Wednesday, January 16, 2008

And We're Off

Today was a long but promising day at the clinic. We arrived around 8am due to the horrible Houston traffic. James was a little monster because he couldn't eat or drink until we knew what we were going to be doing. Everything today hinged on his counts. I am pleased to report his bone marrow is working very hard and he was able to start maintenance. His hemoglobin was 10.6, his platelets 465000, and his ANC 1400 which was enough for him to get his LP and all his chemo-and yes we are back on the steroid for 5 days!!!

James,of course, was a little champion by the time everything was done. We had to wait for his oral chemo to be compounded so he put on a show for the employees of the pharmacy. In fact he went up to a man in line and stuck up his arms for him to hold him-what can I say the kid has no fear!

Please pray for us especially for the next 5 days. You have been with us long enough to know steroids are no fun for anyone. Pray that he will have minimal side effects from all the chemo he had today. Also pray that his liver would be protected. We are back on the chemo(methotrexate) that caused his enzymes to get really high. Also I got a tentative end date-September 2010-please continue to walk with us down this long road ahead.

Some more good news--they don't want to see James back in the clinic for 2 weeks. I might go through withdrawal---just kidding!

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Joy and Greg,
Great news... praise God! I continue to pray for James and all of you as you go through all that you do with James' treatment. I pray that James will have minimal side effects from the steroid this time around... or maybe no ill side effects. Thank you for sharing what you are dealing with so we know better how to pray for you.

Much love and prayers,
Tracey Hutcherson

Rebecca said...

So glad that you were able to start maintenance. It certainly seems like one of those milestones that takes forever to reach, but that we all long for. I hope the James endures the week well and that it gives you hope for the years ahead...while knowing that the Lord hold all of your family's days in His hands. Still praying...

Anonymous said...

Joy,
I can not believe I missed you today at SonKids!!!! What a pleaseure it would have been to see you and the kids. Hopefully I will get to see you soon. You are always on my mind and in my prayers. What a blessing for the good report on James' numbers. Thank you for keeping us informed on his progress. God Bless you and keep you.
Michelle

Michael and Jana said...

2 Weeks! Wow, what a crazy feeling that is. When it feels like you live there, 2 weeks feels like a lifetime. Make sure you celebrate next Wednesday! I wish I could come celebrate with you.

We're still praying!

sandy said...

Maintenance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Music to our ears!!!! What an accomplishment....thank you Jesus....continue to walk them through this fiery furnace! We love you and pray for Baby James and all the Ryans.
loveyou
Sandy

McClure Family said...

Praise be to the Lord! We will continue to walk with you and pray with you! We are so thankful that his counts were so great!

Anonymous said...

Hello Mr. James Gregory Ryan (and JOY) This is Victoria, Braydon Smith's mommy. We met at clinic this month and the previous two months. I am so glad you got to start maintenence! It is all uphill from here! I promise!

Braydon's website was acting up the last several days. It is fixed now so you can go visit his page too!

See you guys next month!

Praying things continue to look up!

Love The Smith Family!

www.braydonsmith.com

Michael and Jana said...

We would so love to meet you! We will pray that Maintenance provides opportunities for you to see family and travel. My email address is kelleyfamily4@gmail.com. We can talk details when it gets closer. What dates are you looking at? We plan to do a bit of traveling ourselves.