About Me
- Name: Ryan
- Location: Athens, Ga, United States
Our son Ryan was diagnosed with stage 4 Neuroblastoma in 2004. In 2007, my wife Missy was diagnosed with stage 2 triple negative breast cancer. On July 8th, 2009, Missy lost her battle to this horrible disease. 2 days later, on July 10th, Ryan also lost his. Together forever, they both watch over our family now from the heavens above. Below is our families journey through Ryan's treatments, along with the joy and laughter we tried to instill into our daily lives. Those days helped us all cope with the pain and suffering that comes with cancer and it's deadly treatments. Both Missy and Ryan endured high doses of chemo, radiation and surgeries. Over 150 nights spent in the hospital and many, many more days. More transfusions than I could count. Yet both Missy and Ryan took on each day with a positive attitude and warm smile for all their friends. We miss them terribly. They will always be a shining light in our lives.
Monday, October 31, 2005
BOO
Let me start by telling you about Ryan's clinic appt. last Thursday. It was surreal when we got off the elevator and the waiting room was completely empty. Well, not completely empty, Kellie Porter was there waiting to see us. CHOA and Aflac are so very lucky to have her working for them as are we. She is so determined to raise lots of funds for the hospital and for cancer research. She stayed with us during Ryan's appt. and kept us company during the down times. Normally, there is a lot of down time waiting for this or that, but not this time. Although, it is great to usually run into someone we know and can catch up with, it was awesome to see the clinic empty. I imagined that this is what it will be like when we have found a cure. Unfortunately, it was only empty because so many of the staff are gone to a conference. He had a good visit with Dr. Anderson and Dr. Rapkin. Something about Dr. Rapkin brings out the little devil in Ryan and a life to him when he is the sickest. It is amazing how great he is with all the kids. Ryan's counts are good, and we should hear on the catecholomines today or tomorrow. We went on for the audiology appt. even though we knew he, more than likely, still had fluid in his ear. Well, we found out he has fluid in both ears. Dr. Anderson feels it is probably viral, but we are to stay the course with our antibiotic. The audiologist went ahead with the eval., but we had to stop before we got finished. Ryan just didn't feel well, and became upset and frustrated. His hearing seems to have gotten considerably worse, and I know it was difficult for him to try and listen so intently and still not be sure if you heard the beeps or not. We are going to try again Dec 1. So we are off of clinic trips for the whole month of Nov. Hooray!! Hopefully, when we go back, his ears will be clear and we can get an accurate evaluation of his hearing. We carved our pumpkin last night. Heidi did an awesome job drawing his face. Les took the kids to a spook house last night in Athens put on by the Athens Creative Theatre. They had a great time. Today is Book Character Day at school, so Ryan wore his clone trooper costume. I hope his teacher remembers that Star Wars is a book, too. Will is home with me, and we are going to see the doc when we can get an appt. We are going to toast our pumpkin seeds and make our pumpkin cookies, if we can find a pie pumpkin somewhere. The kids are very excited about Trick or Treating tonight. We will go to my brother's house in historic Statham. It will be fun for me just sitting and watching all the kids come by. Thanks for checking in on us, and please continue to pray for Ryan. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
