June 25 Update

Brandon has had a bumpy road since chemo last week. He’s been running a fever on and off, hasn’t had much appetite, has been nauseous and just generally run down. It’s unfortunate because he was feeling better than he had in a while the day he went in for chemo. His hemoglobin had stayed up a bit (still way below normal, but steady) and he was beginning to have an appetite and look forward to eating. He had also been able to cut back on the pain medication somewhat. But chemo knocked him back.

He and Kristen did take Avery to an indoor gym for children on Saturday. He had promised to take her earlier in the week when he was feeling more up to it, and he really wanted to do that for her. He said it was difficult to walk around with her, and he had to stop frequently and rest. He hadn’t realized how little stamina he has.

They also went for a ride in the Jeep on Saturday evening when the weather was nice. He said that lifted his spirits for a while, just getting out of the house and cruising around.

He has chemo scheduled again on Wednesday. Hopefully, he will have recovered enough from the last treatment by that time so it doesn’t make him feel even worse.

Thanks to everyone checking in on him. Knowing he has so much support helps him get through this!

June 21 Update

Brandon had his second chemo treatment yesterday, and it was like deja vu. A few hours after the treatment, he started having aches and pains, fever and nausea. We called his oncologist just to be safe, but he agreed with our thinking that it must be the chemo agent causing this reaction. His advice this time was to take Tylenol around the clock and come in if the symptoms worsened. Luckily, they haven’t worsened, and he’s feeling better so far today. He was able to eat again this morning, and the fever has come down. The chemo sure hits him hard though, which we weren’t expecting since he is getting the “mild” chemo.

They had talked about adding a second, stronger chemo agent to his regimen, but it’s hard to imagine how he will tolerate that. The nurse practitioner he saw before his treatment yesterday said she’s not in a hurry to add that and is going to talk to the doctor about waiting until he gets a few more treatments behind him.

His focus right now is transitioning back to solid food and away from the TPN. He’s working up from a few bites per day to several small meals per day.

Hold on to positive thoughts that the worst is behind him from this chemo treatment and he can move forward!

June 19 Update

Brandon was able to spend Father’s Day at home. It would have been nice if he had been feeling better than he was, but the important thing is that he was at home with Avery.

He has been trying to eat real food again since coming home from the hospital. He’s only able to eat very small amounts, but he seems to be keeping the food down. He’s trying his best to get back on solid food and off the TPN. He has still been running a fever on and off and has very little energy, but he’s fighting through that. He had to skip last week’s chemo treatment since he was hospitalized, so his second treatment is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Let’s say a prayer that he gets through this one without his fever spiking and without any other uncomfortable side effects.

June 16 Update

Brandon came home this afternoon. They still aren’t sure about the fevers but are  thinking they are tumor fevers for now. He will see his oncologist this week to set up a new schedule for chemo. He doesn’t really feel better than he did when he went in, but they’ve ruled out pretty much all infections.

June 15 Update

We’ve been trying to wait until we have some news to post, but it seems like we are just stuck in a holding pattern. Brandon is still in the hospital. Some days he feels better than he does on others. They are running every test under the sun to determine the source of his fevers, but so far nothing has come back positive. This is actually a good thing because they have tested for just about every infection imaginable. They took some more cultures yesterday, and we are still waiting on the results. If those come back negative, the doctor said we may just have to assume they are “tumor fevers” and stay on top of them long term with Tylenol, just as you would any fever. Lots of tests and lots of questions, but no definite answers after spending almost a week in the hospital. While being in the hospital is no fun for Brandon, at least the doctors are being thorough and not just sending him home so he can end up there again in a couple of weeks for the same issue.

The doctor said today that he will most likely come home this weekend, although we’re not sure which day. After he comes home, he will have a follow-up appointment with the oncologist overseeing his chemotherapy to see about getting back on schedule with that.

Stay tuned, and thanks so much again for your thoughts and prayers!

June 11 Update

Brandon has been trying to catch up on some rest today in between doctors and nurses coming in and out. They did decide to go ahead with another unit of blood today, and they took him down this afternoon for the procedure to draw some of the ascites so they can check to see if it’s a source of infection. Still trying to pinpoint the cause of the fever. He does seem to feel better than he did yesterday, so that’s good news.

June 10 Update

Brandon went to the emergency room around 8:30 this morning because the fever had come back and he was just not feeling right. After numerous tests and spending over 8 hours in the ER, they admitted him this evening. It was a long and uncomfortable day for him because they left him waiting for so long with no answers and no medication. They tested for infections and pneumonia and ran an EKG. They were concerned with his high heart rate, in addition to his fever. They still aren’t 100% sure what’s going on, but they did find his hemoglobin was low again and he was a bit dehydrated, so they are giving him another blood transfusion and fluids by IV. He also has more ascites built up in his abdomen, and they are concerned about possible infection there. The doctor decided tonight to give a strong antibiotic by IV and perhaps run more tests tomorrow to check his red blood cell production. He said this could all tie in to his kidneys not functioning well and his body working overtime to compensate for everything he is dealing with. They also talked about draining more of the ascites and checking that for infection.

Hopefully, he will get some rest tonight after the stress and pain of today. Brandon is so strong to keep going through what he does and keep fighting.

June 8 – Post chemo update

The chemo seemed to go well today. It didn’t take nearly as long as we expected, but he did say he got a headache and had a little nausea during the process. He slept on and off during the afternoon but woke up late afternoon with a fever. We considered going to the ER because they said that a fever above 100.4 was cause for concern. Brandon didn’t want to spend more time in the hospital though, so we’re taking a wait and watch approach. It would be nice if something could just go his way once in a while. Send prayers that he can process this chemo and not end up in the hospital.

 

June 8 – Chemo Day

It looks like Brandon is actually going to have his chemo treatment today. We came in at 7:00 am for labs, and his chemo appointment was at 8:00. By the time they got the lab results and called him back, it was almost 8:30. They give him an anti-nausea medication 30 minutes beforehand (which they did around 8:45), so the chemo should be starting soon. It only takes 30 minutes to run once they start it. We were expecting that part to take much longer.

Again, please say a prayer that all goes well and he doesn’t experience any harsh side effects so we can start moving in the right direction.

June 6 – No chemo day

Well, as seem to be the trend with Brandon, the chemo didn’t work out for today. His hemoglobin was too low, so they are going to give him two units of blood through transfusion instead. The plan is to do chemo on Friday this week instead. Disappointments just keep piling up on him.