Answers

I know you're all waited with baited breath for an update on Ryan (okay, so that might be a slight exaggeration), but here's the scoop. Ryan has some damage to his sciatic nerve. Unfortunately, as most of you know, that's a pretty major nerve. So the plan of action is quite extensive, some of it's rather discouraging and a little unnerving (no pun intended) to me, but I'm glad this is being taken very seriously.

They gave Ryan ANOTHER prescription for percocet. I'm not too happy about that, but I'm also not the one trying to deal with ongoing pain, so that's just where Ryan is right now and we'll deal with the effects of that later. Ryan is also going to see a neurologist and start some physical therapy. And he has been prescribed some kind of nerve medication. I didn't even know they had nerve medication. I'm going to have to do a little research on this because apparently it's something to be taken rather seriously. Ryan has to work up to the full dose and then slowly wean himself off of it once he's better. He will start taking the medication at night because it's supposed to make you extremely tired. So he'll take a small dose tonight and then start increasing his dosage every day until he's up to the prescribed amount. We're hoping that he'll be in perfect health by the end of January!

So you're probably thinking that Ryan regrets being a bone marrow donor. After all he's been in serious pain for six weeks, he's missed work, he hasn't been able to work out (which is one of his greatest frustrations) and all of this has made him rather grouchy. BUT Ryan is a giver. I'm serious, that's the way the Lord has wired him. He is always quick to give (time, money, whatever) and I'm the one he has to drag along with him. Ryan told me last night that if he never works out again he would still do it all over again. And I quote..."After all being fat is better than having someone die." Well, yes I guess it is! I love this man! What an example he is for me.

Emma brought home a flyer a few weeks ago about signing up to donate blood. Amy couldn't do it because of her earlier medical issues this fall. Ryan obviously can't do it because his body is still working to build back up his blood supply. So that left me. I had to think about it for three days before I finally signed the card to say I would do it. I hate needles. I really hate giving blood, but then I look at what Ryan has done and it really seems like the least I can do for someone else. Particularly during this holiday season. And Emma only got a Red Cross backpack if she got someone to sign up and of course every second grader is apparently dying to have a Red Cross backpack. And so, I am now dreading 6pm on December 30th. I'm such a wimp.

And now for the most important part -Just keep praying for the patient!! Pray, pray, pray that this works!! That all of this results in a life saved. At this point she probably has a really good idea as to whether or not the transplant is working (we haven't heard anything yet and we don't plan on it for another month). I'm praying that this is a season of great JOY for her family and that they are anticipating many Christmas' ahead instead worrying that this could be her last.

Looking for answers...

That's what Ryan will be doing today as he heads back to Georgetown University Hospital. You might remember that when Ryan woke up from his bone marrow harvest he was in excruciating pain. All the doctor's and nurses were extremely surprised by this because it isn't normal. Everyone just thought Ryan had a cramp in his leg from being in an awkward position for so long. Six weeks later we have learned that the "cramp" is actually some nerve damage. At this point we think that they nicked a nerve during the procedure or that there is inflamation around a nerve that is pressing on the nerve causing problems. Ryan has been in constant pain for the last six weeks. He's a pretty tough guy but this is wearing on him. It's bearable but very uncomfortable and unfortunately pain killers have become Ryan's best friend.

He had an ultrasound done a few weeks ago to make sure that he didn't have a blood clot and he also saw our regular family physician. When the doctor did the reflex test on Ryan's knee (hit it with that little hammer) his right and left foot popped up just like it should. When they did that same test around his ankle (they hit his Achilles tendon) his right foot popped up and his left foot didn't move. That means there is a nerve problem in that left leg. Our hope it that there is just some inflamation around the nerve causing the pain. We are also hoping that some consistent physical therapy will take care of the problem. We just really need some answers from the experts today!

So would you just please pray that the doctor's will have wisdom and be able to give us some definitive answers? And please pray that they don't find anything majorly wrong that can't be fixed. I'll let you know how things turn out! Thanks for praying!

We're Home

Ryan and I got home a few hours ago. He had a good night last night. I ended up staying in the hotel because he was doing so well, so I had a good night too! All the bandages came off this morning and Ryan's incisions look really good. Very swollen and sore, but looking good! Ryan was discharged around 10am and we headed home. About an hour into the drive Ryan's pain really started to kick in. He had only taken Tylenol and that wasn't a good idea.
Now that we're home he's back on Percocet and sleeping soundly. McKenna's feeling better and sleeping right now. Abby spent the night throwing up last night, so she's downstairs on the basement couch sleeping soundly. Christian's watching TV and I'm taking a deep breath!
I'm glad this is over. Time to move on to the next thing. Emma's going to get tubes in her ears on the 21st of this month, so I guess that's our next big thing!

Thanks for praying for Ryan. His recovery has gone much better than expected so far and I know that that is solely an answer to prayer. Ryan actually told me last night (while he was on prescription pain meds. keep that in mind) that he prefers giving marrow over going to the dentist! In other words, it just hasn't been that bad!

Be praying for the patient today! Today is the start of a new beginning for her. Just pray that her body accepts these new stem cells. We will get an update on her in a couple of months, when they know whether or not the transplant is going to work. I'll be sure to let you know when we hear something!

Thanks for praying us through this!

Another Update

So are you guys getting tired of all these updates yet??? Can you tell I have a lot of time on my hands? No laundry, children, dishes, food to prepare, baths to give, children to correct....just my sleeping husband, me and my laptop! I love wireless Internet! So I've been busy checking everyone else's blogs and responding to emails, I should have responded to weeks ago. It's nice to have the time to do it.

Ryan is doing really well. He's settled in his room right now, trying to sleep. He was in the recovery room for about 25 minutes. Not long at all!! He was in tremendous pain when he woke up. Both of his legs were cramping horribly. I think it was because of the weird position they had him in for the surgery. Picture a sky diver jumping out of a plane...he was laying flat on his stomach, arms stretched out in front of him, legs bent backwards with his feet up in the air. He was like that for two hours, so no wonder he had leg cramps. He got some percocet and I massaged his legs and he's feeling much better. His back actually hasn't even started hurting yet. He got his blood transfusion in his room (I am not very good with blood, it was making me feel a little woozy just watching it go into his arm. Here's a bit of useless information for you; I was originally a nursing major until I was observing during a surgery one day and I totally passed out in the operating room. Embarrassing - changed my major to teaching). He's already eaten a turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, stuffing, veggies and a dinner roll. So I'm happy to report that he's doing better than expected.

I have so much going on in my mind right now (scary, I know). We are in a wing of this hospital just for bone marrow transplants. Georgetown University does more bone marrow harvests than any other hospital in the world (just learned that today). Everyone around here is really excited because tonight they're receiving some kind of national award. Georgetown University Hospital also does bone marrow transplants for people that live in this local area and for military personnel all over the world (they fly here for treatment). Seeing all these chemo/radiation patients walking the halls of this wing is very sobering. Knowing that they are facing the fight of their lives. Knowing that they are praying for someone to be their stem cell/tissue/bone marrow match. Knowing that they have families that are struggling at home without them. It brought tears to my eyes when I saw a mother, her head wrapped in a scarf, walking down the hall holding her daughters hand. I just wanted to hug both of them. It just makes my heart cry out to God! I'm so thankful! I'm so thankful for the health of my family. For the support system we have. For great neighbors and friends. For a great church. For a career that my husband loves. That I can stay home with my precious kids. For blogging buddies who bring me joy and encouragement. For the God that I love, who I know will see me through every moment of my life. I'm just so thankful! Thankful that Ryan was given this opportunity! Thankful that he came through it so well. Just thankful!

I always have a tendency this time of year to sort of skip the month of November and start planning for Christmas. I always put my tree up early, I've got the majority of my Christmas shopping done. I brought a Christmas book with me to read. I have tons of crafts planned for the kids to do. I just love Christmas and can hardly wait for the festivities to begin. But I think this year I really need to slow things down and be purposeful about making this November a month of thanksgiving for our family. A time to examine my own heart. I time to teach my children what it really means to have a thankful heart. I don't have a plan of how I'm going to do that just yet, so let me know if you have any creative ideas about how to teach toddlers to be thankful! So that's what I've been sitting here thinking about. THANKFULNESS! It's been a good day! It's always a good day when you can look beyond the circumstances of the moment and see the hand of God in your life!

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. 1 Chronicles 16:8

DONE

I just got the call that Ryan is out of surgery and is in the recovery room right now. I should be able to see him in about an hour or so. His bone marrow was whisked away before he even left the operating room. Isn't that amazing?! We do know that the patient lives far enough away that the marrow will be flown to her. She could be anywhere in the world, but I don't think she's that far away because they hinted that she would be getting the transfusion of marrow first thing tomorrow morning. Pray for her and Ryan too!

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"But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings." Malachi 4:2

In Surgery

Looking relaxed before surgery.

Ryan is in surgery right now. This has definitely not gone as expected and we're both feeling quite a big more nervous that we thought. The surgery is going to be more complicated than it was originally explained because they need a lot of marrow for this particular patient. They are going to take the maximum amount of marrow from Ryan. Almost 2 liters (think of a 2 liter bottle of soda). The bone marrow harvest will take about 2 hours (twice what we thought) and then he will be in the recovery room for about an hour. Ryan will receive a blood transfusion of his own blood, because they are removing so much marrow. The surgeon was surprised that Ryan only had one unit of blood to give back to himself. He should have had two, but there wasn't time for him to donate two given how quickly they wanted to schedule this procedure. There will be two incisions (we were originally told there would only be one). They will go in through those two incisions about 30 times. That means thirty puncture wounds into his hip bones. It doesn't sound pleasant does it. This wouldn't be so involved if he were donating to a child or small patient. Recovery is going to take a bit longer that expected too, but Ryan is having a great attitude about it. Just pray that things go according to plan from here on out!! He will definitely be staying in the hospital tonight (we won't be going back to the hotel). I'll keep you posted.
Ready to save a life!
In the operating room!

Thanks for praying! Keep it up!!

Getting Settled

We're getting settled in our hotel right by the hospital and we're actually having a rather enjoyable evening. I only cried for a second when we pulled out of the driveway and we both thought it was great to be able to talk for two hours, uninterrupted, in the car on our way here. We're enjoying a little room service right now! You've gotta love raspberry cheesecake and diet coke in cute little glass bottles! It's been a busy day, so I think we're heading to bed pretty soon. Tomorrow will be a busy day too.

Please pray for McKenna. She threw up her entire dinner and I hate it that I'm not there to take care of her. Bless her heart! I know she's in great hands, I just worry! I had her at the doctor again today, we were there yesterday too.

Ryan is feeling quite calm about everything. I think he just wants to get this over with and I can totally appreciate that!

Talk to you all tomorrow!

My Husband, The Great Humanitarian

Okay, so that title is a bit of a joke. When this whole process of bone marrow donation first began they sent Ryan a letter and referred to him as a great humanitarian and they concluded the letter by telling him that they were here to serve him because of the great humanitarian work he was going. Well, I've been hearing about that ever since. Ryan loves to remind me what a great "humanitarian" he is! Needless to say, he's milking this for all it's worth.

Okay, so here's our plan!

My parents are arriving this afternoon and will be staying until Saturday. They will be taking care of my two precious kiddos! McKenna has bronchitis. Ugh! She's been wheezing really badly so please pray for her that it doesn't get any worse!

Ryan and I are leaving this evening (Wednesday) to head down to Georgetown University Hospital. Well, stay overnight in a hotel (the reservation has already been made for us) and the next morning we will meet Keith, a guy with the transplant team, in the lobby of the hotel. He will escort us to the hospital (I guess they want to make sure Ryan doesn't change his mind and try to make a run for it). Ryan's surgery is scheduled for 10:00am on Thursday morning. He should be done in about an hour. Truly this should not be a complicated procedure at all. This is quite standard at Georgetown University Hospital, that's why we're going there. There is always the possibly of complications or side effects with anesthesia. We're not expecting any of those issues because Ryan has had shoulder, nose and elbow surgery before thanks to a few baseball injuries. He's always done well with anesthesia. The other complication to worry about is bleeding. Once they start removing Ryan's bone marrow they want to make sure they can get the bleeding to stop once they have enough marrow. This is a more common complication and one that we are prepared for. Ryan donated his own blood a few weeks ago that they will have there in the operating room in case they can't get the bleeding to stop. If Ryan needs a transfusion he will be given his own blood. Hopefully he won't need it and the Red Cross can just keep it for someone else. Some bleeding is to be expected over the first few days following this procedure. Ryan will spend the night in the hospital Thursday night to watch for hemorrhaging. It is possible that they might discharge us to the hotel Thursday night (that's what we both want to happen), but we can't come home. We have to stay close to the hospital for at least 24 hours.

On Friday we should get to come home! The other exciting thing that will take place on Friday is that a medical courier will hand deliver Ryan's bone marrow to the patient. The leukemia patient will receive Ryan's bone marrow (just like a blood transfusion) on Friday (as long as there hasn't been any complications on her end of this). She should know in about three weeks if the bone marrow transplant is working or not! Oh my, we need to be praying for her!

I'm taking my laptop with me, so I hope to post some updates during our stay, but that will be dependant upon whether or not there is wireless Internet access at the hospital. I do know that I'll be texting updates to our family, so if you want to be included in those send me an email (judah322@hotmail) with your cell phone number. I never text someone unless I know that they have texting included in their calling plan!

Here are the specific things that we would ask you to join us in prayer about:

1. That Ryan will have a successful surgery. That there will be NO complications.

2. That our children will be happy, healthy and will sleep well while we're gone. (The sleeping thing is a mess with Miss McKenna right now).

3. That Ryan's bone marrow will bring complete healing to the leukemia patient.

P.S. I've been a little behind in my blogging lately and I caught up for the most part during nap time yesterday, so I've set a couple of things to post while we're gone. So even if I don't get to post from the hospital, you'll still have something new to read!

We have a date!!!!

Ryan finally got the final call today!! He will be donating his bone marrow on November 6th!! I'm sure I'll update again before that date, but we would certainly appreciate your prayers as we work through all the details of this. We're going to be away from our sweet kiddos for two nights. Honestly, I'm more worried about that than the actual procedure. I'm sure Ryan is actually more worried about the procedure :) and I would be too if I were in his shoes. Please pray that the patient will be healthy enough for the procedure and pray that Ryan's marrow will be used to bring complete healing to this woman. This is a bit exciting to watch God use Ryan in this way!! So here we go...

Just Found Out

Ryan got the call this afternoon that he will be donating bone marrow sometime in November! This is the more complicated of the two procedures, but it's the one we both have the most peace about! Ryan had his physical on Thursday and then a team of doctors met to discuss Ryan's health and which procedure would be best for Ryan with the fewest possible side effects. So bone marrow it is!! This has been a really strange process to be a part of. When Ryan told me I actually felt excited and then teary at the same time! Please keep praying for us as we work through all the details. Things are moving quickly and we also have to be really flexible because Ryan will be donating based on when it's best for the patient, not when it's most convenient for us. Most importantly, please keep praying for the patient! Pray that God will use Ryan's marrow to bring complete healing to her body!

He's the MATCH!! Updated @5:30pm

Oh my word! We just got the call and Ryan is the bone marrow match! I can't even get my mind around it right now! We don't have many details. They're overnighting us some info and a DVD to watch. Lots of consent forms. No question about it...he's going to do it. There is a family somewhere who has been hoping and praying for this moment. That very human and weak side of me immediately thought "oh no, not right now. we can't do this right now." But we'll figure this out. We know that this is bigger than us. This is a God thing for sure!!

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Psalm 139

For you created my inmost being,

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

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I can't get this verse out of my mind. Did you read that last part? That means that before Ryan was even created God knew that this day would come. He created Ryan with this in mind. Very exciting!

Click HERE to read the story from the beginning!

UPDATE:

I'm feeling a little better now that we have a few more details. You know I love to be organized about things and it was driving me crazy this morning that I couldn't start planning for this medical procedure for Ryan. I want to know exactly when it's going to be, where, how long, who's going to watch the kids, will we have to travel for it, side effects, etc, etc, etc! So here's what I do know: The procedure will take place at a medical facility in Fairfax, VA that specializes in this sort of thing. Ryan will go there this Thursday for a complete physical. When I say complete, I mean complete! It even includes a chest x-ray and EKG! And thankfully we don't pay for any of this! There are two ways that you can be a bone marrow donor and in this case Ryan gets to make a choice of which procedure he wants to do. He can just donate his blood cells or he can donate his bone marrow. Donating blood cells is an outpatient procedure that takes about five hours. They take blood out of one arm, run it through a machine that takes the stem cells out of it and then the blood is put back in the other arm. This is probably the procedure Ryan will choose to have. It's less invasive than the alternative. Donating bone marrow is a surgical procedure where you're put to sleep and a small hole is drilled into your hip bone to retrieve the marrow down inside your bone. This involves an overnight hospital stay, a longer recovery, and greater risk for complications. Both of these procedures will involve lots of medical visits before hand and afterward and both will involve prep work to be started ASAP. They would like Ryan to donate sometime during the first week of November. We don't know anything about the patient yet, but hopefully we'll be able to find out a little something about them sometime soon. So that's the latest. I'm going to apologize ahead of time...you're probably going to be hearing a lot about this over the next couple of weeks! Sorry, but it's just where we are right now!

Bone Marrow Donor Update

As you read in our previous post, Ryan is a possible bone marrow donor for someone that we don't know. He has done everything that he needs to do at this point (medical history & blood donation) and now we're just waiting to find out if he's the best match or not. This wait could be quite extended. What we do know is that this person in need of a donor is very sick. They may not survive to even need a donor at this point. We also know that there are very few possible matches for this person. They won't tell us an exact number, but we know that it's around three. We will only have two weeks notice if Ryan is asked to be a bone marrow donor. It could be sometime in February before we hear anything at all. So we've kind-of put it all out of our minds for right now. We're just praying that this person will survive and that they will find a donor! And we're praying for God's will to be accomplished in Ryan's life, whatever that may be! So that's the update for now. We'll let you know the conclusion to all of this whenever it happens!

An unexpected journey

Ryan got a phone call about 10 days ago that has sent us on an unexpected journey.

Let me first rewind a little bit back to 1999. In '99 Ryan and I were both students at Liberty University. I don't exactly remember the circumstances but they had a blood drive that also included the opportunity to sign up as a bone marrow donor. We both signed up and didn't think much of it. We just kind of went along with what everyone else was doing. I can still remember waiting in line with my friend Michelle and drinking orange juice and having a cookie as we walked back to our dorm.

We never imagined that almost ten years later we would be getting a call from the National Marrow Donor Program, but that's what has happened. They tracked Ryan down (they called his parent's house in Illinois too) because he is a potential match for someone needing a life saving bone marrow transplant. Being a bone marrow donor is not a pleasant experience and it's not something to take lightly, but because of two little people that we know this was an easy decision for Ryan to make.

Our precious cousin Olivia was the first person we both thought of when we got this call. If you've been following our blog for awhile you know that Olivia has basically spent the last two years of her life, fighting for her life. She was diagnosed with Leukemia this past spring, but God has poured out his blessings on her little life and her parents just got a call last week that Olivia's Leukemia is gone!!! WooHoo!

The other person that came to mind is one of Ryan's co-workers sons. Ryan's co-worker Brian has a two year old little boy named Alex. Alex was diagnosed with Leukemia in July of this year. He is currently at St. Judes receiving chemo treatments as he gets ready to have a bone marrow transplant. Please pray for Alex. He really has a fight on his hands, but he's a tough little guy and we are praying for him continually!!

And so, Ryan has decided to move forward with the process to find out if he is the best match for this stranger in need of a transplant. So far Ryan has completed an extensive medical history and tomorrow he has an appointment to have lots and lots of blood drawn. And then we wait! If it turns out that Ryan is the best match for this person then he could be asked to either donate bone marrow (a surgical procedure) or donate stem cells (not so fun either). This could take place this month or six months from now.

So that's what's going on with us! I wanted to share this, not because Ryan wants any glory in all of this (I'm sure any one of you would be doing the same thing if you knew you could save someone's life), but because we want God's will to be done. And that's how we're praying that whatever the outcome, God's will for Ryan's life will be accomplished. And we wanted to share this because this stranger needs a match! And we need to pray that they'll find one. Their life depends on it. It's exciting and a little nerve racking to think that God could use Ryan in this way. And if Ryan isn't a good enough match we need to pray that someone else will be!

I'll keep you posted on the progress of all of this and if you want to find out more information on how you could sign up to be a bone marrow donor go to: http://www.marrow.org/ for more information. I know that it's kind-of a hassle to go someplace and give blood, but you could potentially save some one's life by signing up. There are over 300 million people in the United States and only 5 million of them are registered bone marrow donors. Not a great ratio, but you can do something about it! Add your name to the list! How thankful I am that Ryan's name is on that list!

I had an additional thought that I wanted to add. If you're one of our LU friends that signed up to be a bone marrow donor the same time we did, you need to go to marrow.org and change your contact information. I'll warn you, it's not the most up-to-date website, they could make this easier, but it's definitely important to change your contact info. especially if you're a girl and have gotten married and now have a new last name. It's also important to do if your parents have moved in the last 10 years because they will try to contact your parents. You never know, you might be the next to get a call!