The day finally came! Brandon had his last dialysis session in the hospital first thing this morning, and he was released to come home this afternoon. He still doesn’t feel as well as he was feeling a week ago, but he’s home! His kidney values have gotten better with the help of dialysis, but his blood pressure is still problematic. We just hope that the kidneys start helping out and keep the values going in the right direction over the next couple of days before he has outpatient dialysis again on Monday. The doctors are also hopeful that the blood pressure issues are tied to the kidney issues, and they will work themselves out at the same time.

Avery was so surprised to see her daddy come home, and she gave him the biggest hug! That alone should have lowered his blood pressure! Our goal and prayer for the coming week is that he finishes dialysis completely and gets the catheter removed so he and Avery can play together and he can feel like himself again.

Today was another day of fighting the splitting headache and high blood pressure. Not a good day at all for Brandon. The doctors said again that they thought either high the blood pressure was causing the headache or the headache pain was causing the high blood pressure. He is still retaining fluid from the IVs, so they thought pulling some of that fluid during today’s dialysis session might help.  He was supposed to start his dialysis session between noon and 1:00, but he got bumped back to 4:00 p.m. Then 4:00 turned into 5:00. We did see a drop in the blood pressure after the dialysis tonight. It wasn’t a huge drop, and it’s still higher than it should be, but we’re hoping it continues to drop and takes care of the headache issue at the same time. At this point, they are still saying he will have one more dialysis session in the hospital tomorrow, then he will be released to go home and finish the rest of his dialysis as an outpatient. The key words here being “go home!” He is so ready for that. We wish he was going home feeling better than he does now, but we know that going home will be good medicine for him!

Our hope and prayer is that this dialysis will help his kidneys kick in quickly so he can focus on enjoying his life again!

Brandon started feeling worse as the day went on yesterday. By evening, his blood pressure was spiking pretty high, and he had a headache that was unbearable. The doctors thought the headache was most likely because of the high blood pressure. The only explanation they could offer for that was perhaps the fluid retention in his body because he had still been on IV fluids to keep his kidneys “happy” until yesterday. He said he felt almost like he did the day following surgery as far as being in pain and uncomfortable, although this time the pain was a headache and a little nausea (possibly caused by the headache). He had to take stronger pain medication and sleeping pills just to get some rest last night, and he hasn’t had to take those in over a week. With the help of medication, he was able to sleep through the night and woke up with a lower blood pressure reading than he’d had all day yesterday and without the throbbing head pain. They came at 8:00 this morning to take him to have the dialysis catheter placed, then he came back to his room for a couple of hours before the actual dialysis session. He went for his first dialysis this afternoon. His blood pressure did go up again throughout the day today, and it spiked again after dialysis. We are hoping that a couple of dialysis sessions will take care of whatever is causing this. They are planning to do another session tomorrow and one again on Saturday. After that third session, he may be released from the hospital to continue outpatient dialysis next week. Our hope is that the sessions this week and next will be all he needs and that once the toxins have been cleared from his body, his own kidneys will kick in and start doing the job.

It’s definitely time for things to start going his way. He’s fighting the good fight!

After being very hopeful yesterday that today was going to be the day Brandon’s kidney numbers took an even bigger downward turn, we were so frustrated and disappointed this morning when we found out they’d gone right back up. We lost all of our downward progress. That was so unexpected because even though the doctors hadn’t taken dialysis off the table, none of them thought the numbers would go back up after beginning to decline. The only explanation they could offer was perhaps it was just a lab variable in yesterday’s slightly lower reading. Adding to Brandon’s stress level and frustration was the fact that no one seemed to be able to give him a clear answer on the plan for today. They didn’t have him on the schedule for dialysis this morning, and we weren’t sure if that would happen today. It wasn’t until around noon that they finally came in and let him know that they had put in the orders to place the dialysis catheter tomorrow morning, so nothing further would be done today. It feels like we’ve lost another day. All in all, not a good day. Today has been a true test of Brandon’s resolve and patience. It’s hard for all of us to understand why things don’t seem to be going his way.

Tomorrow is a new day, and the current plan is to start dialysis tomorrow. But as we’ve learned, the plan is often not what actually happens.

We are hopeful that Brandon is turning the corner. His kidney numbers went down this morning! That being said, they are still high enough that the doctors won’t take dialysis off the table. But we are holding strong in our belief that this is the beginning of his recovery. The plan for tonight is to withhold food and water after midnight just in case, but they will wait to put him on the dialysis schedule for tomorrow until they look at the numbers again in the morning. She said the results of the scan they did yesterday confirmed it looks to be just what they thought it was, trauma from the chemo, and that should resolve itself. The trick is getting it to resolve itself before the lack of kidney function makes him sick. So tonight, like every night for the past couple of weeks, we are asking that you say an extra prayer, send an extra healing thought his way and just hold him up in spirit. The power is working!

Yesterday was Brandon and Kristen’s wedding anniversary, and they celebrated with dinner together in his hospital room.  We all wish they could have spent it somewhere else, but at least they were able to spend it together.

When the kidney doctor talked to us yesterday morning, she was almost certain she would start dialysis today. His kidney values had gone up again, but the increase was smaller than it had been. She said that may be due to the fact that they are getting high enough that there’s not much more room for increase. So we prepared ourselves for that to happen today, but it didn’t. His values did go up a bit more last night, but the doctor came in this morning and said she thinks these last couple of days of small increases may be the plateau, and maybe this will turn around on its own. She sent him for another type of kidney scan this afternoon (we don’t know the results of that yet) and said she thought they should wait until tomorrow to start the dialysis. They will check his kidney values again early in the morning and make the call at that point. That leaves us one more night of praying that his kidneys kick in and work themselves out. But if dialysis is what it takes to get this straightened out and get him home, he is ready to do it.

Thank you all for your continued thoughts, prayers and encouragement. Every time he reads your comments, he is reminded that he is not fighting this alone!

Today’s update is pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday’s update. Kidney numbers still going up, blood pressure still higher, doctors keep saying wait it out. We did see a different nephrologist today though who explained further that there really is no treatment for the kidney issues. He said they could do dialysis if the kidney function gets to the point where it is making Brandon sick, but that’s not a treatment. If they do dialysis and the numbers got down, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will stay down once they stop dialysis because that’s just an artificial way of forcing the kidneys to function. He said this kind of issue can take days to weeks to reverse itself. So I guess we now understand a little better why we have to play the waiting game and why they don’t just DO something. It doesn’t make it any less stressful, but it’s what we have to do at this point.

On a brighter note, Brandon and Avery got to spend a little time together today. She was so happy to see her Daddy, and there are no words to tell you how he felt about seeing her. We were able to get Brandon into a t-shirt and gym shorts and disconnect his IV long enough to walk on the sidewalk with her and buy her some ice cream in the hospital cafeteria (something she’s learned to love from her daddy). It was so much better for both of them than taking her into the hospital room to see him hooked up to machines and in a hospital gown.

Please hold good thoughts and prayers again tonight that he will turn the corner soon!

Well, we are still in the holding pattern. Kidney numbers went up again this morning, so we continue to wait for them to level off and decline. Brandon’s blood pressure went up today as well, and they believe he may be retaining some fluid. They aren’t sure where the retention is because they haven’t seen any visible swelling. Please say an extra prayer tonight that these kidney issues work themselves out soon. It’s very difficult on Brandon to wait this out when he could/should be going home to his family. He’s still hooked to an IV because of the kidney issues, which means he has to call a nurse and be unhooked if he wants to walk farther than just taking laps around his floor. Those of you who know him well know that walking around the hospital and watching TV for hours on end aren’t his thing. We need to get him home so he can continue to recover from the surgery, regain his strength, and feel like himself again.

Today was a mixed emotion day. Brandon did sleep better last night, so he wasn’t as exhausted as he was yesterday. He felt pretty good most of the day, although he did have a headache (perhaps a side effect of the pain medication). He rarely gets headaches, so that was an annoyance. We had a pretty good day together, and he was “Brandon” again. The kidney function numbers are still going in the wrong direction, which is disappointing. The doctors seem confident that this will turn around soon. He’s not having any other symptoms of kidney damage, so that’s a good sign. The surgical team said he’s progressing great, and they would consider him a candidate for release soon if not for the kidney issues. So we’re still in a holding pattern.

We got the pathology results this afternoon. We were hoping for better news, but it could have been worse. We learned that his mesothelioma is mid-grade. We were hoping for low-grade, of course, but at least it isn’t the most aggressive high-grade type. His surgeon said we will need to follow up with a medical oncologist once he’s fully recovered from the surgery to determine the next steps, which will most likely be systemic chemo and/or a clinical trial. He did say that mesothelioma isn’t graded like other cancers. They look at two factors – the amount of disease they find in the abdomen and whether or not the surgery is successful in removing all of the disease. His amount of disease was medium, and his surgeon was confident he removed all disease. Right now, we feel the disease is gone. We just have to fight from this point on to keep it from returning. His surgeon, Dr. Al, promised to refer us to the best medical oncologist, one with experience in treating this type of cancer, for Brandon’s care going forward. Once again, we’re prepared to fight with all we have. Although this type of cancer has a probability of returning, we know he has the power of your thoughts and prayers lifting him above this disease. And with new medical advancements/treatments coming along every day, we are optimistic!