What a year 2020 has been! We wanted to provide a brief summer update on Myka’s health, as many of you have sent positive messages and prayers for our family during this time. Thanks to everyone that’s checked in over the last couple of months!

Overall, Myka is doing really well. After her irregular labs in January/February, her biliary procedure in March and the removal of the drain in April, she’s been stable at home. Her blood work has progressively gotten better and normalized over the last couple of months, with her liver numbers trending back down to adequate ranges. Her neutrophil counts are still fairly low and she’s still on a decent amount of immunosuppression, which may always be the case. We’re just simply thrilled that she’s been hydrating well, eating everything by mouth and been enjoying the summer. She’s spent a lot of time in the backyard blow-up pool, riding her big girl bike and, admittedly, binging on Disney+ on her iPad while mommy and daddy work in the home office. (She can literally quote full sections of Frozen II, Moana and Tangled!) Also, she’s becoming best friends with Alivia during the pandemic, mimicking everything big sister does. Alivia’s led the way in creatively playing with Myka this summer – setting up concerts, fashion shows, sleep overs and fun pretend adventures in the backyard.

In a world full of chaos, we’re grateful for some “normalcy” in Myka’s life this summer, as she doesn’t know 2020 is any different. Many of you know that because of doctor recommendations and her immunosuppression, we’ve lived fairly cautious lives for a long time striving to steward the life-saving gift of her new living, while caring for her disease. We’ve joked that this year has given others a real glimpse into our cautious, sterile, secluded, hand-sanitizing, mask-wearing lifestyle that’s always “on yellow!”

Myka is registered for the fully-virtual Kindergarten option at Gateway and we’re thrilled for this new school opportunity for her. She’s enjoyed wearing her new big-girl glasses this summer and made tremendous strides in a recent developmental evaluation for speech, occupational and physical therapy.

We’ve talked numerous times about the difference between caution and fear. We’re not living in fear of Covid-19 or Myka’s possible future setbacks. We’re choosing to move forward in faith, with perseverance and caution as we navigate daily decisions that affect the health of our child. We’ve limited our circle to family and a few close friends on the back porch at this time, but look forward to branching out into smaller groups when the time is right.

Thanks again for your continued support, prayers and encouragement in our lives. We miss seeing so many of you, but it brings us great joy to share with you how far Myka’s come. Thanks for being a part of her story!

Pressing On,
Richie, Regan, Alivia & Myka