11/30/2009 by Michael Wells Monday evening and we are concluding our week of freedom (so to speak). Brady is just about as normal as any 15 month old toddler can be; we had a great London broil dinner with ice cream cake as dessert. The cake was given to Brady by his daycare teacher –… [Read More]
November Journal Entries
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 48
11/29/2009 by Michael Wells As we end the holiday weekend several thoughts and people come to mind. Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful, and that we are. We were able to spend a nice, long, relaxing weekend with our baby at home. We had several wonderful surprises this weekend. First, I would like to… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 47
11/28/2009 by Michael Wells Wow! What a great week-end. Yesterday we went for our daily 2 mile walk which turned into a 4 mile walk as Brady decided he does not like mittens and took one off while on my back in his knapsack. Yes, we found the missing mitten and along the way ran… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 46
11/27/2009 by Michael Wells Brady has just a truly wonderful Thanksgiving at home. Although, he is still upset about the outcome of the Giants game all in all he had a great day. We started our day with a 3+ mile walk and later we were joined by Brady’s Grandma Jan and Grandpa Gary for… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 45
11/26/2009 by Michael Wells Good Thursday Morning… I started writing this Thanksgiving journal entry several days ago. Wondering just how I would or could thank the ever growing, ever so many incredible people who have made me and Sherrie humble and proud all at the same time. I am truly amazed how our son has… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 44
11/24/2009 by Sherrie Wells Sherrie’s very random thoughts at 3am… Good morning to all of Brady’s readers. Brady has been a ball full of energy since 2am. He’s quite content playing in his crib with his Elmo cell phone and his “sick” baby bunny that came with a thermometer. He bounces up and down as… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 43
11/23/2009 Another Curve Ball… Brady woke up with a 101 temperature and it spiked at 102 so no bone marrow biopsy and it looks like we will be spending Thanksgiving in the hospital. This disease just is not cooperating. I will write more later… Monday night and there is still some hope that we will… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 42
11/22/2009 by Michael Wells My watch and I can’t sleep the “window rack” is killing my back. The accommodations at The Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Bristol Meyer Squibb Children’s Hospital are not designed for a 6’2” 216 lbs. guy. Or perhaps they really are designed with a purpose other than pain; maybe they’re designed… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 41
11/21/2009 by Michael Wells Saturday morning and Brady is about as bored as a 14 month old toddler can get. He has been in his room for more than 2 weeks and he has a bad case of cabin fever. I am working the doctors, nurses and anyone else to try and get him a… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 40
11/20/2009 by Michael Wells A Roller Coaster Ride CBC results: white blood count – 2,000; platelet count – 101,000; neutrophils are also up but blasts are at 12% or so we thought. “I HATE THIS DISEASE.” Yesterday everything was pointed in the right direction and today another scare. You see, blasts going from 4% yesterday… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 39
11/19/2009 by Michael Wells Today is another day of positive progress. Brady’s blood counts continue to head in the right direction: White blood count 1.7, Platelets 56,000 and Neutrophils 170. The only downside is there are 4% blasts still hanging around but we hope they are on their way out and gone. Brady is slowly… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 38
11/18/2009 by Sherrie Wells Good afternoon to all of Brady’s readers… I am writing early this afternoon because Brady is playing happily in his crib now and I do not expect to get another opportunity today to write! Michael will not be to the hospital until late tonight as he needs to work. So, I… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 37
11/17/2009 by Michael Wells “Cautiously” Great News!!! I just had a lengthy conversation with Dr. Drachtman Brady’s lead doctor and here’s his quote; “I’d be amazed if Brady is not in full remission.” Now, this is by no means backed up by any scientific data but Dr. Drachtman is one of leading pediatric hematologist/oncologist in the… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 36
11/16/2009 by Sherrie Wells Hello to all of Brady’s readers, friends, and family. I hope you don’t mind me filling in again for Michael but it looks like he will be working late tonight. So let’s start at the beginning. This morning I had the drama of changing complete bed linens three times due to… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 35
11/15/2009 by Michael Wells I’m sitting here around 2:00am listening to Nora Jones on the web radio station Pandora and waiting, hoping for Brady to fall asleep. I’m listening with my headphones on one ear so I can listen for Brady with the other ear. My son Stephen turned me on to Pandora and it… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 34
11/14/2009 by Michael Wells …”But the one thing I am learning through this experience is nothing really is what you think it is”; I got a first hand example of this tonight. Everything was going so smoothly, we had finished dinner, we were eating Aunt Peg’s cinnamon nut rolls, (unbelievably good) Sherrie had gone home… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 33
11/13/2009 by Michael Wells I’m sitting in a Brady’s negative pressure hospital room and thinking what a strange name for a room located in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Ever since we entered the hospital it has been a far cry of “negative pressure.” I don’t think I could handle much more pressure in… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 32
11/12/2009 by Michael Wells It’s around 3:00am and I cannot wait until the day shift arrives. This nurse is just plain awful. She is the least attentive nurse I have experienced since coming to this hospital. Why she is working in PICU is beyond my reasoning power, in fact why she is a nurse is… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 31
11/11/2009 by Michael Wells I just spoke with Sherrie (who spent yet another night at the hospital) and she told me Brady once again is spiking temperatures. He was just given more Tylenol and hopefully this will bring his 102.4˚ temperature back in line. Brady also has red dots on his body which is now… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 30
11/10/2009 by Michael Wells So much continues to happen so quickly. Brady is resting comfortably and that in itself is almost remarkable Brady is not a fan of the PICU. Monday he has received platelets, blood and an assortment of drugs to control vomiting, bacteria, and perhaps rheumatoid arthritis – I would not be surprised!… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 29
11/09/2009 by Michael Wells The time is 1:45am Monday morning and oh what a night! Brady’s condition is not good. His breathing is once again erratic and his blood pressure is now of concern as it is lower than desired. This combined with the temperature spike and Brady got an official visit from the PICU… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 28
11/08/2009 by Michael Wells Today was a very rough day for Brady. In the past 20 hours Brady has projectile vomited 3 times and on each occasion he is apparently in more pain than ever. His team of doctors are telling us the same story; this is all to be expected. Expected or not it’s… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 27
11/07/2009 by Michael Wells It’s 4:21am and Brady is resting quietly. He is still hooked up to a bevy of equipment but his latest blood cluster came back negative for gram-positive cocci in chains (streptococci). This is good news because it means the antibiotics are working and the infection is under control. Hopefully he is… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 26
11/06/2009 by Michael Wells I started writing today’s journal entry on my business trip (train ride) to Washington DC. I wrote a bunch of stuff about how I am feeling and a bunch of stuff about what Sherrie and I are experiencing and how this whole “thing” is affecting us but I’ve decided not to… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 25
11/05/2009 by Michael Wells It’s early Thursday morning or late Wednesday night whichever you prefer. Brady my Baby Bear is finally sleeping. He having a bit of a rough time; his temp hit 102.4 and this got me a bit nervous. I came so close to yelling at the nurses to stop watching the blankety-blankety… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 24
11/04/2009 by Michael Wells Brady had a rough day. His white blood count is down to 0.7 and he developed a temperature. His temp hit 102.4 and he is on 3 different types of antibiotics. He’s trying to sleep now and hopefully he will keep his temp at the last reading of 99.0. Sherrie is… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 23
11/03/2009 by Michael Wells We finally have received Brady’s diagnosis. Brady has leukemia this we already knew. However, what we now know is Brady has neither Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia nor Acute Myelogenous Leukemia he has own unique Leukemia which is supposedly a combination of several of the sub-types of both ALL and AML. The doctors… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 22
11/02/2009 by Michael Wells Good evening to all our friends, family and fans of Brady. Today was a very good day for Brady; his temperature and blood pressure are running normal, his CBC is doing what it’s suppose to do; go down. His white blood count has dropped to 1.2 from 1.6 in 3 days… [Read More]
8 Years Later—Still No Cure for Pediatric Cancer – 21
11/01/2009 by Michael Wells November 1st and I’m a year older, UCONN loses a heartbreaker to Rutgers, the New York Yankees are on their way to buying another World Series, and some how I really don’t care. Its ironic how in a single moment life as you know it can change? Now my daily box… [Read More]