A lemon into lemonade...
Today I had a to-do list.
Wash my windows
Clean and organize the garage for winter
Build Brady’s new bed
Take Brady to meet Aubrey and Blake at their school for the book fair
Today was supposed to be a fun and productive day.
But we had a major wrench thrown in.
At 9:35am Brady said, “ummm mom, my line is leaking…”
Ugh. Again!??
By 9:44am we had his line clamped, pump shut off, and the oncology team was prepping for us to arrive. A little after 10 we were out the door to dash back to NCH.
They quickly figured out that somehow his line had failed.
This marks failure number three.
This one meant another de-access and re-access. They put the numbing cream on and waited, but his port is just so sore right now. They couldn’t get the blood return with the 1” needle they always use. It was painful to watch. Brady isn’t a crier and has a super high pain tolerance, so when he cries, you take note.
Today he cried. Hard.
While they tried and tried to get a blood return it was obvious it wasn’t going to happen. So they de-accessed, again. They decided to try the next size up, a 1 1/2” needle. I can only imagine what that extra 1/2” feels like inside your chest.
Try two. They re-accessed with still no blood return.
They ran another flush.
Still no blood return.
At this point we were up against the clock. We had 20 minutes to get the blina started before they would have to readmit him and start the blina all over.
They made a judgement call based on their experience. With 15 minutes left in the window they started the blina with no blood return. It is a gamble, but one they felt confident in.
It was stressful, but we endured.
It was a really hard day for Brady. It was the most pain he has experienced since getting his port placed, but we are so thankful for the excellent team of nurses that took care of him today.
Now we pray. We pray he stays fever free and infection free. We pray his port and line are not compromised and all are functioning as they should. We are thankful for the medical staff that have to make calls based on their experience and pray continued wisdom and discernment over them for not just Brady, but all of their patients, in situations just like this. And we are grateful that while eventful and far more painful than we would have hoped, five more Battle Pups were given out while we were there.
So maybe today didn’t go as we were hoping, but maybe, just maybe, God had one of those five warriors who got their pup from Brady in mind.
In fact, we were leaving the parking garage and Brady saw a little girl waiting with her parents at the ticket tower.
“Mom. I want to give one to her,” he said looking out the window kind of sad and almost as if knowing I wouldn’t want to stop after the day we had had.
But I did.
“Her?” I questioned as we drove by.
“Yeah, her.”
I pulled the van over and backed up.
We have had lots of conversations about how God will put something on our heart and it is our job to be obedient to it. It is His way of working through us to reach his people.
He jumped out of the van as I opened the tailgate.
“I want to give her a rusty retriever,” he said.
“Awww buddy, we don’t have any left,” I replied.
“I know we do. She needs that one.”
He looked through the extra pups he had and found it.
He smiled. He turned and jogged over with that extra long needle in his chest and handed that sweet girl her new Battle Pup.
Maybe today had to happen so that girl got her pup. Or maybe today was a trial to test our endurance, attitude, and obedience.
Either way, I’m so thankful for opportunities like this to be able to help Brady, and all of our kids, to listen for the nudges when God asks us to do things and to be obedient to that calling.
And guess what? We still made it to the book fair and we even had time to stop for ice cream
“It is more blessed to give, than to receive.”
#waytobattlebrady#battlelikebrady#leukemiawarrior#seekingremission#headingfortransplant#armedwithstrength#battlepups#roadto2000