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.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Pray for no fever, aches, pains
Ryan started feeling bad yesterday at school around lunchtime. Seems to be his usual time. He went and hung out at my parent's and they pushed the fluids. He only had a 99.6 fever with some aches and pains. We kept him pretty cool and watched him all night. He has a cough, but no fever, fewer aches and pains. He is going to hang out at the farm again today, but he hates to miss his play this morning. He made it yesterday and Les and I went to watch. He had the part of a spirit in "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" and was quite the ham when he blew kisses to the crowd when they came back out for applause. We are hoping to avoid a trip to SR, but will have to head down there if his fever spikes 101. Please say a prayer that this is short-lived and he feels better soon. Thanks for checking in. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Want some candy?
Just a quickie before we all head out. We had a great Easter on Sunday with a delicious lunch at my Mom and Dad's. The kids had a great time with their cousins. Ryan spent the night there since Les was leaving at 5:30 Monday morning and me at 6:30. He ended up staying home from school with a sore throat. Unfortunately, with a white count of 1.something, he is likely to catch every little germ that floats by. I went back to Emory and Dr. O'Regan thought I looked pretty good for all that has happened. I did get chemo, but only after four or five attempts at getting an IV. I honestly lost count. I only have two more rounds to go so my arm has to hold out until then. I sure wish I had gotten a port and highly recommend it to anyone starting out on this journey. I do have a strategy for next time and that is to drink plenty of fluids before going to plump up my veins. All the kids have soccer tonight so it will be a busy one shuffling them all from here to there. Heidi finished her JV soccer schedule last night, so things should be lightening up for her a good bit. This weekend in the Perfectly Polished formal, and this year Ryan and my Mom and Dad are going to watch Heidi and Will strut their stuff. I will post pictures next week. I also want to thank Reid Crowe for his participation and for honoring Ryan in this weekend's marathon and half-marathon that benefits the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. You can visit Reid's website and make a donation. We hate that we have been so late donating and posting, but you know what it has been like. We were thrilled that we got to help him reach his goal. So much for a quickie! Now I'm late! Have an awesome day! Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Lunchtime panic
Check out our little soccer star! This afternoon we really didn't expect him to play tonight. I got a call from school that he was having some terrible tummy pains, and fortunately I was headed there anyway and was only minutes away. Thank you Pat, Carla, Donna, Valerie, and Brandi for taking such good care of him. We are so lucky to have friends at his school that love Ryan dearly. He was complaining that he felt weak and since his hemoglobin was 7.9 on Friday I decided we would head down to the clinic for some blood. The other key part of this is that his buddy Max, who came home with us yesterday to play, was home with a tummy bug. I figured if he was going to be sick, some red blood would make him feel a whole lot better. He fell asleep in the car within minutes and never complained with his tummy again. His hemoglobin was 8.7 at the clinic and he seemed fine. We basically turned around and came home. I am just glad he is feeling ok. His team squeaked out a win in the last minute of the game.
As far as Mackie goes, we haven't heard anything. Ryan has cried a few times and misses him. I am just mad that a) I spent $175 on the dog the week before (typical, eh?) and b) that Mack was a good dog and we had been through three other dogs before we found a good one!
I want to thank everyone at our school, all the Speech Therapists in the county, and Bethlehem Baptist Church for all the food they have sent to the house. They have kept us fed (more like fat and happy!). We feel so blessed to have so many friends who care about us. I go back to Emory on Monday and hopefully get Round 2 of chemo. If it goes as I hope, I will be back on schedule for round 3 and 4 every other Monday-then I will be finished!! Well, except for radiation and the rest of my reconstruction. It will be so great to be done with it all. I know that day will come if I just keep moving forward. Thank you all for checking in on us. Thank you for your prayers for all of us. Please pray, also, for our little friend, Luke, who is in Philadelphia getting the MIBG therapy. Happy, happy Easter! Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
Friday, March 14, 2008
Woo-Hoo!!!!!
I love posting good news. We heard from Erika this morning and Ryan's catecholomines are in the normal range!! An answer to so many prayers. Thank you all so much for lifting us up in prayer. Ryan is off to Matt's house to spend the night and get in some good play time with his buddy. We are off to Heidi's soccer match shortly. They are in the final game of the tournament at 8:00 tonight. I'm afraid I may freeze my hiney off, but I will be loving it just being able to be there and watch her play. She finally got her learner's permit this week. It took us awhile to get together all the paperwork necessary. She was pretty proud to show off her card. I am not too ready for her to get behind the wheel, though. Will has a game tomorrow. I am crossing my fingers for some sunshine. Hope you all have an incredible weekend with your families and friends. We are going to! Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
No complaints today :)
It always amazes me that as heavy as the subject of cancer, our visits to the clinic are always full of mischief and laughter. Ryan has fun with everyone. It started with a visit from our friend, Kellie, moved to our great triage nurse, April, and then, of course, Erika and Dr. George. He managed to get back to infusion and harass Erica and Patti. It was great to see them all and get some hugs. What a great bunch of nurses. We are so lucky to have them! We didn't stay long enough to get count results, but will get those tomorrow. I did learn from Dr. George that Ryan's counts have been so slow this time in large part to the flu. That came as a huge relief. I have been so worried about that. Ryan didn't complain with any pains all day, but was able to describe them to Dr. G. As we expected his catecholomines will be checked and we should have those results on Friday. If they are up, we will be scheduling scans. Ryan's catecholomines have always been pretty sensitive so we feel pretty comfortable with that. Dr. George was concerned, but not overly so. That combined with no complaints today is a little reassuring. We will just have to wait and see. Ryan and Will both had soccer practice tonight. Heidi's varsity team is playing in a tournament this week on the other side of Gainesville with games at 7:30. They won tonight and last night with both games going into double over-time. Tonight actually came down to penalty kicks. She will have tomorrow night off, thank Goodness! I want to thank you all for your emails and prayers for Ryan (and our nerves!). The love and support of our family and friends means the absolute world to us and keeps us going. Please keep praying that this pain in his ribs doesn't come back and that he doesn't have any new complaints. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
Monday, March 10, 2008
No, He's not drinking beer...
It's just root beer! Can you see how much hair he has though? He looks awesome. I wish he felt that way. He started complaining of pain in his rib last night which turned into both sides this morning. He is worried his cancer is coming back. He has a regular appt. with Dr. George tomorrow afternoon. Please, please say many prayers that his cancer isn't back. We will ask that his catecholomines be checked, but won't get any answers until the end of the week. They will probably schedule scans for next Tuesday and Wednesday. He is playing and Tylenol is working for the most part. I know he is worried and I hate that. I hate all of it. Why can't they find a cure? Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
