I was nervous the way round two started that we would be admitted early again, but thankfully it went smoothly. His bone marrow biopsy came back clear and we were admitted on time. This round would be 5 days long. But with each round the doses would go up. We were also warned that this is when things start to get harder on the patient.
This third round was coming close to being as horrible as the first round. About day 2 of chemo Brett would say "ow" when they flushed his line. This was a concern so they ordered a dye check to make sure the line was working properly. It was just me there because Kameron was in Thatcher for work and to be with Jeter. Unfortunately when they went to do the dye the line burst. This meant we had to do a broviak replacement surgery. It's not a removal but it is a surgery that includes anesthesia. It was a total of 5 hours. Miracle number 1 there was no infection caused by all of this. Number 2 they were able to do the surgery right away and was really best case scenario (no extra procedures had to happen and he really hadn't eaten that day so that risk low) Number 3 the chemo was due around 5 pm and amazingly enough it only postponed all of the about 15 minutes. I'm not sure what would have happened but at this point in the journey any sort of delay was not good.
It was a scary emergency but was handled well and went as smoothly as it could have.
On a happier note it was the month of the Super Hero Mayhem Fundraiser in Thatcher! I went and took Jeter with me and Kameron stayed with Brett. When I walked up I had to take a couple minutes to gather myself. You never think you will be at the receiving end of something like that. You are so grateful but also the reality of it is overwhelming to say the least. It was good to see friends and family since we were living in Phoenix.
Jeter was Very into Batman so seeing him in person was a dream come true!
Captain America and Thor! Super man and The Hulk! It was such a change of emotions in a good way and we just can't express how grateful we are for everything this event provided for our family.
Bow and Arrow practice, a tire pull! I think it took us a good hour to get the kids through the obstacle course! And they did the whole thing, I think Killian even ran an extra lap around the track.
Spider mans web!
Meanwhile back in Phoenix Brett was eating decently. His weight was a concern and we did not even go into the option of a feeding tube. He never lost a significant amount of weight but defiantly didn't gain any weight. We also had a nurse practitioner and a couple of doctors during this round we were not very fond of.
It's very important to be positive in these kind of situations and not anticipate anything bad happening. So this was kind of a trial for us, but we just kept the attitude of Brett's main doctor which was that Brett was cruising and doing exactly what they wanted him to do in terms of recovery and all of biopsies. She was always very happy with Brett's situation. He was still giving the nurses a run for their money during vitals, but he also seemed to get used to the routine.
His rash came back with the chemo and this time it must have itched. He would wake up with scratches on the back of his head and it almost made a shadow on his face. The cyterabien went up in dosage so it must have caused more rash to show up and cause the itching.
Monsoon season rolled in. You never know what room you get when you get re-admitted. We actually got put in our first room. So we got to enjoy the same view for another month.
This was Brett's 3 month mark. This little boy had been through so much already.
We received some awesome donations including a race car track
We enjoyed getting out of room until Brett's numbers would go too low we couldn't get out. He would have a rough couple of days but amazingly would just accept people came in and out except him.
Brett stopped eating most of what we could give him. Since he was on a low microbial diet to protect him from bacterial infections his selection on the cafeteria list was limited and he was sick of everything. We somehow kept his weight up with fruit snacks and Hershey candy cars. Oh and the chocolate milk. We had to limit that though because of diaper issues, but they would unhook him at times which meant no fluids would be running so we needed to keep him hydrated.
Another holiday spent in the hospital The 4th of July. Our family loves Bashas cupcakes so we had those and got to see a few fire works. The ball park had some but they were too late.
The numbers began to drop again. Lots of being tired and trying to stay healthy and keep that weight up. And not go crazy in the hospital room.
Thankfully there is a foundation set up and they gave all these awesome gifts to Brett. We felt we were cruising along.
And then the fever hit. I was sitting with him and noticed he really hadn't been feeling good. I could feel him getting a little warm and a couple rounds of vitals I could tell it was going up. I checked it a couple of times myself. We had never gone through this yet so when I saw how serious they take it I was glad this was a first. Antibiotics get started. The hard stuff. And you have to be on them for 10 days. Since we were already in recovery I was afraid we would have to stay in the hospital even if his numbers were at 250. I'm not sure what causes it but while the nurses were out getting things squared away I noticed he was, different. Wouldn't look me in the eye. Kind of loose I guess. So I quickly called them in and they had to do a blood volume kind of IV. They didn't tell me but that kind of response to fever can lead to seizures and potentially the ICU. This was one of my scariest moments. It's difficult to even think about. But we were blessed and Brett only had a fever through the night and then it broke. The blood cultures showed he just had a bacterial infection. It was nothing we could have prevented. I feel Brett had a harder time with the antibiotics then the actual chemotherapy.
He did start to feel better especially once he recovered from the fever. The antibiotics were working we just had to suffer through them. We got to see Sam, Kameron's brother, who had just returned home from his mission in Texas. It was hard missing his homecoming. We were looking forward to going up to Utah. Just one of those things though, but we were happy to see him non the less!
Daddy always made things fun :) even if we had played with play dough more then we ever wanted to.
Brett somehow found a place on me to snuggle. Sweet boy.
So this picture is very interesting to me. Be it my crazy hospital mind that thinks this or my hope, but if you notice on the right side of Brett's head it seems to be missing. And the shiny spot on his arm on the same side all the way at the bottom. I'm sure of it more than anything that angles were with him in that room. For a mother it was and is the most comforting thing knowing he was never left without comfort. We will always be watched over. This is where my testimony of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is now unshakable. I can never deny this and want my children and their children to forever know that the Lord loves them no matter what and will be with us especially as we let him into our lives. He loves us more than we know and is just waiting to be the guiding light in our lives.
In spite of it all Brett's number did increase. On July 15th his ANC was 182 the next day it was 248. Our biggest jump yet. Oh the tender mercies. Because of the antibiotics we had to wait for the next morning. Only one extra night. Only One! That, is a miracle.
We were discharged on July 17th. They gave him a dose of the vancomyosin (the harder of the antibiotics) Not really sure why, I tried to get a strait answer on that I'm thinking a miscommunication between doctors and nurses, not really sure and it doesn't sit well with me. But we were discharged and just had to help Brett recover for a couple days at home. We really wanted to help his weight go up it was harder this time. The chemo can also affect the taste buds.
I went to Thatcher for my baby shower (Jeter was up there so I also brought him back to Phoenix with me) Brett and Kameron had a fun time at Bass Pro in the mean time.
Together again!
It was so much fun we had to go back for seconds!
We also splurged and went to the Phoenix Children's Museum. So fun! Hearing Brett's laughs through the noodle forest were The most beautiful sounds to my ears.
We all had so much fun! Sophie and Quinn came too!
Oh the dreaded clinic and the vitals. This Biopsy and lumbar puncture went well. Another Clear Biopsy! Counting our Blessings!
The next round would be an interesting one. I was due to have baby girl and Brett would be in the hospital getting Chemo. We had to get everything ready because we were getting induced and it was hard when one of us had to be with Brett all the time and I couldn't lift and put the apartment in such a way to be a family room, nursery, bedroom, boys bedroom kitchen and play room. It was a busy break from the hospital but fun! Once again experiencing different emotions, like happy-excited.
And we were almost done! We felt we had the routine down somewhat. Brett was still fighting dressing changes, sigh. But we were ready to be done.
