Brandon’s kidney doctor wants to see him on Monday morning for another set of labs to check his numbers, especially the potassium level. If everything looks good, he is scheduled to have the catheter removed on Monday. Let’s all say a prayer that happens!
Author Archives: Brandon Whetsel
June 29 Update
Great news!! Brandon’s kidney values went in the right direction today! The only bump in the road was the potassium value, which was at the high end of the range. We think he can correct this through diet or maybe even one more dialysis session. The good news is that his kidneys are functioning, so we hope he gets the catheter out by Monday. He still has a way to go to get back to “normal” values, but at least he’s started down the path. Thank you SO much for all of your prayers and positive vibes! Seriously, your support strengthens Brandon (and the whole family) more than you know.
June 28 – Post from Brandon
Hello! I want to tell all of you I appreciate all the support. Please keep the prayers coming. I am feeling better, but not even close to my old self yet. Let’s get this catheter out so I can start “recovering” and stop “treating” these nagging speed bumps in my life. Love all of you. I hope everyone has a fantastic day.
June 27 Update
Today was Brandon’s appointment with the medical oncologist who will oversee his post-surgery care. She was aware of the tumor board’s recommendation for no chemo, but she is a little nervous about doing nothing and just waiting for the follow-up scans every three months. She said the chemo they would normally use after his surgery was not an option because it would be too hard on his kidneys, but she still wants to find out if there’s another option to do some type of treatment in addition to the follow-up scans. She is going to do more research to find out if anyone has experience treating this condition post-surgery in someone who can’t tolerate the chemo they would normally use. She is thinking perhaps a visit to MD Anderson or Sloane Kettering would still be advisable. There’s no current clinical trial that would address Brandon’s specific situation, but there may be doctors who have more experience with this. Brandon understands her point, and he agrees that it’s best to explore all avenues, rather than wish you had later.
He spent most of the day playing with Avery and taking care of things around the house. He still gets fatigued pretty easily, so he has to take time out to rest/nap.
As always, still praying for the kidneys to work themselves out. We have one more day before the next lab work.
June 26 Update
We didn’t get the news we were hoping for today from the kidney doctor. Brandon’s kidney numbers were up just a tad bit from what they were Wednesday during his last dialysis session. It wasn’t up much, and they are still down considerably from the highest point in the hospital. Now Brandon has to wait until Thursday without having dialysis and have the lab work done again. Again, we hope the numbers go down because that will mean he can have the catheter removed. The encouraging news is they didn’t increase the last few days without dialysis the way they were increasing while he was in the hospital, so there has to be some improvement with his kidneys.
We have to put all of our prayers and positive energy into getting him to a point where he can have the catheter removed and be finished with dialysis. He’s trying hard to get there!
June 25 Update
Brandon and Avery went to Waterfall Park to feed the ducks and went to the playground today before going to Coldstone Creamery. It was pretty exhausting for Brandon, and he had to go home and nap afterwards. They both had a good time, and it was fun for Brandon to get out and enjoy the great weather today with his baby girl.
Before going to bed tonight, please say an extra prayer that Brandon’s kidney numbers come back lower tomorrow so he can be finished with dialysis and get on with life!
June 24 Update
Brandon and Kristen had friends over, and they used Brandon’s new smoker to cook out. It seemed to be a pretty good day overall. Brandon did get tired toward the end of the day but was able to spend the day with family and friends doing something he enjoyed.
June 23 – Brandon – 1/Cancer – 0
Finally! We got some good news. We posted earlier that Dr. Al-Kasspooles (oncology surgeon) was going to take Brandon’s case before the tumor board (of experts) today. That happened, and the board recommended continued monitoring but no systemic chemo at this point. They reviewed his medical records and agreed that the surgeon had removed all of the cancer, so Brandon is currently cancer-free. They will do follow-up scans every 90 days to see if any evidence of disease returns. They will monitor every 3 months for several years. If he remains clear, they will monitor yearly. The war is not over, but this battle is!
Brandon was feeling better this afternoon after hearing the news from his doctor. He went out to dinner with Kristen and the girls for the first time since before his surgery.
So now we are still just fighting the kidney issues. Please keep praying that his lab results show improvement when we go in on Monday. If he can get his dialysis catheter removed, he can rest until his next scan in September. We can’t imagine that he would come so far in his fight against cancer, only to be overcome by the kidney issues.
June 22 Update
Brandon started the day feeling okay. Maybe not his best day, but not his worst either. We ran a couple of errands early morning. He started feeling unwell this afternoon. Again, he questions why he seems to have a good day or two, then things go downhill again. He’s going to call the kidney doctor tomorrow and see if he should go ahead and see her tomorrow instead of waiting until Monday or if he should go in for dialysis tomorrow instead of skipping it. Please pray that the kidney functions are still trending in the right direction. Understandably, Brandon is having a hard time staying positive.
June 21 Update
Brandon had dialysis this morning because the labs from Monday were never processed, so we don’t know what his numbers were before today. They did do labs again today during dialysis, and the numbers weren’t as low as we were all hoping for, but they are still trending down. We just need to find out if that’s due to dialysis or due to his kidneys kicking in and helping out. In order to do that, they’ve decided not to do dialysis on Friday and have him go to the kidney doctor on Monday morning for lab work. She will be able to see how he does after being off dialysis for several days and then decide what our next steps will be. We are very hopeful for a positive outcome!
Brandon felt okay again today, aside from some morning nausea that seems to be ongoing. That makes three days in a row, so that has to mean something is going right. With all of your prayers and thoughts and encouragement, we will get a good report on Monday!