CureSearch Walk Wichita Falls, Sept 15th

http://www.curesearchwalk.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1015910&team=4987111

Hello friends, all of our hard work is finally coming together for a CureSearch walk in Wichita Falls on Saturday, Sept. 15th. 2012! The walk will consist of an opening ceremony, a less than 3 mile walk, and a closing ceremony. The walk will start at 9:00am and will end around lunch or right after. The walk will be at MSU - Sikes Lake trail.

We would love to have you join Team Briley!! You can also form your own team! If you still like to participate and are unable to attend, you can also sign up as a virtual walker. A minimal of a $10 donation is asked. Please remember that 94% of the donations will go directly to pediatric cancer research. This includes the research trial that Briley is currently undergoing!

I have set our goals high for Team Briley. We are asking for a 50 member team and a $2,000 goal.

All that you have to do is click on the link above and then click on "join team". It will walk you through the rest. All of you have helped us out tremendously this past year and we would love to have your help funding better treatments and maybe even finding a cure for kids with cancer! Thanks!

Cooks on Friday, counts are great!

Briley's monthly checkup at Cooks was this past Friday. Her counts were great! ANC - 2800! Her ANC is actually too high since she is on the 6-MP every night, so if it is still too high by the next appointment, they will increase her chemo dosing.

Tatum was in the clinic also. We met her and her family briefly a few months ago. At that time, Tatum was getting her very last spinal tap, however, she had relapsed and had to start all over. We have been following along on her blog since that time, so it was good to see her and she was doing great! I can't imagine having to start all over again as she had to do. I don't even want to think about it, but it is encouraging to see Tatum doing so good.

After the clinic visit, some of my friends picked me up and we went to Shreveport for the Bassmaster Classic! We all had a good time! Alicia, Gloria, and the kids went to Glen Rose and drove through Fossil Rim. Fossil Rim is one of these places that you drive through to see and feed the animals. I recommend anyone with kids to go there. This was Briley's 3rd time and Bryson's 1st. They both had a ball! Briley's favorite story is the giraffe licking the windshield and the turkeys that she wants daddy to shot, but not the one's in Glen Rose.

The CureSearch walk that we are helping to plan is coming together nicely. It will be Sept. 15th in Wichita at MSU - Sikes Lake. We would love to have you on Team Briley or you can form your own team! All of this is done online or you can do it they day of. I will make a separate post on here in the next couple of days with all of the information about the walk. One very important thing about the walks that I want all of you to remember is that 94 cents out of a dollar donated to CureSearch will go directly to pediatric cancer research! That is big!

Counts are stable

It's been a while since I last posted, so time for a quick update on things. The steroids are now out of Briley's system. Her appetite is back to normal and she is losing the weight that she gained while she was on the steroids.

She had a CBC last week and all of her counts looked good! Her ANC dropped down to 1200, but that is normal considering she is off the steroids. We'll take 1200! She won't have another CBC until her next Cooks appointment on the 24th of this month. We are hoping that her counts have stabilized and the doctor will release her back to normal activities (and hopefully to Disney World)!

There is currently a national shortage of injectable methotrexate. This is the chemo that Briley gets during her spinal taps. This could affect a lot of cancer kids and their treatment plans, including Briley's. Alicia placed a call into Cooks this morning to ask about the situation, and they assured us that Cooks has nothing to worry about. It's a little scary knowing that drug shortages could cause a detour in the treatment plan. We are hoping for the best.

Steroids going strong!

Briley ended the 5 day steroid run yesterday. All was good until day 4. That's when the cravings set in and the attitude got a little worse than usual. We were prepared, or so we thought. We stocked up on frito pies in anticipation of the cravings. However, she craved spaghetti'os! So it's been spaghetti'os for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all in between. She's also had some back and leg pain from the steroids toward the end of the day. Thankfully, this round is over with for another 3 months and she'll be back to normal in a couple of days.

I've been asked to speak to the high school kids next week on the importance of donating blood. I am honored to be asked to do this. I too never thought about donating blood until Briley's diagnoses, but now I do it every time I get a chance. I also see the life saving benefits in my job. I'm not much of a speaker, but I pray that I can get the message across.

Alicia and I are still working with other parents planning the Curesearch walk in Wichita Sept. 15th. As soon as a location is set, the walk will then be posted on the Curesearch webpage. Teams can start forming at that time. We would love to have Team Briley in force at the walk! If you are unable to walk that day, you can sign up as a virtual walker! As you can tell, we are very excited about this. 100% of the monies raised at the walk will go straight to pediatric cancer research!

Thanks