Day 20 - Saturday, May 26

A quiet day for Ryan - I think he's pretty lonely without Sophia here.  Sophia and Missy & Meghan got the apartment in Provo emptied yesterday, and planned some pamper time today.  Sohpia will fly home tomorrow.  Ryan has a surprise visit from Ron Viola on his way back from his week at the temple in Boston this morning.  And his good friend Tyo and his girlfriend came in from Maryland today.

I focused on some spring cleaning today - got the girls to throw away lots of junk in their rooms and remove the books they have outgrown to give away at church tomorrow. 

Soon we will have all of MeiLin's things moved out of the room so Sophia and Ryan can have a little space of their own. 

The girls had a wonderful overnight at Sara's last night.  We all took an afternoon nap, then supper and I took the girls to ride the rides at a nearby carnival.  Off ot bed for us.

Tomorrow is Day 18 on Ryan's chemo regimen:  more multidrug chemotherapy.  Then another dose of intrathecal chemo (into the cerebrospinal fluid via a spinal tap) on Tuesday when it can be cone under fluoroscopy.

WBC today: 100.  The drugs are doing what they are supposed to do. 

We are hoping that much good will come from Ryan's illness.  There is lots of information about bone marrow transplantation and becoming a bone marrow donor at the web site of the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry @ marrow.org.

Please consider being a marrow donor.  It's pretty easy to sign up:

Go to:    marrow.org

Click the tab on the top:  "join the registry"

Click the box:  "join now"

Answer the questionnaire which screens for factors which would exclude you from being a donor.

Then it asks for your personal information and has a number of "I accept" clauses - since the testing is free, they are looking for people who would be willing to actually follow through if they are needed.

When a compatible donor is identified, they will need to see a physician for more detailed health screening to be sure it is safe for both the donor and recipient. 

It doesn't take much to save a life - a unit of blood, or a few stem cells. 

Thanks, and good night!

---Barb