Sorry for the Delay

I know it has been a while since my last post. Our new system of splitting time at the hospital has us busier than ever. Matt came home yesterday evening and spent the night and then spent time with the kids in the morning. He arrived at Strong around lunch time so he, Brady, and I could spend an hour or so together. Then I left to come home. This plan gives Eli, Cara, and Allie some time with each of us too. From their perspective half of their family just up and left!! As much as they LOVE our parents, they were starting to act pretty clingy and needed some mommy and daddy snuggles. Unfortunately that means a lot of alone time at the hospital for Matt and I. It's great spending the time 1:1 with Brady, but during those long nights, it is tough to be alone. The quarrintine continues for our unit, so visitors are still not allowed:(

Just to catch everyone up on the day's events: Brady slept wonderfully last night. He truly slept throughout all of chemo. The next morning he woke up quite happy and HUNGRY! He ate a big breakfast and he and I took a ride around the unit is "his car." When we got back to the room all of a sudden he threw up. It was very sudden, and not all that eventful. He just did it and that was it. Ten minutes later he was hungry again. Come to find out, the oncologist's request that the anti nausea med Zofran be given round the clock was somehow translated by some attending to an "as needed" order. How do 21 month olds request anti nausea meds? Well..Brady got the message across in his own sweet way...one throw up and he is now on Zofran around the clock. Matt said he hasn't had another episode yet. He had his second round again tonight, and Matt reports he was already asleep.

We have had some trying times too. Part of caring for the Broviac in his chest involves a daily flush and changing of the dressing a few times a week. Brady IS NOT a fan of either procedure. We also are learning more day by day of what will be involved in his care once he is home (hopefully Saturday night). We will be working with a visiting nurse who will come by several times a week to draw blood, help change dressings, and just keep an eye on him overall. We will learn to do the daily flushes of his port and to give him an injection daily that boosts his white blood cell count. Because chemo suppresses your immune system, it is likely that Brady will have an infection or need a transfusion before his next round of chemo. The nurse today told us to count on a 2 day admission if this happens.

I'm not sure if I have said this enough, but Matt and I are so uplifted by the comments people leave for us. This blog has been such a blessing. Not only is it very theraputic for me to write and reflect on a daily basis, but we need to feel surrounded by the love and support of our friends and family. Even greater than that is the thought that because of Brady's life, we are able to share our faith by telling our day to day story. Through God's amazing plan for him, Brady is touching people in unimaginable ways! So many people comment on our strength...please believe me that I have felt like just laying down and giving up a million times in the last two weeks. I daily say to myself, "How can I watch them operate on him again? How can I bring my sweet boy back to that hospital? How can I sit and watch that poison slowly drip into his body?" I'm constantly bombarded by negative thoughts becuase I'm a scared mom just like anyone else would be. Please believe us when we say, it is God and He alone carrying us through each day!

Okay...off to bed. I have three babes asleep and that is where I need to be. Thank you all again for holding Brady close to your heart in prayer...