Doing Great!

(Ryan and his good buddy John David - playing at the park - thank you Jesus for special friends)


Ryan is doing well with this round of chemo. They check his urine each time to make sure his bladder is okay - so far, there has been no blood, etc. We wake him up every 2 hours to potty - he does great and then right back to sleep (at least last night for me) - Rob is staying with him tonight. No nausea either!!! Praise Jesus! Appetite could be better - so please keep that in your prayers - we are still praying that he will not need a feeding tube. His weight is maintaining which is a great praise - I would love to see him gain a few though. I had prayed on Wed. night that we would be on the "A" pod - this is the myelo-suppresion unit and most people don't want on this pod if they don't have to be there - the visitation is much more strict and no refrigerators in the rooms - this is where the kids who receive bone marrow transplants must be. We were on this unit last round - I was a bit disapointed at the time, but after the first night and day - I loved it - we had the most incredible nurses. Thursday morning when we first walked into the clinic - they asked if we minded being on the "A" pod since that is where they had an available room :). I was so grateful and just knew Jesus was reminding me that He cares about even the tiniest of details, then when we got over there we had the exact same nurses as last time - Yolonda, Tami, and Adale (sp?) - they are so sweet to Ryan and to us - what a blessing they are to our family. Just an example of what great care they take of us - Ryan HATES his meds he has to take by mouth - he has figured out he can choke them down with orange sherbert. Well, the hospital was out of orange sherbert - this was causing Ryan a great deal of panic - he agreed to try with chocolate ice cream. Would you believe - all out of chocolate ice cream too. Things were not looking good and Ryan was breaking out with his splotches that he gets when he gets nervous and stressed (it is truly pitiful, but sorta cute at the same time - the first time the docs or nurses see him do this, they think he is having an allergic reaction to something). Thankfully, we had a chocolate milk shake and Tami thought to mix the shake with vanilla ice cream - that did the trick and we got the medicine down. Well ....... this morning, Yolonda was very excited because she found orange sherbert - I just knew getting his med down would be a piece of cake for sure. Next thing I know .... Ryan is crying saying it worked better with the choc. shake and vanilla ice cream - I thought I would scream- knowing very well that part of this was just a delay tactic. I told him there was nothing open to get a choc. shake at that time and he was just going to have to get over it - here comes Yolonda saying - not to worry - she will be making him a choc. shake - if a choc. shake is what he wants, then it's what he gets. These nurses are truly angels. Yolanda also took care of the son of some friends of ours, John Marlin. John just recently celebrated his 3 year anniversary of his bone marrow transplant - Praise You Jesus!!! As his family says ... John HAD cancer. I believe we will say that too. It is such a small world - I remember watching this precious family going through this fire - they walked each step with God and it was very obvious that their trust was in Him. Now Curt and Emily are carrying us in a way that only those who have walked the walk can - God has been faithful to not make us walk this alone. (John - these nurses have the most incredible things to say about you ..... :)) Little did I know that as I followed this families journey so very closely, that He was teaching me, preparing me for my own walk .....

Ryan's hearing test was perfectly normal --- that is a great praise too!

Ryan's picture with Michelle (another one of our favorite nurses! Actually - they all are extremely special) is on the Vanderbilt Children's website - all you do is click on the link to Children's Hospital from our blog - go to Press Room (media) - then click on the Silly Socks story. You need to check out our sweet boy :).

I also have great news - Jackson Ashley's MRI is CLEAR!!! Our God is an Awesome God!

God always has a way of putting things into perspective for us - last night I went to the Ronald McDonald room to get some popcorn for Ryan - there was a family in the hallway in unspeakable agony that would be leaving with empty arms. I decided chemo would be a breeze. My heart ached - and I was reminded that things can always be so much worse. I know our family will never be the same - the family we were on October 4, 2006 doesn't exist anymore - there are many things I like better about who we are today - then, there are days that I think the cost is far to great and I would rather not be refined in such a way. Please pray for our family - that we will yield to all that God has for us during this walk, that we would learn to embrace this time - it's hard imagining being able to do that, mostly I just want to run as far away as I can get - but I do believe His word tells us that by not embracing it - we will miss out on many hidden treasures along this journey ..... His purpose for everything in our lives is that we may know Him - The One True God.

"Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat - I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. follow me and I'll show you how." Luke 9:23-24 (The Message)

"I have refined you but not in the way silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering." Isaiah 48:10