- 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.
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Thursday, March 09, 2006
We continue to be blessed!
What a long 3 days it has been, but we all got through it and got the great news we have been asking for. Ryan's scans are clear and he has no evidence of disease. The little spot on his liver is still there and still puzzling. The docs are certain that if it were Neuroblastoma, it would not sit still. It is probably some sort of scar tissue from his transplant. So we go back in 3 months for another set of scans. As I heard it today, he will continue with scans until he is one year out (Sept, 06), then we move to every 6 months. He got to see Drs. Anderson, George, and Rapkin today, and they all said how great he looked. He weighed over 42 pounds!! We have had some long trips this week back and forth to the hospital and Ryan has had a lot to endure. The scan on Wednesday morning went fairly smoothly. They did ask him to empty his bladder between the two sets of scans which sort of unnerved me. His bladder was empty. I don't have the courage to ask "why?" because I am so afraid of the answer. So I just worry. Not a good system, I know. My mom was so great to bring him to me on Tuesday and take him back to school on Wed. so I could take Heidi to St. Mary's to get her arm x-rayed. She fell last Friday night at Rock Eagle with the 4-H group and again during her soccer game on Sunday. We didn't think it was anything more than a sprain, but it is fractured so she has a short arm cast for 6 weeks. What a bummer! Ryan's IV didn't go quite as smoothly this morning. They made quite an attempt the first go round that never worked, and the second one was only slightly easier. Fortunately, when we got to the clinic, Brenda was there to draw his labs. She always gets it on the first try and boy, is she ever fast! Thank you, Brenda!! I do have a lot of people to thank for their help this week. Thanks to my Mom for taking care of Will after school, for helping me get Ryan to his appts., and for a yummy, healthy, home-cooked meal tonight. Thanks to my Dad for coming this morning and getting Heidi and Will on the bus for school and for delivering our dinner. Thanks to my good friend, Karen, for going with us today, for driving so I didn't have to face the Atlanta traffic another day, and for letting Ryan cream her at Othello, Uno, and War. Thanks to so many of our friends who have called, emailed, and gone out of their way to lift us up this week. Your love and prayers mean so much to us. Thanks to all of you for checking in on us and for praying for Ryan. Please continue to pray for him and for all of the little children who have had to endure this terrible disease. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
# posted by Ryan @ 3/09/2006 09:18:00 PM
