Archive for May, 2009
5/29 update
Hello everyone. I know it’s been awhile since either one of us has posted, but there really wasn’t anything to post about. As my mother says: No news is good news.
The past two days have been rough. Yesterday Ryan had his PET scan, and today he had a bone marrow extraction and a LP to draw some spinal fluid. All of this is post-chemo tests, which we are praying are clear. Next Tuesday, Ryan will have an EKG, an ECHO, and a brain MRI. This will complete all the scans he needs to do. On Wednesday, two things are happening. One: Ryan will be going to Camp Rainbow for a week. (It’s a camp for cancer survivors and cancer patients.) Two: Ryan’s tumor conference will take place. This is where everyone at the hospital will get together and discuss all the tests and scans that Ryan has done post-chemo. On June 15 at 9:40 am will be when we find out what they conclude. I don’t like the fact that we are going to have to wait until then, but considering where we started, this wait is nothing!
On another note, Troy is in New Jersey right now. His flight was delayed, and since I haven’t heard from him in awhile, I’m assuming that he caught the flight out to Atlanta. If he did not catch that flight, then that means that he won’t get home until tomorrow. Gotta love it. ;)
5/24 update
Sorry we didn’t post yesterday, but we had a very full day. As most of you know it was Ryan’s 9th birthday. Rain or shine we were having the party at the park, and it rained most of the time. The kids didn’t mind as most if not all of them loved getting wet. Several groups were represented at the party: Flowood Elementary School, Bomgar, Blair E. Batson Hospital for children, Cub Scout Pack 300, Northwest Rankin Baseball, and Trinity Presbyterian Church (hope I got everybody covered by one of the groups mentioned). There were about 125 people there, and I know that I didn’t get to see some of you – so thanks so much for coming out and making Ryan’s party a hit.
Several prayer requests this week:
- We have not heard from the CT and bone scans from last week. Please continue to pray that they are clear of tumors.
- This Thursday, Ryan will have a PET scan done. He has to go NPO for this test, and I really don’t like to hear him complain about being hungry.
- This Friday, Ryan will have a bone marrow procedure done. When we found out he had cancer, the doctors did one to make sure that the cancer wasn’t in his bones, and it wasn’t. This is just a post-chemo procedure to make sure that it is still not in the bones.
- This Thursday, Troy will be traveling out of town, but he will be back Friday. Please pray for safe travel for him and that he doesn’t worry too much about Ryan during his tests. (I would say pray for him not to worry, but that is a lost cause.)
I haven’t had a chance to download my pictures from the party, but when I do I will upload them for all to see.
5/22 update
Yesterday Ryan had his CT and bone scans. After finishing that, he wanted to go and spend some time with his classmates since it was the last full day of school. We got there about noon and left the school at 3:30. He had so much fun and I think his classmates had fun with him there. Since today was the last day of school (a half day), he wanted to go back again – so we did. We haven’t been home long, but we had a good day seeing his classmates and teachers.
Ryan’s PET scan is scheduled next Thursday morning, and he is having a bone marrow procedure done next Friday morning. After the procedure, I believe he will be done with his post-chemo scans and tests. Then the waiting game begins for the results. As soon as I know something I will let everyone know.
5/22 Midday Update
Ryan’s party is tomorrow and there is a good chance of light rain. For those of you that have RSVP’ed (and those of you that haven’t) we will be there rain or shine (please pray for shine though!) We will have some tents around the pavilion and will be setting up there. I just didn’t want anyone to wonder if we were going to be there in the rain. See you then!
God Bless!
5/18 update
As Troy said yesterday, Ryan went to the cancer clinic today for counts and to schedule his scans. His ANC was 52,000+ – that’s right 52,000+. I had to tell Troy a couple of times the number because it was high. The good news about that is Ryan doesn’t have to take any more shots, and he is so glad about that. He will have a CT and bone scan done this Thursday, and I have to call and see when the PET scan is schedule. I will let everyone know what the scans say.
Ryan’s birthday is Saturday and so is the party. If you haven’t RSVP-ed yet, please do so by emailing me. We are trying to get a head count so we can go and buy the food.
5/17 Morning Update
Wow, one whole week between posts. You can safely assume that means things are going well! We had a great week doing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Wednesday we went to church and after the lessons, the kids played in the gym for an hour. It was great to see them just being kids. Yesterday, I took Ryan and Bryce to our hunting camp for a day of being outdoors. It was fun! Ryan had a bit too much excitement though and did get sick just after we left. Nothing major, just fatigue. He was still very tired this morning, so Victoria took Deanna and Bryce to church while he and I stayed home.
Tomorrow, Ryan goes back to the cancer clinic for a check-up and to start planning his first round of scans since completing the chemo regimen. We are praying for clean scans! Just so everyone has the right expectation, we are talking about “hospital time” here. Even if we get scans on Monday, it will be days before we have the results. We will keep everyone abreast of the updates as we have them.
Next Saturday, Ryan turns 9 years old. He has grown up a lot in the past few months. I am so proud of the little man he has become. Bryce and Deanna have also adjusted well. We are looking forward to the summer months where the kids can stay home and play together with each other, the neighbors, and us!
God Bless and Stay Tuned!
5/10 – Preparing to go home
Just heard from the doctor this morning. They are preparing to send us home! It will still be a while before we can leave. Ryan has to get a transfusion of platelets and a transfusion of whole blood. After those complete, we will be outta here (again). Guess we can have a Mother’s Day meal as a family after all. Praise God!
5/10 Update
First of all Happy Mother’s Day Victoria (and all the other mother’s as well of course!)
We’re still in the hospital. Ryan is feeling well most of the time. He does still have nausea occasionally. We are hoping that we’ll be able to go home this afternoon, but more likely it will be tomorrow. We are anxiously awaiting the evaluation phase to start which will include CT Scans, PET scans, MRI’s and bone scans. I asked the doctor about next steps if signs of the tumors were still present. She said that there was a “plan B” but she didn’t even want to talk about it as she was confident that based on the type of cancer Ryan has as well as how well he has been responding that the tests would be negative. She even confirmed what a miraculous recovery Ryan had from when he was first diagnosed. Per her statement he was one of the sickest children and most critical cases they had ever seen on the front-end of treatments. Someone asked me yesterday why we didn’t go to St. Jude. We did consider it, but the reality is that Ryan’s case was too critical to consider a move. In retrospect, the care we have received and proximity to our home and support system have not caused us to regret our decision at all. We are so thankful to have Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital in our backyard!
Yesterday I volunteered to man a shift at the Blair E. Batson Miracle Home and took Bryce and Deanna with me. We had a good time and I am so proud of the way they behaved! We had a played together in the back yard between visitors. Victoria was going to take the kids to church today but Deanna started spiking a fever last night. Bryce has gone to church with some friends, Victoria and Deanna are home, Ryan and I are at the hospital. I guess we’ll get our family bonding time later.
Have a great day and God Bless!
5/8 update
Well… some good news. Ryan has not had a fever since last night. But since his number was down yesterday we will be here until they are happy with the number increase. Some more good news: Ryan’s ANC was 184 today. That’s up from 28.1 yesterday. WOOT! Not sure if the doctor will let us go home if the ANC is over 200 as I haven’t seen the doctor today, but I’ll let everyone know as soon as I do.
Ryan is feeling better since he got his blood transfusion last night. He been watching some movies and just being Ryan. Thanks for all your prayers and comments.
Chem Port?
A lot of people have asked me about Ryan’s chem port. I must admit that I knew nothing about them before this experience. I happened across a video today that another parent made to help their family know what it was all about. Hope you enjoy.
The NUMBING cream (EMLA) is awesome and I’m so glad someone told us a while back to use Glad Press-N-Seal because Ryan tends to break out from the tape. Accessing the port still hurts, but so much easier than the alternatives.
Thanks and God Bless!