On the 5th, Ryley began her morning complaining of some mouth pain & running a fever. Over the next two days she functioned relatively normal but a touch under the weather. By Friday night, she had an uncontrollable fever and rash on her body. Saturday morning, we went to her normal pediatrician and began antibiotics for what was believed to be strep and a scarletina rash. By Sunday night, her condition had only gotten worse and her pediatrician said her strep test results came back negative and she would need to be seen again Monday. Upon examination, he became concerned that the skin rash was showing some issues with her blood platelets. After blood work, we found out her red blood cell count, hemoglobin, and platelet levels were all extremely low, making him suspicious of leukemia.
We immediately left for the Children's Hospital at Chapel Hill and that is where we still are today. On the 10th, she had a bone marrow biopsy and on September 11th, our doctors diagnosed her with leukemia B-cell (acute lymphocytic leukemia=ALL). She underwent surgery again on Wednesday to have a port placed under her skin to serve as an access line for her to receive medication, blood, and other IV fluids. They also performed a lumbar puncture to administer a round of chemo and test to see if the leukemia cells had entered her spinal fluid. Thankfully it has not.
Her first official round of chemotherapy began Friday. She has another round today & then again on Friday of this week. After that, she will have weekly treatments on Fridays for awhile. There is a possibility she will get to come home this week: however, due to some other respiratory issues and fluid showing up in her lungs, she may be here for a month.
This is truly the hardest battle we have ever faced in life, but we have found peace in knowing that God is more than enough and is working daily to heal her body. We have an amazing staff of doctors and nurses that have been working for us and with us around the clock. We have definitely been reminded just how strong of a network of family & friends we have. Although Ryley has been an extremely sick little girl, she has been a phenomenal trooper. Of course, for those of you that know her, you know she is "one tough cookie". In fact, many days she has corrected me on what I was doing wrong and kept me straight.
We appreciate the many texts, calls, and messages we have received. Please understand if we have not responded, we have been very busy processing a lot during this last week while our life was turned upside down. If you had no idea, please don't feel left out that we didn't inform you. Once again life has been a whirlwind.
In an effort to update everyone and cut down on our time reading and answering messages, we are going to ask everyone to please use this site as a contact point. We will make Facebook posts that link back to this site, but we would like to filter messages this way to make things a little easier for us. If we are slow in responding, please understand we appreciate everyone, but her care, as well as Cheyenne's needs are our top priority.
Thanks so much to the wonderful ladies of the Busy Bees, not only for cooking a delicious dinner, but for serving it, and making wreaths for the raffle. Also thanks to David & Ivey King for the donation of a clinic to be raffled off in support of Ryley!
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Ryley Stay Connected to Family and Friends
A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like Ryley's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?
