04/07/2012 9:00am
Veteran's Park, Hamilton Township, NJ
Ryan was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was fourteen. We found it incidentally through a sporting accident. He was doing what he loved the most. His first surgery was when he was 16. Ryan has unbelievable courage! Ryan's love for sports was truly apparent when he found out he had a tumor and after the questions and the emotions passed, he asked "will I be able to see the Giants' game next weekend?"
Ryan's first surgery was not easy. It was followed by grand mal seizures, one of which he flatlined with, so we truly know how blessed to have him now. He had to have therapy in the hospital to walk. When he came home my husband set up the basement with all new wieghts and said you will get yourself back. So he did,better than ever.
Unfortunately he had to give up football-his true love. -Ryan actually had colleges interested in him so he was broken hearted over that, but he enjoyed the rest of high school and always with a smile on his face-the clown...making others laugh. He was registered to start his freshman year at our community college. Ryan had an MRI right before he went to one day of classes only to find out he had a reoccurence and would need another surgery. Surgery was aggressive and he lost alot of his peripheal vision. A few MRIs later it was found that he was having fluid build up and would need surgery to create a hole in his ventricle. He actually had a lot of symptoms with this that frightened him, but he always says-mom i'll do what I have to do.
This whole fight took away years of his life-does he know how blessed he is-every day-he knows that people have it so much worse and he feels so lucky. But he is trying to rebuild right now-to start over-at 21-to not be scared of this journey but to be courageous. Ryan is fighting every day to regain the time that he lost and he is dealing with the deficits-learning every day how to overcome.
Ryans loves are: his family first. He adores his sister Julia - who has been there for him through everything and is his best friend and he's lucky enough to have been blessed with a little brother Patrick- 4 months after his first surgery!
During this time Ryan had two very special people that helped him through this difficult time, one was his Uncle Bob who Ryan loved dearly and to our sadness he passed away recently and the second person was his Aunt Sue. Both his Uncle Bob and Aunt Sue were there for everything, every surgery, recovery and MRI's. We owe a world of thanks to these two special people for always being there. To my husband and I -Ryan is a warrior-he doesnt question-he doesnt cry-he doesnt stop living-he hears what he has to do and he does it-with strength and courage that we could all learn from. Ryan is a hero in every sense of the word.
Please support us in our efforts to save other families from this devastating disease and help us to raise the funds so desperately needed to search for a cure.
Thank you and God Bless you and your family.
As with any event, participation is important, however, fundraising is a vital aspect of such an event. We do not require fundraising to participate, although it is highly encouraged. Every fundraising dollar brings us closer to a cure!
Brain tumors are currently the #1 cause of solid tumor cancer death in children under the age of 20. It's time for change! Help find a cure for this devastating disease.
