Trying New Things

I am experimenting with our pictures and trying to make life a little more simple. (Thanks, Kristen, for your help with Picasa). Hopefully this will work. :)

This is a random album of almost every picture we have on Picasa...enjoy!

The Sweeney 4

Update on Ryan

Ryan is finally starting to feel some improvement. He started 2 new medicines on Friday and has noticed marked change. He has been able to go off oxygen for short periods without to much "stress" to his body; and he is feeling a lot better on the oxygen too. He seems to have more energy and is able to play with Lily and Wyatt more -- yeah! We were able to go to church as a family today which was great! It was a lot of work, but well worth it.

We will be having a visit from a respiratory therapist tomorrow. This will begin the process of getting some form of oxygen for Ryan to be able to go back to work in the office, which he is really looking forward to doing. We are not sure if 24 hour/day oxygen is a permanent thing or if it is just temporary. Please pray for all of us during this time of adjustment.

Merry Christmas!

Here is just some of the video that was taken during our Christmas parties. Hope you enjoy.

2nd Christmas

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! Our Christmas was a whirlwind, but it was so much fun. We celebrated with just our family and my family on Friday. On Saturday we left for Illinois to celebrate Christmas with Ryan's family. We spent a lot of time relaxing because Ryan was/is still not feeling well. The kids did great and they seemed to adjust to being away from home quickly. We were able to spend time with both Ryan's mom and Dad, as well as Auntie Amanda, Uncle Nicholas, Uncle Mark and Great-Grandma Jean.

The kids were a little unsure of what was going to be happening with Christmas, but by the end of the visit Wyatt was opening presents that weren't even his. Lily would say "ohh" whenever anyone would open a present -- it was really cute. We tried to teach the kids that Christmas is Jesus' birthday and we even sang Happy Birthday to him and had some Christmas/Birthday cupcakes.

Lily and Wyatt had fun playing with their cousins on Friday night. Lily has gone from having one baby last week Thursday to now having four...she loves them all!

Lily and Wyatt were able to have a couple play dates while we were in Illinois. The picture on the top is with our friend, Stephanie's, little boy, Daniel. The picture on the bottom is with Lily and Wyatt's 2nd cousin, Emily.

We had lots of fun celebrating Christmas with Grammy and everyone. Grammy gave us all Christmas pj's on Christmas Eve and we stayed in them to open our presents. Lily and Wyatt LOVE their Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. They have also been enjoying their snacks that were in their stockings.

We had fun celebrating Christmas with Grandpa Steve too! Lily loves her new slippers, but Wyatt is still a little unsure of his. Wyatt loves to play with the new Alphabet Train that they got from Grandpa!

To Us a Child Is Born

"For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

I just want to take the time to wish you all a Merry Christmas! You have all been a wonderful blessing in our lives and we are so thankful for all of you. Remember the reason we celebrate Christmas is because of the greatest gift of all: Jesus Christ!

Good News!

I just wanted to share with all of you the good things happening around here.

1st: Ryan was able to come home yesterday. He is still not feeling great, but he is receiving IV antibiotics at home and hopefully he will start feeling better soon. The kids and I are so excited to have him back home with us! Wyatt and Lily will not leave him alone, which is both really nice and extremely difficult at the same time.

2nd: Our visit to the University of Michigan was truly an answer to prayers. I don't think words can express how much relief/reassurance this visit gave to us. Ryan and I are both beyond pleased with the doctor, Dr. Ojo. She has worked on CF lung transplants at U of M for more than 10 years and the success rate is MUCH above normal! Of the 35 transplants that have taken place on CF patients, 32 are still living. For the average lung transplant, the percentage of people still alive after 5 years in 50%; with CF transplants, the 50% statistic is at 10 years! Dr. Ojo told us of one patient that she saw this morning who was transplanted 10 years ago and his lung function was 102% today and he now coaches soccer (Ryan's was only 20% today). I told Ryan that I wasn't going to know what to do when he is able to breathe so easily! She gave many positive suggestions for Ryan's current medical care which we are excited to start implementing.

Today's visit does NOT put Ryan on the transplant list, but it does bring us much closer. We will return to see Dr. Ojo again in 9 weeks. By that time Ryan will hopefully have completed his exercise program, seen a GI specialist, and gotten some blood tests out of the way. Ryan will have to have a procedure done to check for pulmonary hypertension in his heart when we go back in 9 weeks as well. There is a strong possibility that Ryan will be ready to be placed on the active transplant list at that time. Currently the average wait on the list is around 18 months, but it is a NEED based list, so time can change that.

I would just like to again thank everyone who has helped us over the past 10 days. Thank you to all of you who have offered up prayers for Ryan and myself and the kids. Thank you to my parents who are always willing to help in numerous ways, but especially with Lily and Wyatt. Thank you to both April and Jessica for watching the kids for me so that I could go see/get Ryan from the hospital. Jessica, thank you also for the use of your computer. Thank you, Kelly, for the really yummy meal. Thank you to Trevor, Terry, Scott, Bert, and Mom and Dad for going to visit Ryan in the hospital. We appreciate you all so much!

Happy Birthday!

This is Ryan. As most of you know, today is Kristin's birthday. I would appreciate it if all of you who read this blog would comment about what you appreciate about my wonderful wife. I for one, think that she is a tremendously caring individual and a spectacular mother. I can't even begin to describe how much she means to me and our family. She is a Godly woman that will have a profound impact on our kids. Please join me in voicing our appreciation for Kristin on her special day.

Life While Daddy's Gone

Lily and Wyatt have been staying busy while Ryan is in the hospital. They are such a bright spot in my life! In these pictures, Wyatt is reading a book...a favorite activity and Lily is walking with her feet in her stacking rings (yes, she did this all on her own).

Lily and Wyatt have recently been introduced to one of the finer foods in life...cheese puffs! They love them and they always get super messy. I am not sure whether they really like the cheese puffs or knowing that they will get to wash their hands in the sink when they are done.

Wyatt and Lily have been re-introduced to their animal train (a Christmas present from last year). They love playing with it and it will usually buy me about half an hour to get some things done around the house.

Lily and Wyatt are modeling their Christmas outfits (or part of them in Wyatt's case). Lily likes her outfit so much that she cried when I took it off.

We were all cold one day, so Wyatt and Lily had to lay on the couch with pillows and blankets like Mommy and Grandma.

I have recently started babysitting for my friend, Kate's, kids while she works. Here are Lily and Wyatt with Ethan (4) and Molly (2). It is fun to watch them all interact together.

Update on Ryan

I just want to say thank you to all of our friends and family who have been praying for us and have offered to help in numerous ways! Your support has been overwhelming.

I am happy to report that Ryan is feeling better and has been able to go from 6 liters of oxygen to 4 liters of oxygen. He felt almost immediate relief when they put him on the higher amount of oxygen on Monday. He was also able to get him PIC line placed and IV antibiotics started right away when we got to the hospital (within 4-5 hours). The doctors are now thinking that his headaches may be related to his sinuses and not sleep apnea. He is supposed to meet with an ear, nose and throat doctor sometime today.

The kids and I are doing fine. It took a day for the kids to adjust to Daddy not being around, but they are doing great. We were able to go up and visit him last night for a little while and we will go and see him on Saturday too.

The plan right now is for Ryan to come home next week Wednesday using home health care. We would be able to continue his IV's from home and still make our appointment on Thursday at the Univ. of Michigan.

When God's Plan Aren't Our Plan

I just wanted to let you all know that we have decided that it would be best for Ryan to go into the hospital today and do his tune-up. He is just not getting any better from a lung perspective and has continued to struggle to participate in general everyday activities. We were planning on Ryan going into the hospital in a few weeks to do his tune-up, but we just cannot put it off any longer. We all could really use your prayers during this time; it is always so much harder when the hospital stays are unplanned.

Ryan will be taking the laptop with him to the hospital, at least for the first few days, so I will not be able to update the blog about how he is doing. Please feel free to give me a call or call Ryan's cell phone if you are wanting an update.

Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

We currently have a mattress in our living area in preparation for Grammy, Auntie Amanda, and Uncle Mark coming to visit this weekend. The kids thought it was great last night, because I had it laying down in the middle of the floor. They would climb on it and bounce. They both kept repeating the same actions...Wyatt would climb on, scoot across on his bottom, get off the other side and walk all the way around to do it all over again. Lily would climb on, walk to the couch and climb up, turn around, laugh and then get down. (I have some video that I will try and put up later). In the picture above, Lily and I were cuddling on the mattress and reading books. Lily and Wyatt are so great; what better gift could a Mom ask for?

Update on Ryan:

As far as Ryan's headaches are concerned, things are still a little rough. He was able to go to work yesterday. He did not have a headache overnight on Monday night, but it was back again last night (Tuesday). He is currently back in bed trying to get some sleep. His lungs are starting to suffer because of the lack of sleep. He was finally able to talk with his doctor yesterday...he thinks it could be one of two things: sleep apnea or the CF progressing. We are waiting to have an apnea test done. Please pray for Ryan ...

Also, he was able to schedule an appointment to begin his exercise program for the Lung Transplant evaluation. Thankfully it is at a facility that is only about 15 minutes away. His appointments will be about 1 hour twice a week. It is scheduled to be every Tuesday and Thursday for 8 weeks...it could be shorter if they feel he understands the exercises that are to be done at home.

Please Pray

I would like to ask all of you to be in prayer for Ryan. He has woken up the past two nights (2-3 am) with terrible headaches. They are effecting his sleeping and they are lasting well into his day. It is hard for the kids to understand that Daddy needs a break even though he is at home. Please pray for all of us, but especially for Ryan!