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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.

Friday, March 30, 2007

 

Reality check...cancer style

Just when you feel you have everything under control and you understand that a fever or a cough or even sore muscles and bones should not worry us, that it's all just normal every day things that occur in healthy children...Ryan's catecholamines come back high. This is not a normal occurrence. So as we head to the beach for a week of fun in the sun over spring break with the kids, we also get to add a dash of worry and a sprinkle of anticipation of what the retest will show when we come back and verify the numbers. Then having to move Ryan's scans forward a few weeks if they remain high or go higher. We are praying hard that this is an anomaly and the retest will have his HVA and VMA numbers back to their previous, beautifully normal range. So cross your fingers and toes, and put a good word in for our superbuddy with the big guy because we desperately want Ryan to stay on the remission track and not the re-admission track. We all love Ryan so much, thank you for staying with us. Les , Missy, Heidi, Will and SuperRyan


Friday, March 23, 2007

 

One of our soccer stars


Ryan got a good check-up from Dr. Anderson on Thursday. He weighed in at 47 pounds and had grown about 1/2 an inch!! His cheeks are really starting to fill out again. We won't get his counts or results of his catecholomines until early next week. If everything looks good, he will have scans in May and see Dr. Anderson again in June. In September, he will be transitioned to Survivor Clinic!! Does that give you chill bumps, or what??? I don't have much info on that yet, but from what I understand it is an annual visit, and he will be monitored for growth, secondary malignancies, and other late effects of his treatment. He is having fun at soccer. He made another goal last night. We have a busy weekend at our house ahead of us. Heidi and Will have their Perfectly Polished spring formal tomorrow night, and Sunday is the Prince and Princess of Hope pageant and the Tiara Tea Party. Heidi will be putting on her tiara and helping out. Ryan is really looking forward to it. I will try and post some pictures after the weekend. Thanks for checking in. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

 

Benefits

Just a quick update to let you know of some good ways coming up to help raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer. Lauren's Run
A Run & Walk Benefiting CURE Childhood Cancer
Sunday, May 6, 2007 8:00 AM
Piedmont Park (Meadow Area – 10th Street across from Grady High school)
10th Street @ Charles Allen Drive
Atlanta , GA

St. Baldrick's This is the 8th year for St. Baldrick's and they have raised over 8 million dollars for pediatric cancer all by shaving their heads!! We have supported one of Ryan's favorite oncologists every year, Dr. Rapkin, and this year we will also be supporting one of our friends from the Lighthouse, Taylor!! Yes, a girl, a beautiful girl, and her dad are both shaving their heads this year for St. Baldrick's.
Relay for Life is approaching fast and Ryan is going to enter the Miss Jr. Relay pageant again this year with his friend Candler. They make a beautiful pair of girls!! He had his first soccer game of the season last night. They had a good win and Ryan scored a goal! He was pretty proud of himself. Heidi's team finished 2nd at the basketball tournament. They played very strong, and we had a nice little trip. We had really hoped to stop in and see Catie's mom, dad, and new sister. I couldn't believe how close we were to their house, but unfortunately, they were in Atlanta. Please continue to pray for them, and for Maggie whose latest treatment hasn't shown any improvement. And please pray for Nathan, too. His cancer is progressing and options may be running out. We are feeling very blessed that Ryan is doing so well. We had his IGG repeated last week, but it hasn't shown any change. The improvement in his runny nose must be due to the new nasal spray. We will keep using it and be thankful. Thanks to all of you for checking in on him, and if you can, please support the above causes and pass the word on to your friends and families. Quite frankly, we are past ready for the cure!! Much love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan

Thursday, March 01, 2007

 

Thankful for nomal and busy


I know it has been a while since our last update. We are living such a normal busy life, and we never forget to be thankful for that. Ryan is doing great. He is having fun at soccer. He has another new coach, and he seems really nice, but we will always miss Coach Mark. Will has started soccer, too. He just loves it! Heidi is playing for a different team this year, and we have just gotten started with her new team,but the coach seems very knowledgeable. She is playing tennis for her school and has her first match next week. As you can see, she is still playing basketball. Her All-Star team won the local tournament and are playing tomorrow in Savannah. She plays with a great group of girls, and we are looking forward to the little get-away. The kids are all doing well in school. I know this year will be over before too long. Ryan has a check-up at the clinic in a few weeks. He has mentioned once or twice lately about his cancer coming back, and we really hate for him to worry about it. I wish we didn't have to. I will update again soon. There are some good fund raising opportunities coming up that I want to share. Thanks for checking in on us, and please keep praying for Ryan and his little friends. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan

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