Living the Good Life!

This morning Brendan mentioned that the hospital is a great place to be when you're feeling good.  Well, he certainly enjoyed his day today.  It was a beautiful day (even though the view isn't quite as good from the 3rd floor).  

 Brendan got to sleep in.  His sodium climbed from 126 to 133 overnight.  It was amazing to see the difference in his demeanor, his energy, and his physical wellness.  It was strikingly obvious that his sodium levels were back up to normal levels.

 I got my breakfast from the hospitality cart that comes around each morning.

 Brendan (for the first time in over 3 months) ordered his own breakfast.

 And did his math while waiting for room service to deliver breakfast.

In the meantime, the nephrologist came to check out Brendan's kidneys.  Sounds like they still think that Brendan's kidneys are confused and dumping salt when they shouldn't and holding onto fluid inappropriately.  Looks like Brendan is back on the sodium supplements indefinitely.

 Where else will they serve rainbow sherbet with your dollar pancakes and chocolate Carnation drink?  No wonder Brendan wanted to stick around another day or two.

 And they bring pet friends to visit here.   This is Betsy.

 Brendan could hardly wait to get to the playroom today.  After months of being in isolation, he was so glad to be able to get out of his room whenever he wanted.  He beat me at table pool. . .

 . . .and Air Hockey.

 One of the nice things about "K" pod (the ICU overflow) is that you don't have to keep the doors closed.  They only keep kids down here whose counts aren't compromised.

 While waiting around for the endocrinologist doctor to show up, KSL TV dropped in to interview Brendan for their upcoming telethon on June 3rd.

 Then he wanted to go right back to the playroom.  This time he beat me at foosball.

Discharge was slow in coming today, so while I talked to the endocrinologist about hormones, growth expectations, and bone scans, Susan came to help Brendan make more goo!  (Brendan was so glad he could play with Susan rather than sit around and listen to us talk about puberty!)

 Brendan couldn't wait to show Sarah how the "magic" solution makes it all stick together.

Before we left the hospital, the endocrinologist wanted an x-ray of Brendan's growth plate in his hand.  It's measurements will help them determine how Brendan is growing and if he needs growth hormones.

 Yep, they match!

 Before checking out, Brendan ordered nachos and a vanilla shake.  Oh, and a sprinkle cupcake.  Gotta enjoy it while you can!

 It was great to finally leave the hospital.  It was kind of starting to feel final.  Nurses coming on shift waved to Brendan and told him "Congratulations," and "Hope we don't see you again!"  Nice stuff like that.

 The reality is really starting to sink in.  While the endocrinologist doesn't think the patchy spots on the bone scan have anything to do with metabolic issues, she suggested it might have something to do with infarction (tiny blood clots in the bones) which may be caused by the chemo.  (She gave Brendan a high dose of vitamin D to take and we will try to strengthen the bones after all they have been through.)  While the bone scans are still confusing, they really are thinking that there is no sign of cancer right now.  The fall out from treatment is what we will be dealing with for years to come.

Brendan's bell ringing ceremony - indicating his end of treatment - will be scheduled for sometime this next month when everyone can be there.  It really will be quite the celebration!