Super Ryan

Ryan has not yet been able to shake his fever, He is back at Scottish this morning for another iv antibiotic. He is just feeling pretty lousy.
We have not received any NY details yet so we are still on hold for the trip. We also had stopped by Ryan's dentist office and the wonderful staff there had a Play Station there waiting for him, he was beaming ! Thank you !
Thanks for checking on Ryan and hopefully he will get back to his mischievous self soon! Les, Missy, Heidi, Will and SuperRyan.

You know...kickin back in the jacuzzi tonight, smiling to myself while thinking about the great weekend Ryan and I had together with some new friends, this rang close to home for me...

"You might just be a redneck, if you truly care for your family and friends with all your heart"

That was the kind of weekend we were blessed to have received. Thank you to Jeff, Jay, Glen, John, Smith and Jay from Ryan and myself.

Les

Thanks to everyone for praying for Ryan. His counts had made a nice jump. Platelets were 56k, Hemo.- 8.8, and ANC- 990. We thought we were going to avoid the aspirates, but after they had emailed the results to Dr. Kramer in NY, she emailed back asking them to proceed with the aspirates. Bummer! Les said Ryan seemed pretty loopy coming out of the anesthesia. We will be waiting to hear how soon we can go to NY. thanks again! Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan

We have gotten several calls about various pups, but no Dixie yet. We received a call last night right after Ryan was on Channel 2 from a total stranger. She offered to up the reward to $700!! A friend of ours here from SC offered up $200, and then another offered $100 to make it an even thousand!! Shortly after all that excitement, Jenifer from WSB who interviewed Ryan for the Aflac Care-a-thon, called and offered another $100. So now our reward stands at $1100. Maybe that will get some creep's attention, or their grandmother, or their neighbor, or just somebody who has seen Dixie. We are so appreciative of the outpouring of concern and love for Ryan and our family. We are working on making our children aware of all the goodness we are witnessing in the midst of the bad.
Ryan made it through three days of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills at school. He left today right after he finished the testing. He is just dragging with his hemoglobin so low. We got confirmation today of the test on Monday. It usually takes several days to get results. Please start praying that his counts will make a good jump and we won't need the aspirates, but that if we do, the results will show no cancer in his marrow and bone. We will keep you updated on Ryan and his puppy. Thank ya'll from the bottom of our hearts! Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan

Along with the many wonderful calls and emails that we have received today, there has been a tremendous amount of hate mail to Ryan's site. We have had to shut down the message board due to all the vile comments and delete the posted emails. Please know that we plan to keep you in our thoughts and hope, that in time, you will grow to learn compassion for the defenceless children you so enjoy attacking. You will become a stronger individual and less of a coward.
Sincerely, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will and SuperRyan

Ryan is starting to get this interview thing down pat. He did great today when interviewed by Jennifer Leslie of 11Alive News. She and photojournalist, Charles Olmstead, came out to school this morning to interview Ryan and I, and it will be on the Early Show tomorrow between 5 and 7, then a few more times during the day. Our hope is that someone will see it and return Dixie and maybe even my computer and the sentimental items from my jewelry box. It may seem like a long-shot, but I know it can't hurt. At the very least, I will know I have done everything possible to get her back. Thank you, Jill Becker for making this happen for Ryan.We got his counts back today. His platelets went from 30 to 32, hemoglobin went up to 7.9 (hooray!), but his white count is hovering just over 1.0. His ANC did drop a bit. We are perplexed, and worried. We went ahead and scheduled bone marrow aspirates for next Monday. They will check his counts first, and if there is a significant jump, we'll cancel the aspirates. Please start praying now that there will be a decent rise in his blood counts.I haven't had any time to start replacing any of what was taken at the house. Les and Ryan are going hunting this weekend with Smith, so maybe I can get somethings replaced. First on my list is a camera! Homecoming is this weekend, and Heidi and all her friends are getting ready at our house. I definitely want pictures of that!Thanks for checking in on us. Let us know if you see Ryan on the news. We'll let you know if something happens on the Dixie front! Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan

I forgot to mention that Ryan is in this week's edition of Woman's World magazine. There are a couple of good pictures of him- None of the ones the photographer took of him at the house though. The article is actually about Ryan's friend, Jena and her Prince and Princess of Hope pageants. It's a great article.
I went up to the newspaper office today and put in an ad offering a reward for Dixie. One of the moms at soccer said someone took her dog and then brought it back to get the reward! Maybe it will work for us.
Ryan had a good day at school today and then went and worked the concession stand at the girls softball game at Apalachee High. He has such a good time doing that. I think they pay him in candy and soft drinks! Thanks again, Barre! I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. It has been a long week and we are all tired. I can't wait to sleep in on Saturday! Have a great weekend. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan

Oops, correction from Missy, Ryan's platelets actually dropped down to 30k this week from 35k. His ANC did take a nice jump up though. Cross your fingers and say a prayer that this is a sign his counts are on the move straight up. Maybe this is the Big Jump week!
Barrow County News was nice enough to write an article about Ryan and Dixie asking for her return. That would sure be nice if it could happen. Keep spreading the word about her and maybe...just maybe...
Thank you for your help, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will and SuperRyan

Sorry for the delay in updates. It has just been g0-g0-g0. We have put up signs, alerted the local vets and the pound, and yesterday morning my friend, Barre' and I hit a couple of close-by flea markets hoping to spot someone trying to sell Dixie. Nothing so far. (Thanks, Barre'!) The Barrow County News put an article in today's paper and we're hoping to shame someone into returning her. We're going to put in an ad offering a reward and hope someone will bring her home. We have the serial number on the computer so if it shows up at a pawn shop we should be able to get it back. It has all our pictures on it. :( They took my camera, Heidi's camera, and our video camera. They took my jewelry box and Heidi's jewelry box. I didn't have a lot of great jewelry, but there were things in there the kids had bought for me when they were so little, and a pin Ryan had made in Pre-K. I'd just like to get that stuff back. They took the kids' Wii game and a bunch of video games, too. It just makes me so mad and sick to think about it. We have to start compiling a complete list, and I have been putting that off.

Ryan is feeling so-so. He spent yesterday and last night playing with his buddy, Matt. We will take him tomorrow afternoon to get labs done again to see where his platelets are. He finishes the two weeks of accutane Wednesday morning. It usually takes about a week for his skin to recover. He is itching pretty bad, and we are trying to keep lotion on him, but he is like his daddy. They both hate the feel of that on their skin.

Heidi and Will both had soccer games yesterday. I'm going to try and replace my camera today, so maybe next weekend I can get some pictures. Actually, next Saturday is the Quiet Heroes Luncheon that benefits CURE. This is a day that I look forward to. I get to visit with all my cancer-mommy friends, and they are the strongest women you will ever meet. If you visit the website, there are many ways to make a donation including buying a raffle ticket for a chance to win great prizes. Did somebody say 46" high-def plasma TV??

Les couldn't have had better weather for his golf game with CURE on Monday. His team finished in the middle of the pack, but the big winner was CURE. They expected a grand total of near $200,000!! They are funding research to find a cure for NB, and we are so thankful for all they do.

Thank you for your prayers for Ryan and for us this past week. Please keep praying for him, and please say a prayer for all the families hit by Ike yesterday. There are kids and their families braving it out in TX hospitals getting their chemo. Hans was fortunate enough to get in and out and escape the worst of the storm. We are off to our scary party later and that should be a lot of fun! Love, Les, Missy,Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan

Missy and Ryan got home from school today to discover we had been robbed. I have to say that it's the least of our worries, but you know how you just keep putting off burning your pictures to DVD's, well, they were all on her laptop :( . If there is one thing we would like back, that's it.
We have a security company coming in on Tuesday to lock down the house. It's a shame that it has to be done but Ryan is pretty upset. Maybe it will help a little. Les, Missy, Heidi, Will and SuperRyan

PS; They stole Ryan's puppy Dixie out of her crate :(

We got an email this afternoon that Ryan's platelets have gone from 20k to 35k. That is an awesome jump, but I can't understand why his white count and his hemoglobin have gone down again. The plan is to check them again next week. If he feels bad, we can go get him some blood, but right now he doesn't want to.
Our friend, Rob, of Night of Screams called today and invited us to an open-house/start of season party on Sunday. We can't wait to see their newest scare. Ryan is ready to scare people! Thanks for checking in and thanks for your prayers and kind messages. We love yall! Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan

Ryan's HVA (which is a prime Neuroblastoma detector for him) is in the NORMAL range. Whew! (for now) Thank YOU, Les, Missy, Heidi ,Will and SuperRyan

We made Canadian blueberry/raspberry pancakes this morning. I just wish he had eaten them. His appetite hasn't been great lately. He has had a little cold. It seems to be going through the family. I'm sure the Accutane isn't helping. I hope we didn't let him stay outside in the sun too much today. He was complaining at dinner that his scalp hurt. I put some aloe on it twice before bed so maybe it will be better tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, I will be taking him to Coach Gary's clinic after school for a check of his counts. We aren't expecting much change. He lost a tooth today and one a couple of days ago. The bleeding wasn't too, too bad, but I expect his platelet count is still pretty low. And, tomorrow Les is playing in a golf tournament to benefit CURE at the Country Club of the South. It should be a beautiful day and I'm sure he'll have a great time. I hope they raise TONS of money!! Doesn't he look like he's having a blast? He was laughing at Will. We had a great time in the pool this afternoon. Please say prayers for Ryan. Please pray that 1) his counts will be up 2) we are able to stay on this path to get the antibodies in NY and 3) he tolerates the Accutane. His lips are already drying out, and he has been a little irritable. Maybe that is just the cold. Thanks for checking in on us and thanks for your prayers for Ryan. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan

This is one of Ryan's favorites. A pudding race with no spoons! As you can see, Will wasn't going to let him win this one. He helped me paint some chairs for my speech room at school. They turned out really great! We celebrated Les' birthday August 31. I'll try and get a good picture of us all enjoying his present! Happy Birthday, Daddy!!

Ryan's counts were not better yesterday at the clinic. Les had nightmares trying to fill the script for Accutane. He has to drive back down to the clinic today to get a new handwritten prescription. Please pray specifically this week for Ryan's counts to go up. If they don't show an upward turn, they will do bone marrow aspirates to see if anything else is going on. New York just keeps getting further away. Praying hard they make a jump, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will and SuperRyan.

Asking today for prayers for Max's family. He passed away suddenly last night.