Ryan and Santa
(we missed our call for all of us to see him and get a picture,
so we ran him down as he was leaving)

Kyle and Nick Swardson
(Blades of Glory, Bench Warmers, and others)

Logan and twins Rebecca and Camilla Russo from
Zack and Cody

Ryan and Allysa Milano

Our movie stars!
(minus Kyle he was in his PJs for the car ride down to UCLA)

Hello! Well, after getting out of the Hospital on Saturday we figured by Monday her counts would not be high enough for us all to attend the UCLA Christmas party Tuesday (hosted by Allysa Milano), but despite our doubts....Monday her counts had come up to 600...WOW!!! So, we were able to go and we all had a blast. There was food, games, and gifts for all the kiddos. We met Allysa Milano...she was so sweet and down to earth. She actually came down to Ryan's level and was chatting with her for a good 5 minutes before we ever even took any pictures with her.

Friday December 12th we were all able to attend Kyle's school play "A Christmas Carol". Oh, did I mention he was Scrooge?? That's right...the lead role! He did an incredible job! They all did!! It was awesome seeing him come out of the curtain during the applause at the very end!! Talk about a proud parent moment!

GRANDPA

Then Saturday we picked up a visitor....one of our favorites....GRANDPA!!! My Dad will be staying a week...YEA!!! We have had a blast with him. We actually planned this visit to just hang out around the house because we were not sure what the situation with Ryan was going to be. We have put up our tree and hung lights, and I have actually gotten to escape to do a little Christmas shopping.....finally! Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

I wanted to give everyone an update on the little boy Ryan Wilson that I mentioned in a previous entry. They received great news...his twin sister was a perfect bone marrow match for him. That is incredible news for him and their family. His odds at overcoming this now have greatly improved!! Thank you everyone for your continued prayers for both of our Ryans!

Long Time no Blog!!

Well Hello!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! We have been very busy lately. That is my excuse for no recent entries. I wish we could say we have been out Christmas shopping, but unfortunately we have been in and out of the hospital. Fevers, Fevers, Fevers!!! Thankfully nothing ever came back on the blood cultures, yet like I have said before they have to treat her as if there is until we get the results of blood cultures back 24-48 hours later.

All my Beautiful Kiddos

Logan just a little excited about her present!

First off....Happy Birthday to my Beautiful Logan!!! She turned 7 on the 25th of November. Happy Birthday Baby!!

Ryan

Ryan at Memorial Hospital

So, lets see....the evening of Wed the 26th she began running a fever. That evening we were able to get cultures drawn and labs. The following morning, Thanksgiving morning, we were able to have her Pediatrician call in an order for IV antibiotics to a local Urgent Care. We were very thankful because that allowed us to be home for turkey day instead of in the hospital. Well...as the day progressed her fever got higher and higher, therefore landing us at Memorial hospital for the next two days....Yuck!!! While in the hospital she received more antibiotics and also got a blood transfusion. Her hemoglobin and hematocrit were low. We were able to come home on the 29th with IV antibiotics to be given twice a day by me. See....I knew I would use my medical experience again, I just didn't think it would be on my daughter.

Ryan enjoying one of her favorite treats while in the hospital
ICE CREAM!!!!

Ryan playing one of her favorite things while in the hospital...doctor.
"Okay mom ...only five more pokes"

The future Dr. Ryan Wiggins

Well, a couple days later, on the 3rd, she began running another temperature while still on the antibiotics. Her hemaglobin and hematacrit were very low again and her "counts" were really low. After her Pediatrician and the docs at UCLA talked, the end result was us driving to UCLA at 12am. That sucked!!! They were able to get her a bed (not have us sit in the ER) so we hopped in the car and hit the road. Matthew was on duty, but thankfully Kenny was not, so he was able to come over and spend the rest of the night with the kiddos. We spent the next three days there on stronger antibiotics and getting another transfusion. They took her off all the antibiotics on Friday morning and watched her for fevers. No fevers so....she was able to come home on Saturday afternoon. And no fevers so far (please say some prayers)! By the way, that was our first (and hopefully only) visit to the new hospital.....WOW! Very nice!!!

Speaking of prayers, I have a request. We were hooked up with another family from here in Bakersfield recently. They were actually down at UCLA when we were there, so I got to meet some of them. Ryan Wilson is an eighteen month old little boy who was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. I don't know if anyone remembers at the begining of our Ryan being diagnosed.... they test for a Chromosome called the Philadelphia chromosome. Well, our Ryan was negative, but Ryan Wilson's came back positive. That makes the road he will have to travel extemely rocky. He will need a bone marrow transplant, and his regimin of chemo will be tougher. Please pray for him, that one of his siblings is a match, that his family be as blessed as we have been to have the love and support around them that we have, that his little body fight this battle the way our Ryan has, triumphantly! To the right is the link to his care page for those who want to follow his journey. Warning----He is probably one of the cutest little boys you will have ever seen!!!

Thank you again to all those who are providing your thoughts, prayers, love, and support. Again we appreciate it more than you know!!!! Love to you all!

Another Head Shaving Party

Ryan and her Papa!
I love the expression!!!
The end result!!! Uncle Drew's Turn

Ryan and her Uncle Drew
Papa, Drew, and Ryan
Drew and his friend Erin with Ry

Uncle David your up!!!

Looking good!

Aunt Holly.....The Brave One

The After
Ryan and her Uncle David and Aunt Holly

All of us Baldies!!!

The day that we shaved Ryan's head not everyone was available to participate. So.....we had another head shaving party!!!! Now we are not the only baldies in town!!!!

The Big Day

The "Big Day" was not so big.....everything went really well last Tuesday. She was in a great mood! I think because she has been feeling fairly normal lately they finally got to get a dose of the real Ryan. In the past she has been very quiet, and not very friendly. This time she was talking and laughing when they would try to play with her...it was great! She had her procedure and that went well. She got her IV meds and that all went well. They have ordered her daily IV Meds to be given at home, so home health will be out to give that the rest of this week, then next week Tues., Wed, Thurs, and Friday. The medications that she is getting through her IV and the ones she will take orally are going to cause her counts to drop....a lot. So, again we will have to be on the look out for fevers, and she will continue to be a shut-in. I am so glad it is Hot-cocoa, warm fuzzy blanket, and reading books weather!! That makes it a little easier. Because her counts will be low for a while.....we don't have to go back down to UCLA until December 16th....YEAH!


We also got news they are going to eliminate one of the phases. The next phase would have been Intermaintenance #2 then Maintenance. Now she will just be starting Maintenance. She has just responded so well! I truly feel blessed. So all is well, and we just have to pray for no fevers, and for her little body to continue to fight like a Champ!!! Love to all!!

Tough Day Ahead

Ryan holding her Angel bear...Rosabella??!!

Hanging out at the hospital!

Hello all! We had another couple of days in the hospital last weekend. Last Friday she started running a fever and again we landed at the hospital for two days. This time thankfully we were able to go her Pediatricians office and bypass the ER!! Much better than sitting in the ER having her exposed to all of the yucky stuff that goes through there. We have now realized anytime she runs a fever and her counts are low, we are unfortunately just going to have to plan on a little trip to the Peds floor for at least a couple of days. More times than not she is just going to catch little viral bugs, but they have to treat her immediately with antibiotics in case it is bacterial. A bacterial infection would run ramped in her little body due to the fact she has ZERO immune system when her counts are low. We have also realized that it is better if we limit her exposure to anything. Needless to say she has become a bit of a shut-in.

Logan and Julie before the Carrie Underwood concert

Julie and I....I love her and miss her so much!!

Despite the fact that she has not gone anywhere she has been busy. We had a visitor come into town...her Aunt Julie. She was just here last month but came back into town to go to the Carrie Underwood concert. She surprised Logan with her second ticket, so Logan got to go to her first concert. She had a blast!! The amazing part about all of it is that Ryan did not say a single word about not being able to go. The whole time they were getting ready she was just excited for Logan. She got to hang out with Aunt Julie quite a bit so I know that was good for her. She does a pretty good job at understanding why she can't go and do. Amazing Girl!!

Ryan checking out the golfers on the golf course with the new binoculars

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!!

Amazingly Beautiful!!

Ryan NOW is doing great...full of energy, and playing as if there is no battle to be fought right now! That is the way we like to see her!!! Her beautiful bald head is the only constant reminder!

Ryan Paige

Well this coming week will be heading down to UCLA. This is a week when she is "count dependent", but I am sure her counts will be high enough to receive the chemo since her counts were up to 1000 this past Monday and she has not had anything now to knock them down. She will be getting three new types of chemo this visit. It is hard for us when we know she is getting something new because we never know what side effects she will have from them. She is expected to get more mouth sores, no appetite, lose weight, and her counts will drop low and likely stay low for a while. So, Tuesday she will have a lumbar puncture treatment (procedure), which we have not had to do for a while. Also...two IV and one oral medication that she will take for 14 days. One of the IV medications she will have to get for four days this week and four days next week. Thankfully we have home health available to come to our house to take care of that for us so we don't have to travel down to UCLA everyday!

Thank you for ALL of the continued love and support. We can not express our gratitude enough! Continued prayers would be much appreciated this coming week...that she will have limited side effects and continue to be victorious.

The Head Shaving Event

The Before

Here we go!

Not sure about this??!!

The After....BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Ryan looking in the mirror the first time.

Ryan and Mommy (I could not have been more proud)

Mr. Ad Man hopped right up there saying "my turn"

Kyle's turn....he looked handsome as ever (of course!!!)
Time to shave Daddy's head!

Dave's Turn!!!
Charlie Bear!!

All the Baldies!!!

All The Guys!!!

Our Family

Bald and Beautiful

Hello all! Hope everyone had a wonderful week. We did not go to UCLA this past Tuesday. I realized that I forgot to mention we do not have to go back down to UCLA until Nov 18th. We would have only had a two week break, but they will be closed for Veterans Day and they don't expect her counts to be high enough anyway.

She had been really hanging in there and making me feel as though this was not going to be that bad.....until the weekend after Halloween. She since has become very tired and just not herself. Very quite. When Diana came she was wondering if her blood levels were low. She even noticed a difference. I figured that all the chemo was just catching up with her, and now I am pretty sure I am right.

She began losing her hair Monday...... so Wednesday we went to Matthew's fire station and had our head shaving party. I am amazed that when it started coming out it just came out. We were going to try to wait until Matthew came home Friday, but she was not going to make it. She was miserable! It was tickling her arms and face, and everytime she would lay down on a blanket a whole bunch of it would be all over the place when she got up. I could tell it was really getting to her. She wanted to go to the station and do it, so we went! We all did except for Logan. She has had a hard time with this. Adam even climbed up in the chair and got his shaved. A couple of the guys from the station sported the bald do in support of Ryan, and that was awesome for her to be able to help shave their heads. We are all baldies and we are all starting to get used to it. Even Logan!!

I will post pictures as soon as I can we are having some serious issues with our computer and internet. Hang in there and I will have a lot to post!!!!

A little hospital visit

Well, we went to UCLA on the 21st and everything went GREAT! No problems at all!! Her "counts" were up to 4300. WOW! We were not expecting that. Because her counts were so high on Monday, we allowed her attend Kyle's last football game on Saturday. They had put together a special thing for Ryan to come out on the field and be named a Team Captain. The boys also all signed a football for her to take home! It was an awesome experience for her and although she was a little nervous at first she warmed after she got out there. So neat to see all those boys that have to be so tough on the field be so sweet to a little girl. Thanks Guys!!

She also got be a flower girl and walk down the aisle Sunday. She was supposed to be a flower girl for her Uncle David and Aunt Holly's wedding, and we had originally respectfully declined due to the doctors orders. When her counts were as high as they were we figured it would be okay. She had a dress, and Matthew, Logan, Kyle, and Adam were all in the wedding. Then she was having such a great time we decided to allow her to stay for the reception. She had a blast....we all did! It was a beautiful wedding and a beautiful reception! Congrats to David and Holly!!!

Monday Miss Diana (our home health nurse) came to draw Ryan's labs and by 1pm was letting us know that her counts were now down to 500!! WOW again!! We were not expecting that either. We did not realize that they could drop that quickly and we were therefore riddled with guilt for letting her even go to the wedding!!! Tuesday when we went down to UCLA I started bawling when I saw the docs. I confessed to allowing my daughter to participate and enjoy herself and they reassured me that it was all okay. Family events like this are sometimes worth it. They just told us to hope and pray for no fevers!!?? All was good, we came home, and then....she spiked quite the fever. She had slept on the way down to UCLA then slept all the way home, which is not normal for her. After being home for a while I noticed she was burning up. I took her temp and it was 102.3. We went into major panic mode. We called UCLA immediately and were advised to get her into the ER A.S.A.P. Thankfully they had given us pediatric face masks when we in the clinic that day. We headed to the ER and ended up being admitted for 2 days...YUCK!! The real Yucky part is that by the time she got up to the Peds floor her fever was almost gone. Unfortunately with her situation, she has to be admitted and receive IV antibiotics regardless because they have no way of knowing whether it is viral or bacterial. So, we spent a couple of days bonding and bored!!!

The great thing from all this is that her counts came up to 1400 allowing her to go Trick or Treating!!! Originally on Tuesday they had told us she would not be allowed to go Trick or Treating because her counts were so low. But, by us being in the hospital we had an updated number. We made it around the block and that was about good for her. The only bummer is we usually host Trick or Treating at our house....Family, Hot Cider, Hot Chocolate, and snacks. This year we were not able to do it. That's okay because next year we will be back at it!!!!

We now have a couple week break from clinic, but I will be posting some more entries. I still have to put up our Light the Night entry and want to put up some pictures from the wedding.

Thank you again to everyone for being so supportive. EVERYONE is truly a part of her success in this journey. Love to all!!!

P.S. I am trying to upload pictures from Kyle's game and Halloween on here and for some reason it won't let me so I will post those later!!