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.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Happy Birthday, Ryan! We love you!!
As you can see from the pictures, the kids did well at the state meet last weekend. Heidi's relay team finished 3rd in both events, and
Will finished 4th in breast stroke, 8th in freestyle, and his relay team was 6th and 7th in their events. We had a great time just hanging out with the kids. Ryan stayed home and spent one night at Matt's and one night at my Mom and Dad's. His birthday party was Sunday, and we managed to get in all our fun before the rain started. Thanks to everyone who came and made his day so special. Matt and Nick spent the night, and they all camped out upstairs in the room over the garage. We had a little excitement yesterday morning after dropping Heidi off at soccer camp. We headed across town to pick up Will and a lady pulled out of a gas station around a tractor trailer and hit us. It happened so fast. Ryan was scared at first, but calmed down quickly. After about 2 1/2 hours we had a rental car and were back on our way. Hopefully, my car will be fixed in a couple of weeks. I took Ryan back to see the ENT yesterday. He said the CT shows a good bit of infection remains in his sinuses. He took a sample and will know in about a week exactly what sort of bacteria is there. He put him back on the antibiotic which we might change once we know better what we need to fight against. He also added a steroid and took him off the liquid decongestant/antihistimine (yea! it tasted terrible). We are supposed to keep doing the Nasonex, too. We go back in 3 weeks, and if it isn't better, then he will look into removing Ryan's adenoids and cleaning out his sinuses. I hope we don't have to do that. Adenoids can be a source of infection, but Ryan's don't really look enlarged on the scan. We'll try Susan's advice before we have any surgery, for sure. She is Nathan's mom and knows just what we're going through. Tomorrow is Ryan's birthday. He finally just had to lie down and go to sleep. He couldn't stand the excitement of opening his presents tomorrow. I have promised him we could celebrate at breakfast with candles in cinnamon rolls, and he can open his presents then. I will always remember his 6th birthday when his hair was falling out. He has come so far since then, and we are so very thankful. Please continue to pray for Ryan, and for Nathan, and Dustin, and Caroline, and Chandler, and Maddie, and Taylor, and Martin, and all of these amazing children. There are so, so many. Thanks for checking in on us. Love, Les,Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Hopefully, this will give us some answers
We had a nice surprise when we arrived for Ryan's CT today. One of our cancer friends' mom greeted us at the door and actually did Ryan's CT. Thanks, Allison, for making it so easy for us today. We brought the images home with us and will deliver them to the ENT next Monday. Hopefully, he will be able to find a way to make Ryan's nose stop running. We are enjoying what is left of our summer. None of us want to think about going back to school. Thanks for checking in on us. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
Thursday, July 13, 2006
I can't believe summer is more than half over
Ryan's CT of his sinuses is scheduled for next Tuesday. I don't think there has been any improvement with this new medicine. It has been a long week with Heidi gone to 4-H camp at Jekyll Island. We have all missed her so much! She comes home tomorrow, and it will be so great to have us all under one roof again. We had a little scare yesterday. Ryan had spent the night at my sister's and played baseball with his cousin and some neighborhood boys. He started complaining of a pain in his back and continued to complain throughout the day. I finally gave him some Tylenol, and that eased it for a while. I felt sure it was because he had played so roughly, but still worried. He has felt better today. Please pray that it won't return. Ryan's swim season wraps up on Saturday with League Championships. Heidi and Will are both going to state the next weekend in Moultrie (down below the gnat line in south Ga). It's gonna be a cooker!! Thanks for checking in on us, and please keep praying for Ryan and his friends. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
Thursday, July 06, 2006
the medicine'snot working
We have been having a great week. Ryan has gotten in lots of play time. Matt came on Saturday and spent the night, and he went and spent the night at his friend, Max's house last night. We are going to take in a movie this afternoon since it is raining. I took him to see an ENT yesterday to see if we can't conquer this never ending runny nose. They did an x-ray of his sinuses and they looked cloudy (they're full of snot! duh??), so now they want to do a CT. I don't really want to put him through something else, but maybe they can figure out what is going on and put a stop to it. They did give him an antibiotic and a decongestant that he is to use in conjuction with the Nasonex. We are to stop the Alavert. Maybe this will work. Either way, we can certainly deal with it. It would be nice though to get a handle on the snot. We are starting to wrap up the swim season. Saturday is the state qualifying meet. Heidi and Will have a great chance to qualify, but Ryan's times are still not that competitive. His relay team had a chance, but one of the boys can't make it, so that's a bummer. He will have fun cheering them on just the same. Have a great weekend, and we are still hoping to get some great photos from camp to post soon. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
Sunday, July 02, 2006
We are glad Ryan's home!
WOW, Saturday morning was perfect. We left the house at 6:15 to shoot down to Camp Sunshine to bring Ryan home. I'm sure we were the first ones there! We quickly loaded Ryan's bags then headed off to the cafeteria to find him at breakfast. He was very happy to see us and greeted us with huge hugs. Missy asked him if he missed us and he replied, "no... well, a little". We were fortunate that he was able to stay in the same cabin he had stayed in twice before, so he said he didn't feel home sick because he felt as though he was at home. He is so smart! He had many great stories to tell after his week long stay. He really loved the letters and gifts sent to him by everyone. I'm passing on Ryan's "thank you" to you all. Their cabin had a little problem with one boy. He tried to hit Ryan with his putter during golf, he hit another with his tennis racket and one more with a scoop they use to spray water. Ryan said he didn't get in trouble... but his mom came and got him. I did hear that Ryan was a star at the camp. Hey, when you're that small you need to be front and center. He loved his counselors and one of the girls' counselors, Erika, his old, well young nurse from Egleston . They made all kind of crafts, played countless games, swam and played on the water slide, knocked on the girls cabin doors then hid, (Erika left him a note saying, "sleep with one eye open") and also hit the boats on the lake. He is so ready to go back next year. It has been busy here since he has come home with a flurry of over night campers here. I am getting some pictures from camp to put up shortly. Thanks for checking in on our little independent camper. Lots of love, Les Missy, Heidi, Will and SuperRyan.
