Brody enjoying his "waterpark."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHYtZShekKc&feature=youtube_gdata

Brody has been tired this week but feeling pretty good.

The second week into Brody's 3 week long chemo rounds tend to be the time when Brody is the most tired and this has held true for this week again.  The first week of each round Brody is pretty sick to his tummy most of the time.  So week 2 is much better.  Tired feels much better than nausea.  Plus even on the days he gets tired easy he still certainly gets his bursts of energy for awhile on most days and always makes some time for fun no matter what.  Brody is just getting ready to head into week 3 of this round.  Week 3 is when he usually feels his best. He starts to get his energy back and he doesn't have the nausea.  Today was our first hot day of the year.  Upper 80's with "feels like" temperature of 93.  It is suppose to be hot all week.  Brody recently bought a "waterpark" with money and giftcards many friends and family have given him since his diagnosis.  Brody was diagnosed with cancer on March 9th.  We had a birthday party planned for him and his brother Jaden on March 12th which obviously was canceled.  Part of Brody and Jaden's birthday present this year was going to be a springbreak trip to Kalahari (an indoor waterpark hotel) with Mom, Dad and big brother Geordi while he was on Springbreak.  This of course didn't take place either.  And Brody is not allowed per doctor's orders to go to public pools or waterparks due to risk of infection.  He is allowed to use a pool and watertoys in his own backyard though with proper safety and cleanliness in place of course.  So Mom and Dad decided to get Brody a pop-up above ground pool for the summer and pitch in on the waterpark Brody desparately wanted.  We figured we'll have a "staycation" in our own backyard this year and partially make-up for some of the fun stuff Brody missed out on this year.  Ordinarily I think I would consider these purchases to be way too much spoiling of our children and would be more frugal with our money. But this is certainly not ordinary times and right now I think Brody definitely deserves some "spoiling".   So if Brody can't go to a public pool and Brody can't go to a waterpark and  since the genorosity of so many friends and family have helped make it possible for us to swing it financially to purchase a pool and inflatable "waterpark" for Brody, then I certainly think he should be so "spoiled."  And today on our first hot day of the year, we set-up the waterpark.  The boys had a blast and so did some of the nearby neighborhood kids.  Brody played on the waterpark for quite a long time today before he finally got too tired and went inside to watch Max and Ruby.  Our new pool is all set-up too and filled with water but it will probably be Wed before the water chemistry is all good and we'll be able to get in.  It's killing the boys to have to be so patient and wait til that pool is all ready.  They'll be so excited when our pool is declared officially open. 

Brody goes in tomorrow morning for his one drug chemo (vincristine) and to get his labs checked.  It should be a short day at the hospital tomorrow.  Hopefully he doesn't need another transfusion.  He doesn't seem as tired as last weekend but he does still get tired faster than usual right now. 

Brody is scheduled to meet with the radiation oncologist on Friday afternoon.  We will start discussing and developing the plan of treatment for his upcoming radiation therapy.  He will begin radiation therapy after his tumor is surgically removed.  He will likely have this surgery in about 4 weeks.  He will continue chemo as he undergoes radiation therapy for 6 weeks and then once the 6 weeks of radiation therapy are complete he will continue with another 15 weeks of chemo.  We will likely know a lot more about what the radiation therapy will entail on Friday.  We'll be sure to let everyone know more details then. 

Thanks again to everyone for all the support and keeping us in your prayers.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.  You have all done so much to help make this all something we can withstand.  I have learned to truely appreciate all the wonderful people in our lives and to reprioritize my life around what is really truely so much more important than where some of my time and energy had been in the past.  I hate that Brody has to endure so much.  It is so unfair.  But I guess life is just not fair and we have to make the most of what we have and be thankful for what we do have.  I know I feel closer to my friends and family now more than I ever have in my life.  I've been inspired by the goodness and love from friends, family, and even those who barely knew us before this "tragedy."  I've even started to pray again which is something I had not done in many years.  I have a renewed love and appreciation of just living and being with those I love.  A new joy of just living in the moment and enjoying my life rather than always striving for so many, many crazy goals I set for myself.  I've learned to "stop and smell the roses."  I wish that I could have woke up to what really is important in life before all this happened to Brody and that this was not all happening to him.   I hate that I don't have control over what is happening to him.  But I guess I have to learn to somehow have faith and trust that things will workout the way they are meant to be.  That's a toughie for me.  I'm a control freak.  I suppose I don' t really have a choice though.  We can seek out the best medical care available and provide the best supportive care we possibly can and pray that God heals Brody and helps him not suffer but in the end we don't get to decide how things will be. 

Brody up close with the ducks at the zoo

Brody really enjoyed the ducks at the zoo.  We had just finished seeing the elephants which were near the top of Brody's priority list to see and Brody started saying he was tired and wanted to come home.  So we started heading for the van and came upon 2 rather friendly ducks.  They kept following our wagon and other children's strollers too.  Those ducks knew the kids in those wagons and strollers just might break the rules and drop them a treat.  We didn't feed the zoo ducks but Brody sure did enjoy them being so close and decided he wanted to stay at the zoo a little longer to hang out with the ducks.

Brody riding the zoo carousel while waiting on the zoo train to return

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgsi_fpD5vE&feature=youtube_gdata

Brody and Jaden on the zoo train

Brody was so excited to get on board the train at the Toledo zoo.  He started running toward the train as soon as he saw it.  He loves trains and he loves giraffes which you get to see from the train.

Brody feeling energized after another blood transfusion

Brody went in for his second week of his third round of chemo on Monday.  He has labs done every week on Monday before they start his chemo each week too.  His hemoglobin was really low this week so Brody got another blood transfusion on Monday too.  Papaw and Grandma came up for a visit on Sunday.  The boys were all so happy to see them.  We all went to the park and out to eat after at Applebee's.  Brody was very tired on Sunday so I was not at all surprised he needed blood again on Monday.  He's got his energy back now though and has been eating pretty good this week too.  I plan to take Brody to the Toledo zoo today.  He really wants to ride the zoo train and see the giraffes.  I'm looking forward to a fun day with Brody after he wakes up. 

Tuesday

Brody is back in the hospital for his normal every third week 3 drug chemo. He is feeling pretty nauseous from it so once again a struggle to take his oral meds. For the chemical round they push fluids via IV and since he doesn't have his bag anymore, he is peeing it all out the normal way... he woke dad up every 2 hours last night having to go potty... no accidents.

They weighed him again yesterday and he had gained back about 1.5 pounds the past week... weighs 16.3 kilograms or about 35.9 pounds.... he probably won't eat much the next few days due to nausea.

He will likely be going home about 3 today... they push the IV fluid for 24 hours and he started the chemo a little late yesterday.

Jaden and Brody have been watching movies and playing Wii while here.

That's about it... excuse any typos.... I'm tryping from my phone again

Sent from my Droid Phone

Brody's Nephrostomy Tube is Out, Yeah!

Brody had an ultrasound today which showed no fluid around his kidney and you could see the urine from the left kidney flowing into the bladder.  He was then sent to interventional radiology where a IV contrast dye was injected into his nephrostomy tube as the radiologist watched to observe the flow through his kidney's to urterer and bladder.  The doctor's comment was, "it's wide open" and he instructed the nurse to go ahead and pull the tube.  Brody was very brave through the whole experience.  He needed no sedation or medication and his tube is now out.  Brody is happy to be home and free of carrying around his tube and bag of urine.  He has been wanting to jump in his "jumper" for quite some time now but he had not been able to because we were so afraid he would accidentally pull his tube loose if he did.  So he has been enjoying jumping in his jumper since he got home and playing with his buddy, Lucy. 

Tuesday Morning

Brody got his 1 drug chemo yesterday and did ok. He also had a CT scan done. The CT showed significantly more shrinkage of the tumor. They called us late yesterday and told us to go ahead and clamp off his Nephrostomy tube so his left kidney should be draining to his bladder now. On Thursday he is supposed to go in for an ultrasound of his kidney. As long as there is no "hydro nephrostomy" (excess liquid in the kidney), he will have the Nephrostomy tube removed. If there is, then they will have to replace it with a new tube-- this is done with him under anestesia and he may have to spend the night thursday.

He is scheduled to have his next chemo round monday (this is the 3 week one where he is admitted over night.

He did gain a little bit of weight over the last week-- almost 34.5 pounds.

He continues to feel better. Geordi came back from Trish's parents house on Saturday (we sent him down there with his bad cold last week)... Jaden is still down there.

That is really about it for now...

Brody said he wanted to come inside and watch Cars and "rest"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiRYmkTMSQQ&feature=youtube_gdata