Day 17 - Bald & Bodacious

Ryan's got a new style - clean shaven face with a buzz cut.  The beard was getting patchy yesterday and he asked for clippers.  During the night he took matters into his own hands.  He looks good, actually!  But then he still has some hair, and the smile is still beaming through.

Yet for all the joking today, it was another landmark, and I suspect it was a lonely difficult night.

Today he's sporting a cap, some cool shades, and a smile.

WBC today was 0.3 (thousand) - that's 300 white blood cells.  The physician inside me looks at a WBC of 300 and gasps.  I don't think I've ever seen a count that low.  But then that's the point, isn't it?  To wipe out his body's ability to produce cancer cells.  Of necessity the collateral damage is loss of good cells as well.  His hgb is still around 8, and the platelets are hovering around 20.  He has bruises which are most likely the result of his low fibrinogen.  He got more cryoprecipitate today to replace the fibrinogen.

The good news is that the nausea hasn't reared it's ugly head this week.  He still eating a lot, but trying to cut back a little bit and make healthier choices.  The steroids tend to cause hunger and weight gain.  Whereas over the weekend he was down 10 lbs from admission, now he's up 5 pounds from admission.  Although he's been eating a lot, he hasn't eaten 15 pounds worth for a young man's metabolism (maybe for mine....).  So he's either got some fluid retention or steroid effect or both.

When he was little, he was diagnosed with ADD and put on a medication which made him lose weight - in 6 months my already skinny kid 9 year old lost 9 pounds.  He was doing so much better in school that we really wanted to keep him on the medicine.  So we fed him everything under the sun in an attempt to maintain his weight.  When he was taken off the meds, his bad habits (a result of parental force feeding) caused him to balloon up.  The boy we had called "Monkey" since he was little became our "Chunky Monkey".  Being the fat kid was hard on his self esteem.  Eventually he simply decided to lose the weight.  He cut out snacks and second helpings and the weight fell off.  When he puts his mind to something, he sticks to it.  That trait will serve him well now.

Ryan has a few hats now.  Thanks Brad for the Alabama cap (ROLL TIDE!!!!), and the Yeagers for the Cabela's cap (love their  outdoor camping supplies).

It's nice to know that some people just can't miss a chance to make a statement:  Sara (knowing Tim hates Obama and gives Ryan a bad time about having voted for him) gave Ryan a hat with the Obama 2012 re-election logo.  It will be fun to see how long it takes Tim to figure out what it is!

And then there's the moose hat - similar to what you would find on a snowsuit for a toddler.  Thanks, Uncle Larry & Aunt Judy.  Love your fashion sense!!!  We're looking for an opportunity to catch Ryan drugged and slip it on him for a photo session!!

Speaking of photo sessions, a friend is writing a childrens' book with scripture stories.  She asked Tim to be Moses, and his photo shoot was today.  During the shoot, our oldest daughter, Missy, called and I told her what we were doing.  Her response, "You mean Dad actually agreed to have his picture taken?!"

The girls are going to spend the weekend in Malone with Teresa Rabideau.  Thanks, Teresa!!  She always spoils them rotten.  So while Kaia was at dance class, MeiLin cleaned out both mouse cages to talk me into letting them go to a local carnival with rides.  We all won on that one!

Sophia is flying out to SLC tomorrow where Missy and Meghan will join her on Friday and they will close out Ryan & Sophia's apartment.  Thanks to Paula Ita for picking them all up at the airport and getting them to Provo.  Thanks to Josh Hawkins (Missy's brother-in-law) for loaning his vehicle and muscle. And Thanks to Dawn White for hauling the bigger stuff back from Utah in her car.

Wanda (Sophia's mom) flew back to El Paso today to be with her younger children at home in Chihuahua, Mexico.  We're hoping she'll come back this summer and bring them along.  Then all the kids can enjoy a New York summer together.

Our love to all of you!  We can't begin to express our gratitude for so many wonderful people in our lives.  We are truly blessed.
---Barb

  (PS - on the preview, the words "admission" and "lose weight" are highlighted, and I don't know how to undo it.  So please disregard the highlights - there is no hidden meaning except the I'm not smart enough to over-ride the compter)