A week of ups and downs

Up: Grandpa and Grandma Ladwig came for brunch bringing along Great Grandpa and Great Grandma



Down: Reese had a bad reaction to the Provigil medication {after reasearching she should never have been started on it}. She is no longer on it.

Up: Hallie had a great cheerleading tryout and she is excited to see what team she'll be on.

Down: We heard from the University of Iowa and they have reviewed Reese's case and test results and decided they have nothing more to offer her.

Up: Reese went to school on Wednesday and had a great time. Her teachers are the best!

Up: we have orders for over 125 P4R necklaces!! I can not believe it :) I am hoping to have the last of my supplies by Tuesday and get them all put together. Thank you all!! If you haven't ordered please get your order in soon.

Up: I am going to be a demonstrator for Provo Craft showing their new Cricut Cake!!

Up: we had a few more ups than downs... So we have had a good week.

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A little something...

Okay, so I have been trying to figure out how to get the P4R {Pray 4 Reese} out to as many people as possible. Of course the first thing to pop in someone's head are those rubber bracelets... but really, everyone has one of each color by now for something. I wanted to do something that would be something you could wear all the time. I know right now she has an amazing prayer chain going and I just don't want people to forget about her as our journey is lasting a lot longer than any of us anticipated.

SO..... here is what I came up with...

It is sterling silver, the 1" disk has imprinted P4R, and of course I had to include some pink for her... so there are two pink crystals attached to the ring. It is hung on a 24" sterling ball chain. Like I said I want as many people as possible to have one, so I will be making them all and only charging my supplies and shipping.

The cost is $8 each and $3 FLAT shipping, so no matter how many are being shipped to you it is only $3, so if some friends want to get together to order that is totally fine!! Also, I made one for Ryan... I just didn't do the crystals, and I am attaching it to his key ring. If you would like JUST the disk and jumpring the cost is $4 plus shipping. If you would like to order please send me an email candimichelle@gmail.com and I will send you my mailing address for checks, or send you the link to paypal. Please forward this on to others you know are praying for Reese. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you all so much, and thank you to the Arbuckle Family for coming up with P4R!!!! Love you all!

P4R

A friend of ours from Reese's gymnastics emailed me and told me her little girls have made up a new "lingo" P4R= Pray for Reese. I love it!! I have a special little thing I will be doing with that soon... but in the meantime, I wanted to post for everyone the map my friend Amy made for her. When more people said they were praying she continued to add. It is amazing to look at!! Thank you from all over for praying for our little girl!! Love you all!!

Monday, Monday

Waiting while Reese gets her last IVIG...

Then a dr appointment with her neurologist right after (he called this morning to have us stop... WHY?? I can't stand the unknown!!!) we'll keep you posted...

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I wanted to thank everyone who contributed to the "Operation Cheerful Heart". Here are some pictures of the spinner they were put on. Reese loves looking at it and gosh darn it, she remembers where just about each and every one came from!! :) But, I'm not gonna lie... I LOVE IT!! It reminds me how loved this little girl is and how much support she has. It also reminds me of each person who contributed!! Thanks again, it is AMAZING!! {The items that did fit are going in a handmade "treasure" book a scrappy friend, Faye made her... so cute!!!} And the "home decor" type items are up in her room! The mini books will soon be filled with smiley pictures of Reese healthy again very soon!!

Thank you again, we can not wait to come see those of you in the Quad Cities very soon!! We love you all!! :) And to those of you who we have never met, it is an indescribable feeling when you receive a gift as special as a handmade item... full of love! I will never be able to repay you, but I know as we all pay it forward it will come back to you ten folds!!

A big thank you to all of you who have sent cards, gifts, and love. We have been totally amazed at the amount of support we continue to receive as we get our little girl all better!

Thank you again {hugs}

A beautiful day with friends

The day before we left to come back our wonderful friends the Garners came to visit!! Hallie told her teacher her cousins were coming to visit... I kind of looked at her funny and she said "Well, Kim is like my mom's sister... so they are my cousins" :) Yes, it's true!!

The girls had so much fun playing outside, inside, and at the park! And of course what's a visit with the Garners without Sonic?? We wouldn't know... it's never happened!! We made a Sonic run for supper! Thank you Kim for coming to visit Reese (and us) it was such a fun day, we can't wait to come visit you!!!

IVIG treatments

Reesey is on her second day of IVIG treatment. Here's a little about our days...

We check in at the Pediatric Infusion Treatment Center (PITC) in the hospital, they get her IV in (on the first day, after that they flush it out to keep it clear from blockages) She is then given large doses of Tylenol and Benedryl. This makes her SUPER sleepy... but without these she complains of it hurting in her arm and hand. Then we sit around, she naps, I blog, Ryan "plays" on his computer...she wakes up we watch tv (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs), and we color and play games. We are here for about 6 hours each time.

When she is done she picks out some stickers, tatoos, and a stuffed animal :) and we are on our way until tomorrow...

Pretty Princess

We are headed back up to Mayo for an appointment with her neurologist. We will decide if the treatments are working and if to continue them. He is also going to do some other tests. We are going to run by him some information we have gotten since her last appointment.

She was excited this morning to go. I think she knows they are going to help her and she really wants to be better!! She picked out her "fancy outfit" for the day :)



-- Posted from my iPhone

When you wish upon a star...

you will see a new twinkle in the sky tonight. Reese received a teddy bear with a certificate to name her own star. Now you will find "Reese Madyson" in the Andromeda constellation. Andromeda means "little princess"... so I thought it was perfect. We'll have to go to a planetarium and have someone show us where it is... because the "map" doesn't mean anything to me :)

What a neat gift, thank you so much to the sender (there wasn't a name with it)!!

This week

Hello all! It's me... Candi :) I am back!! Thank you sooooo much to Kim for updating while we were in the no (bad) internet zone! {She will be back at it this weekend} Our plan for this week is to enjoy being home and wait. We are supposed to see changes from the IVIG in as long as 10-14 days. As I type we are finishing up day 9. We have seen minimal changes. We are thinking her really bad times are starting to be shorter... and she seems to be pretty good about 70% after 9pm until bedtime. We don't know??? We try to sit and ponder things such as what activities she does RIGHT before a bad time, or what did she eat, or what her sleep cycles were... but we just can't find a rhyme or reason for any of it.

Reese has an appointment for this Friday back up at Mayo with her Neurologist. He is going to check her iron and a possible gluten allergy with a blood test. Then if we are seeing the IVIGs working they will give her another three days worth of treatment. If they don't seem to be working we will be exploring other treatments and trying to figure out what the heck is causing it!!

Even at home we feel your love!! We had a friend who I have somewhat lost touch with bring us a warm meal tonight. Reese received a box in the mail today... it was heavy... it was FULL!!! It was a box of hand drawn/ handmade cards from an ENTIRE Elementary school in Illinois. Thank you so much Christine for doing this! You don't know how amazing a box of construction paper cards can make a person feel, until that person is you.

Thank you again for all of the amazing support and prayers. We love you all so much! And even though we are frustrated, angry, or sad these everyday gestures help us through each day!!

On Our Way Home....

It's 5:00 am, Tuesday morning, and we are driving home!!! Bittersweet! We are so excited she is going home, but I never pictured her worse than when we came. After all of the pokes and tests my princess has endured I thought she would be well. Please little peanut, please start showing signs of improvement!! {Candi on Facebook} The doctor in Akron is treating her for parasites and chemical detox. To do this she holds on to frequency "sticks". She has another appointment in the morning. I will update again if we see any changes.
{Wednesday}
Dr visits aren't fun for anyone... But we are trying. (balloons and cake!!) They got all parasites, working on staph today. This is all through the frequency machines. We haven't seen any changes yet. {Candi from Facebook}

A New Day...

Reese was able to get her third IVIG. This afternoon she will be vey tired. If she does not spike a fever or "get sick" we will be able to leave in the morning. We will be stopping by another doctor in Akron tomorrow (an all natural type) to see if he can help her. She does not show any change thus far from the IVIG... But we are hopeful the change is coming!! We will keep you posted on her night.
The plan: in 10 days we will be back at Mayo... If it helped she will get another 3 treatments of IVIG.
If not they will be looking for something different.

A Little Bump in the Road Home...

Reese had a rough night on Friday. She had a fever and was throwing up. With a fever, they cannot finish the last treatment. It had to wait until Monday. They are not sure what the fever was from...but are watching Reese and checking her temperature all the time.
But the sisters were back together on Friday! They sure did miss each other!

As the girls' favorite movie says... "We're all in this together, and it shows, hand in hand..."

The Easter Bunny used GPS to find the Ladwigs in Minnesota!

Princess Reese Will Be Home For Easter!

Mom all suited up for Reese's lumbar puncture {spinal tap}
Wake up peanut pie :)

Yesterday was a very busy day! Spinal tap in the morning, appt with doctor at 1 and the IVIG at 1:30. The IVIG lasts 3+ hours. So after the first 2.5 hours Reese was DONE!! When they came in to speed up the flow (every half hour they double the flow speed) she started crying... this turned into a screaming cry... She cried for a half hour, they called the dr and they were told to stop for the day. So today they will try to give her a little extra to make up for the last 1/4 bottle. The plan: today she will have a dose plus extra, tomorrow she will have a dose and then go home :) Hopefully we will start to see improvement over the next few days (but could be 10) Meet with dr in 10-14 days. If working go through another 3 treatments. If it's not working we will discuss our next plan... But we are praying this is our final answer! So here is to a good injection day to keep us ontrack to be home for Easter!! {Candi}

I spoke to Candi this evening, and she said that Reese also has had a 24 hr. urine test. Reese will have the 3rd IVIG treatment tomorrow and if the urine test is good....then they will be headed home Saturday night. Please continue to pray for this amazing family and for Reese. {Kim}