Team BRADY

What an amazing time in the Adirondacks. We wish we could have spent a few extra days just enjoying the land but in our short time we covered a lot. The Lodge @ Dreaming Tree Ranch is beyond magical. The feeling as we turned up the driveway and crossed under the Lodge sign was a feeling of release. I’d like to say we left all our internal baggage at the end of the driveway at the ranch.

We were greeted by Jim and Karen Curtis, the creators and dreamers of creating this magical space for pediatric patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. They too have been on this journey, sadly, their daughter Sami lost her battle with brain cancer. Their inspiration through the heartbreak was creating this space for families to reconnect and creating ways for the kids to fulfill some experiences.

We joined their family and community for a thanksgiving dinner at the lodge. Their support gathered to make plans with Travis and Brady for their hunting adventure and get the lay of the land down for the few days we were there.

Friday morning the guys hit the woods bright and early, I enjoyed some quietness and the fireplace at the lodge! Then was treated with an amazing massage, felt a bit therapeutic! We all rejoined for brunch and continued to meet more community support.

Saturday started off the same but a different hunt was planned. I was introduced to a sweet college student, Emily, who shared with me the art of barn quilt painting. A fun and super rewarding accomplishment, again a bit therapeutic! The guys ended the day with a successful hunt.

Sunday we spent the day enjoying a non planned day. Witnessed the pure joy of Jim and Karen becoming grandparents of their first grandchild as they took a long awaited phone call from their son in California!

We are so thankful to the Curtis family, the support from their many resources and to the HSKC Foundation for their mission at the Lodge. For sharing their land with us, the tour of all the acreage, the meals together, the visitors and for hearing their stories. To be able to chat about cancer, share our story, learn about Sami and all that she inspired in her short 18 years, to cry, to laugh and to just be. A trip that will forever remain a happy place in our hearts.

https://helpsamikickcancer.org/

Today marks another symbolic ending of this journey. Brady is currently under sedation for his port removal today. A tiny piece that has been his lifeline for all his treatments.

Last week he had a clinic visit which was his first visit after stopping chemo on September 29th. No more appointments in an infusion bay, just a normal pediatric room. Have to say, it felt odd at first, but a huge happy feeling knowing this is what it feels like to cross that finish line. His labs are looking good, it’s exciting to see what his normal numbers are going to look like. He has gained some much needed weight. His appetite is still in high gear but it seems he’s finally caught up on the hunger feeling.

He had another CT scan of chest and sinus and there has been great improvement in the infection. But, they prescribed another month of anti fungal meds in hopes that this will fully clear it up. He will be rescanned in January to review the results.

Next clinic visit is scheduled for December 15, labs, physical and a final celebration with his TEAM ❤️ 🔔 he will take the final steps of crossing that finish line and ring that bell.

Our family walks away from this experience with a different perspective on life. We’ve met some terrific people, had some amazing opportunities to experience, have learned we are in control of nothing, felt the true love and support of communities, navigated our faith and trusted God to get him through.

Thank you ALL for the support! After December we’ll work on 6 month updates instead of his monthly visits. Looking forward to him settling into normal life!!!

Wishing everyone a very Happy thankful Thanksgiving 🦃

Brady had a quick visit to clinic today. They were going to check his level for the new anti fungal med but I screwed up the process, he was not supposed to take it this morning before labs😔. So anywho. It was not a wasted trip. I had concerns about the medication he was on after reading all the side affects and the biggest concerns was it could affect his vision and he was encouraged to avoid driving in the dark. They were able to change the medication after insurance approved it, he will start that in the next day.

After he completes this round of meds he will repeat the CT scans for sinus and chest and see how well it has resolved the nodules. This will be the first part of November. If all looks good, he’ll get scheduled for the removal of his port the end of November! A huge relief but also bittersweet since this has been a lifeline through this process.

He’s feeling well, is sleeping at night, has an appetite, gaining weight, no headache since last Wednesday (major breakthrough he’s had a headache for 3 years) and is so happy to be back at work! And still a normal temperature 🙏🏼

HOME = best words of the day!!! He has been discharged, we had to wait on insurance once again for approval on the anti fungal med and it finally came through. He’ll be treated with that for 30 days, he has to go in on 10/11 to have his levels tested and watch for any changes in his vision. No test came back as the culprit, but concerned enough with the CT scan to treat it this way. After the meds are done he’ll go in for another CT scan and hopefully it’ll show improvement.

It’s so great to be home. The weather is amazing and the sunshine feels perfect. He’s ready to pick up where he left off!

Thank you all for the love once again. Thanks to Travis for holding down the home front and taking care of everything. We sure are one of the lucky ones🍀❤️

A very uneventful day. Brady settled in after his procedure yesterday and slept really well through the night (except for the bathroom visits). No fevers overnight, no fevers so far today. Blood count today is climbing and he is pulling himself out of the low neutrophil levels. Basically a waiting day to see what all the other tests come back at. They are still giving him Tylenol, antifungal and 2 antibiotics, but as of this afternoon I believe he will be off one of the antibiotics.

He's currently free from his "machine FRED" for a bit, so he showered and smells a whole lot better 😏

The best news is that they are not seeing any signs of the leukemia coming back and there is a slight chance that he may be finished with chemo, but we haven't officially received that confirmation yet.

A much brighter, promising day. Still not sure how long of a stay this will be, every morning we ask the question......

A super long day. Bronchial scope did not go on schedule, he was scheduled for 4:30, they were running behind he went in at 6. Poor kid was no food all day. The scope went well no complications, he was sent back up to his room about 8:30, finally had food.

All settled in for the night , temps are staying about 100.2. Praying for sleep, no fevers, answers and a plan for home.

We got upgraded on a bigger room, so we were efficient with the delay in his scope and moved the room and setup, cozy as you can get in a hospital room🤷🏻‍♀️

Thank you all for the prayers over the past days, the messages and being here with us. Sorry we haven’t responded to each message personally, it’s been a lot to balance. We got comfortable on this journey, but shaken up a bit now. Time to see this to the end, on guard.

Afternoon update: blood transfusion has been a success, no reaction. He has been asleep for the past hour, which is exactly what he needs.

Pulmonary visit reviewed the CT scan of his chest and it is showing nodules in the lower lungs, they want to do a bronchial scope of that area, extract and test it to confirm they are on the right path of treatment. So he is on a no food intake right now as they are scheduling that procedure for 4:40 this afternoon. He will go out with anesthesia for that procedure, please pray there are no complications along the way for this and that he doesn't end up in ICU for the evening.

They have him on 2 different antibiotics and hopefully today we figure out if this is the right option. Infectious Disease Dr agrees with the scope to help find the cause or rule it out.

Tylenol is doing the trick today from 5:30 am he was 103.1 to currently 1:45 pm he is 99.5, this is a huge gain from yesterday.

They have tested him for many viruses, mono, fungal infections, lyme disease and of course the biggest cloud that hangs over our head, relapse of leukemia, this one should be back this afternoon, the others are slowly coming back as negative.

Morning. Not much changed overnight. Blood transfusion was held off during the night. At midnight he hit 104 and around 1:30 we had hoped the fever had broke because he was covered in sweat, early morning bed change and temperature dropped to 100.6. Tylenol, fluids and a couple antibiotics overnight, still back up to 103.1 at 5:30.

Antibiotics are covering ”if” he has fungal or pneumonia. Last night it didn’t show fungal and we are still waiting to hear the CT chest scan results.

After his early morning trip to the bathroom and feeling dizzy and thought he might pass out, he’d like to stay put until todays plan gets rolling.

Todays plan- blood transfusion being prepped for 9:00. ENT, Infectious Disease and Pulmonary are going to be visiting. Running a few other tests for other viruses. Waiting on a visit from Hematologist/Oncologist on call today.

We can’t leave the room to common areas, so trying to make the space as “fun” and “comfortable” as possible to pass the time. We all know he’d rather be working or in the woods.

Blood transfusion was halted, they thought maybe he was having a reaction his temperature went back to 103.1. Labs have shown no reaction so they are going to restart at 10 when a new unit of blood arrives and he can start on Tylenol again. Asking for prayers that he can get this unit in and that this fever breaks.

CT sinus scan brought in an ENT, he was scoped and all shows to be healthy, nothing fungal. CT chest scan, still waiting for the explanation on what that is but they have started to treat for pneumonia.

He’s currently trying to sleep, spirits are a bit down, he really gets in a funk when he gets admitted. We’ll see what the new day brings 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼. Please pray a bit extra for him tonight ❤️

Saturday morning update: Brady got to come home last night, no reaction to the immunoglobulin infusion! This morning he was ”upright” early and looking like life is back in his eyes 🍀. He said he actually got sleep last night. Temperature still teetering at 99.8, much better! He’s feeling better and got a little sass back🙏🏼🙏🏼 good sign.

UVM Team once again, AMAZING!

Thank you all once again for the support!

We got the call last night that Brady would be admitted to UVM Childrens Hospital for an Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) a treatment for patients with antibody deficiencies. His is super low and he can’t fight infections. This may be the solution to get him over the hump of helping fight this sickness.

We were in hopes to be able to do this through outpatient, but insurance denied it, so he has been admitted. Hoping it’s not an overnight stay, the infusion takes 4 hours to slowly be infused with hopes of no reaction to it. He’ll have to be monitored for an hour after it is completed.

He has been seen by the infectious disease doctor, he’ll have a CT chest and sinus scan done in the next week and testing urine to rule out any underlying issues.

ENT visit is rescheduled to inspect some spots on his tongue, hopefully scrapings can be taken and figure out what that is about.

Chemo is being held for now, it doesn’t affect the 22 day countdown🙏🏼

We once again are thankful for blood donors, so many amazing pieces come from a donation. The most amazing is saving a life, thank you 🩸

He is in the same room that he started in 3 + years ago, feeling a bit nostalgic. A bit special since it’s the room across from the Thomas Cook Play Room❤️.

Our final week of September Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Brady is featured on the American Cancer Society site🎗. We will continue to raise funds until September 30th, please use the link below 🍀

https://mobileacs.org/s3k2gp

As we’ve learned along this journey nothing ever goes as planned. Brady has been fighting a wicked cough with a sore throat since last week. Drs visit last week they diagnosed it as a sinus infection and started him on antibiotics. Weekend wasn’t much improvement, Sunday night he got little sleep and this morning he hit bottom. Fever of 101.2 sends him to spending most of our day in the UVM ER. Lots of test, blood work. COVID negative, RSV negative, labs have dropped a bit but not neutropenic 🙏🏼. Waiting to hear back on blood cultures. They did treat him with an IV antibiotic, different than the sinus one he’s currently taking.

What was planned for Tuesday was chemo and his final Lumbar Puncture, but it’ll be postponed until next Tuesday to give him a chance to recover from this. Just a small step backwards.

It’s always fun to sit back and watch how he handles this journey and his interactions with nurses and drs. And some of the things that come out of him, my favorite today, “let’s saddle this pony up and ride on outta here!” 🐎 We did, home bound was the best diagnosis! Labs on Thursday in hopes the numbers are looking better for next week.

One more month to go 🙏🏼🎗

Clinic day. 2 more clinic visits to go! September’s visit will be his last lumbar puncture and October will be his final IV chemo and on October 22, he will take his last oral chemo at home. Some behind the scenes decisions he needs to make regarding his port removal and whether he wants a quick little ringing the bell celebration at the hospital.

Labs are good, but they want to do another increase of his oral chemo, he’ll start that tomorrow. August has physically been good, mentally it was tough losing his Papa. So glad they had a lot of time together, those memories will help him get through life. Papa was proud he was heading into the electrical trades and keeping his hands busy!

September we will put energy into raising money for Childhood Cancer. Our team is ready to join again this year and on September 18th we will hold our walking event 🎗

And mark your calendar, October 29th we celebrate the end of this journey! Event details are being planned out!

Clinic today, he decided today he wanted to try doing this himself. After tagging along for the past 3 years, it was an adjustment to stay behind. He did fine and came back with the change in plans for the next month. His blood count is looking good, therefore, they’ll increase his daily chemo quite a bit more to knock those cells into overdrive. Other than that he’s stuck at not being able to put on weight but hopefully after chemo is done he’ll gain some.

He got to see his favorite Dr Bradeen ❤️ and catch-up during his visit with some of his favorites, Ashley from Child Life Services has been by his side for the past 3 years and Julia our Social Worker who has been our life saver from day 1. Julia knew exactly what we needed before we ever knew we really needed it. What a team🍀

Last week he met with the Orthopedic, X-RAYS show no changes in his elbow or hip, so no additional damage, just stuck where he’s at. He never complains about either one holding him back so he’ll go forward with the limited extension in his arm and not overdo the hip exertion.

He’s loving life, summer and his work. Getting ready to signup for class this fall for the Electrical Apprenticeship ⚡️ This fall is a huge milestone, ringing the bell in October and living a normal life🙏🏼

Clinic day. He’s taking an assisted nap right now, lumbar puncture, chemo and labs. Labs are looking good except they were hoping since his daily chemo was increased last month his count would be a little lower this time, he’s a fighter. Proving it time and again.

Praying for no spinal headache after the LP🙏🏼🙏🏼

The light is growing larger, one more LP after this is completed today. 4 more clinic visits for chemo, a whole lot of daily chemo to take at home.

June has been a fantastic month. He truly enjoyed all graduation activities and all the frills that came with it! Saturday we celebrated and so thankful for so many that came to celebrate this special achievement! Travis and I took zero pictures of the party day, but forever will hold this day close. A special thanks to Kitty for manning the grill🍀. Brady is continuing on at DMC Electric, started full time after graduation.

Most of all, he’s getting to just be himself and enjoy all summer activities with his friends. ☀️

A little extra anesthesia today, took a little longer to come out of his nap, here’s the after affects 🥱

Another milestone, 3 years ago tonight Dr Haag called with the results. Just vague memories of the phone call, just random words stuck out, leukemia, hematology, oncologist and there is a team waiting for you at the ER at UVM. It felt like a 4 hour drive to UVM, pretty quiet, all 4 of us with our own thoughts swirling around. That team that met us quickly started examining and drawing labs, and within 20 minutes all sorts of new vocabulary was our future.

We relive this “anniversary,” which I think we will for the rest of all our lives.

Tuesday as we were leaving clinic, we met in passing a young man probably 16, heading to clinic. If I had to guess he probably was about 4-5 months in his treatment, a different type of cancer, would guess osteosarcoma. I just wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him he’s got this, just take it one day at a time. As we walked down the hall I wondered who we might have encountered on those tough days but didn’t notice because we were lost in our own fear.

Today, we are amazed that he’s at this 3 year mark. It feels like it flew by yet some days were snail speed. It took many “one day at a time” moments, but this kid is a freaking superhero in our eyes. He gets up, shows up and continues pushing forward.

For the next couple of weeks, we are just going to focus our energy on this special achievement of making it to the end of high school. A goal that many helped him achieve ❤️

God works in many amazing ways.
Brady Adams🍀

Clinic day, just a visit for a little chemo, blood test, physical and mental health check in. Love watching him catch up with the nurses, they love to hear and see his life the past month of “normal” living.

His numbers are consistent which is great, but also means they will increase his daily chemo to make those cells work harder. Science at its best.

He had a great past month, enjoying the final weeks of school and all the activities they have thankfully been able to do! Prom was perfect ❤️ CHCC awards ceremony 🍀 a field trip for physics to the Great Escape, hands on work experience, and much needed time with friends just being himself 🙏🏼

Thanks to all who made prom special, thanks to CHCC for getting him to where he is today and helping land an opportunity with DMC Electric, thanks to all his friends for inviting him along for whatever adventures may be had and continued thanks for all who are still pushing him to the finish line.

170 more days before Brady gets off this rollercoaster! 5 more clinic visits, 5 more “monthly” updates, 2 more lumbar punctures , 1 more school email update, HS graduation, roughly another 770 daily oral chemo pills, a summer season and get through partial fall, the ride is almost over.

He and all of us are ready to hop on the merry go round, no bumps, no curves, no loosing your breath, no screaming, no wanting to 🤮, no more hanging on for dear life.

Excited for him to start living. Getting back to what life should have been. Although a lot was learned and a new view on life during the past 3.5 years, a lot was also lost. We’ll take time to grieve, heal and take the next phase of life that has been “planned”.

Today, we’ll celebrate his labs being consistent, his weight is steady and he’s feeling “normal”! We’ll stay focused on our one day at a time ritual and be excited about the last, little over a month of school activities! All the lasts, which the list is getting smaller; prom, field trips, awards and the grand finale…. GRADUATION!

Early day in clinic. Monthly physical, labs and chemo. All is looking on track. He’s lost a little bit of weight, so he’s going to work on eating more often with extra protein and healthy fat options. He’s been extremely active working at Gervais Family Maple the great part is, he’s not exhausted, but we’ll get him fueled!

Senior year is continuing to go well! His classes are keeping his interest and the finish line is in sight!

After today’s visit, he’ll have 7 more months (227 days) of treatments, that finish line is going to require a huge celebration 🎗✅. One that we are excitedly planning!

Thank you all for staying on this journey, the much needed support, prayers and check ins are always appreciated❤️

WOW. 18 already. Happiest of birthdays Brady. Very proud of the loving, caring,hard working, respectful man you have become. Keep smiling. Your smile tells me your ok, and that you can handle anything life throws at you. You are stronger than anyone I have ever met. Love you bud. Enjoy your day.

How is it possible that you can be turning 18? It seems like just a few years ago you were playing in the sandbox with your John Deere tractors, life was simpler and slower. And here you are, 18, an adult! Wishing you the best year ahead, may you grow and continue to spread your wings. You have so much life ahead and so much to give to life. Make good choices and keep being true to you! What a journey it has been, what an exciting adventure that lies ahead🍀

Clinic day. Labs have been drawn, waiting for the green light on chemo.

He’s had an uneventful month, we’ll take those months. School is continuing to go well and “in school.” He continues to find humor in life🍀

He will be heading out for his hunt of a lifetime trip to AZ. Him and Travis will leave next Tuesday for Boston and fly out on Wednesday. He’s excited for this opportunity to hunt elk, to fly for the first time and to visit AZ with all it has to offer. Praying all elements go as planned🙏🏼✈️🤞

Clinic day. Labs, lumbar puncture and chemo. Labs are looking good. Currently waiting for him to come out from his anesthesia, fingers crossed no spinal headache from this.

He’s had a good month, senior year continues to be going well. Golf has wrapped up for the season. He’s scouting for a job now! 🙏🏼

Last month Team Brady raised a total of $14,255 for Childhood Cancer Awareness, we were the top team out of 5 in New England! Thank you to all who donated and joined our team🎗🎗🎗

Tomorrow is a special day, it marks one more year of treatment. It’s exciting to be hitting a timeframe that we can start counting down the days to when he rings that bell!

Until then, he keeps living one day at a time.

Clinic day~ labs and chemo. Labs are staying consistent, little tweaking on his daily dose and labs again in 2 weeks to see if they drop or stay the same. All else went well, staying consistent on his weight now that steroids are out of the treatment plan!

He’s had a good start to his senior year. Golfing on other courses has made him appreciate EFCC!

September has been a special month for us as we’ve fundraised for Childhood Cancer Awareness. Our event had an awesome turnout for walking 6 miles on the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail. Our Team, community and special businesses raised currently $13,181, but we aren’t finished just yet, we will keep it going until September 30th!

Thanks to WestRock and Superior Technical Ceramics/Artemis for collecting, fundraising and company matching that sent us way over our $2500 goal. To Lise Gates, who is always a quiet hero donating pizza for our Team. To all that have donated, walked and always staying on this journey with us🎗🎗🎗🍀