 82
01/08/2010 by Michael Wells Brady received his intrathecal chemotherapy today and came through the entire process in excellent condition. He was amnestied and everything went well. I have the “watch” tonight and it should be fun as Brady slept through most of the day. I think I might get some sleep around 3:00am if I’m… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 81
01/07/2010 by Michael Wells As Yogi Berra once said; “it feels like déjà vu all over again.” And so it goes; Brady is hooked up to his IV pumps and is currently receiving his first dose of chemotherapy. The chemotherapy protocol will be as follows: Cytarabine every 12 hours next 4 days and then beginning… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 80
01/06/2010 by Michael Wells Just Wonderful People This past Monday evening as we were preparing dinner our doorbell rang and to our surprise, one of the teachers from Kiddie Academy of Kendall Park dropped off a card for us with the proceeds from several of the recent fundraisers that they held in honor of Brady…. [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 79
01/05/2010 by Michael Wells A very short journal entry as we are off to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to meet with Dr. Nancy Bunin for a preliminary bone marrow transplantation physical examination. We are hoping Dr. Bunin can give us some words of encouragement regarding Brady’s condition. I will let you know the outcome… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 78
01/03/2010 by Michael Wells Sunday morning soon to be the afternoon on a frigidly cold and windy gray January day; I just finished picking “things” up as both Brady and Sherrie are napping. Brady has had a bit of a rough time sleeping in his crib since coming home so last night he and I… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 77
01/02/2010 by Michael Wells On New Year’s Eve I could not sleep and so I decided to do some research regarding Brady’s next round of chemotherapy. In my efforts to better understand the drug protocol I came across an article in Journal of Clinical Oncology on Mitoxantrone and Cytarabine Induction, High-Dose Cytarabine, and Etoposide Intensification… [Read More]