In July of 2018, Ryan was experiencing some pretty bad bloody noses. His parents thought they were from the dry air and hot weather. After baseball ended, he was tired, weak, and nauseous. Jennifer (mom) thought he was just exhausted from being out in the heat for long hours and playing ball. She knew something wasn’t right when he said he didn’t feel well enough to start football practice. He was taken into the clinic on Monday, July 30th and his family was told that evening that he had B-cell Leukemia, something no parent is prepared to hear. Their  lives changed in an instant.

The family  spent most of August in Denver. After round one of chemo, his MRD was 5.5% and the doctor said not to worry. During round two in Billings, Dr. Staddon told me he found a rare genetic mutation in Ryan. One that doesn’t respond to chemo. He told them not to be surprised if he relapsed. At the end of round two, his MRD was 42%.

Ryan then went back to Denver for CAR-T Therapy. He spent six days in ICU with a temperature over 109 degrees. The thermometers only go that high. CAR-T’s brought his MRD to negative for 2.5 months. Then a bone marrow biopsy showed it was coming back.

The last option was a bone marrow transplant. His sister, Hannah, was a 100% match! Ryan and his family spent the end of May through the end of September in Denver and came home cancer free.

Jenny: “I thank God every day for letting us keep Ryan here with us. And have learned to truly cherish each day”.