Summertime, patience and the 2014 CHOC Walk

We're definitely in the middle of summer around here!  Most of our afternoons are filled with swimming and backyard time and the weekends are spent basically living in the pool and around the bbq!  We've learned to embrace the fact that we don't get the chance to go too far from home.  And we have an amazing family and group of friends that join us on the weekends to "hang out".  Logan is now a little fish swimming everywhere in the pool and begging to not get out!

We've also been busy with birthday parties, get togethers and 4th of July.

We're still in limbo mode as far as when we will head inpatient to get going on the keto diet.  We'll either be heading to CHOC 7/21 or 8/18.  We are pushing for 7/21.  It's SO SO hard waiting.  Especially since Riley is still having the "S" words daily.  In fact on 4th of July she had a pretty bad one at our framily gathering.  I suppose we've become semi used to them but in the past whenever she's had a series of "S" words or couldn't stop them we were immediately changing paths and finding a solution.  Patience is not my strong suit!

So we're doing what we can for Riley.  Our parental instinct is telling us that these are much more common when Riley is hot, around strangers or away from the comfort of her own home.  It just seems that any of these situations can exacerbate her "S" words.  So we wait and are still hoping and praying that the Ketogenic Diet is what makes a difference for Riley.

In the meantime Riley is working hard!  She is amazing us in therapy and continues to show us that persistence and patience are key when it comes to Riley.  We caught her on video the other day showing us what she could do while in the stander.

Riley playing with her piano

Riley continues to work on new things in PT.

 Spending more time on her stomach.

 Today she was having an "on" day with her visual therapist and was tracking a ton.  She even wore a  "patch" on her strong eye to help strengthen her weak eye.

It amazes us daily what Riley is able to do and when she does something new, no matter how big or how small, we celebrate.  She's making this progress while waiting to take care of the "S" words and being heavily medicated.  Riley is a mighty fighter and gives us strength on days when we feel like we've had enough.  Just one snuggle session with Riley can cure anything!

We are also happy to announce that we will be participating in the 2014 CHOC Walk.  Last year our little team came in 5th place overall and Pa Doug was 2nd place overall for individual participants.  Made me super happy especially since we joined in late August and had no idea what we were doing!

Well now we're veterans!  Haha.  Not really but, we know what to expect.  So, will you join us?  Whether you are in the So Cal area and can join us by walking on Sunday October 12th or live elsewhere and want to help support our team.  We will be changing things up a bit and doing some creative fundraising ideas in the next month or so.  I'm still putting everything together and will share soon what we're hoping to do.  We'll also have a new fresh batch of "Team Riley" shirts available in the next few weeks.

I'm sure I said it last year but it's worth repeating.  From a very young age my parents taught my brother and me the importance of giving back.  I had always wondered what my "cause" would be and what I would be drawn to.  Through Riley's illness we have been drawn to giving back to CHOC.  Eventually, we hope, that Team Riley can do even more beyond CHOC but it will be a while before any of my crazy ideas get off the ground!

CHOC and the PICU teamed saved Riley's life.  The feelings of gratitude we have for the care Riley received are hard to verbalize.  To this day, as you know, most of our doctors are through CHOC and we are frequent visitors to the hospital.  We feel "at home" at CHOC.  Just one visit to another hospital and we are reminded of why we are so thankful to live near CHOC.  Shoot the valet guys even know me by name and are always there to greet us no matter if we're coming for an appointment or for a short stay.

To join us in walking you can click the link below and it will take you to the Team Riley page.  The minimum amount that needs to be raised in order to walk is $50 by October 12th.  The money can be raised through donations or paid directly to CHOC the day of.  We hope to see you there!
Join the Team Riley CHOC Walk Team!

We'll have our individual pages set up in the next few days.  I will include the links next time.  We'll all be walking in support of this great hospital and hope that Riley will be able to join us this year!  (Last year, much to our disappointment, Riley was inpatient and unable to walk).

Fight On!

Love,
Dave, Megan, Logan, Mason and Courageous Riley