Blowin' Chunks

Greetings from room 28 at UMMC. This morning got off to a late start as Braxton and I slept in until 9 am. We did get some good news about Braxton's white blood count, as the number rose from .6 to a rousing 3.5. However, his creatinine level, which monitors his kidney function, has risen to 1.33. This number should be at .7 to .8. Braxton hasn't had a fever for 35 hours now and needs to stay that way through Thursday morning if he wants to have a chance of going home. Oh, my! Braxton can be such a pain. I am trying to concentrate, but the little dude keeps bothering me. I can't just throw him out the window. Help!!!! What can I do? I know! I can play rock em sock em robots on him. Just kidding. I love my little buddy so much. We have fun and laugh at each other. Must tell you this. Braxton's phone fell on the floor and he wanted me to pick it up. Instead, because he was annoying me, I shoved it even farther away. Braxton then took my parent badge off and threw it on the floor next to his phone. I get the last laugh, though, as Braxton has gotten two text messages while his phone has been on the floor. Ha, ha! Back to the update. If the blood counts continue to go up, the creatinine levels stay the same or go lower and no more fevers it looks as though Brax can go home Thursday. A doctor just came in and said she was being optomistic that Brax could go home so she was asking about his meds at home. Brax has to do some homework on the computer so I am logging off. I forgot to tell you about the title. Braxton is feeling much better than yesterday. However, he get sick again this morning "blowing chunks" in the sink again. When the nurse came in and saw the sink, she said, "Dear Lordy!" We had a laugh about that. Brax didn't feel sick, it just came out of nowhere. Here in lies the story of blowing chunks.

Big Bad Brad the Dad

Twins Win

How 'bout dem Twins?!!!! This is big bad Brad the dad coming at you from Braxton's hospital room. We just finished bringing the Twins home for yet another victory. Boof Bonser pitched great and Jason Kubel hit a timely 2-run homer to put the Twins ahead for good. We also did get some homework done between pitches.

Braxton is feeling a little better this evening. He had some headaches and nasuea earlier in the day, but did eat some chicken nuggets, carrots and even a special ice cream treat that good old dad picked up in the cafeteria. Braxton was also excited about getting the home version of fake spit. He says it tastes some better that the spit they have at the hospital.

Brax says that he is getting tired so I better log off. Thanks for all your continued thoughts and prayers. It is very humbling to know how many people out there are praying for Braxton.

Thank You and God Bless,

Braxton Bradley and Bradley Bruce

Inch by Inch

Hello all,
Braxton is having some ups and downs today. His white cells are rising (600) and is hemoglobin is at 10! but mouthsores seem to be starting up. We were hoping to avoid those this time but...maybe not. He has more energy and did sleep better lastnight but is still not eating much. Those dreaded mouthsores are worse than low blood, in some ways.
He laid around, yesterday, not even motivating to turn on the tv until Emily (Family Life Specialist) purposefully walked in to the room and said "Braxton sit up. What are you going to do with today?! I'll give you some choices". Praise God for Emily! She got him sitting up and he built a model car of a Hummer. It kept him busy for awhile.
Brax is hangin out with Brad today, and working on homework. (Dreaded homework!). I am back at work today and carrying on with the rest of life. Zoe has piano lessons after school and Bayley has a full afternoon and evening with play crew and a speech fundraiser event at night. Zoe will get to come along with David and I on "date night". We'll have dinner and get her outfitted for soccer. Emma is overnight with Gramma Barb and Grampa Rich.
The weather is getting better, at least for today, and thank God for the gift of sleep (ZZZZZZZZZZZZ).
-posted by Beth

A.M. update

Is it morning already?! Not much sleep lastnight for either if us. Braxton had a new (new to us) Resident (Patrick) do his admission physical lastnight. Nice man and very thorough, but nothing happens fast in a hospital at night. Chest x-rays at 9:30 pm, accessing Braxton's port (twice- because it's deep and can be hard to find ) at 11ish, and numerous people coming in for labs of all sorts. The blood transfusion started about 2 a.m. and then fever checks every 2 hours. The good news is that after 1 unit of blood Braxton's hemoglobin is up to 9, his fever dropped to 99 and his wbc's are up at 400. Still too low to do a neutraphil count, but rising nevertheless. The low count will be a factor in when he gets to come home more than the temperature or specific infection they find. Braxton just seems to get extremely neutropenic after chemo so these x-tra hospital stays may just be a pattern for him.
In the meantime, David carries on with getting girls to school. Today Gramma Barb takes Emma to swim class after preschool, I will pick Zoe up after school and try to get a nap while David comes to the U to hang out for a few hours til Brad comes for the night shift. PHEW!!We're a mostly well oiled machine...When I told Zoe that I was taking Brax back to the hospital, I observed her making her mental list of who's going to do what until I return. She seems to need to prepare herself for change and there isn't always too much time. I think she misses her brother the most. Thanks to all of you who have provided meals and gift cards, we still have a supply to pull from!!!
We continue to pray for patience and to find humor in these long boring days for Braxton. Anybody know any jokes? :)

p.s.

Labs came back tonite and Braxton's white count is 200. Pretty low. Hemoglobin has dropped to 7 so, he's going to get a blood transfusion while he sleeps. Hopefully, he will have more energy and a lower heart rate in the morning. Please continue to pray for Braxton during this time.
-posted by Beth

Back To The U.

Hello friends,
Braxton has just been admitted back to the U of M after spiking a fever this evening. He's had a good run of 5 days at home since his last chemo treatment so we're stunned and sad that he has to come back so soon. He has been feeling well with no fevers and even went to church this morning. He, then, spent the afternoon hanging out with John L. but was feeling tired all afternoon. When he came home he went straight to the couch and slept for 2 hours before I woke him up to check his temp. Very disappointing to see it go to 102.1! So, here we are getting blood cultures drawn and anti-biotics starting for 48 hours. We'll see what happens from there. He had the Neulasta injection on friday so, hopefully, his white cells haven't dropped too low. Braxton is very tired so he'll be going to sleep after they get him all hooked up and finish with pokes.
David has the kids, and I am staying up to read, do some homework, and contemplate how quickly circumstances can change. It's difficult to catch up sometimes. What day is it? The hospital is too familiar a place.
P.s. Happy 4th birthday to nephew Nolan Sharkey (4/26)! The family had a party, in Illinois, today.
- posted by Beth

Quotable quotes

Braxton-" It's day 46 at home with no school. I'm slipping into insanity..."
"You're trying to kill me! Reading, writing, and gargling with artificial spit! AAAAHHH!"
"Why does everyone tell me that I have a nice shaped head? What does that mean?!"
"Stop rubbing my head! Go shave your own!"
"I'm in the mood for something chocolatey and delicious...let's go to Target!"
-posted by Beth (the archiver of silly things to remember)

rainy days

Hi again,
It's me, Braxton. I got out of the hospital on tuesday and have been with my dad til today. We went golfing 9 holes and just hung out. I had another spinal tap this morning but am not feeling sick this time. I'm home enjoying some time by myself before my sister's come home. Thanks to everyone who's writing and sending cards. I like to hear from everyone.
I'm just hangin out at home and happy to not be in the hospital.
posted by me!

monday news, late

Braxton had an up and down day yesterday. Nausea kicked in and he spent much of the day being sick or sleeping. :( He did have his spinal tap in the afternoon, which was very cool to watch! Dr. Burke made the procedure look so smooth and simple. He was deep in concentration feeling around for the right entry into Braxton's spinal colomn (SP?) with the long needle tap, while the nurse and anesthetist commented on Dr. Burke's tie and talked about favorite soft drinks. Hospitals can be quirky. We got back from the tap and braxton just kept getting sick. He was able to rest and take a 4 hour nap. I left when Brad arrived and prayed for Brax all the way home in the rain and thunder.
Braxton gets to come home today! Yeah!

Day 39: News From the Homefront

While Braxton spent time at the hospital getting loopy on Prednisone and beating his Mom at Set, the girls and I had a busy weekend at home.

It wasn't a "Circus Weekend," but we did get to see Paul & Gretchen on Saturday. Gretchen had a dance competition at the Convention Center in downtown Minneapolis this weekend. So Zoe, Emma, and I drove down to see one of her dances and were joined by my Mom and my sister Jennifer.

Gretchen was amazing. I cannot believe how much she has improved in a year! She has worked very very hard. Her team practices 2-3 times a week, often practicing for four hours or more on Saturdays. But the hard work has really paid off. Her team is quite good (and I am not one bit biased!).

Saturday afternoon, Zoe invited her friend Madeline over and we went to the YMCA to swim at their big pool in Andover. Unfortunately the pool closed fifteen minutes after we got there due to some mysterious substance found floating in the infant pool. (Just like Caddyshack)

So Madeline decided to stay overnight. We rented Bee Movie for Zoe and Madeline and we rented a Scooby Doo movie for Emma. We also stopped at DQ and got Blizzards for everybody.

Sunday was a glorious day in the Twin Cities. After an eternal wait for spring, we finally hit 70 degrees Sunday afternoon. I took Bayley, Zoe, and Emma to the dog park in Minneapolis (along with Sunny & Rufus, of course). The park was packed as Minnesotans came out of their houses to explore this strange phenomeneon of sun and warmth. Of the many beautiful dogs at the dog park, the girls enjoyed a huge Saint Bernard the most.

Sunday evening I took Emma over to the park to play with Grandma. Fun was had by all!

Now it's Monday and the house is empty. School for the girls and work for me. Booooo!!!!


+ posted by David

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII. It's me, Braxton. My mom said that I was high last night because of my drugs and that I am high right now. Last night I whooped my mom's butt at a card game called "Set". She said it was because I was high and she was tired. Today John and Bethany Lundeen came to visit. John was obsessed with rubbing my head because he said it felt cool. Later we went to the teen room and played a weird game that I forgot the name to. John would keep on rubbing my head for luck, I got kind of scared. After we finished the game, we started watching t.v. After a little while John and Bethany left and my mom and sister, Bayley, came. Now when I am done here I have to start my homework. I will talk to you all later. BYE!

late night, early morning

Braxton is still sleeping but the hospital noises have woken me up. He's learned to sleep through it all, even when they come in at 7 a.m. to take blood from his port line. The people who clean the room come in at 7:15, breakfast arrives by 7:30 and the daily doctor team comes in by 8. Sometimes the docs will try to see Braxton later in the morning because they know that he's a 12 hour sleeper. The moms and dads begin to parade down to the Family Lounge around 6 a.m. for coffee.There's not alot of sleep for parents...5B is pretty quiet, but 5C (neo-natal ICU) is full.
Braxton had a good day, yesterday. He was hooked up for most of the day and had 3 chemo treatments. Cytophospahamide is a 15 minute drip 2x a day on saturday through monday then Brax started his 6 hr. Doxorubicin infusion just saturday. There's no roaming the hospital while on chemotherapy so we stayed put and filled our time. Discovery Channel is Braxton's favorite and he's gotten hooked on a song they play during commercials alot ( "I love the earth" song- anyone else know it?) Braxton finished his science homework, played Gateway Games on the laptop, I worked on my homework, we played Battleship (I won ;) ), played PSP...more homwork...more games... more tv...then I decided to take a walk to DQ! One of us had to get out of the room!
Braxton was, finally, unhooked from chemo about 10:30 pm. We celebrated by going up to the cafeteria for more ice cream :). Braxton is also on Prednisone, this time, which makes him antsy, talkative and hungry. We got involved in a game of SET much too late for me, but Brax was wide awake! SET is a card game of visual acuity and challenges you to find sets of 3 patterns on cards. It's harder than it sounds, especially late at night when one player is past her bedtime and the other player is on drugs. The lights went off after midnight sometime. So...Braxton is still alseep and I'm heading down to the lounge for coffee ( I forgot to bring my tea).
It's supposed to be warm and brighter, here, today. We'll see where he roams, when he wakes up!
-"...blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him."- Jer. 17:

Back InThe Bighouse 2

We're back for round 3! Braxton's kidney's are not back to full strength (about 2/3 better) but Dr. Burke (and the team) have decided to keep him on the chemo schedule and just eliminate the methotrexate chemo drug for this round. It's a heavy hitter and, mostly, responsible for the mouth sores. Braxton's kidneys can't handle it this time but he will have it in May.
Braxton had a pretty good day on the floor today. Beth and Nate (from church) came to visit for a couple hours. They talked for a bit and played SET: The Family Game of Visual Perception. Brax liked it! Thanks for coming by! Braxton's favorite nurse aide, Mike, is with him today. He's a young goofy guy. Likes to talk sports and video games. We have a window bed again and no roomate again. The other bed in the room is a crib...hopefully we won't have a baby moving in for the weekend.
Braxton is playing with his new PSP, given to him by the Hope For Henry Foundation at the hospital. They provide gifts for all of the kids in long term care because "hospitals can be boring". Henry was a little boy who died from a blood desease when he was 7. The foundation sponsors many of the family events, here, on the peds floor.
Braxton is in good spirits and has a great rapport with the nurses. David is geared up for a weekend of single parenting. Thanks to friends, our refrigerator is stocked! And the Y pool is nearby for entertainment.
Thankyou, Sue, for gifts for Braxton and all of us too! The prayer shawl is beautiful and a great companion to Braxton's prayer quilt. Both made by women from rural Sout Dakota churches and recieved, ironically, on the same day! Stitched with prayers, they are very special.
have a good weekend everybody...
-posted by Beth

more later...

Thanks, Grandma Kinner & Church!

Braxton received a prayer quilt made by members of his Grandmother's church in South Dakota. Each tassel represents a prayer that has been offered for his healing.

Thank you, all!


+ posted by David

To BE!

Braxton will have chemotherapy tomorrow. His kidneys are not functioning at full strength. They are at, about, two thirds functioning. Dr. Burke is re-formatting the chemo regimen to be not as strong as the round that caused his WBC's to crash. The anti-biotics that he recieved for his last infections did not work well with his kidneys. So, Brax goes in tomorrow at 8 and we continue to pray for health.
more tomorrow.
-posted by Beth

Day 35: To Admit or Not to Admit

Braxton is at the hospital this morning for some tests prior to hs next admission for chemo. He was originally scheduled to be admitted today, but with the infections he had last week, and due to the antibiotics used to treat them, his kidney function has been low. His doctors want to make sure that his kidneys are functioning normally and that the infections are gone before beginning the next round of chemo.

So today is a day of "hurry up and wait." Braxton will be at the hospital most of the morning submitting to various tests. Then he will come home this afternoon and wait to hear the results. If all is well, Braxton will be admitted tomorrow for his next round of chemo. If something is not back to normal, then he will wait a few days before going back to the hospital.

In the mean time, thanks to all of you who have left comments - Braxton loves to read them! (And we do too)

Also, great big thanks to all of you who have brought food to our home. Life has been a little bit easier without having to worry about meals - especially since I would have been the one responsible for many of those meals! :-)


+ Posted by David

To Be or NOt To Be?

hey bloggers!

It's 9:20 and Braxton and I are hanging out at the Bruegger's by the U. hospital. We came, this morning, to have a kidney functioning test but EVERYTHING gets backed up even if you start at 7 a.m... The test calls for 4 blood draws every 40 minutes plus a visit to Dr. Burke (he's our cancer doc). We're having bagels and coke for breakfast :). Braxton burps and the carbination goes up his nose. "Whoaa!! I wasn't expecting that!" he says. "It just feels so weird!" We're sad because the DQ next door doesn't open til 11 (!) so we can't go get breakfast dessert. I guess Braxton's appetite is back! Tuesday night Brad grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for the kids and Brax ate 2 hamburgers, 2 hotdogs then went out to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert!! Those pounds he lost last week will, happily, pile back on.

Anyway, the kidney test will tells us if Brax can have chemo tomorrow or wait another week. We ran into Dr. Lund (our oncology fellow of the month) in the hospital basement where nuclear med is) and he said that changing a chemo schedule requires more paper work than buying a house. BUmmer! We'll know tonite by 6.

HELLO everybody! How's it going? I am doing fine. I am losing my smartiness because I have not been in school for two months, I am really bored. I am bored out of my mind. Please HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -from Braxton

ok, we're going back over the hopsital now. more later...

P.S.

Great hair cut Uncle Jeff! The crew looks good on you!!

Really Tuesday's Post

Counting down to thursday and filling the days up with fun, Braxton spent the afternoon with his dad at a driving range. Not sure if it was indoors or out but the wind may have helped drive that ball farther! Braxton is doing well right now. His counts are dropping some and his hemoglobin is low so he gets tired out quickly. Bedtime is usually before 10.
It's me Braxton, now. Thanks for writing on my blog Gramma Gay and Gramma Nancy! Mom says that neither of you has blogged before so, good job! :) I don't mind my bald head so much. It doesn't itch anymore since we shaved my hair off. Everyone tells me that it will grow back curly or a different color. We'll see...
signing off now.zzzzzzzzzzzz

Zoe in the Church Musical