07/31/2010 by Michael Wells Last night, I took Ambien sleeping pill to get some rest and it worked; I slept for about 8 hours. I just don’t know what to write. I miss my son so much. Brady was a wonderfully amazing baby and I will miss him forever. I don’t know how long I… [Read More]
July Journal Entries
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 214
07/30/2010 by Michael Wells Today, at 5:13am our beautiful loving Brady was pronounced dead. Please allow Sherrie and me a little time to compose ourselves. I will do my best to let you know the “arrangements” as quickly as possible. Now I ask each of you to hug everyone you love, pray for our baby’s… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 213
07/29/2010 by Michael Wells Wednesday was spent at the hospital receiving transfusions of whole blood and platelets. Thanks to Nurse Practitioner Donna, Brady got a room in Pediatric Hematology / Oncology unit on the 2nd floor. The rooms are much bigger and better equipped for an all day session like yesterday. The platelets came from… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 212
07/27/2010 by Michael Wells Brady continues to have a few “good” hours and Monday was no exception. In between frighteningly high fevers (104˚F) and everything that goes along with this horrible illness our baby is still bright, happy and energetic beyond my belief. He is such a wonderful part of us. I just love his… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 211
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,… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 210
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… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 209
07/24/2010 by Michael Wells Wow, what a crazy day or should I say night? For most of the day Brady continued to follow much of the script that has been laid out for him; his temperature continues to spike at scary ranges over 103˚, his breathing is somewhat labored and his eyes are puffy and… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 208
07/23/2010 by Michael Wells Brady continues to be about as adorable as any 23 month old toddler. Thursday, he (when awake) was in truly great spirits. He directed us to take him for a walk which turned out to be about 3 times as long as our normal one as he did not want to… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 207
07/22/2010 by Michael Wells Wednesday, was another copy of Tuesday. Brady slept most of the day. He is awoke around 7:30pm and wanted to go for a walk. It was truly delightful to put him in his carriage with a half dozen stuffed animals and an assortment of various toy tractors. During our walk, we… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 206
07/21/2010 by Michael Wells Tuesday was not a good day for Brady. He spent the entire day at the hospital receiving platelets and whole blood transfusions. He also had his broviac catheter dressing changed and was hooked up to a portable IV pump. The sad part of this whole process is Brady will be attached… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 205
07/20/2010 by Michael Wells Last night was just an awful night. No amount or combinations of oral pain management drugs seemed to help Brady. I think Sherrie and I had about 4 hours of sleep combined. Today, when Brady is at the clinic receiving his whole blood and platelet transfusions, he will be once again… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 204
07/19/2010 by Michael Wells Sunday was an R & R day for the Wells family. It began with a 7:00 am walk around our neighborhood (no Pit Bulls), I love walking with Brady first thing in the morning; it’s so peaceful and quiet. After Sherrie friend Kellie headed off to the airport we were off… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 203
07/17/2010 by Michael Wells What a simply wonderful day Brady had. We had a delicious breakfast made by Aunt Kellie and we were ready to roll before 9:00am. We decided to visit Terhune Orchards in Princeton, NJ. They have a small petting zoo and Brady just loved feeding the goats and ducks. We returned home… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 202
07/16/2010 by Michael Wells We never did make it to the aquarium; instead we went to Great Adventure and drove through the wild animal park. Brady was not too interested in the animals but he really did like to drive my car as he sat on lap. Earlier on Thursday we stopped by Gymboree and… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 201
07/15/2010 by Michael Wells Having fun can be hazardous to your health! Yesterday was an extremely weird day. It started out as normal as any other day but before it ended some strange things occurred. Before I begin to tell you about our day, I want say thank you to all my coworkers and management… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 200
07/13/2010 by Sherrie Wells Brady came through his surgery yesterday with flying colors. He left the hospital and made his rounds thanking everyone for the great care that he has received. As we were about to depart, he even had a surprise visit from Mr. Jones (CEO of RWJU Hospital). We picked up all of… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 199
07/12/2010 by Michael Wells It’s absolutely amazing; on the outside our Brady is an intelligent, handsome, precocious, personable toddler; however, on the inside our baby is a very very sick child. Today around 11:00am I received a phone call from Sherrie, telling me; Brady peripheral white blood has 71% cancerous blasts cells. This is the… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 198
07/11/2010 by Michael Wells Saturday was just a great day! We had a visit from my sisters Kathleen and Arleen along with their husbands Dennis and Michael. It was extremely nice of them to drive from Connecticut to visit with Brady. They also arrived bearing gifts; Brady now has the unofficial largest collection of Elmo… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 197
07/10/2010 by Michael Wells It’s Saturday morning and the “man cave” is in week-end mode. We just finished our 3rd bottle (18 oz. water) and our 3rd diaper change of the night and now it’s back to sleep. Last night was an excellent evening; we went for walks, picked some flowers, watched a couple of… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 196
07/09/2010 by Michael Wells Life for Brady is becoming more and more “normal.” He has been fever-free, his blood pressure is normal, his white blood count is recovering at a slow pace (0.6), he is receiving less and less pain medication and he is within days of no longer receiving steroids. He appears to be… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 195
07/07/2010 by Michael Wells Where to begin? Yesterday, Brady continues to act like any precocious toddler; he sings songs without words, his vocabulary continues to grow faster than I could ever imagine and he appears to be about as happy as anyone can be living in a hospital hooked up to 5-6 different pumps. His… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 194
07/06/2010 by Michael Wells CBC continues in the neutropenic range with his white blood count at 0.3. While Brady needed a blood transfusion yesterday and will be getting more platelets today; we are very pleased with the results of this slow recovery of his system. The logic is simple; the slower the recovery, the slow… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 193
07/04/2010 by Michael Wells Saturday was a very special day. My brother Richard, his friend Donna and my Mom drove from North Haven, Connecticut to visit Brady. It was great to see all of them and I was extremely happy my 91 year old mother got to visit with her 21st grandchild. It was very… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 192
07/03/2010 by Michael Wells It’s late Friday night or early Saturday morning depending upon your frame of reference. It was another day of wait and see. I hate this disease and the absolute destruction it causes. I want my baby back the way he was more than I have ever wanted anything in my life…. [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 191
07/02/2010 by Michael Wells Thursday was an interesting day. We went to pay our respect to Brady’s friend; Jasanti, we made a decision and the “man cave” made an unexpected appearance. Jasanti’s service was very nice and I must say I don’t think I have ever seen so many flowers, it was quite emotional. We… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 190
07/01/2010 by Michael Wells Wednesday was another “good” day for Brady. He continues with his daily routine of wagon rides throughout the day or as he likes to call them, “walks.” It truly remarkable to see a baby so sick and all he wants to do, virtually all the time is walk. However, the terrible… [Read More]