Gray Crowned Miss Sweetheart Elite 2012
On Saturday, May 19, 2012, the 2nd Annual Miss Sweetheart Special Needs Pageant was held at the Hillside Community Church in Keller, Texas.
The Miss Sweetheart Special Needs Pageant was founded by Malyn Bannister, a sophomore at Stephen F. Austin State University. She has competed in numerous local, state and national pageants and is a true inspiration and role model to all who meet her. Her older brother Colby has been blessed with the gift of Down Syndrome, and for most of her life Malyn has been actively striving to increase public awareness for individuals with intellectual disabilities. At age 15, she had a vision of creating a special needs pageant to allow young ladies of all ages with intellectual disabilities the opportunities she has experienced participating in pageants. At age 17 her dream came to life, and the first Miss Sweetheart Special Needs Pageant was held. This pageant gives these special ladies the opportunity to gain life skills, communication skills, self confidence and much, much more.
This year Seymour's own Candice Gayle Gray was crowned Miss Sweetheart Elite 2012. In order to express the positive impact the John Hostas family has had on Candice and the community, Candice gave her crown to Briley Hostas. Every night Candice's mother Connie reads the Team Briley Blog to Candice, and Candice says a prayer for the Hostas family. Candice certainly sacrificed something that she was so proud of because of the love she felt for Briley.
Candice is the daughter of Connie and Royce Woods of Seymour and Joe Gray of Vernon. Also at the pageant were many friends and family supporting Candice in her endeavor.
There's not much new to report on Briley's recovery, other than things are going good. She's still pain med free and still hurts at time when we move her around. We'll take her for a cbc next week at the Seymour hospital just to check counts. Hopefully they are stable and she'll get back to just monthly cbc's.
She had an exciting night last night! Candice Gray, a sweet down syndrome young lady, wanted to give Briley the crown that she won at a pageant. It was super sweet of her to such a wonderful deed. Briley is super excited about it and has been playing with it non-stop! Candice has a heart of gold!
Alicia got a voice mail from Cooks wanting to know if we wanted to go to a Rangers game. Well, yeah!!!!!! Alicia called the child life at Cooks this morning to confirm. They want us to go to the game on June 30th! Not only that, they want us there for batting practice and then we will have dinner with Ian Kinsler & his wife!!! We are pumped!!! The timing couldn't have been better. I started looking for ranger tickets for the four of us and trying to figure out how to get a wheelchair seat. Now we don't have to worry about it! We are really looking forward to the trip!
We thank God each and every day for blessing us with good health, great friends, awesome support, and the rain we received tonight!
I'm sorry for not posting since Thursday. Things have been a tad bit busy around here with the family reunion going on and work! I want to thank the veterans for your service!
Briley has been doing very good. She hasn't had pain meds in a few days! Hopefully she is past needing meds. She also has been sleeping all night! She still hurts some when we move her around, for example, wheelchair to couch, ect.
We give her baths by laying her on the kitchen counter and I'll hold her head over the sink while Alicia washes her hair! We've also gotten better at the potty thing. Now if we can get Bryson out of diapers............
I was very proud of her today at the reunion. When she came through the door, everyone clapped for her. Of course, that embarrassed her a little. I had the water slide set up and she watched the other kids play on it. Never once did she complain or wanted to be able to join them. I really don't know how a 4 year old little girl can be so mature about the situation that she's in. That's been a little blessing in itself.
Glenn came over on Saturday and went to church with us and then to the house for a while. I know it's been really tough on Glenn and it was good that Alicia and him talked for a while.
I really don't have much more to report. I guess that's a good thing. We appreciate everyone that has brought us food. That alone has helped tremendously. She's received get-well cards from Alaska, Michigan, Delaware, Oklahoma, and many different towns across Texas. Once again, we've been humbled. Thanks!
whew, it's been a day! After a long night of Briley not sleeping well, we made a 5 minute drive from the motel to Cooks. First up was her ortho appointment. She had a few x-rays and the surgeon said that everything is progressing nicely. She'll be able to take off the braces when and if she wants and at least bend her knees. It's possible that after her next appointment next month depending what the x-rays show, she may be able to start walking with use of a walker! The stitches in her foot from a couple of lacerations were removed. We will pray that her bones will heal back at a normal rate.
After a short lunch break, we went to her oncology appointment. Of course everyone up there knows her and she was a big hit! The nurses and child life gals had to come see her! They are so good with her in oncology. It's kinda hard to explain, but it's a totally different "hospital" experience on the oncology floor. They show so much compassion to all of us. From the docs, to the nurses, to the child life, they all will sit down and talk to us as long as we want. There's no rushing to get in & out of the room. Anyway, back on subject. Briley had a cbc and doc visit. Her ANC is 1600! So it's basically back to where it was before the accident. Both her hemoglobin & platelets were really good also! Her doc didn't have any concerns. Briley started back on her 6mp chemo this past Monday and she was given the green light to take her methotrexate tonight. So it's back to the normal "chemo" routine.
We stopped by Walgreens to pick up a chemo refill, and then off to Lewisville for our "new to us" suburban. Going from Fort Worth to Lewisville via hwy 121 to an adventure in itself. Road construction, traffic, and a gps that didn't know there is construction had my blood pressure through the roof. Somehow, we ended up at the DFW airport. Yup, I had to pay a toll charge just to do a U-turn. And then another wrong exit of 35E and yet another U-turn. Finally, we found our way to the dealership. When I pulled up, I asked the hungry eyed salesman waiting at the door to make us a deal how in the world they could live in such a place. Once again, I'm glad I live in Seymour Texas where the only traffic issues are getting stuck behind a couple of combines and pickups pulling headers!
The sales dude had most of our paper work ready since the deal was made over the phone. That saved tons of time.
Buying a new car is suppose to be an exciting time. This time was far from it. We had to out of necessity, but first most, it's hard to remotely get excited because of the situation. We would give anything to have our old one back and Nanna still alive.
We are safely back home now. I'm glad that we went last night because Briley did hurt at times in the carseat. We appreciate prayers that were given for a good report and continued prayers for proper healing!
Today has been by far the best day that Briley has had. She has not once asked for pain meds! That is great news! It's been extremely difficult watching her hurt and at times, cry in pain. She was also in a great mood! Laughing, giggling, playing, talking, all the things that a kid is suppose to do! What impresses me the most with her is that she doesn't complain about the situation. She's perfectly content not being able to walk or run around with the other kids. She'll just watching and giggle! She's a smart little girl and knows that the wheelchair is only temporary.
Bryson on the other hand, although he is doing great, he's asked to go to Nanna's house all day. He hasn't seen her for a while and is starting to miss her. Even though we try to explain that Nanna is in heaven with Jesus, he doesn't quite understand the meaning of that. I dread the day that the kids go to Nanna's house, but at the same time, they need to know and will find out eventually. Plus, Glenn & Ruth needs to see the kids as they are having a difficult time with Gloria's passing. Please keep them in your prayers
I think we have the vehicle, or the lack of, figured out. We appreciate everyone's offer to let us use their vehicle to get down to Briley's doctor appointments and I think we will be taking the church's suburban again. We have one picked out and if things go well, we should get it on Thursday after Briley's appointments. We are getting another Suburban. Alicia didn't want a black one again because it would bring back bad memories, so we found a silver one.
I don't remember if I posted about carseat safety. So here I go! As you know, Bryson was in a carseat with a 5 point harness. Briley was in a booster with the seatbeat around her. Bryson's side took the impact, but as you know, Briley received the injuries. After spending some time talking with the carseat expert at Cooks, it's been agreed that both kids will remain in a 5 point harness until they are absolutely to big to fit in it. Some boosters have 5 point harness that are safe up to 100lbs. I do know that the carseat/booster saved their life. Just food for thought!
I returned to work today and Alicia managed just fine without me! She will be going to work tomorrow, so I've got to figure out how to manage without her! Going to work today was bittersweet. I couldn't help but think about the wreck for the better part of the day and how I could have done a lot of things differently. But I was a dad at the time and I have complete trust in my co-workers to take care of my kids as if they were their own. And the same goes to the fire dept. We're all there for each other in times of need. I'm blessed to be part of both EMS & fire and I hope I can have a positive impact on others in need.
Briley's first appointment is with ortho Thursday at 10:00. Then she has an appointment with oncology at 1:00. After all of that, we then have to pickup our "new" used suburban. It's going to be a looooong day! With that being said, we are discussing spending the night tomorrow so there we won't have to do so much driving in one day with Briley. We think it's too much driving in one day this early in recovery. Her pain is just now getting tolerable and we don't want to bounce her around in a car for too long for one day. We'll discuss it further tomorrow and maybe I can get someone to cover the rest of my shift.
So, it seems like I typed a book tonight. Bryson is fast asleep on my arm. Thank you for your continued prayers & get well wishes!
I'm sorry for not updating yesterday, it was just a little busy. Briley woke up yesterday not needing pain meds! Her pain is easing day by day and she only had pain meds twice yesterday. All of her meds were lost during the wreck, so I had to refill all of her prescriptions. We also got a potty chair that will make life a little easier for all of us. Most of her pain comes from lifting her up, so anytime we can minimize the lifting helps out a lot. I also did a good bit of searching for a vehicle on the computer. I know have a short list, but we are still waiting on the insurance stuff to come through.
KFDX 3 news crew stopped by the house and did a story on Briley. They have been extremely supportive of our family and we appreciate them so much. You can go to their website and watch the clip. I'll try to get a link to it on the blog.
I guess Briley had a pretty good night. I've been sleeping in Bryson's bed, but I never heard her waking up in pain or Alicia hollering for help! It was nice being able to sleep all night without waking up!
Alicia has been wonderful throughout this whole ordeal. She has her moments everyday, but considering what she's been through, she has been doing great! Her faith as been key to get her through this and it's been her faith that has helped me & the kids through this. She's done a great job explaining to Briley & Bryson what happen to Nanna and where nanna is now. Briley says, "when I get to heaven and see nanna, I will run to her and give her a big hug"!
Briley has both ortho and oncology appointments on Thursday. We pray that everything is heeling fine and her counts are now stable. I hate borrowing other people's stuff, but we'll have to borrow a vehicle to get down there. Hopefully we'll have our own vehicle by that next appointment.
I'm back at work today. It's been a little rough for me coming back, but I've got get back on that horse. Alicia plans to work tomorrow & friday. If we can get through this week, then Alicia's sister, Jessica, will come down to help with Briley on the days that I work.
Thanks!
Briley is still waking up in pain at night, but she only got up twice last night needing pain meds. She's had a pretty good day today. She's needed pain meds 3 times throughout the day. We had a few visitors. A couple of Briley's friends came over along with her cousins. She played some, but otherwise watched the other kids run around the house. She'll be able to join them running around soon! She's been eating a little better. Her diet has consisted of only scrambled eggs and great grandma's homemade bread! We can't get her to eat anything else! She got a bath today. We laid her on the kitchen bar on towels and washed her hair over the sink. Other than that, there's not a whole lot to report.
I plan to go back to work on Tuesday. That's a big maybe because I have no idea how Alicia can take Briley to the potty by herself. So if anyone has a wheelchair bound kid that would like to give some pointers, we would appreciate it!
KFDX TV-3 called today and said that they would like to come over tomorrow to do a follow up story on Briley. We are grateful for Ryan for doing a wonderful job with the stories and keeping everyone informed of her progress.
We are counting are blessing because things could have been lots worse. Yeah, our Briley has been through her fair share of crap in her young life, but she and Bryson are still here. She will walk again. Bones will heal. Gloria's passing will be easier with time. We are grateful to live in Seymour, Alicia's roots in Munday, and in this area of Texas. Briley has received get-well cards from all over this area. We appreciate everyone one of them.
Tonight, please say a prayer for the Chambers family from Wichita. Their little girl has recently diagnosed with leukemia. I was fortunate enough to be able to meet them while we were at Cooks. In fact, it was their second day diagnosed when we met. I could tell they were scared of what will happen, as were we when Briley was first diagnosed.
I want to personally thank everyone who has been reading the blog, so Thank You!
