Brison Ricker Update

Here is the full update on Brison.

Big Improvements! They started Brison on a heavy dose of steroids last night and the fog is starting to lift, praise Jesus! Yesterday at one point he didn't even know his name, so it was very scary! His thoughts are much clearer now but not back to 100% yet, however his speech is back to normal! They are continuing the high steroids through today and then he will go down to a low dose that they expect will be sufficient. I did speak with his oncologist here and he feels that Brison is stable and that we should continue what we are doing! This was so great to hear from him! They placed a feeding tube this afternoon, well actually three… they were having issues, The first one had a wire they couldnt get out, the second one the end came out the other nostril within 15 minutes and then they switched sides and that one is still in. So now his nose and throat and very irritated and the meal he was so looking forward to eating after three days with no food, no longer was possible. Hopefully the irritation will be better soon. Until then they have started tube feeds to get him some nutrition. Other than the pain this causes, his pain is under control now with decreased frequency on pain meds and his vomiting has stopped too. If things keep improving at this rate we will likely be able to go home tomorrow or Tuesday.

Today Preston starts his second low iodine diet in preparation for his scans that we will get the 24th. My plan was to have been home to feed him all the foods he loves before going on this diet he struggles so badly with but I had to be here with Brison obviously. I planned to shop and prepare so he had some options that were not so bad for him and that hasn't taken place either. Being torn between my babies is so hard, but he is in good hands at one of his best friends house and we are so grateful for their help and being there for Preston when we can't. We pray to hear NED (no evidence of disease) on his upcoming scans!

Please keep both Brison and Preston in your prayers as they continue to fight the same yet such different diseases. Please share.

#childhoodcancerawareness #morethan4 #powerofprayer #rickerstrong

PayPal Link to Help

GoFundMe Link to Help

Ricker Strong Fundraiser Until August 8, 2017

I should have posted this sooner but now is as good of a time. There are still a few days that you can join in and purchase some Norwex to help the Ricker Family!

If you are interested in joining and purchasing some Norwex all you need to do is go here!

If you are not sure what this fundraiser is for and you want to read about what the family is dealing with you can go to their GoFundMe page!

This is a family who has been fighting for their children’s lives! They have two boys and within a twelve month period they were both diagnosed with cancer.

They need our prayers. They need our financial support. They need us to share their story. They need us to share their fundraisers.

The more who know, the more who can help them!

Their faith is strong. Their faith has given me a boost. I would never wish what they are going through upon anyone and yet watching their family has increased my faith.

Team #RickerStrong Update

Kim put an update on their gofundme page yesterday.

5/2/2017 Update 

Preston had a follow up appt. yesterday and some blood work done. They called this morning and the news was not what we were hoping for, his number that is suppose to be 1 was up to 13. This is an indicator that there is still active tissue. They are increasing his meds but still will not rescan until August because they say the radioactive treatment can still be working. So despite to misunderstood statement the news made that Preston is tumor free, we cannot yet say that unfortunately. Please pray that the treatment is still working and that he will have a clear scan in August! He is still feeling great and acting like his normal silly self with no side effects. 

Brison has been doing well and kicking butt at physical therapy! He had an amazing time at prom last weekend. He started back on the gene targeting oral meds on Saturday and so far has been tolerating them ok. He had a severe headache in the middle of the night Sun. that lasted a couple hours and he vomited once yesterday but we can’t say if either of these things were the meds or not. We are getting blood work done weekly to closely monitor to make sure these are not causing any issues with organ function. The last time we started these they caused fatigue, weakness, nausea, vomiting, and severe leg pain. However these meds contributed to the tumor in Brison’s pons being eliminated so the hope is that they will help eliminate the leptomenigeal spread to the lining of his brain and spine as well. Please pray that he is able to take these meds with no side effects and that they work synergistically with his other treatment to kill all the cancer cells left in his body! Pray that he is able to continue to get stronger, that his balance continues to improve and that he will be able to walk soon on his own! Also, as you can see in the pics his eye is opening more and more. This is great, however causes some double vision. We have a referral in to see a neuro opthamologist so we are also praying that he will be able to help with this. 
There are so many things to be thankful for, yet so many things we still need your continued prayers for! Your prayers and support have with no doubt, helped get us all the good we have received so far. We thank you all for continuing to follow and support us on this long and very difficult journey!

If you want to see some of the photos from Brison’s prom and his date be sure to head over to their gofundme page! Talk about an amazing gift for this family. This was not supposed to be something they got to experience as a family! Talk about an amazing miracle! God is so good and He does still work miracles!

If you are able to share their story and gofundme page it would be awesome. Able to spare some prayers or good vibes for healing and health please do. If you have been blessed and able to help fund any of the treatment and bills they have that would be fabulous as well! 

Update on #RickerStrong

There have been a couple of updates but this is part of the latest one! There are no words that can express how wonderful this update is.

4/17/2017 Update
Brison’s MRI “Partial Results” were received on Saturday! All Glory to God for the amazing news we received! Below is an email between Brison’s oncologist and myself.

From Dr. Dicken’s -“There is no final report in the system. I looked at the MRI last night and there were no post contrast images loaded into the system so I cannot compare what I was worried about last time to what is available. What I can say is that his pons looks near normal and there no obvious masses elsewhere. The contrast helps elucidate the smaller lesions and that is what is not available. If he is doing the same or better neurologically I would be surprised if the final results will be bad news. Sorry for the delay in final results but there is no one around over the holiday weekend to figure out where the rest of the images are. I hope you and your family have a blessed Easter.”

My Response – Thank You so much for getting us the information that you have! So when you say his pons looks near normal does this mean that original tumor is almost gone?

He is doing better neurologically! He is better than he has been since this time last year!

Dr. Dickens – “That is a big yes on the pons question. Happy to hear he is doing better. Hope to get the final answer to you on Monday. For now tell him I anticipate giving him news that will lead to him flashing one of those classic Brison smiles.”

Today we received the results from the remaining scans with contrast that show the small lesions in the lining of the brain and spine and they show stable, no growth, but no noticeable improvements either. They are not big enough to cause any symptoms. We were hoping they were gone but in the world of DIPG, stable is good! Dr. Burzynski will read them Wed. and let us know if any changes in treatment need to be made. Scans were at only 5 weeks on additional treatment so we remain optimistic! Please pray these lesions disappear and and that by his next scans we hear nothing but NED (No Evidence of Disease). Brison has a long road of treatment to go, even when he does get clear scans, he needs to remain on this treatment for many months to assure it does not return. For now we are praising Jesus and celebrating our great news! He is feeling great physically and emotionally is filled with happiness and confidence that he will beat this!

This is not the whole update so be sure to go see the rest of it on their gofundme page! It is a great update!

Also this family has a huge financial burden they are currently bearing. If you are able to help financially it would be amazing. If you are able to help by passing their gofundme page on to others it would be awesome. If you are able to help by praying that would be fabulous!

This is a local family to me. They are not far from where I live. As a mother who has not had to live through something like this, I have no idea what I would do if it was me. I am sure when the doors were closed and the children were sleeping, I would break down and have it out with God, even though He isn’t to blame.

If you have the ability to help in any of the ways please do! You can visit their gofundme page here!

Team Ricker Update

A lot has been going on for this family. Down to Texas and then a trip to Florida! I have been watching the updates, the photos, the smiles, the memories! It has been a pretty amazing thing to see. 

Yesterday there was an update on their gofundme page. Part of the update is below! Be sure to go and visit their page to get the full update with photos!

Update on Brison and Preston 4/9/2017 

We just spent an amazing week in Destin, Florida with some of our closest friends. We packed a lot of fun into this week and Brison let nothing hold him back! We made so many incredible memories, and also spent some time just relaxing by the pool and on the beach. 

Preston is doing great and other than his scar you would never know he has (HAD) cancer. Looking forward to his next scan to hear the words NED but this won’t be for a few months yet. Please continue to pray that his treatment worked and he will be cancer free!

Brison is doing incredible, he is better than he has been since about this time last year!!! He continues tolerate the additional treatment great. We have held the oral gene targeting meds, as these seem to be what causes him to be fatigue, weak and in pain. He has his next MRI on Friday, so we probably won’t have results until early next week. We are hoping the scans reflect how awesome he has been feeling! After these scans we will determine if we add back in the gene targeting meds.

Please pray hard that the numerous spots of cancer that spread to the lining of his brain and spine will be gone and that the tumor in his pons will be gone too and show signs of healing! We need an army of prayer warriors to make this miracle happen, only God can make this possible! We know he hears us, we see the results of his work from all your prayers daily and for that we are so grateful! 

#rickerstrong #powerofprayer #miracleshappen #webelieve

This is one way I am helping to support them. I am sharing their gofundme page so please be sure to click on it, visit it, and then share it with others! 

Praying for this family on a daily basis and hope that you join me in prayers or good vibes (or whatever it is you do). 

http://www.gofundme.com/RickerStrong

April the Giraffe (Dos)

There are zero words to express what this giraffe has done to my life since the 24th. My life hasn’t stopped, it has learned how to work and revolve around being attached to a wall or outlet of some kind to keep my phone working. I even sleep with her on my nightstand. I don’t even know if you can actually call it sleep (no joke I have never been so happy to have the fruit, veggie and berry capsules in the past 12 months!). I am functioning but tired because I wake up all the time to look at my phone to see if she has started to go into active labor yet.

Speaking of active labor I have started my own birth pool (with myself). I believe she is going to give birth on March 7, 2017. Mainly because I love the way it sounds for a birthday: 3-7-17. I believe she is going to have a girl. I believe she will be about 147 pounds and 5’7″. I can’t help it. I know she isn’t a person. I know this will happen when the time is right but I have my own pool going with myself. Of course as soon as I say she best hurry up because tomorrow is due date and then I’m out of the pool my adorable little man goes, “Oh come on (insert palm plant to head)! That is when I say she was going to have the baby!”. He is such a doll.

Seriously if you want to watch and see my sleep mate, my cleaning mate, my laundry mate, my working mate, my overall 24/7 companion head over to view her! 

There are still a LOT of fraudulent sites out there. Please if you are not seeing GiraffeMoji.com and Mazuri on the screen, if you didn’t click on Animal Adventure Park – report them! Lots of people are out there taking money for donations, selling clothing that isn’t official and making money off of the YouTube videos! 

Here are the REAL sites for April the Giraffe: 

1. Facebook: Animal Adventure Park
2. YouTube: View Animal Adventure Park Giraffe Cam
3. Website: Animal Adventure Park
4. Shopping: Get all your April Gear Here
5. Sponsorship: Help Sponsor April & the Park

Also if you are reaching out to them via email please stop. They are flooded and their servers are overwhelmed because of their limits. They are having to purge their email regularly it sounds and so any schools or educational questions or requests for visits are getting missed and trashed. If you want to reach out it seems the best way to do so is on their Facebook page!

Here is their update about emails tonight: 

 Our inbox was flooded today with concerns of April stealing Oliver’s food (Hay). So many emails – that it has harmed the business – in the sense we cannot respond to emails due to capacity limits. 

#1 the shared feeder is a shared feeder…it is neither of their main food source. 

#2 The giraffes didn’t arrive with the web cam – they’ve been here years prior – and no one has starved! Please have faith in our team! Many things happen and occur off camera; including feeding, watering, enrichment, etc.

If you haven’t had the chance to go and watch the video I highly encourage it. To see her belly jump from that baby kicking and moving! It is truly amazing. I can’t tell you have many times I have just watched in awe. God is amazing isn’t He?! To know how to create such a beautiful animal. To know because they are so tall the front legs would need to bend backwards while the back legs would need to bend forward in order for them to get up and down. To make each one unique with their spots, just like each of us are unique. I do stand and stare at her in awe. I also am in awe of Oliver. To see him running and kicking around. How in the world is it possible for those tall animals to be so graceful? I am not even the height of their legs and I can barely walk with grace. I am pretty good at falling with grace though!

While this wasn’t a huge update I need to get my rest before the big day tomorrow! Hahaha – come on April, let me win my pool of one! Also if she doesn’t give birth tomorrow my second guess is March 13, 2017 (poor April, hopefully I am not correct with guess number 2!)

Update Ricker Family

This is the latest update from the Ricker Family gofundme account:

Spinal Tap results are back and his oncologist said that the results confirm that this is DIPG. Brison has had a severe headache since Tuesday night and has been laying down since because it makes it worse to sit up. Please say extra prayers for the pain to go away! Preston is a doing well, and counting down the days until he can be around other people and off the special diet he is on. He is getting very bored, so if you have his number send him a text or give him a call to help pass time. We have our flights and hotel booked for Texas, we are leaving Monday evening after Preston gets his post treatment scan and have an appointment with Dr. Burzynski first thing Tuesday morning to get Brison started on the additional antineoplaston treatment. The doctor here who has agreed to give Brison the Avastin infusions he needs, since his oncologist won’t called today and said that they will be $4,500 each, so that is $9,000 a month now on top of the $17,000. I am trying to get these through a compassion program, so please add to your prayers that this can happen so we do not face this additional expense!

Help spread the word!

This family has been in my prayers for over a year now. They have overcome things with God’s help, the power of prayer is seen daily with this family! 

Please take time to share, pray, donate and lift this family up any way you can.

Please take time to visit their gofundme site so that you can share, read, pray, or donate. Where God leads your heart, that is where you should go.

Ricker Family Update

Here is part of the latest update about the Ricker boys, Brison and Preston. 

Brison Update:

He continues to be on the antineoplastons treatment from Dr. Burzynski and get Avasin infusion every other week at the children’s hospital here. He has not yet started back up on the oral gene targeting medications but now that his stomach is healed and all but two of his woulds are completely healed will be restarting those in the near future. His next MRI will be at the end of the month. 

As most of you know the FDA has been trying to shut Dr. Burzynski down for years and will be taking him to court again in March. The have been unsuccessful for the last few decades and expect they will be again, however this does bring much added stress. If they were to shut him down, treatment would stop immediately for everyone in his care. This would result in Brison being back to where we were left last June. So please add to your prayers that Dr. Burzynski wins in court and that the treatment Brison is receiving will continue for as long as needed. 

If you have a moment to pray it would be greatly appreciated. If you have time to go to their gofundme page and share the full update it would be even more appreciated! 

Preston Update:

Preston is recovering from surgery great and he back to his silly normal self and started back to school today. The only restrictions he has is weight restrictions. The 12th he will start a special low iodine diet and the week of the 20th he will begin prep for his radioactive iodine therapy. The body scan that he will get on the 24th will show how much cancer ‘if any” is left in his body, which will determine how much treatment he will need to receive. There has been a shortage on the radio active iodine, so we are praying that this does not delay anything. He will be off school again that week and depending on when he gets the actual treatment will be off for an undetermined amount of time then.

This is an amazing family in my community. I could not even begin to image what they are going through. Life is full of curve balls, not because of anything other than we live in a fallen world. 

If you have the time please go visit their gofundme site. Read the full update. Pray for the family. Pray for Dr. Burzynski to win and not be shut down! Share their site with others who can pray, share and maybe even donate. 

I have never met this family personally but I do know people who personally know them. For whatever reason God keeps on drawing me to them. When He does, I pray, I share and if I have extra I donate. 

As a mother my heart goes out to them. As a child of God, to see the strength their family draws from Him, gives me a passion and desire to draw closer to Him. I do not know why God is always bringing them to mind, but when He does I stop because there is a reason.

Maybe the reason is because what I am going through is no where near what this family is going through and it is to give me perspective. Maybe the reason is because they need extra prayer at that moment. Maybe the reason is to show me God can use many and all situations for His glory, even in this fallen world. 

I will never know but I do encourage you to visit their gofundme site. Pray for them. Share for them. Donate for them. 

Ricker Family Update

Their story has been published by US Weekly!

Please help this family. Prayers, sharing their story and sharing and/or donating to their GoFundMe account!

Ricker Family Update

If you pray or send good vibes or whatever it is you do, this family could use an extra boost.

I spoke about the local family whose son, Brison was diagnosed with brain cancer last January here. They were at the time in the process of finding out if their other son, Preston had cancer as well.

Results came back and he does have cancer. This family has been diagnosed with two boys who have different kinds of cancers in eleven months time.

As a mother, I can’t even imagine what goes through her mind when she tries to sleep at night. She is a Christian and she has taught me a lot over the past year as I have followed what they are going through. However as strong as I believe my faith is, hardships and being human can still cause some strife.

If you are lead to pray, share or donate to this family it would be appreciated! You can visit their Go Fund Me page here.

God,

I am coming to you today for the Ricker family. They are all Your children. They love You and they trust in You. I have seen some amazing strength come from this family. I have seen some amazing support for this family. I do not know what Your plan is. I do not know when or how You will heal them. I do know however that You are everything. Giving all of our worries and cares to You, because You care about us. I have seen their external strengths and belief. You are an amazing God and on Monday Preston will be having his surgery. Give peace, wisdom, knowledge and a steady hand to the two surgeons and all of the people who will be in the room with Preston. Give peace, love, support and the feeling of Your presence with all of those who will be sitting and waiting for the news from Preston’s surgery.

In Your Name, Amen

I am asking that all of you who can, please pray, share and donate if you can!