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Brennan’s Buddies® © 2012





Odie

It was may 3rd 2010 we got our first indication that something was wrong. odie fell from his gaming chair while reaching to change the tv channel and broke his left arm. once we got him seen about and in a cast...we kinda laughed about what a freak accident it was. he was suppose to try out for the football team the next day and i had to assure him, it all must have happened for a reason...that he must not have been suppose to play football that year. he was real down about it all and even a few weeks later still asking for his pain meds. i thought maybe the meds were keeping him down so i started trying to take him off of them.over the next week or so he began to have little quick spells of nausea and chest pains and quick spikes of high fever for no apparent reason. we began to wonder if maybe he had cracked a rib when he fell so his dad decided to take him to the doctor...thank God. his dad insisted on blood work and a chest x ray.  that's when they found a huge mass on Odie's liver and spots in his lungs...may 30th. if Odie had tried out for the football team with a football sized tumor in his belly, he could have surely been injured in a way none of us would have recognized...he could have bled out and been lost to us without us having any idea why. God was at work the night odie broke his arm...i am sure of it.



Odie’s story

oncologist here in shreveport diagnosed him on tue june 1st 2010 with liver cancer, that had already moved into both his lungs. dr judy had us pack our bags and leave for st jude in memphis the next day for what they implied would be an indefinite stay there.

after almost a week the drs came to us with a name...hypatia cellular carcinoma rare fast growing adult liver cancer. odie was told that they could not stop this cancer...their only hope was to slow its growth...and they did...until they couldn't anymore.

one year to the day of his diagnoses...God showed my son's weary aching little body mercy. God took him away from the cancer and all his pain and anguish. we believe now that his tumor had started to bleed again. drs all say that even if i'd had him at the hospital, there would have been no stopping what was happening, and odie had said he wanted to be at home when his time came. ('when his time came'...odie shouldn't have had to be thinking about such thoughts...no child should.) so many horrible ways this disease can end a life, and though odie was in lots of pain those last three days, he was awake a lot and able to get around...his breathing wasnt labored or stressed. i had read some on the possible ways his body could give out with hcc and was horrified by the thought of my odie having to go through anything like that. i prayed often that God would show him mercy when his time came...and He did. odie passed at home in my arms... with both of us oblivious as to what was happening...God must have intended that too.


"i find myself wishing still everyday that God had spared my son. i have out loud conversations with God about this all the time. i hear stories still about how odie has and still does touch peoples lives...and my hearts cries "God why my son? why did you not spare my son? why did you choose my son?”

then the other day this little voice from inside of me whispers to my broken heart...'God did choose your son...you were honored to be the mother of a child choosen by God.'

during odie's last year here with me, our mailman brought cards and letters everyday from people all over that were praying for him and blessed by his story. one letter in particular comes to mind...it came about 6 months into his treatment. it was from a church way across the country. they had been following odie's journey through our caringbridge and wanted to thank him for sharing because since his diagnoses, a little girl in their church family had also been diagnosed with cancer. they said following odie's story had shown them how to care for this little girl and her family. odie and i were both so touched by this letter, but after i read it to him, he grew quiet. then he shared with me that he was glad if he could help others but he wished there was another way...not like this. he marveled over all the letters and cards but said he'd rather be a regular healthy kid no one had ever heard of. what does a mother say to that?

then just a couple of weeks before he passed ...cards and letters still pouring in...he ask me 'momma? so many people are watching whats happening to me...does God want me to be doing something with all of this?' all i could tell him was to pray about it...that God would show him. but instead God took him. now his question is mine...'what does God want me to do with all of this?'

this birthday celebration and collecting donations for st jude wasnt something i thought of on my own...the idea of it just seeped out of my heart for me to find. and so many others have found it in their hearts too. please help us to please God with our use of his plan. posting this link yet again and asking God to touch the hearts of those that might read this and inspire you to give...for the love of odie and God's plan for his life's story.

Odie Time Celebration Benefit for the children of St. Jude


(so far we have raised $6000. please help us do something grand with God's plan)"


Read more about Odie  HERE