Ben Brewer's Blog

Ben is, as you’ve probably heard by now, back in the hospital. He spiked a fever, 102.2, Saturday afternoon and we followed protocol and took him to the emergency room. Oddly enough, he had no fever once we got there but spiked again as soon as we got settled into a room. I think his immune system was just saying “Keep me out of the friggin’ emergency room!” because it was packed!

Now, the funny thing about it was that 90% of the people in there were family members. While I understand that trauma affects a family overall, I don’t understand why, when a child is sick, you’d bring your ENTIRE family, meaning all the kids, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. It’s something we’ve pondered regularly since the hospital put the new ‘no other kids’ policy into effect a month ago.

So, about Ben… The fever stopped yesterday and we are going to fight to get him out and home today, if the cultures come back negative. He’s much happier at home and we really don’t want to go stir crazy again in the hospital for 5 days. There is only so much one can do to keep an 8 year old entertained before he starts to get depressed and miss being in the comfort of his own home. So, pray the cultures come back negative and we can clear out tonight or, at the latest, early tomorrow morning.

Christmas is coming up fast, if you haven’t noticed. Ben has expressed to us many times that he’d like to be an engineer when he grows up. He used to want to be a rock star before he found out how hard Guitar Hero is to play, and we haven’t told him that it’s nothing close to playing real instruments. If you have a suggestion on some kids toys that would stimulate his engineering talents, send them to us.

Also, a minor update on treatment plans (though not really an update)… Columbus Children’s Hospital opened a 3F8 antibody study recently that Ben might have been able to participate in. While it would have been nice to go back to Columbus, the study required Ben to still have traces of cancer left before entering. That would have meant Ben would have to receive 3F8 AND radiation back to back for a few months. Because 3F8 is extremely painful (from what we’ve heard from other parents) and radiation knocks the hell out of Ben’s system, we didn’t want to deviate from our current plan, which is radiation then 3F8. So, long story short, we’ll be going to Sloan Kettering in New York after he finishes up radiation, which should be sometime in February-ish.

This will mean Ben should (if he’s feeling well enough) be able to get out and see some of New York. He’s especially excited to see the Nintendo Store, if you can imagine that.

That’s all for now. Please continue to pray for Ben’s well-being and our sanity as we try and get him over the finish line.

Love,
The Brewers