Thankful for Good News!

It has been so long since I logged on to blog, I almost had forgotten my password! We did receive the best news ever that Ryan's MRI was clear. We are always overwhelmed and humbled - literally brought to our knees by this gift we have been given. We are always, always, always painfully aware that not everyone received this same good news on that day. Thank you for praying - Ryan was incredibly brave - I can tell he is getting older in so many ways - very different from my little 4 y.o. baby boy when he was diagnosed three years ago. IV went in first time, he woke up and was just ready to "go and get this over with" - no tears at all - I'm so proud of this little guy.

Dr. Kuttesch says that we now move to "survivor" protocol - instead of MRI's every 3 months, we will move to every 4 or 6 months - he wasn't sure yet. He also gave us the okay to start the growth hormone therapy to help Ryan grow - if we don't do this, he will not grow much taller than he is right now. The issue with starting this is that there is some concern that if you stimulate growth in the good cells, you could stimulate growth in any cancer cells lurking around - the good news is that with Ryan's type of cancer studies show that this is not really an issue. Ryan will get one shot every day, with one day off - they already showed him the little pen and he didn't really seem to be all that conerned about it. They said most parents give the shot while they are sleeping and they never even wake up - that would be wonderful! We also saw the eye dr. - he said Ryan's eye was more stable, but still doesn't have any answers as far as the double vision that he deals with every day. He says it is still a wait and see thing. Please continue to pray for complete healing of Ryan's eyes and his sweet smile - still missing that so much.

We are all ready for Christmas - Addie and Ryan seem to be on steroids - so much excitement and so fun!! Addie asks several times a day "is it Christmas Eve today?". Andrew is just busy, busy, busy - never stops. The lower half of our Christmas tree is completely bare - we just keep moving the ornaments on up to the top. At least it has remained in an upright position - Addie would just take the entire tree down when she was this age. When I start to lose my mind, I try to stop and remind myself how incredibly blessed I am to HAVE all of this craziness in my life - somedays that works, others it doesn't - ha, ha! Seriously, it is a blessing that we should never take for granted.

Please remember to keep Ethan Bibb and Jackson Ashley in your prayers. Ethan will have his last chemo on 12/26. He is home right now and getting ready for a great Christmas. Jackson finished his radiation - he was so brave and never had to be sedated - so, so proud of him!

They both love mail and the last time I talked with Ethan's dad - his was slowing down, so if you get a chance - it would mean the world to them to have a surprise in the mailbox.

Ethan Bibb (Ethan has an older sister, Lanna - this journey is equally as hard for them as well)
P.O. Box 323
Cross Plains, TN 37049

Jackson Ashley
2037 Grandview Dr.
Green Brier, TN 37073

My prayer for these boys is that they will have a long, long life and that they will "proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn" (Psalm 22:31).

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas - thank you so much for loving us and sustaining us with your prayers!!! We love you all!