Brody {Six Years Later}

Six years ago today was without a doubt the scariest day of my life.

We were asked that evening to leave the NICU so that the doctors could work on Brody. Our wing of the NICU was blocked off and Brody’s isolette  was surrounded by partitions. His "23 weeker" lungs were failing and his brain was swelling and hemorrhaging more each and day causing numerous issues and leaving him hanging onto his life by a thread.

Completely overwhelmed and still trying to take in everything that had happened the last few days I remember my OB taking my hand and telling me "these next 12 hours will make or break Brody. Right now you need to pray."

It was a Wednesday night and our church stopped service, joined hands and Baxter lead the congregation in prayer for our Brody.

Brody had the doctors “backed into a corner with nothing else they could do…” His last hope was a gas called Nitric Oxide and thankfully, Brody made a turn for the better and responded well to the treatment. I remember the neonatologist coming to Bret and saying "I don't know what you’re doing, but keep doing it".

Brody showed us all that day just how tough a teeny tiny premature baby could be.

Although it wasn't all uphill from that day forward I knew my Brody wasn't going to give up without a fight. My heart ached as I watched him each day struggle. I watched his body swell and his tiny hands clinch tighter as the pressure on his brain worsened and I watched more and more machines surround him as the days passed. I watched as his tiny body was poked and prodded with multiple IVs, chest tubs, broviacs, tubes and monitors. with.  As badly as I wanted to hold him to speak to him to love on him, I was also terrified to over-stimulate him and make things worse. There were times all I could do was crack the window of his incubator and softly encourage him to hang on. So many tears I wiped off of his bed as I prayed and begged him to stay strong.

Six years later… look at my boy now…

All parents are proud but I’m certain you don’t get any more proud of your child than I am of my Brody. I am so thankful to God that he is allowing Bret and I to raise this pint size, country music lovin’, southern accent talkin’, blonde haired, blue eyed boy.

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 1 Samuel 1:27 NIV

 

Brody’s Recovery {Shunt Malfunction}

So many of you have asked how our Brody is doing since his surgery the week before last. His incision is looking great and he’s almost back to normal! He was scheduled to go back to school on Tuesday but woke up vomiting and it continued all morning and afternoon. Vomiting (especially with no other signs of sickness like fever) is a big red flag after surgery so his docs insisted he be seen in the ER once again. He ended up spending the evening in the ER and having another CT and Xrays done and thankfully, everything looked good. They said it could be his body trying to reject the new foreign object in his brain (which is expected) or a tummy bug. Whatever is was, he hasn’t thrown up since being there and taking several doses of zofran. The poor boy cried and cried in the ER and was so afraid he would have to stay there again overnight. Once discharged he called a handful of people on the way home telling them “My brains all fixed, yall! I didn’t even have to spend the night there or have surgery! Now I’m going to eat some chiladas (enchiladas)!” Bless his little country heart.

He finally got to go back to school last Thursday and although he isn’t 100% back to himself, he’s enjoying being back! He gets tired pretty easily and his appetite has decreased tremendously but little by little he’s getting there each day. He is still under close watch until he is released by his neurosurgeon on December 9th. Until then, still no PE, recess or major physical activity. He’s learned a LOT in the past couple of weeks about his shunt and what is does to help him. We never talked too much about it before, but now all of the quads are very aware he has it and that it can be very serious is something goes wrong with it. Brody has enjoyed receiving cards and get well wishes that are “just for him!” in the mail – thank you all who sent one!

Here’s a pic of our big man last Monday night kissing a horse while watching Kylee’s riding lessons. The next day was “crazy hair day” at school so I shaved his head to look like an old grandpa. Low and behold I did it for nothing as he ended up staying home and heading back to Cook Childrens instead of school. Grr! His head has since been shaved so he looks like a little {bald} boy once again ;)

Thanks again for all of the support!

Lots coming up: Dallas Cowboys, Halloween 2014, more surgery and Blade’s 2nd Birthday!!!

Brody: Home Sweet Home!

 I’m happy to report we are home. Wow what a whirlwind. On our quiet drive home, with Brody sleeping peacefully in the backseat, I told Bret “I can’t believe all that just happened.” Not only a very scary thing to go through but everything being unexpected and all of a sudden makes it hit a little harder. As I mentioned before, when we took Brody into the first ER, Bret and I both expected to be told he had a little something viral going on and that he would be fine. My heart fell to my feet when the doctor told us he needed to be transported right away. Each year at Brody’s annual check up, Dr. Honeycutt always reminds us it’s not a matter of if the shunt malfunctions, it’s a matter of when shunt malfunctions. Low and behold, with no warning, here we were.

The scariest part of the entire thing for Brody was the dreaded IV. He and Kylee have had their fair share and h a t e them. Once that was in and we were ready to transport, the thought of being in an ambulance scared him. Once we were in (I rode with him and Bret followed) he was LIVING it up! He quickly stole the hearts of the EMTs with his thick southern accent and had them laughing hysterically the entire ride. “What’s that there on yall’s wall? Where’d yall get all these doctor tools? Why we drivin’ backwards? What kinda phone you got?” No doubt that crew will remember Brody for a while!

This is the picture of Brody just before going into surgery the next morning. You can see the fear in his little face :( His nurses were wonderful and Dr. Honeycutt prayed over Brody, just like he did 5 years ago, before he took our baby away from us. Nothing makes kissing your baby goodbye before a risky surgery easy, but having a doctor like ours makes it a little more bearable.

The catheter in Brody’s brain that helps drain the CSF was completely blocked causing the fluid to build up (see previous blog for further details). The new catheter that Dr. Honeycutt placed relieved pressure immediately. The doctors told us that in *most* cases, shunt patients show the same symptoms each time their shunt malfunctions, so now we know what to look for in Brody. The hard part is knowing that his symptoms could have been overlooked SO easily, especially for people who don’t know Brody very well. I’m so thankful, even after doubting our first instincts, that we took Brody in.

Here are a few pictures of Day 1. He was out of the OR by 10am and was very lethargic ALL day long and was only awake for maybe a total of 1.5 hours for next 20 hours or so. He would open his eyes and we would excitedly greet him only to have him drift off again within a minute or two. Although he had several visitors, I’m not sure he remembers any of them being there. Most of them left evidence, which helped ;) Love the picture of Brody & his little cousin Riley!

The below pictures are from Day 2, today. HUGE difference! It took him a while but once he ate a little breakfast he ventured out of his room. He had a great time in the awesome playroom and walked the halls for a good while before heading back to his bed. Luckily he isn’t in too much pain and his incision looks great (I’ll spare you the pictures!). They discharged us this afternoon and after a good long nap, Brody was in a great mood to meet his brothers and sisters!

 

Brody has to take it easy but will return to school next week. No recess, PE or strenuous activity until just after Thanksgiving, when he goes back for follow up scans to check his ventricles. We’re watching him closely for signs of infection or a back to back malfunction, which they say happens sometimes. As for now, our brave little boy is tucked away in his own bed and doing well, which we are so thankful for!

Thanks again to all of you for the unending support. The prayers, words of encouragement and the many people stepping forward offering to help are so appreciated. A special thanks to everyone who helped with the other kiddos at home. It’s because of YOU that Bret and I BOTH were able to be by Brody’s side and we feel so blessed to have so many selfless friends and family members there when we need them!

Now to take a breather before both Korbin and Kylee go in for surgeries of their own in the coming weeks… ay yi yi! Will keep everyone posted as we get closer.

"Hey Chunky!"

Today is the day I regret saying that to Brody over and over in his little 2 years of life. Bret got them out of bed this morning, I went out to greet them and the moment he saw me he smiled and said "Heeyy Chunky!" Thanks Buddy, way to start my weekend.

You can bet your tail I'll be working hard at my 5am workout Monday morning ;)

Another one bites the dust...

After getting out of the shower this morning I hear a loud thud followed by crying. Congrats, my Broman, on taking third place in taking a nosedive out of the crib!

Happy Wednesday!

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My Sick Little Quadlings

Yep, you read that right, the babies have been sick. A few days ago the clear runny noses started, no big deal right? Before we knew the attitudes started and moods changed, everyone became clingy and irritable. After multiple doses of Tylenol and Pediatex the Broman seemed to only get worse and his diapers (even the morning ones) were not as wet as normal. I bought an ice cream thing at sonic the other day on our way back from an appointment and the babies loved it, except Brody, he put his head down on the floor and moaned. I knew at this point it was time to call the doc. I took him in and he checked out OK. Throat looked good, no fluid in the ears, no fever etc. Our plan was to go home, continue our meds and expect him to feel better soon.

Yesterday Bret and I took them all on a diaper run to Sams. Usually the babies smile and wave at all of the onlookers, but this time Brody had a blank stare and by the time we got to the check out line, he had his head resting on the side of his choo choo wagon. I could tell the little dude was not feeling well AT ALL. I told Bret we need to hurry and get him home ASAP. Of course all eyes are on us, people are ooing and ahhing "wow 4 babies. oh my gosh 4 babies. you had 4 babies?!...." in the middle of us being the main attraction Brody started to puke... and puke more and more and more. Everyone's oohs and ahhs quickly turned to looks of shock as this one baby starts to randomly vomit all over himself. I try not to panic, turn, see the sign for the bathroom and start running pulling the choo choo behind me with Brody puking away - now people are really looking. Nice. Thankfully the other babies cooperated and sat quietly (besides Baxlyn saying "Uh-Oh!" very 4 seconds) while I undressed Brody and cleaned him up.

At this point Brody is pale, OK he's always pale, but he was even more pale than normal and could barely hold his eyes open to look at me. Dr. Honeycutt, his neurosurgeon, has always said sickly symptoms without fever (as well as other things) is a sign of shunt failure. After talking to Honeycutt and the pediatrician we decided to take Brody to the Children's ER to have him evaluated. There was a good chance it was nothing, but if it was a shunt malfunction and we ignored it, it could be fatal. They started by taking blood, then did a CT scan, head chest and ab xrays, another CT, followed by an IV drip. I think the worst part of the whole thing was that he couldn't hold his Mickey during the procedures :( He cried and cried and clung on to that Mickey like there was no tomorrow! After several hours the doc came in and told us his shunt looked great and was working properly. He said his white blood cell count was up which meant he is probably developing (or has) a viral infection, but nothing major to worry about.

As bad as he felt, the INSTANT he saw the camera he flashed me a smile!

This morning Brody is feeling much better, not back to his normal self, but better! The other babies are fussy and still dealing with their runny noses but nothing we can't handle. Just hoping they're on the mend soon!

Updates on Brody & Kylee

Thanks to all of you who said prayers for Miss Kylee on Monday. It was a LONG, HARD, EXHAUSTING day for her but overall went well. The past few months she has been dropping her head occasionally, it's a very quick drop and back up again. When she first started it, I thought it was just a "new thing" she was doing but when her therapist and developmental ped saw it, they immediately said we needed to have things checked out just to make sure. There's a chance that it could be nothing, but given her circumstances and history it could very well be something to worry about like seizures.

Kylee, happy as can be when we arrived!

She had an EEG and MRI scheduled and what I was nervous about was the MRI because she had to be "put under". Her EEG was done first and let me tell you, it was TORTURE. We had to hold her down while she screamed so they could attach probably 30-40 electrodes (seen at top left in picture) to her scalp. Once they finally got her hooked up and left her alone she passed out which was ideal to get a good look at her brain. Bret and I were able to stay with her the whole time, but it was soo hard seeing her that upset for that long of a time. I've seen our babies go the A LOT of stuff in their little lifetime, but this was hard for me, I guess because she's older. I told Bret once they get a little older and have to go through this stuff, after the appointment we will take them to the store and let them pick out whatever toy they want (ok maybe any toy at the dollar store ;)). They watched her brain activity for about 30mins and then woke her up. When I say "woke her up" it wasn't a sweet little voice saying her name softly. They used what looked like a book light to wake her up, with a series of bright flashes slow then fast then slower then faster... it was like the paparazzi to the 10th power. Needless to say as she woke up she was TERRIFIED, had cracked lips and a dry mouth from screaming, and still very tired.

She went straight from the EEG to the MRI. The anesthesia put her out within 20seconds and the MRI only took about 20minutes. When she woke up she was not only scared but mad and ONLY wanted her Daddy, if I even looked at her she screamed. Within an hour we were released and headed home. We should be contacted this week to hear the results, keep praying!

Checkin' out her "Good Patient" sticker and glad to be home.

Now for Brody! He has been doing well with his cranial helmet, I realized it was 6 months ago that he got his first one which is crazy but we have seen MAJOR MAJOR improvements! He will be fitted this week for his third and hopefully FINAL helmet and should be done within just a few more months!!!

Brody at the doctor getting his helmet adjusted.

Love this one of him looking at one of his progress sheets! "Look at those results!!!" lol

Thanks again for the comments, encouragement, texts, and prayers for Monday! They were greatly needed and appreciated!