Just Another Day in . . .umm, the Hospital.

A little bit of Paradise here in the hospital!

Let me tell you, Brendan wishes he was in Paradise.  Or anywhere other than the hospital today.  He's feeling well enough today that he just wants to go home.   And it doesn't help knowing that he's not going to be feeling this well tomorrow.  He was so glad he had a some Paradise friends bring the fun to him!

More music and fun with cousins Sunday night.

We talked to the surgeon who will perform the neck dissection tomorrow.  (Brendan hated it when they called it that so we just say, "remove the lymph nodes").  The plan is to put two incisions down each side of the neck, identify the major nerves, blood vessels, and muscles and take out as much of the string of lymph nodes as they can down both sides of the neck.  Recovery time will be several days if all goes well, and it looks like we will move back to PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) until we see that he is breathing ok and there are no problems.

 Today would have been a lot more fun if this impending surgery hadn't been hanging over his head.  He stayed busy, which helped.

 Landon worked really hard and fast Sunday morning to build the basic robot so Brendan could use it today.  Brendan added the hammer action and got it moving.

Therapy came fast and furious.  Speech and cognitive function:

He learned a new game and beat all 3 of us.

Then Occupational Therapy:

He won "Spot It", but barely lost "Blink."  (I know! Being in the hospital just looks like it's all fun and games!)

Physical Therapy was waiting at the door as he was finishing up:

 Today he had to walk stairs.  But the stairs today led to the top of the hospital to see the helicopter pad on the roof.  It was a great day for looking out over the Salt Lake Valley.

The University Hospital and the Huntsman Cancer Institute

The helicopter landing pad on the roof of Primary Children's Hospital.

After such a long walk, Brendan was ready to rest.  He ate lunch, rested, and played a game. He also visited for awhile with his child-life expert and they talked about the surgery details tomorrow and what to expect.  He also asked a lot of questions about chemotherapy.

 By late afternoon, he was ready for another outing.   The music stops him every time!

 Brendan took the stairs while dad took the wheelchair up the elevator.

 Brendan and Mom played a fun matching game at the Outpatient Clinic across the sky bridge.  And Brendan got to Face Time with Loren and Jamie in Virginia, and Rachel in the Czech Republic.

 We got back to the room tonight and Brendan decided to rest while we went to the Ronald McDonald Family Room for dinner (mmm...Thanksgiving Dinner).  When we got back, Brendan was sleeping.  When he woke up 30 minutes later, he didn't feel well, his head was hot, and he had a terrible headache.  This brought a flurry of activity as the nurses drew blood for cultures, his temperature was taken again and again, and Dr.'s were called.  The current plan is that they will proceed with surgery.  They are putting him back on the Vancomycin as a preventative measure.  (Yesterday they had taken him off of the Vancomycin and put him on a more bacteria specific antibiotic after culturing out the spinal fluid.)

We are so grateful once again for the many letters, texts, comments, and messages from everyone cheering Brendan on.  And a big THANK YOU to all of the kids at Spring Creek!   

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.  We will keep you updated tomorrow on the surgery.