Saturday, April 18, 2009

A few Videos....

Goodbye Week 4!

The end of week 4 brings a welcome change to Forester's daily treatment. For the next 2 weeks, instead of receiving radiation to his entire brain and spine, Forester will only receive radiation to the area of his brain where the tumor was. This will cut the daily radiation to about 15 minutes. Yay!!! As a result of this, his nausea should also improve. Please pray that he notices a significant decrease in nausea!

Because his white blood cell count was down to 690 yesterday, he had the GCSF shot yesterday and will have it today and tomorrow too. He REALLY hates the shots. Please pray that they're not too traumatic for him.

At the end of 6 weeks, Forester and the family will have a much needed (major understatement) 6 week break from treatment before the next phase of treatment starts. Hopefully, the Make A Wish Foundation will grant his wish for a family trip to Disney World during this time. Yes, the Make A Wish Foundation visited the Bradburns at their home yesterday to hear Forester's wish. In a way, this is exciting, especially for Forester, and in a way, it's devastating. It's so hard to hear, know, comprehend that Forester qualifies for Make A Wish. I know Whitney is grieving about this. Please continue to pray for Pete & Whitney in this area too.

It seems like Forester has had some improvement in his appetite and vomiting this week. Please pray that he's hungry and that everything he eats stays down! Unfortunately, he's really having trouble settling down at night and sleeping because of leg pain. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Vincristine has triggered this pain, and unfortunately, it seems to be getting worse. Even with a STRONG prescription benadryl and pain killers, his sleep is being disrupted. Please pray for relief for Forester from this pain and sweet, deep sleep.

On Thursday, Forester cut Miss Michelle's hair off to donate to Locks of Love and at least several of his friends have shaved their heads to support him. Thank you all for showing love to Forester and the Bradburns in this way! :o)

I know the Bradburns have established an account at Wachovia for the Forester Fund to handle the donations they've received to date. This account will also be linked to paypal for bracelet purchases made on ebay. If you're interested, I'm sure you can make donations for medical expenses directly to the account. As soon as I have more info, I will let you know.

Please pray for another peaceful, drama-free weekend for the Bradburns.

Thank you!
April

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Weight is up!





Forester weighed in at 59lbs today. GOOD NEWS. Be back with more about the last day or so. Just thought I would quickly share this PRAISE and answer to prayer. LOVE YOU ALL! ~ Whitney

*PS - Bracelets are almost ready to go up on ebay. We will post a link here and on Facebook as soon as we can!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Week 4, Day 1

Aunt Paris arrived last night to spend the week with the Bradburns and accompanied Forester, Whitney and Slade to the hospital today! Yay for family!

It was another long day, but they are on the way home now. Because Forester's blood counts are low again, he will have another transfusion tomorrow at 8am. He vomited twice yesterday but has not gotten sick today! He even ate a buttered biscuit and 4 Chick fil A nuggets! Please keep praying into his appetite and against nausea and vomiting. In the last 3 weeks, his weight has dropped from 68 lbs to 55 lbs. This is not good.

Last week I forgot to mention another chemo side effect with which Forester is struggling. The Vincristine (a chemo drug) can cause neuropathy, and that, along with electrolyte imbalances, has caused some serious leg pain for Forester. It seems to bother him most at night. Please pray against this side effect too!

Please pray for Whitney for deep, long sleep tonight! She only slept 3 hours Saturday night and 6 hours last night. She stayed up late learning a new song for Easter morning. (If you've never heard her sing, you're missing out. I still cry every time I hear her sing. BEAUTIFUL! Wish I could have been there Easter morning!)

Speaking of Easter... Thank you Lord for a drama-free weekend for the Bradburns! Thank you for the amazing ways you love us! Thank you for family and friends and strangers who love you and love Forester and the Bradburns even though they've never met. Thank you for the prayers being lifted up all over the world on behalf of this precious family! (We just received a subscription request from a pastor in Zurich. How cool is that?!?!) I know I've been blown away by all the Lord is doing through this incredibly painful trial. Thank you Lord for Jesus! I just had to post the following video. (Hope you don't mind Whit.) It's one of my favorite praise songs, and after we sang it at church yesterday, it has remained on my heart. Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe!

April

(don't forget to scroll down to turn off the music so you can hear the video)