Month: December 2019

Brax’s counts were great this past Tuesday and she officially started Maintenance! This is the final phase of treatment and will last until the end of May 2021. Yes, it’s long, but things should be much smoother sailing and we should be able to get back to “normal” life – school, sports, travel, etc. The first two weeks of Maintenance, Brax will have cranial radiation due the ammount of Luekemia found in her CSF (spinal fluid) at diagnosis. This is what put her into the Very High Risk category as well. We have been told radiation should go very well, with no major side effects. The most common side effect is that some kids feel tired, but usually that is a delayed response and they don’t feel it until radiation is done. At this point, after everything we have been through, if feeling a little tired is the worst of it, we will gladly take it.

In other news, Brax got a personal tour of the Viking’s Practice facility this past Monday. They rolled out the red carpet for her and showed her a lot of areas normally restricted (ie. Locker Room, War Room, etc) Thanks to Michael @ UNRL for coordinating this with Glenn and the Vikings.

Also, some more exciting news! Brax was cleared to travel to the Outback Bowl in Tampa on New Year’s Day! She initially didn’t think she’d be able too, due to timing of radiation but Dr. Sadak had her schedule worked out so we can head down for a couple of days. She’s thrilled, we’re thrilled! Thanks Dr. Sadak!

And for the cherry on top of week, this past Friday Brax was invited to give a speech to the Gopher Football team about her story. Coach Fleck asked her some time ago if she’d be willing to come in during bowl week prep and do that and she, without hesitation, agreed. She wrote the speech herself and she did a great job! If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out. It’s on our Fun Stuff page or you can click HERE to get there.

Brax is feeling really good overall and we are hoping it will just continue to improve. It’s been a really good few weeks and it’s so nice to see after such a long year.

And quickly, thanks to everyone who has donated or given gift cards during our 12 Days of Swag campaign. And if you haven’t, you have until midnite on Christmas Eve! Any donation (any amount) will be used toward food gift cards for U of M Families and you will be entered into a drawing for 1 of 12 TB1Fund Clothing items. Winners announced Christmas Day!

Thanks as always, to EVERYONE, who has and who continues to keep our family in their thoughts and prayers. It’s been a tough year, but we are coming out of this stronger than ever.

Brax and the entire Battaglia Family are wishing you and your families the Merriest Christmas and Happiest New Year! We are excited for 2020!

****BUDDY UPDATE: Brax’s good buddy Megan was discharged this past week and will be home for Christmas – so AWESOME! Casey’s spot of cancer was remove and no further chemo needed – just more frequent scans – so AWESOME! And, Bella will soon be home to start treatment much closer to home at Masonic and things are going in the right direction for her too – so AWESOME!

We wanted to post a quick update to keep everyone in the loop. Brax is doing great and feeling great, but counts have not been high enough to start Maintenance. She didn’t make counts on 12/3 and then just barely missed again on 12/10. We were surprised on the 3rd and shocked on the 10th. She’s feeling the best she has felt since this summer and has been out and about and getting in gym time. We go back this Tuesday and based on where things have been trending she should be well above the threshold. The bummer of being pushed back two weeks now, is that radiation will be over the holiday break…..and EVERY DAY for 2 weeks…bummer. It’s out of our control, but stinks nonetheless. She was excited to go the Bowl Game in Tampa and have radiation done before Christmas. But, as we have learned throughout this process, everything is out of our control and we are so thankful/grateful for where we are, regardless of the things we have to miss at this point in time. We will update next week after Tuesday’s appointment.

Please continue to pray for Brax, Bella, Megan & Casey. They can all use the continued prayers.

And a quick side note, check out the Fun Stuff page to see Casey accept the 2019 Disney Spirit Award. Congrats Casey and well deserved.

Brax & TB1Fund are running 12 days of Swag starting Friday the 13th thru Tuesday the 24th.

All donations (any size) made to TB1Fund during this period will be entered in into a drawing for 1 of 12 prizes. Money raised during these 12 days will go toward the food gift card drive for patients and families of the U of M Masonic Children’s Hospital. We personally know how nice it was to be order something outside of the hospital, but it can add up and we want to do something small, yet directly impactful for inpatient families looking to mix it up. You can also submit physical or electronic gift cards and those will count as a donation too. Email [email protected] for more info. Any cards are accepted, but BiteSquad, DoorDash and/or GrubHub cards work the best as they offer the biggest selection + delivery…..very handy to not have to leave the hospital and have food delivered.

www.TB1Fund.org to donate

And thank you to everyone who has contributed thus far. We surpassed $1,500 in GC’s already and would like to hit $2500 by December 24th.
Thanks to Integrity Global Solutions for the $50 Door Dash cards and thanks to Bite Squad for the $25 gift cards.

TB1F is off to a great start and we have a lot planned for 2020!‬ ‪

Thank you to everyone who has donated and volunteered!

Thank you to all of our sponsors and partners – you are making a difference! ‪

We are hoping to make a big end of the year push and we are currently looking for help with food gift cards (BiteSquad, Grubhub, DoorDash, etc.) for families on floor 5. You can help by making a donation to the fund or by sending gift cards. The hospital food gets old and it’s an added expense for all family members and gift cards are a HUGE help!  If you can help, please donate at www.TB1Fund.org or reach out to us via email or phone at our FAQ page https://braxtonbattaglia.com/faq/ if you’d like to send a physical card.

In regards to our schedule, we start our first treatment of Maintenance tomorrow. This last phase is 18 months long (yes, it’s LONG) and it’s broken up into 90-day segments. Radiation will start next week and last for 2 weeks.

We will update soon with how Brax is feeling.

Thanks again to everyone for the continued prayers and support. Every day is one day closer to being done!