Day 25 - So much fun Skyping the school!

What a treat!  We set up Skype at the school today (tomorrow is the last day of class), so Ryan could see all his classmates.  He wasn't feeling all that well to begin with, but as students kept coming in to say hello, he got more and more excited.  "All My Friends!"  We had the students come in groups of 2-3, so to not overwhelm anyone, so he got to explain a few times about his Lego planes and helicopter, etc.  I'm sure his appearance was a little bit of a shock for the younger students, but they were great!  Such a great treat for Ryan!  Thank you so much Sue Neumann and Megan Hansen for working with him and letting him get a chance to say hello!

Once his exciting morning was over, he was pretty wiped out took a nap.  He had an itch in his eye from his eyelashes (steroids make your hair grow, which is ironic considering the top of his head), and he wouldn't stop rubbing it, so Patrick devised this compress with a washcloth, that makes him look like a pirate (but it worked!)

The doctors are really pleased with his numbers, especially how quickly his ANC numbers are rising.  The are currently looking at discharge around the 30th, once he finishes his IV antibiotics.  They have nothing but positive good news and they say that his prognosis looks awesome.  Again, the miracle of prayer!

We also received this amazing video from the nurses at Benefis Pediatrics in Great Falls.  Our nurses have become some of our best friends, and they made this 'mannequin challenge' video for Ryan with their families (i.e. no HIPPA violations!)  I can't tell you how touched we are, and I find myself tearing up just thinking about what a wonderful community we have found here. And you are right... He is totally an Overcomer!

My mom heads back to New Mexico tomorrow and I head out to Seattle on Thursday.  We have been in touch with the Uptown Optimist Club in Great Falls and they are helping us with the airline costs.  Just one more amazing group that is making this time so much less painful!  They are helping to keep us Optimistic!  You can check out all they do at: uptownoptimistclub.com

Time is just flying by, which is probably a good thing...  We are all staying positive and so grateful.. the treatment so far has gone smoothly (I know, knock on wood!!), and everyone at the Seattle Childrens Hospital has been amazing!

Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts... :)

-------------------------------------------------------------

Blasts - (not checking this every day anymore)
ANC - 240 (Yea!  up from 90 yesterday!)
Hematocrit - 19.7 (probably getting blood tomorrow)
Hemoglobin - 6.8
RBC - 2.23
WBC - 0.5 (up from 0.2)
Creatine - 0.2
Glucose - 80
Platelets - 45
PT - 17.2
APTT - 49

Description of lab numbers, in layman's terms:

Blasts - roughly the number of leukemia cells found in the sample.  We want this to be 0.
ANC -  This tells us how well his body can fight off normal infections... We want this to be greater than 500..  Normal would be greater than 1500.
Hematocrit/Hemoglobin (H&H)  - This is a number of how much blood is in his system.  His normal range is 28-32/9-11.  The numbers are linked, so they are usually referenced together.  We will transfuse him more Red Blood Cells if he gets below 21/7.0.  (this is the blood you donate at blood drives, and we expect to use lots of it)
RBC (Red Blood Cells) - The number of Red Blood Cells in his body.  Normal is 4 - 5.5.  He has always been low, so we are happy with numbers around 2.5.  This number will go down with chemo.
WBC (White Blood Cells) - This tells us how many white blood cells he has (in thousands).  Normal is between 4.5 and 10.  We expect this to remain low, between 1.5 and 2.5 for a while.
Creatine - This is a good number to make sure the kidneys are working.  Normal range is between .5 and 1.2... If this gets higher, it means his kidneys are struggling.
Glucose - This number tells us that the pancreas is working.  Some kids struggle with diabetes as a result of the meds.  We want to see this number remain above 60 and below 150.
Lymphocytes - Non-cancerous T-Cells and B-Cells.  Normal would be around 1000, so we expect this number to be low.  This is the number of cells that will kill off bad cells like viruses.
Platelets - This is the number of platelets in the blood, which helps with clotting.  Normal is greater than 150.  We will transfuse more platelets if he gets lower than 30.
Co-Ags (PT,APTT) - These numbers tell us how fast he clots.
Bilirubin (Direct/Indirect/Total) - Bilirubin tells us how well the liver is working.  Normally, these numbers are less than 1, which is good.  However, when the liver starts to be under stress, they may go up.  Total Bilirubin is the Conjugated (Direct) + Unconjugated (Indirect).  The doctors said these numbers might come up, as his liver is trying to process all the meds we are giving him.
ALT/AST - these are liver numbers, letting us know how much stress the liver is under.  Normal range is between 10-50.