First Big Outing

I have loved being home around the people I love and just hanging out with my family.  It has been nice not to worry about all the medical stuff, especially any needles!  It has been a nice change of scenery.  

My first big outing was to my cousin's wedding reception.  It was fun to get dressed up. I was excited to wear one of the cute headbands my sister Ashley had made.  When I got there I enjoyed seeing a lot of people that I loved.  I was surprised how tired I got.  I didn't think it would be so hard to just chill and eat cookies. Unfortunately I didn't last long. 

Thanks again for all the love and support. I know I  have been so blessed by all your prayers. 

Love This Quote

I love this quote by President Gordon B. Hinckley "All of us have problems.  We face them every day.  How grateful am I that we have difficult things to wrestle with. They keep us young, they keep us alive, they keep us going, they keep us humble.  And know that somehow there will come a solution.  Just do the best you can, but be sure it is the very best."

I am Home!

I am so happy to be home!  It is so much better than the hospital..It is so great that no one came in last night and said "I am going check your vitals" or "let me shine a light in your eyes".  I have been feeling ALOT better the last couple of days. I love feeling good again. I just love being home! I was even excited to see the cows in Hyrum!  Thank you for all of your prayers so I could come home so quickly. 

Mom's Update

Ricki had a fabulous Wednesday. The day started with physical Therapy. They had Ricki walk down the hall and back.  It totally exhausted her and she slept for 2 hours. The highlight of her day was when she had a visitor "Aiden" a beautiful golden retriever. It was pretty hilarious because he could smell Ricki's pizza.  He even got up on her bed so he could have a better view of what he was smelling. Ricki loved her time with him. Ricki is improving every day! It warms my heart to see her smiling and doing things that she loves.

A Good Day!

Wednesday was  a good day.  My nurse set some goals for me and I met my goals!  I walked for the first time! I probably looked like a penguin waddling back and forth but I was walking.  I only walked down the hall and back but, it was exhausting!  I had to come to my room and take a nap. It is kind of sad but true.  I sure get tired easily.

The days just keep getting better....The doctors say I probably get to come home soon!! Woot! Woot!

Love you all! Thanks for all your support.

Love, Ricki

Priesthood Blessings

Today had been a rough day.  I had a lot of head aches. Then I was stressed because I thought I was getting worse. My grandpa Case and brother VanWagoner gave me a priesthood blessing.  My headaches went away and my day began going much better. I am thankful for my Heavenly Father and I can testify that Heavenly Father loves every single one of us.  We are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father and he hears and answers our prayers. 

Good-bye ICU! Hello. NTU!

Good bye ICU! Hello  NTU!

Today I got a new room! It is pretty snazzy. It has a window with a view  (of the parking garage) a bathroom, and a painting of the ocean.  I like it. Today I received letters from my English class and I would like to thank them. They made me laugh and really cheered me up.;) my goal is to be home by Saturday...we will see what the doctor thinks.  I just got a new nurse...she has really cool red hair.  Well I will keep you guys updated. Thanks again for everything! 

Love ya!

Ricki

Feeling Better

Hey guys! I am doing lots better.  Especially since I have been able to have more food. That's been great!  Thanks for all your support. I can feel it.  It really keeps my spirits up.  Still kind of tired but I am getting more energy.  I should be out of ICU tomorrow! ( intensive care unit) which means I am supposed to get more sleep.  Sleep is Awesome! 

Thanks again for your prayers. I will try to keep you all updated 

Love, Ricki

Mom's weekend update

Saturday The Dr. 's readmitted Ricki into the intensive care unit. It had been a couple of tough days for her and of great concern for mom, dad, and the Dr.s.   After a day in the ICU however Ricki has bounced back and is doing better. Many  prayers, inspired and caring doctors and nurses at Primary Children's Hospital have brought the smiles back to our little Ricki's face. Her brothers were all excited at the improvement  when they came for a visit.  She loved seeing her brothers but was totally exhausted from the visits.   As much as she loved the visits it literally took everything out of her.  She has requested no visits tomorrow. She really wants to get out of the ICU and it is going to take all her strength to reach this goal.  We are so grateful for her improvement and inspired by her ability to smile even when things are really tough.

Elliot the Labradoodle

This Is a picture of Elliot the labradoodle. The owner/volunteer was walking past Ricki's room and Ricki opened her eyes. The volunteer noticed and brought "Elliot" the labradoodle to her bedside. That brought the closest thing to a smile that we have seen all day. Today we are grateful for a volunteer that was inspired to come to our room and bring Ricki a little  bit of sunshine to her day.

Mom's Update

The surgery is complete! Dr. Bollo reported back with us and said the surgery went really well.  He said she is waking up and responding.  Because of the nature of the surgery she will need to remain flat on her back for 2-3 days to make sure the fluid is able to drain. When things have healed up she will be up and running.  We love you all. Thanks again for the prayers.

Dad's Update

Got another update from Rickis nurse. They are pretty sure they got the tumor out. They said the doctors were checking for bleeders and any pieces left from the tumor. We think the surgery will be done in another couple hours.  The doctors of other children have come given a detailed report when they were done. Pretty sure we will get one too. Ricki will be in ICU for a day or two and then transferred to NTU and can have visitors. Things have gone well so far. Looking good for her procedure.

Moms Update

We just received another update from the nurse. Ricki is peaceful and doing well.  They are currently working on extracting the tumor and it is going well.  Thanks for all the prayers in her behalf and in behalf of the doctors and medical staff that are working with Ricki.  We love you all!

Dads Update

I just got the first update on Ricki's surgery. They have all the tubes, monitors, etc done. They have shaved a small strip of hair and have made the incision on her scalp so they can get the bone out of the way and start doing what we are all excited about getting accomplished, get that tumor out of her head. They said she was very brave and fell asleep easily and peacefully. So far, so good.

The tumor is coming out today!

I am excited to get this thing out.  A little nervous..

....I .am grateful for my hair,for all the nice people in the operating room,my family,food,especially chicken,all the prayers for me, all the great technology we have, all the sweet care packages,(I am definitely not going to be bored during my stay here at the hospital! ) grateful no one else has to lose any of their hair and I am grateful for all the love and  support and the peace I have felt this past week.  I know my Father in Heaven loves me!

Enjoying my Break!

I've been enjoying my break!:) sorry I haven't updated my blog for a while. It's been awesome, I got a perm. Yup pretty cool! My hair smells a little funky but other than that I like it a lot! 

My sister Ashley worked on some scrubs for me to wear in the hospital. They are pretty cool!

Thanks to all the visitors and helpers that came today. I am so blessed to have such good people in my life! 

I will try to keep you updated. Again, Thanks for everything.

 Love you All!

Mom's Post

Today I feel so lucky to be the Mother of Ricki Nicole! In the past few days I have felt so blessed and inspired by her valiant and cheerful spirit.  I wanted to share an example of her sweet spirit.  Ricki had flown in the helicopter to Primary children's Hospital and Rick and I drove down to meet her.  Just as we pulled into the parking lot I received a text letting me know she was having another seizure.  I hurried into the ER to be with her.  When I arrived by her side she was starting to come to but was unable to speak...she looked into my eyes, wrinkled her little nose and smiled...In the midst of her challenge she was smiling. As I was looking at the pictures I was amazed that in most all of the pictures this weekend she is smiling.  Ricki, you are amazing! I Love you sweetie!

Home for a quick break

Hello everyone! The doctors say I get to come home for a quick break! I am looking forward to take out the IV! I do not like it! I am excited to see friends and hope you will come to visit. The doctor says I can't go to school.  I am so sorry for those I was working on projects with. I especially feel bad for the prosthetic hand competition.. I am disappointed that I will not be able to go to the Lagoon day with my friends. 

Feeding the birds and stuff:)

I failed to mention that yesterday I got to feed the birds some of my pretzel :) the birds LOVED it and so did I! The birds were really cute and I liked feeding them. The doctors said I might go home today but today they later decided and said that I probably won't go home till tommorow... I just want them to take off my IV! Hahaha oh well I guessing can wait till tommorow,that's ok thanks to all who have been praying for me, I really appreciate everything!!!!:) the food here at Primary Children's is pretty good and I'd like to thank the people who have been fixing my dairy-free food :p (that's supposed to be me licking my lips in approoval) like I said I get to go home tommorow I hope they let me go tomorrow that would be awesome! Thanks again everyone! Oh and I forgot to mention my awesome Young Women's Ward President gave me a monkey! Same monkey I was talking about yesterday... Ha, at least I think it was yesterday ;) but today we called it moe short for more. We called it that because I've been eating losta food because of the steroids they gave me.haha it's pretty awesome! I keep getting off subject, THANKS everyone for reading my blog and supporting me! Love ya all!!!:) 

Yesterday

Yesterday I had an MRI it  was kinda cool since they gave me some goggles that I could see the movie Percy Jackson the lightning thief through them! Ahhhh cool huh? Hahaha it was kinda fun:) the day before my awesome young women's president gave me a sock monkey.. I haven't named it yet which is probably a surprise to them because I name everything and when I say everything I mean everything:) I havent been able to come up with a name? Anyways they've been sticking  all sorts of needles in me... Haha they have taken a total of six viles of my blood. (sarcastic) wahoo! Well turns out a have a medical condition called Neurofibromitosis this condition affects one in every twenty-five thousand people get it woah yeah I'm special and you know it ;) well I'll post again later see ya!!!

Family Update

After being admitted into the ICU, Ricki has been able to finally eat and rest. She has loaded up on slushies and all kinds of good food. Before she got her feast, Ricki was a huge HUGE trooper and sat through a two hour CT scan that scanned her whole body for tumors similar to the one in her brain and shoulder. The amazing doctors at Primary Childrens have been able to team up and diagnose Ricki with a rare genetic disorder called FR-22, which is a genetic disease that generally passes through genes but at times can spontaneously manifest itself in an individual who does not have any known family history of it.  FR-22  causes a type of cell to reproduce without the correct regulation which leads to abnormal growths or tumors in areas along the central nervous system and brain.  They have not grown very rapidly in Ricki’s case. The good news is that the tumors are not cancerous right now, and they are currently benign. The other good news is that if Ricki responds well to the oral anti-seizure medicines given to her, she will be able to go home tomorrow (Sunday, May 12th), and will be able to stay there until the operation, which has been tentatively scheduled for Thursday (May 16th). 

Helicopter Ride Pics!

Pictures!

Helicopter ride

Hey guys! Yesterday I had a some seizures and my brother Nathan and uncle shane called 911.when I came to conscience the. Paramedics took me into the ambulance and drove me to the Logan hospital. they asked me a lot of questions.when we got to the hospital we waited for my parents to come.once they came I had a catscan. The dr. Said I had to fly down to Salt Lake. We waited for the Life Flight and when they got there they carried me out on my bed. I got to kiss my parents good-bye. Then we took off in the helicopter. They flew over the Logan temple and tipped it sideways so I could see it. The temple was beautiful and all lit up.Then I took a nap in the helicopter.this was just the beginning.

Story

Ricki was eating a S'more watching her favorite show, Downton Abby when her brother, Nathan, saw out of the corner of his eye that she had arched her back, and was experiencing convulsions. After helping her through a 5 minute seizure, Nathan ran next door to grab his uncle, an ex-police officer, to help Ricki. Uncle Shane called 911, and put her on her side. After just a few minutes another seizure started, and ended about 2-3 minutes later. The paramedics arrived, and Ricki didn't start responding to them until about halfway to Logan Regional Medical Center. Ricki's parent's were on their way home from Rexburg, where they were helping take care of funeral arrangements for Ricki's grandfather. Ricki was surrounded by friends and family while she was waiting for tests to be done. Her parents got there just in time to go with her to get a CT-scan where they found two golf-ball sized tumors in the frontal lobe of her brain, and one in her shoulder near her left collar bone. Shortly after finding this out, Ricki was life-flighted to Primary Childrens Hospital, and really enjoyed the ride, she talked on the phone with her mom, and was greeted by friends and family by the time she touched down. About an hour after arriving, and bunch of poking, prodding, and questions by many kind doctors, Ricki was admitted into the ICU at around 4:30 am.