2nd Round Done....

John had a great week before we headed back to Childrens for his second round of High Dose Methotrexate. We kept ourselves busy with fun outings to the Oakland Zoo, the Academy of Sciences and Color Me Mine. I was checking John's pals out of school all week and I think the school secretary may be on to me.

On Thursday, Mike's company held a fundraiser in honor of John. They raised over 100K for pediatric cancer at their annual FSG meeting in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the weather was so bad that Mike's flight was cancelled and he wasn't able to be there to personally to express our gratitude to everyone at Aon who worked so hard to make this event happen. We'd like to say a HUGE thanks to Mike Rice, Steve Keogh, Paul Kim, Karen Black and Sara Merrick for all their hard work. We look forward to sharing photos soon.

The money will go into a fund in John's name at the Childrens Hospital of Oakland Foundation. In the upcoming months, we will get to work with John to decide more specifically how the money will be allocated. John's sickness has been a big adjustment for our family in many ways, and we have been very lucky that Mike's company has given him so much support and flexibility.

John went back into the hospital on Friday 1/22 and was released on Monday. It felt like a very long stay this time. We had two nights with a crying infant - luckily I was able to get us moved for the last night. But, my patience was definitely tested and Mike picked up a cold from lack of sleep. We also learned that the hospital has no activities scheduled on weekends. The playroom is closed and the school services are not there. We got home on Monday tired and exhausted.

John came home and developed mouth sores a few days later. It is so hard to watch him suffer through those -- he had several days where he could not eat or talk. But, he was a trooper as always (thanks, KC, for the balloon and roses - first time I saw him smile in days).

We are keeping our fingers crossed that he doesn't get worse so we can sneak away for a long weekend in Carmel.

Johnny Jam

This blog is dedicated to John's CYO Basketball Team, The Warriors, who are 8-0 this season. Thank you for making him feel so part of the team!

I apologize in advance for my shrieking voice in the video.

John was released on Saturday just in time to watch his Cal Bears beat USC. On Monday morning, he woke up with a very sore mouth. The day I had been dreading was finally here! I had been very anxious about the side effects of this new round of chemo and had been told that it can be tough. We spent all day Monday at the hospital where the doctors assessed his mouth sores, hooked him up to IV fluids, administered pain medicine and checked his counts. John woke up Tuesday feeling better and it improved each day. He was eating regular food by Wednesday.

On Thursday afternoon, Jimmy and John were playing in the backyard. The music was blaring on the outdoor speakers (The Beatles, of course). One of John's best friends dropped in for an unexpected visit. As I walked in the house, I could see the boys shooting hoops. I grabbed John's Nano and took the video posted here. For a moment, I forgot all about cancer, hospitals, chemo- it was just so PERFECT!

Phase 3 Has Begun.....

3AM HOME FROM ER VISIT - IT SNOWED IN ORINDA!!!

NEW ADDITION TO GOLDEN BEAR ROSTER!

JEROME RANDLE - JOHN RICKSEN - MIKE MONTGOMERY

JOHN AND CAROLINE

JOHN ATE THE ENTIRE CRAB!

OSKI, AUNT LINDA, JOHN AND CAROLINE - CAL VS. STANFORD

LAFAYETTE RESERVOIR PLAYGROUND

NEW YEARS EVE! 2010 IS GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR

CHRISTMAS EVE - BRUZZONE & RICKSEN COUSINS

CORDEVALLE

I did it again....I took another month to post! I guess we have been busy. I decided to post a collection of photos from the past month to share how well John is doing.

We just finished Phase 2 of treatment and it went very well. We experienced one ER visit (John had a fever from the flu) and two blood transfusions. All of this was pretty straightforward and to be expected.

John has been busy spending time with family and friends. He continues to do well with his school work and seems to be on track with his 2nd grade class. He was able to go back and visit his class before the Holidays and bring his classmates a Christmas gift bag.

As usual, the boys kept busy with Cal basketball games. Head coach Mike Montgomery and starting point guard Jerome Randle presented John with his very own Cal jersey with his name on the back. This was such a treat for John. He wears it everywhere and every day. He sleeps in it at night and it apparently qualifies as formal wear. You will see above in pictures from Christmas Eve - the jersey is on.

John continues to remain active - shooting baskets daily, playing golf with Dad and Uncle Casey and walking the Lafayette Reservoir (2.7 miles)!

My parents came up to spend Christmas with our family. We loved having them up here to celebrate with us. They even babysat so Mike and I could get away on an overnight with our close friends. We enjoyed a wonderful 24 hour vacation - complete with hiking, relaxing, good food and lots of laughs (thanks Brian and Laura)!

John was admitted back to Childrens Hospital on Tuesday morning to start Phase 3 (Interim Maintenance). Mike and I have been anxious for this phase since it will require a lot of time back in the hospital, which is hard for everyone. John received his intrathecal chemo and a 24 hour infusion of high does methotrexate. He could not be released until it was all out of his system. The doctors said this could take anywhere from 3-5 days. We are happy to say that it only took John 3 days and we were released Friday (a day earlier than expected).

John seems to be tolerating it well and we hope to remain home until Wednesday, January 20th. We will have this treatment four times over the next sixty days, which means 16-20 of the next 60 days will be at Childrens Hospital. We know that Kerry has started a meal calendar for us to help with this more intense round of treatment and appreciate all of you who continue to support us in so many immeasurable ways!

John Makes His Directorial Debut

Sorry it's been so long since our last post. We spent the last couple weeks waiting for John's counts to go back up. During that time, here are some of the highlights.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Casey's house. It was so nice to be together. Even in a year that's brought us great loss and considerable challenges, Mike and I realize how much we have to be thankful for. Caroline flew all by herself to spend Thanksgiving in Palm Desert with my mom and dad and the Clemens family. We missed her so much but know that she had a great time swimming, playing with her cousins, and driving the golf cart. My dad says she's a lot like me - a bit of a lead foot.

After Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a really fun visit with John's cousins - the Griffin clan. Their youngest, Tommy, got to be the ball boy for the Cal vs. Princeton basketball game. John loved sitting in the stands as his Aunt Jill watched her team go down in flames. We can still hear her yelling "back door"!

On Wednesday, December 2nd, John's counts were finally up high enough for his treatment to continue. We checked into the hospital that day and were were released Thursday night in time to spend the evening with Jimmy to celebrate his 11th birthday.

During our hospital stay, as I was talking on the phone with my mom, John was busy making his own home movie. I had no idea he was doing it and have posted it here for your enjoyment. John continues to be constant entertainment for us. Even in our darkest days, he never stops giving us reasons to smile.

Blood Transfusion

As we mentioned in our last update, John's doctors are very pleased with how his cancer is responding to treatment. Unfortunately, the chemotherapy has also affected his immune system and caused his white blood cell counts to be very low.

John was at Childrens Hospital all day Wednesday for a blood transfusion. This did not come as a surprise to us -- the doctors told us that this was to be expected as John continues his treatment. Because of his suppressed immune system, John cannot be out and about due to risk of infection. He's stuck at home with me!

Despite needing the transfusion, John's energy level has been great and he seems to be feeling fine. And true to his nature, John can make anything fun. Our big game on Wednesday at the hospital was trying to figure out whose blood John was getting. John was pretty convinced it was coming from a professional baseball player, or possibly Elvis. He was doing such a great job on his school work the next day, I'm thinking maybe it came from someone very smart. A Harvard PHD, perhaps?

John was scheduled to go back to the hospital for treatment on Monday, but the doctors have decided to delay that until his counts are back up. I'm secretly happy, as I wasn't quite ready to go back in. Now, we'll most likely have until the end of next week....plenty of time for us to do some of our favorite activities together at home.

Back to the Hospital

I thought I would be updating the blog more often, but I've found myself immersed in family life. I'm surprised by how much I've enjoyed the simple things about our daily routine. John and I have found a comfortable groove and our days have been busy. I worked with Caroline on her book report and was very proud of our end result. Jimmy finished up his Fall baseball season and is enjoying CYO basketball with Mike as coach. Even though things seems to be settling into a nice routine, they are never predictable. John and I spent most of Friday at Childrens with a clot in his Broviac line.

John was back at Childrens last Monday and Tuesday for treatment and an overnight visit. It was the first time we had been admitted as inpatients since our original hospitalization. We checked into the same exact room that we had stayed in last time. It almost felt like home as I cozied up in my window seat with views of the Berkeley Hills. We had an endless stream of visits from the doctors and nurses that had cared for John during our previous stay. It's no surprise to us that John had made quite an impact on these people. We also got great results from the prior week's scans and x-rays. The doctors couldn't be more pleased with John's progress -- the medicine is doing it's job!

When John was released from the hospital, he got to attend a basketball clinic at the Warriors practice facility hosted by the Nicholas Colby Fund. Since John had just undergone his treatment, he was not able to participate as much as he had hoped. But, Mike quickly turned John's disappointment into hope as he pointed out that all the other kids on the court were further along or done with their treatments. John realized that he too would be back on the basketball court one day.

Lamont Gilbert, the father of Nicholas, came over to spend time with Mike and John. He gave John box tickets to the next Warrior's game. John came home on top of the word....and I crossed my fingers that he would feel up for going. As luck would have it, he did! We spent an amazing night at the game with five of John's closest friends and their dads. It gave me such joy to be together as a family and watch John get to be a normal 7 year old boy.

John Completes Phase 1

Sorry for the delay since our last post -- things have been busy around here! This past weekend, we had a wonderful visit with Grandpa Jim, Uncle Geoff and John's cousins - Jake and Elliott, who were up for the Cal football game. It was a game time decision, but John did go. He got to enjoy the game from the press box with Aunt Jane. I wouldn't know what it's like to watch a game from that vantage point, but I hear it's great. We finished the day with a family BBQ and sleep over with the cousins. It was nice to have the house full of chaos and laughter.

On the medical front, John has now completed his first phase of treatment (Induction). This week we will be busy at Children's Hospital with three days of scans and xrays. This is the final step of the Induction phase and these tests will give us a better idea of the size of the mass and how John is responding so far.

On Monday, John starts the next phase of treatment (Consolidation). He will have to check back into the hospital for one night to undergo a new type of chemotherapy. John and I are already planning our hospital slumber party - jammies, dinner, movie & glow sticks.

We continue to be so inspired by the generosity of family, friends, neighbors and even complete strangers. I have begun the process of sending thank you notes; however, things at the hospital were pretty disorganized, so don't be surprised if you get a note thanking you for the wrong thing, get two notes, or don't get any note at all! I hope you all know how appreciative we are for EVERYTHING. You have made life so much easier for us and really brightened John's days.

I'll close with one final thank you to the Griffins and everyone who has joined them in Dribble for a Cure. They have already raised $11,701 (and counting) for Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, which makes them the top fundraiser for the event. Griffins, John is so lucky to have you for cousins and is amazed at how much you have accomplished. Good Luck on Sunday.....we'll all be rooting for Team John Ricksen!