Day Nineteen

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."  Proverbs 19:21

Ryan woke me up several times last night, "Daaaaaddddyy!"  Nothing important, but it sure sounded like it was.  The last time that he called me, he said he had to go to the bathroom.  I knew something was up, because he usually goes by himself when he wakes up.  So, I took him, he turned around right before he did his business, smiled, and said, "Tricked ya! Now you have to sleep with me."  I'm not sure that I follow that logic, but I got the sense that he didn't want to sleep alone last night.  So I just brought him back to our bed.  Emma's hiney was already in my face all night (when did she take up residency in our bedroom???), so another little person would be just fine.  He is usually up and running early in the morning, but he was still sleeping when I left to take Davianna to school.
On the way to school, I told Davianna that we both need to get up and out the door earlier.  She told me, "But Daddy, sleeping is my thing."  Where did that come from?  Then why don't you ever want to take any naps? Why don't you want to go to bed at night?  She just laughed.  She said her prayers for the day, and I could tell that she was thinking about the right words to say.  I told her to say what's in her heart.  Thank God for things he has blessed you with, and ask Him to help others and with things that seem hard for her.  I think I was giving myself advice too.  

Our insurance company called and asked a lot of questions. I talked to her for about 30 minutes tonight (in-network, what procedures will be next, where will they be, make sure and ask about if they are contracted with us, etc.), and she genuinely seemed to care. She asked questions about the stuff we have already read and talked about with many caring people (how are you doing, what type of support do you have, are you taking care of yourself, do you like your doctors, are they explaining everything to you, etc.).  She said she would check with me next week and made sure I had her number and the 800, 24x7 number for medical questions. It was nice that they called and offered their expertise, will check back, and provided another resource in case we need that.  Regardless of my initial perception of the call, I thank God for all of the resources laid before us during this challenging time.  I thank him for the fact that we have insurance, that I can take off from work, that I have the type of boss that cares more about people, etc.  Many blessings...

Nothing very eventful occurred today.  I talked to several people about Ryan, and they said that he would be in their prayers. That's it...non-eventful is good nowadays.

I ran across this the other day. Nickelodeon had a special called, "The Face of Courage: Kids Living with Cancer."   Here is the link to the full episode (you have to watch about 45 seconds of ads at the beginning):

The Face of Courage: Kids Living with Cancer

The following is information that I captured from chemocare.com about Ryan's drugs.  Scary stuff...

Vincristine

Dactinomycin

Cyclophosphamide

Mesna


Father, I ask for your love, hope, strength, and courage for all those battling cancer and their families.  We have experienced some of the pain, have talked to other families last week with great challenges, and can only imagine how many others that truly need you right now.  I ask that you guide us to make a difference in other lives now that we better realize the impact to a family.  As we get closer to the next treatment, I ask for you to bless the nurses, doctors and others that will treat Ryan on Friday.  I ask in Jesus' name that you keep Ryan healthy, minimize the side affects of the medicines, and continue to heal my little boy.  Amen.