Scan #1...FREE AND CLEAR!!!

The words we have been praying to hear have been spoken!  Brady's scan is clean and he is at this time CANCER FREE!   WHEW...que to exhale!  I can't even stress enough how awesome this news is for our little family to receive!  Immediatly upon hearing this news I could feel the weight of all of this lift and I could breathe again.  Its completely incredible and with joyful tears and all I, we, are so humbly thankful! 

Brady did really well with his MRI and only was only a bit emtional because of the IV that was in his hand.  Once they took it out he was a much happier boy!  This feeling of relief is so overwhelming and I finally feel like I can give myself permission to relax, don't worry until the next time. In the last 24 hours or so I have found it easier to smile or just randomly be joyful and that is such a great feeling to havfe back.  We aren't letting anything take away from this time, Brady's time, for rejoicing and celebrating!  Our little boy has been given his life back, if not for now but for a long, long time to come! 

We will take him to see his oncologist tomorrow to discuss in greater detail this scan and all the what's next items.  I feel certain that Brady's next scan will be in 2 or 3 months and that we may actually get back to a more "normal" feeling in our home! 

This is such a wonderful blessing and a miraculous recovery for our little man.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for keeping him in your prayers.  God is listening and has heard all of us for Brady!   Everything that everyone has done; where it be financial assistance, bringing meals, sending care packages, gift cards, encouragement, prayers and love; has helped us, helped Brady to get to this point and we can never thank you enough for all that you've done!  You are all so amazing!  Thank you God for giving our son back to us!!

Busy week ahead

This week is going to be a busy one!  A hearing test on Monday, MRI scan Tuesday, therapy appts for Angelina Wednesday and oncology appt on Thursday.  Larry and I have been a bit on edge this weekend with Brady's the focus on Brady's upcoming MRI.  His little proton buddy, Mia, had her scan last week and it came out very clean - good news.  We are praying for the same results for Brady!!  He's been sweet, loving and sometimes a bit ADD at the same time.  Today we decided to dismantle the tent, break open a bubble wand dumping bubbles everywhere and smack little sister.  All this with sweetness and snuggles in between.  It leaves Larry and I somewhat confused on how to parent/discipline these instances.  If these things had been happening in the course of regular ordinary life, then for sure some sort of punishment would be needed, but they are only happening now, after the fact.  It can be completely frustrating, but we have found that being patient and taking these actions with a grain of salt is helpful.  It's funny that sometimes he has a reason or at least a response to the "why did you do that?" question rather than his usual "because I did" response.  I mean, at least the kid is putting some thought into some of his answers!  Like anyone's life, some days are better than others and right now remembering that patience is a virtue has made me want to be more virtuous. 

We both are just ready for Thursday to be here and to hear the words from oncology that his scan is clear is pretty much the driving force behind all actions!

Brady has such a light and vibrance about him, even with these subtle differences from then to now, and it amazes me that he came back to us completely.  It seems that all five us have even more of an appreciate for the others and I didn't think there was room for more...boy was I wrong!  Our kids seem to be so much closer.  They hug and kiss each other, snuggle together - yes even Angelina, she laughs more when the talk and trys to hug them when they are near.  Watching them together almost takes my breathe away.  It's funny how you feel like you have gotten used to everything since "that" day - all the emotion, the fear, the stress - and have meshed it into your everyday life or channeled it somewhere else, but there are those moments that creep up and catch you when you least expect it.  I have had my share and it never fails that even though I want to have a bit of a pity party, I find myself so thankful and grateful that God spared him, at least up to this point, so that we can have more wonderful moments of laughter, kisses, snuggles and huggies!  It just melts me when out of the blue Brady says "I love you Cirstyn/Angelina" and Cirstyn looks at him with "I wuv you too Bubba" or Angelina gives a big smile and a giggle.  Or when I'm sitting and he comes right up to me, grabs my face and gives me a big kiss and hug telling me how much he loves me or thank you for taking him some random place or giving him a snack or...(fill in the blank)!  Even though we 5 have been crammed together for the last almost 4 months our family bond has been strengthened a 1000 times over!  God is holding us close and holding us together through our extended families/friends support and I can't tell you how awesome and blessed we feel!

Re-adjusting to home...

We have been home now for about 3 weeks now and it still feels like we are adjusting to being home again!  Bradyn doesn't have a scan until the 26th so that's just a waiting game, while Angelina has resumed her therapy sessions.  Larry has gone back to work and is still adjusting to going back to midnights so that is affecting all of us as we try to figure out what schedule works best for all.  Bradyn is still exhibiting some aggressive behavior and I am still hopeful that it's more to do with the environmental change but time will tell on that as well.  I can tell when he does something, like pour a glass of milk on his chest, and he gets completely upset about it like he doesn't understand why he just did that he's not trying to "buy" his way out of a situation.  On the other hand, when he doesn't get his way on something then throws a ball, or some other random object that happens to be in his hand, he gets that scared "oh no!" look on his face like he knows he's about to get into trouble.  Some days require more patience than others but everyday we are both so thankful that he is still here with us!  It's hard getting back to that state of mind where you don't feel like you have to keep looking over your shoulder to see what else is coming.  Right now, for me personally, the diet/grocery changes are cumbersome.  In Houston we were literally blocks from really great markets to get the organic and natural items we needed and if we didn't have something it wasn't a drive across town.  It felt like life here was completely on hold so there was time to read all the labels that needed to be read and the upkeep on the apartment and laundry wasn't as big of a deal because of the size and proximity of it all.  Now that we are home, life has decided to resume and I guess I am feeling like I can't, we can't, quite keep up. 

Larry and I planned on taking Brady and Cirstyn to Turner Falls for an overnight trip this week, but the more we talked about being away from the house overnight and spending the night somewhere else the more Brady absolutly did not want to go.  It came down to making a decision and the last time we talked with him about it he melted into tears about being home to sleep in his baseball bed.  It really was heartbreaking to see him this upset about his need to sleep at home so, as you can imagine, we stayed home.  So, while Angelina spent the night with Nanny, we took B and C to Chuck E. Cheese's to play games and to the zoo.  We made sure to pick things that Angelina didn't really enjoy to make the most of her hanging with Nan and I mean to tell you she would have HATED the heat at the zoo!!   B and C had a blast at CEC running around playing games, winning tickets and picking prizes.  They equally enjoyed the zoo riding the train, seeing the animals and playing in the kid areas.  At least there were enough indoor exhibits to see so that we could cool off in between all of the outside exhibits.  It was good day!

Awesome days with Rice Owls and Reliant Stadium

Last week before Brady was finished with his proton therapy he got to go to Rice University and Reliant Stadium again.  These were two wonderful outings for him in his last week of treatment and I wanted to make sure to document them here!

Monday, June 20 - Being "port access day" the morning did NOT go well.  Brady was really freaked out by the whole thing but he did calm down enough to push all the buttons and plunge the medicine into his line.  He looked at me several times with that scared "what's happening to me" look he has given so often, but today it was more intense, maybe magnified by the anxiety over the port access.  Anyway, he fought the medicine for a longer period of time than he usually has so I guess he had built up a tolerance to it.  All of this set the emotional stage for the day.  Today was special because he had been invited to visit Rice Stadium again and to meet some of the players and the head coach.  He was so excited to be going he talked about it to several folks at the PTC and of course to all of us.  Once we arrived in the building we met Deborah Reedy, the secretary who put this all together, and 6 of the Rice Owls players.  Mrs. Reedy was so very sweet hugging all of us and the players were all very personable and they presented Brady with a gift bag.  It was filled with a football, a Rice University mini helmet and a Rice ball cap - so unexpected but totally cool!  Brady was so excited and he made sure to show both of his sisters all the stuff.  Then he made sure they all knew that Angelina and Cirstyn were his sisters, introducing them a few times over!  They led us all out to see the weight room where he was greeted by another coach who gave him another Rice mini helmet except that this helmet's "R" was pink in support of breast cancer.  Brady didn't care that it was pink, he thought it was so cool and thanked this gentleman many times.  Soon we were all on the field and Brady told these players he was going to make a touchdown with his football and off he went zooming down to the other end of the field.  They followed and met him in the end zone cheering him on, lifting him up to touch the goal post and all.  Down and back a couple of times, these guys were getting worn out!  They wanted to know about Brady and his story.  They seemed to be so genuinly interesetd in him, but then again this kid is a one-of-a-kind!  He was a football star on university soil and on top of the world!  It was getting pretty warm so they led us into their club house to check out their locker room.  Brady sure did think it was cool and big!  This is where we got a group photo of him with the players surrounding him.  After all this we headed back through the main football building and headed to the car.  We thanked them for taking time from their lives to run with Brady on the field.  It was priceless!  When most of the kids were in their seats I finished up with the car and Larry headed back up to the secretary's desk to thank her for all of this and how special it was for Brady.  She was so gracious, telling him how beautiful our family was and meeting him and all of us was something she would never forget.  She even elaborated that the players had commented about how infectious Brady's laughter was and how he really brought light to the field and warmed their hearts.  I was shocked considering they are all in their early 20's living the college life!  When he came back he brought along the head coach, David Bailiff, out to meet everyone.  I had been overcome with emotion already while i was waiting for Larry in the car so I slipped on my sun glasses and got out of the car to shake his hand.  He could tell I was emotional about the whole thing and asked if he could give me a hug.  He was such a huge man, tall and broad, like a bear but he was very warm and encouraging to us.  I know this is an experience that Brady will never forget, but as his parents we will never forget what they did for him and what that has meant to us.  All I could think of while waiting for Larry was that Brady's doctors have told us he won't ever be able to play contact sports and that while he may not play football with a uniform on he has now had the incredible opportunity to score touchdowns on a university field!  This is an item that many grown men have on their bucket lists and probably won't ever get to check it off while our 4 year old son can say "been there, done that"!  I was just really taken back by all of their hospitality and warm spirits!

Wednesday, June 22 - We were invited for a private tour to Reliant Stadium by Herb Kelly, the tour director at Reliant.  This all started from Larry contacting him to find out if the field would be down so we could go for a general tour because Brady said he wanted to run on the Houston Texans field since we came to Houston.  The first week we were there we took a tour but he field wasn't down and he had asked about it almost every week since then.  SO, dear old Dad made the call and Mr. Kelly asked that if we could come on this date we could do a private tour and only see the things we wanted to rather than the whole thing.  Anyway, there was a soccer tournament to be held there the next day so the field wasn't striped for football but rather, "futbol"!  When we arrived we paid for our tour at the ticket boothe and then inside we were greeted by Mr. Kelly.  He presented Brady with a gift bag full of neat Texans things.  One of which was an autographed photo of Andre Johnson sent to Mr. Kelly epecially for Brady!  Man that boy was excited thanking him over and over again!  When we got out to the field there were all sorts of people putting things together preparing for this soccer tourney and Cirstyn just started to walk right out onto the grass like no big deal!  She almost stepped right onto a wet painted stripe.  Brady wasn't going to get to run on the field but Mr. Kelly spoke with the greens keeper and they told him to run wherever he would like!  We got some cute pictures and video of him out there with his Daddy as it was a special moment for both of them.  When they came back to the warningn track where the girls and I were I could tell his eyes were red like he had tears in them.  Sweet moments!  During our tour there were many Reliant staff who already knew of Brady's coming and were calling Mr. Kelly to find out where we were to meet him.  Two gentlemen from their marketing dept brought Brady a sideline cap for the upcoming season and a sweet card!  He thanked them a bunch for the hat and then proceeded their card out loud.  They were shocked that he could read and that a kid was taking time to read the card!  It was so funny!  We got lots of neat pictures of our time and of Brady.  Again, it was another emotional time for this mommy seeing her son being embraced by others, strangers, who seemed to be so touched by his sweetness and his light!  I am still so amazed at what all these folks have done for Brady, things they will never realize, and how we will never forget them for it! 

Again, I am reminded of how blessed we are with our families, friends and other extensions and am humbled by all of your support for our family during all this time.  It makes it a little easier to stay as positive as possible and to say to ourselves that he will be part of that 50-55% cured of this type of horrible brain cancer!  Sometimes it is hard to remember, or is it just easy to forget, that we should live each day to the fullest because who knows when it will be our last and we are striving to do that with our three little angels!

Right now we are in the van headed home! Brady's last proton therapy was this morning and he was so excited that his whole family went with him. It was an early morning but so worth it for the girls to be with him on his last day. He was so proud telling the few people there his sisters were with him. Daddy to him back to the machine room where they administer treatment and he did relatively well today. He has had an issue with the sedation part this week as he built up a tolerance to it and he has fought longer. The girls behaved beautifully though so it was relatively stress free while waiting for big boy. We added a page about Brady along with his picture to thr Pediatric Proton Stories book and his picture was one of him with his Rice University things. He looks so cute with his infectious smile! Once he was done I went back to speak with the doc one last time and she was really pleased with his overall health so that was a good thing to hear heading out. Before we left he rang the gong for peace and tranquility and the techs let him choose some really cool toys for himself and the girls. We got a couple of good pics and I'll post later tonight. Brady showed his cards to Linda, a very sweet woman who enjoyed our loud kids, and we said goodby to Jaxon and his mom on our way out as well.
 
When we were almost to I-45 Herb from Reliant called about the picture we left for him. He said it was the best gift he had ever received like this and he is going to hang it proudly on his wall. That was so great to hear since Larry and Brady didn't get to give it to him personally. He also asked when we were leaving because Andre Johnson was in town and they would be contacting us. Herb wasn't sure if that meant to set up a meeting or just a phone call. SO we decided to eat breakfast in Houston and see. Well after waiting around for a few hours home sounded a lot better so on the road we went! We are travelling like nomads with our van packed to the gills! Its quite comical! We are about 50 miles out from Dallas so this road trip is almost over!

We headed home to Fort Worth for the weekend and had a mostly relaxing time.  The kids were very excited to be home playing in their playroom, backyard and running up and down the stairs.  I think it took them 10 minutes to make a complete mess of the house!  We all enjoyed just being at home for a 1.5 days. 

Brady has had a great start again to the week and now we are in week 5.  He has adjusted so well to having his port accessed and then with the daily line access.  The techs just love him because he is so funny and always talking about football and Andre Johnson.  Today he saw Dr. Grosshans, the proton doc, for his weekly checkup.  Dr. Grosshans was very pleased with how well Brady is doing, how great he looks and how much energy he seems to have.  Brady has continued to gain a little bit of weight (ounces) each week rather than losing weight from a low appetite.  His blood work is excellent as his hemoglobin levels are up and other levels are in a good place.  Also, his scalp is only a bit pink and he doesn't think that Brady will have any blistering or other physical side effects.  There was a doctor visiting from St. Jude whom Dr. Grosshans had look at Brady's case and that doc was quite pleased with Brady's case.  All of this is more reassuring for us!

As of today he has 8 more treatments left and he will be finished with his last treatment next Friday, 6/24.  Dr. Grosshans said that he usually has patients come back for a checkup a month or so after proton therapy.  He is going to have Brady back in 6 months because he has complete confidence that Dr. Murray, pediatric neuro-oncologist at CCMC, to follow up with Brady initially because of his experience and reputation.  We thought that was so cool!!  It reaffirms that Brady is in good hands!!

Great news today and hopefully to continue!!

This past weekend was kind of quiet not doing much of anything.  Sunday we did decided to get into the car and head down to the Kemah Boardwalk for a couple of hours.  Brady and Cirstyn really enjoyed the carousel while Angelina and Daddy took pictures.  Then we all headed down to the train for a ride around the boardwalk.  They all thought that was really cool!  They liked looking out off the pier into the water, watching the boats go by and counting the seagulls.  "Just like Nemo, Mommy" as Cirstyn would say!  We shared a slushy and snowcone and played boardwalk games.  It was hot but we all had a good time!

Today Brady's almost half way through the 4th week of treatment and it's been a good one so far.  Monday's are port-access day so that means we apply the "numbing" cream to the skin over Brady's port so he doesn't have to feel the poke of the access line going in.  Well this week come heck or high water he WAS NOT having the cream!  I don't know if it stings or the sensation of his skin numbing up is uncomfortable but he had a complete fit begging for "no cream!"  SO, with that we headed to the proton center with no cream.  The nurse tried one last time to talk him into it but with no avail.  I have to say, this kid must have his Dad's pain tolerance because he didn't even cry when they stuck the line right into his skin!  He wimpered a little but then he pushed all the buttons on the machine and the medicine into the line to send him off to sleep.  Such a trooper!  Today was the same with accessing his line, no fussing just off to sleep.  Dr. Grosshans saw him today for his weekly visit and was pleased with how he is doing.  He said the patches of hair gone would probably get bigger but he didn't think Brady's scalp would blister from the treatment like some kids do.  His scalp is only a little pink right now so hopefully it doesn't get anymore than that.  Good news from the doc!

All this time we have been here I have forgotten that we are very close to an Ikea store!  So, today we decided to go and browse so we all could get some exercise without completely roasting in the heat.  I love that store!  The kids were shopping for their rooms picking out things we need to take home with us.  I guess we may be visiting the Ikea in Frisco later in the year for those things!  They did find a couple of neat toys though that we couldn't live without. 

On a different note, Brady has been a bit of a traitor!  He's routing for the Miami Heat to win the NBA championship over the Mavs because they have "Little" bron James.  Yes, LITTLE, no Lebron!  It's so cute and he was excited to find out yesterday morning that the Mavs lost on Sunday night, although tomorrow morning he's going to be sadly disappointed! 

We received a couple of fun surprises in the mail this weekend and I'm reminded of how blessed we are. Thank you for all the cards, care packages, gift cards, encouragment and love! You have made being away from home easier and the stress of all of this much more manageable! ♥ ♥ ♥

I am waiting for Brady's treatment to finish this morning so I thought I'd post really quickly. His neuro-psych evaluation went well yesterday and the dr told Larry that Brady paid attention longer than she expected for a 4 yr old! He noticed some hairs on the table and asked the doc what those were to which she responded "nothing you need to worry about". Well we are in week 3 of proton therapy and Mr. Brady's hairs are coming out little by little. There are hairs lining the inside of his hat so I'm glad we got his hair cut shorter! We are going to start talking about that today and how mommy's hair is always coming out so he won't feelawkward about it.


Angelina had a little drama this weekend that had to be taken care of. She had a partial seizure while playing in the floor. Nana tried to "wake" her up because she thought Angelina was sleeping but when she didn't respond Larry tried to get her to move her eyes or any response and she didn't for about 10 or 15 seconds. So I talked with our favorite neuro-nurse Sheila yesterday and it was decided to increase her seizure medicine since she has gotten bigger from the last increase. I know this is part of the whole seizure-disorder process but there's a part of me that is trying really hard not to worry about this right now and hold it off until we get home. Brady's almost done so that's all for now!

From our CaringBridge site:  www.caringbridge.org/visit/bradynscancerrecovery

Last week went pretty well for everyone here. Brady's treatments went well and his local pediatric neuro-oncologist was happy to see him looking so well. His hemiglobin count was good, it has to be above 10 and his was like a 10.7, and no problems with the proton center or other appointments. Almost a don't-hold-your-breath kind of smoothe but we'll take it!


Something Brady has noticed or made an association with over the last week happens to be with none other than Ms. Angelina. Get this, per Mr. Brady they BOTH have ports! I pretend with him about accessing his port so he isn't scared to do it at the PTC. Now he wants to help "access" Angelina's port when it's time for her to eat and help push the medicine in like he does at the PTC. It's so adorable and endearing to see he feels like he's not different or alone, like she really knows how he feels. He has been getting down in the floor much more often and playing with her, tickling her and singing to her, making her laugh, giving her big hugs and kisses. Very sweet! Even Cirstyn is getting in on the love from big brother. As you know she's kind of a diva so sometimes when he tries to give her a big hug, it turns into a big fight, but most of the time she just hugs and kisses him right back! I don't know if he's just understanding that his family is all here just for him and he's really getting that or what. Whatever it is its the sweetest thing ever! He's such an awesome big brother to his sisters and they all love each other so!

My sister came up on Wednesday so Larry and I had a chance to have dinner together - away from the apartment...sans children! It was quick but nice! She left Thursday morning, heading off for a 10 day work trip. We will see her again when she comes back to the States.

This weekend was pretty good for everyone here! Larry's parents came down to spend some time with all of us and I think they had a really good time as well. We went to the Houston Aquarium but there were so many people there we just had lunch and enjoyed the restaurant aquariums. They are huge with large fish, sharks and eels. It was an enjoyable time for all of us - once the table of like 15 kids beside us vacated! The noise level decreased by more than a few decibles so we could actually hear each other talk without shouting across the table! We all went to that cute little park close to here and played on the slide and swings and all the other park toys they have there. Larry and I even got a date night to celebrate our 16th anniversary which was really nice to get away for a couple of hours. We all enjoyed them coming down and hanging out for the long holiday weekend!

This week has started well so far with proton therapy for Brady. The first day of the week is "port access" day. He did not want to do this today, but we put on his brave face and did it anyway. This boy just continues to amaze me with his bravery and unrelenting determination! We are asking so much of him having to take on this kind of treatment and all that goes with it. He has eaten more of the foods he didn't like before all this or that he just wouldn't try because it looked bad and he does it because he believe us when we tell him the good-for-him-food is helping his body stay strong and helping him get well.  He is the bravest boy I know and my favorite boy in the world!

Bradyn's proton treatments went really well this week. Yesterday he wasn't scheduled until 12:30 pm and a CT scan which meant he couldn't have anything to eat after 4:30 am and nothing to drink after 8:30 am. Hard to explain to a 4 year old he can't eat until after all this is done with. He hung tough though and even though the PTC was behind and he didn't start until 1 pm he made it though! Dad said when Brady woke up the first thing he asked for was food! He was more exhausted yesterday than the previous two days and it took him longer to get over the anesthesia longer this time. It seemed like he really didn't get completely over it until this morning. He was a bit wobbly and slurred right up to going to bed. We thought he would stay up a little longer but when 7pm hit it was hard for him to keep his eyes open any longer and he drifted off to dreamland on the couch! The girls were pretty tired as well so as usual Angelina was easy to get into bed, but not her sister.

I'm just going to say this now and get it out there - for the record I don't think it's fair that Cirstyn has decided to get the 2's "I don't want to go to sleep for anything" going on! She started this a little before we left for Houston but it didn't seem so bad because we could contain her to her room and she would go to sleep on her own eventually, but here - NO WAY! She doesn't have a room, or a regular bed for that matter, and the poor dear is driving her mommy and daddy to their wits end. There's got to be a way, something we can rig up, to help this little drama queen without completely going crazy! ;)

Since Brady has the weekend off and needs to recoup a bit we decided we'd have an easy weekend, nothing big. He has been asking and asking to go outside and play in the grass - there's no grassy area right here with us - so off to this cute little park we went! They all had a good time and they so enjoyed being outside in the fresh air! There were a handful of kids playing and Brady and Cirstyn really like playing with someone else other than mom and dad. The girls enjoyed the swings for quite a while and Brady was sure to wear his hat in the sun to protect his ouchie area. It was good for all of us to be outdoors getting some fresh air and stretching our legs. We met a mom there who also happens to be an OT and her husband is an oncologist at MDA. She knew of Dr. Murray, Brady's neuro-oncologist, and was really impressed that he was Brady's doc. She had all kinds of great things to say about him. She emailed me a local mom's group so that maybe I could take the girls to some outings while Brady has his treatments and even Brady if he wasn't having anything done. She helps another cancer group set up housing and other things like that, so it was really cool that by accident we all met.

Right now everyone in the house, besides moi, is asleep so I'm having a little quiet time to myself that I can actually enjoy rather than sleeping! I hope everyone is having a good weekend and the weather is good in Fort Worth. It's a really nice day today, probably around 70 and feels so good to have the windows open. We miss you all! All of our prayers are being heard so thank you for praying for our family! <3