Addiction

This, again, has nothing to do with Riley...I just felt like I needed to get this off my chest. They say denial is the first step. I once thought I could quit cold turkey, but I started shaking so bad after the first day I had to give in. I feel bad for my family, they suffer the most...it's just so time consuming. So, today is the day I am going to get my life back. My name is Kari, and I am addicted to blogs. Seriously. And since my peeps over on my blog roll have been letting me down, and not updating (hint, hint!)...I have had to look elsewhere to feed my addiction. I'm going to share a few of my new fav's...so you can all join in the fun. Believe me when I warn you - Welcome to your new addiction!!

The first blog I want to share is called My Special K's, click here to visit. Renee and her family live in Tennesse. She and her husband Frank have 4 kids - Kassidy, Kameron, Kennedy, and Keeghan. Frank just returned home from Iraq in December, so Renee has been on her own raising these 4 angels...as well as keeping up with this awesome blog of hers. Kennedy has Down Syndrome, and also battled Leukemia...but is now all cured. But, it doesn't end there - Renee and Frank are working on adopting another little girl from Eastern Europe who also has Down's Syndrome. Her name will be Kellsey. You have GOT to go and check out this blog...Renee Rocks!!

The second blog I found thru Renee's blog is Kelly's Korner, please click here to begin your addiction process. Kelly and her husband Scott live in Arkansas, and have dealt with infertility for over 5 years. They FINALLY found out they were pregnant, and Kelly gave birth to their miracle daughter Harper on January 16th. Harper has since been fighting for her life in the NICU...due to fluid in her lungs, which turned into pneumonia. Harper is making great strides in her life, so please go and show them some love.

The final blog I want to share, I also found thru Renee is about The Maxey family...click here to begin. This family had a 1 year old daughter, Madeline, who passed away in August of 2004 from a cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma. They have since had 2 more children - Grant was born in 2006, and Annette was born in October of 2008. A short 2 months later, they discovered Annette's brain tumor. So, they are once again faced with the challenge of childhood cancer...while still grieving for their first born daughter Madeline. So heartbreaking, but this family shows such great faith.

There are a ton more I could share, but I will spare you for now. But, I believe you can never have too many blogs to keep up with...so if you are reading this and you have a blog you want to share, please leave a comment with the info. Whether it is your blog, or just a random one you found through friends. Please share!!

Oh, and Riley has been doing great. Still avoiding the "weather" crud...I just knocked on my wooden desk. Tonight is her Open House at school, so she is excited to show us what all she has been up to. This weekend I will work on a marathon picture post...so be sure to rest up for that!!

Nothing new...

Not much going on around here...just felt a little pressure to keep all our fans updated. Thank you to all who de-lurked, and to all who didn't. Either way, we love that you check in on our girl and keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
We did all survive another week of steroid fun, with a little help from both sets of grandparents. They gave Riley and I a little break from each other. She and I can argue like pros when she isn't on steroids...so you can just imagine the fun that week holds!!
So...we are now prepared, and a little excited, for our boring week of school, work, and home. We have nothing planned for the weekend, either...what will we do with ourselves?! I'm sure we will find some sort of trouble to get into!
Oh, I almost forgot...Riley had her Make-A-Wish interview this past Saturday. We have filled out all the paperwork, and sent it in...so now we just wait to find out when it will happen. I will keep the wish a secret for now...but I'm sure with our little "princess" you can only imagine!!


Have a great week!!

Delurk yourself...

This has nothing to do with Riley, but I saw this on another blog and thought it was a great idea. We have always wanted to know who all is out there praying for Riley, and this is the perfect chance. So, if you are reading this - please click on comments at the bottom of the post and leave us a little message....we would love to hear from each and every one of you. PLEASE!!

And then read the post below this one for a recap of yesterday's clinic visit

Clinic day

Yesterday was Riley's monthly clinic visit and chemo, and she did great. She was in a very silly mood and kept herself entertained...which helped greatly in passing the time. The Cancer Clinic is supposedly working on cutting down all the wait times...but my family has yet to experience this. We waited for almost 2 hours just to have Riley's port accessed...I finally decided we had possibly been forgotten about and went to ask the receptionist if she could check to see when we were going to be called, she called them to check and wouldn't you know they were just about to page us. Seriously? We hadn't even made it back to our chairs and our pager was going off...makes me wonder if they were really about to page us for real or if they were waiting to see how long this sucker was going to sit there and wait. Anyway, it all worked out and her counts were great...and Riley was so proud of herself because she didn't cry when they stuck the needle into her port. She usually makes a huge production out of it, even though she knows it won't hurt. So, now she's learned that we make an even bigger production out of being so proud of her when she doesn't cry...and it may help that she also gets a special treat from Target when she is good. Hey, whatever works!! Yesterday she decided she wanted a new Barbie movie...I did not hear one peep out of her on the way home, she was glued to the screen.

2 weeks ago when we had Riley's blood counts checked here her ANC was 656...she has had this nasty little cough since that time, so I was worried her counts were going to be even lower. But, they had actually gone up...yesterday her ANC was 1,120. Her hemoglobin and platelet numbers had gone down a touch, but they were all still in the normal range.

So, we will persevere through another tough week filled with steroids and the after-affects of Vincristine. She was already complaining early this morning of leg pain, and I finally got up and gave her one of her Tylenol with codeine pills. May not have been such a good idea, because she was a zombie when she woke up and DID NOT want to stay at school. The codeine makes her a little out of it...but definitely helps her legs feel better.

Please continue to pray for Riley to make it through this week, and for Josh and I to have the patience to deal with the fun of steroids. Also, please continue the prayers for Paige and all the other kiddos still battling Cancer. Paige did great with her last chemo treatment, and is awaiting her counts to come up and then have her bone marrow transplant.

Riley being silly

The kids got these hamper thingies from the Sunshine Kid's Christmas party, and for some reason decided they were going to wear them around. It was quite amusing...they kept trying to hug each other - wasn't really working out for them.

Happy New Year!!

Hi...remember us? Sorry for the lack of updates, but just know that no news is good news. Riley has been doing great, and staying well. Christmas was fun...we spent time at my parents and at Josh's parents. The kids got WAY too many toys, and loved every minute of it. Riley's class wrote letters to Santa...and thankfully Santa was able to fulfill her wishes. She was so excited when she woke up and saw that Santa had been there...I think this was the first year she "got" the whole Santa thing. Now she's excited because she realized there will be another Christmas this year...I better start shopping now!! New Year's eve was also fun...we hung out at Josh's aunt and uncle's camp house. The kids played in the dirt, and helped shoot fireworks. Riley got a make-up kit for Christmas, so she enjoyed putting make-up on Katie and Addison. There were 18 of us that spent the night there, in this one room camp house, so there were wall to wall air mattresses...it was pretty fun. We didn't get much sleep, but it was worth it to all be together. It's still hard to believe it's a new year. We're planning on Feeling Fine in '09!!
Please say some prayers for Paige and her family...they found out that Paige has relapsed, and will now need to have a bone marrow transplant. Paige is in good spirits, and is ready to fight this thing once more.

This was our sweet little lamb, the pictures that I promised but never posted

Christmas 2008

Ringing in the New Year

Radiothon

It is time again for the Cure Kid's Cancer Radiothon, broadcasting live from Texas Children's Cancer Clinic. It will be going on today and tomorrow, so if you are in the Houston area get your kleenex ready and tune into one of these stations - 93Q (92.9), 97.1, 106.9, or 107.5. I tried to listen last year, here at work, but I had to turn it off because everyone who would walk into my office thought I was having a breakdown...the stories they share are incredible, whether they had happy endings or sad. So, tune in and be inspired...but don't say I didn't warn you!!

Riley has been having a tough week. My mom took her for her chemo on Monday, which also meant another steroid week. But, in addition she was starting to get sick...so all of those factors together created a very tired and agitated little angel. She is on zithromax to stop this viral thing in it's tracks, and it seems to be working. She is also on Tylenol with codeine for the increased pain she has been having in her legs and arms, as a result of her chemo. The pain usually only lasts for a couple of days after, and so far the tylenol seems to be helping. Dr. Dreyer said if this didn't help, they would reduce the amount of chemo she gets each month.

I promise to get some pictures up this weekend, it has been another crazy-busy week. Tuesday, Riley was in her school's Christmas program and was the most beautiful little lamb you have ever seen. Please continue to pray for all these cancer cuties!!

Prayers, please...

Last night, Josh's cousin (& Riley's God-father) Timmy was killed in a car accident. He and his wife Jen have 2 beautiful little girls...Katie is 3 and Karley is 1. Katie is the cute little blonde in the picture with Riley, in the post below, from their dance recital earlier in the week. Please pray for Jen and the girls to find peace and comfort, and for Timmy's parents. He and his dad were so close. Heaven better watch out...Popo and Timmy are reunited and probably looking to stir up a little mischief. Popo, please watch after Timmy...we miss you both!!


My friend Erin also lost her husband, Jerimy, yesterday. He had a 4-wheeler accident this past weekend, and had been fighting hard ever since. They also have 2 sweet little girls...Cadee is 5 and Julee is 2. Again, please pray for Erin and the girls to make it through this hard time. Death is always a hard thing, but it's just seems especially harder so close to Christmas.