Brace is the Man

Short Version: Brace is starting to get a fever and feel gross. Today he threw up twice so the crashing has already started. Actually he started on Wednesday to get sick and throw up again. Round five of chemo ended on Thursday. Wednesday, Jan 29th I called Dr. Carroll this morning and convinced him to give him 4 treatments of hydration through his port that might help him not puke this weekend and next week. Today we had his nuepogen shot and then Saturday-tomorrow), Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have hydration. As I said above, throwing up started today. Chemo treatment 5.2 was today. Unlike day 1 of chemo it only lasts 2 hours. Thank you to Del Stringham for driving him there and Steve Tanner for bringing him back. Driving helps Karen have time to exercise or run errands but most importantly it reminds Brace that we have an amazing group of people that love and support him. At about 6:30pm Jalane Hong came to bring meds that she picked up for Brace a...

Short Version:  Brace has been stable this last week.  The only difficulty is that he got a bad eye infection.  He stopped puking on Wednesday and on Saturday we were able to go to the Lake Arrowhead home with Kjarstin and James.  Today we started long chemo which lasts about 6-7 hours.  If the past is any indication,  he should be really sick on Saturday. and the long version.... Thursday Jan 23rd: Ammon Harps packed up the Glee car and went and worked at the cabin today.  Helping Martin set up cameras, doorbells, google home and build furniture.  Brace's eye hurt so much yesterday.  The good news is that I was able to get a same day appointment for today.  We went to Dr. Jacobs an opthamologist in Laguna Hills.  He is thinking it is not an infection but that his eye is extraordinarily dry.  He said the following things cause eye dryness, Lasix, radiation, chemotherapy, nose surgery and his eyes not closing completely....

MUCH IMPROVED: Last night was a little rough. If you want to sleep don't go to the hospital. When they do the whole sepsis protocol precautions they are changing antibiotics and continually taking blood and vitals. He has no bacteria and haven't found anything that concerns them on the two chest x-rays they took yesterday and today. He's feeling and looking much better today. His numbers are going up and Dr. Carroll thinks he may go home tomorrow as long as no cultures start to grow. His White Blood Cells have doubled which means we are going in the right direction. (Still quite low...) Dr. Carroll said the Neupogen shot they gave him a week ago is a long term deal. It should still be helping him. Unlike what I thought, they do not give two of them. You only get once per chemo treatment. Dr. Nguyen, the Palliative doctor, came with Jodi, his nurse practitioner. They adjusted some of his pain meds and ordered a nebulizer mask. (I just called and told th...

Short Version: Brace started coughing about 3 days ago and last night he had a fever of 100.5 and woke up every two hours.  So here we are in the hospital at Hoag Newport with a White Blood Cell count of .08.   It is supposed to be between 4 and 10 so that is lower than even when we were here at Christmas. and the long version.... Friday: I was making my smoothie and getting ready to exercise and Linda Crandall asked when would be a good time to bring over some celery soup.  I said now or after 10:45am and boom she was at my door. :) I've ate that soup lunch and dinner for two days.  It was excellent.  No milk and she used potatoes to thicken it.  I've got to get that recipe from her and my other neighbor Amanda Morrell.  My mom made a lot of good things but never really made celery soup.   Thank you Linda.  If I haven't told you I have great neighbors near Chimney Rock Circle. Brace and I watched some of the behind the scene...

Tuesday: We had a 10am appointment with the Palliative Doctor and his team.  (the Dr, the Nurse Practitioner, and the Social Worker)  Dr. Nguyen is Karen's favorite doctor.  He is kind, brilliant and thinks Karen is great.  He happens to be really good with Brace too.  :)   So Dr. Nguyen came to see Brace everyday in the hospital, so he knows Brace's humor.  The nurse and the social worker had only seen Brace when he couldn't talk so they were blown away with Brace's larger than life personality.  I was like, "Look he might be smiling and saying jokes here and there, but he is extremely miserable and weak.  He barely was able to stand up in the elevator and come to this appointment."  The woman just laughed and said, "But look at him, he looks so much better than last time.... " So what we got out of the appointment is Dr. Nguyen said he should take the medicine we got in the hospital and it would probably help with his nause...

Short Version: Brace felt awful and weak today.  He hasn't felt this bad since he was checked in the hospital.  He did get a neupogen shot on Saturday so we hope this will keep his white blood cell count high.  Radiation finished Friday and he got his graduation certificate.  (Is that a thing?) Friday: My friend took care of Brace on Friday so I could go up with Ammon Harps and Julie Balhorn to the Lake Arrowhead project.  First time in over two months.  We worked hard and long but got so much done.  Claudine Barnett is the Designer so it will look marvelous.  The home that we gutted has a beautiful view of the lake.  We bought it as a vacation rental right before his diagnosis.  After the remodel the home has seven queen size beds and one king size bed.  It will be perfect for family reunions or just big families.  Friday was the last day of chemo for round 4 and the LAST day of radiation forever! (Thank you Dan and Heath...

I'm sitting here in our adjustable bed (we are spoiled) with Brace listening to Jesus is Just Alright with Me while I finally update the blog.  That is a great song....  I also like The Spirit in the Sky, but Brace is not convinced it is as good as Just Alright.  He accidentally hit my song and we're listening to Spirit in the Sky. Short Version: Brace has chemo this week (3 days) and radiation ends tomorrow! Next week should be awful. Saturday Star Wars:  So Brace felt pretty stable Saturday.  When Corte Haggard took him to radiation last week he got him all jazzed about Star Wars.  So at around 3:30 we went to Foothill with James and Kjarstin to see Star Wars.  Brace was decked out with mask and gloves.  We enjoyed the movie but it wiped him out and so we headed home to try to go to bed early. FLOOD: James and Kjarstin had been working on some Glee projects in the music lab so they headed to Glee after the movie. (Tender me...

Brace is pretty stable. Friday was a bad day at radiation. The new mask was way too tight and he wasn't happy about it. We talked with Alice and the techs and hopefully they will have that resolved by Monday's appointment. On Friday Drew and Kathleen Himber came to visit us. (They live in Chicago these days) Brace felt pretty good today and he was able to eat a few bites of food. He seems to really likes drinking ice water right now and we hope that doesn't go away with chemo treatment starting on Tuesday. Brace... never complains never feels like a victim never asks why him Karen... feels positive in the morning feels overwhelmed at night What to Pray or Fast for? We are worried about chemo next week coupled with radiation. (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) This will be round four and every time he does chemo he gets sicker than the last time. They will add a nuepogen shot on Friday. Thank you's... Bob Demmon for driving on ...

Tuesday he slept almost all day. Wednesday he was sleepy, but not like yesterday. Not in a lot of pain just wiped out. He tried to eat my sweet and sour chicken but no go. He did drink lots of ice water (maybe two glasses) today so that is good. He gets his calories from his formula by tube and he is getting really fast at what is called gravity feeding. New Year's day no radiation! He watched the first episode of a beautiful show called the chosen. It is non-profit funded TV show that displays the 4 gospels. It is expensive and beautifully done. Enjoy. https://youtu.be/K1-FoFj8Jbo Thank you.... Beverlee Leung for always being willing to help. Thank you for coming to be my buddy today. I felt motivated today.... When he slept all day on Monday I was so lonely. :) Craig, Micah, and Kai for taking down the Christmas lights that they were kind enough to put up. And the Christmas tree. Kim Tobler for driving Brace to radiation yesterday. Corte Hag...