Day Twenty-three

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."  John 16:33

Saturday was another good day; thank you, Lord.  Ryan has said a few times that his stomach hurts, but it doesn't seem to bother him too much.  He has been full of energy (I mean 5 hour energy, monster drink type of energy) today.

Since his counts were good, the nurse said there were no restrictions on where he could go....so we went out today.  Davianna, Ryan, and I went to Radio Shack to return what Davianna bought with her birthday money.  I told her yesterday to keep her receipt in case there was a problem.  Well, there was a problem, and I asked her for the receipt and she had it.  We then dropped the dish receiver off at the UPS store and headed to the grocery store.  Ryan wanted bananas, strawberries, and lucky charms.  I know he wanted the fruit because that's what he has wanted most the past two weeks.  He wanted the lucky charms because it had a race car inside the box.  I told him that he could have the race car once the cereal was finished...we'll see how that goes.  On the way home, we stopped by Sonic and picked up some lunch.  Once we got home, I realized that they forgot to include one of the chicken sandwiches, but didn't forget to charge me.  Oh, well.

Orlando brought some food by today, which made Mirjan happy.  She needed some of her homeland food.  The past week, we have received so much food, cards, gifts, etc. from Ryan's school.  We were really touched by the teachers, administrators, and parents of students offers of assistance.  We don't know most of these people and they have been very generous, provided their phone numbers in case we need anything, and have opened their hearts for Ryan.  God's love displayed.

Dinora came by and brought balloons and ice cream for Davianna.  All the kids ran around and made lots of noise while she and her kids were here.  That was really nice of her.

In the afternoon, we went to the mall because Emma needs some new shoes and nothing will fit her.  We struck out there too...I guess we'll have to get more Robeez online.  However, we did get some fruity smelling soap that cost too much.  Mirjan also got some jewelry for the little ones.   We stopped by the cookie store and Ryan didn't want a cookie....WHAT?  Okay, now I really know that the medicine has altered his food desires.  I didn't complain once at the mall, and Mirjan said she was proud of me (uh, that comment about the soap wasn't complaining).

I watched some more videos on youtube of children with Rhabdomyosarcoma.  Those will just tear you up.  I thank God again and again that Ryan's cancer hadn't spread and the tumor was located where it was.  God bless those families that lost their children to cancer.

Ryan made a comment today about "bolted" heads.  I asked him what he meant, and he said, "you know, no hair."  Okay, so he is starting to understand that he will have a 'bolted' head.  He said he wanted a hat that covers his head because his friends would make fun of him.  So, we talked about that.  I asked him if his friend wore a shirt he didn't like would he make fun of him?  If his friend lost a tooth, would he make fun of him?  I asked him if all his friends look the same or if they all look different.  Then we talked about worrying what other people thought. We also talked about the football players and basketball players that have 'bolted' heads.  I need to find him a cool Nike hat (for some reason he is hooked on Nike), keep talking about it, and I think he will be fine. 

Father, I thank you for today.  I thank you for Ryan's energy and that everything seems normal to him.  I thank you for keeping the side affects minimal.  You are with him and us, we feel that, and it feels great.  I ask that you continue to heal him, keep him in good spirits, and give our family strength to support him and each other.  We thank you for everything that you have done and your love that is being displayed through others several times each day.  You have blessed us and we are thankful!  Amen.