Ryan is home

Thankfully, Ryan is now home. He left Children's Hospital yesterday afternoon. He is hoping it will be a few weeks until he has to go back in again. The time he was in the hospital this past week was not great for him. Ryan dealt with a lot of pain. He had also lost some weight because he was unable to eat or drink. So, the doctors had him on fluids and nutrients to help that.


He was originally scheduled to have his 5-day chemo on Monday. But, it is being pushed back until his esophagus can fully heal. He will continue to take medication for that. I think it is expected to completely heal in a week or two.

Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for Ryan.

God Bless,
Amy

Add'l update from yesterday

As an update to yesterday's post, I wanted to let you know that they re-admitted Ryan to Children's Hospital yesterday. They needed to keep him there to get him the nutrition and fluids as well as the pain medication that he needs. And, I wanted to make a correction to yesterday, it really isn't his throat but his esophagus that has been "burned" by the radiation which is causing his pain. The pain management care team at the hospital has been working with Ryan to keep his pain down. Ryan told Barry today that he may be in there for another 3-5 days. Please keep him in your prayers.

Thank you!
Aunt Amy

Wednesday 9/17 update and a special thank you

Ryan has not been feeling well at all these last couple of days. His throat is very painful due to the radiation that he has been receiving. He was supposed to receive his last two days of radiation yesterday and today. But, they stopped it after Monday's treatment because of Ryan's pain. Brad and Ryan will go to the James today and consult with the doctors to decide what is the best course of action with the radiation. Because of the pain, Ryan has been unable to eat or drink so he has been on fluids this last day. Please pray for healing on his throat.



I hope that many of you have received your power back. Brad, Susan and Ryan were without power for awhile the first day after the windstorm. They were able to restore power with a generator and all power is back on now.



On a bright note, I have wanted to thank publicly a special young girl who was very gracious to Ryan over the summer. Lainey is a friend of my oldest son. For her 9th birthday party over the summer, she requested that she not receive any gifts for herself. Instead, she asked that the kids instead please donate to the Ryan Salmons Donation Fund for Ryan's care. She even went to a couple of area businesses and asked for donations. She is an amazing little girl. She ended up raising over $400. Isn't that incredible?!? She is quite a blessing to our family. Here is a picture of Lainey with Ryan.

Thank you all so much for your continued support and prayers for Ryan.

God Bless,

Aunt Amy

Thank you Jerry and Jeff for a great weekend - Go Bucks!

A very special thank you goes out to:

Jerry VonDeylen
Jeff Patrick

We can’t thank you enough for helping Ryan have such a great weekend at the OSU vs. OU football game. Jerry donated 2 club seats as well as a parking pass to the West stadium lot. Brad and Ryan parked within ten spots of the entrance to the stadium and were able to easily access the entrance. Jeff got Ryan field passes and 2 club seats as well. While on the field, Ryan spoke to Beanie Wells, Coach John Cooper, Bo Delande and Chris Spielman. The accommodations were excellent for Ryan’s needs and we can’t thank those two enough for the time Ryan got to enjoy! Roland, Jeff, Ryan and Brad were together and shared time throughout the game. After the game, Ryan got to return to the tailgate spot to enjoy a close victory with his friends. Go Bucks!

On Sunday, Brad, Susan and Ryan were at the Buckeye Cancer cruise party with Chris and Stefanie Spielman, Craig Krenzel and Jack Park. Ryan got to speak with each one in detail and he won a picture of the Horseshoe for his Buckeye Room! The link for the cruise is www.buckeyecruise.com for anyone interested in attending.

Ryan is at Children’s Hospital this week for another round of five day chemo and is also doing 5 days of radiation at the James. He will again have radiation next Mon-Wed. of next week. But besides that, I believe that with the exception of one day of getting his Vincristine, Ryan should be home for a couple of weeks before he has to be back at Children’s.

I was lucky enough to spend the day with Ryan today at Children’s. He has been feeling pretty well. He wasn’t able to sleep much last night and tried to catch up on some sleep this morning. But, I don’t know if he got too much rest. But, he looked great and I’m glad that he has so far been feeling better this time around versus the last chemo round.

We thank you all so much for your prayers and your support. We are working on a system so we soon should be posting to this blog on a more routine basis. Thank you all so much again!

God Bless,
Aunt Amy

Friday update, 8/29/08

Ryan came over to our home last night to celebrate our oldest son's birthday. He looked great and was feeling pretty well. It was soooo good to see him. Ryan spent a couple of hours yesterday at the hospital getting lab work done. And, he enjoyed a great lunch with his Grandpa Mac at Red Robin. With a Red Robin burger and fries and the pizza from last night, he proved he still has a great appetite.

Ryan hadn't been feeling well and has been very tired in this past week since he's been home from last week's chemo. But, he felt better yesterday. We got some good pictures last night so Barry will post those over the weekend.


Ryan's expected to go to Children's one day next week for a couple of hours for his Vincristine. He's also scheduled to start radiation therapy next Thursday at the James. He will have receive radiation on his spine for 10 days. Ryan will go back to Children's on the 8th for another 5 days of the chemo that he was just on last week. Please pray that Ryan will have a good week while he's off. And, pray for his strength and peace of mind while he begins the radiation again.

God Bless,
Aunt Amy

Off-week Bliss...Back to the Battle

Wow! Ten days since the last post. Here's what been going on.

Ryan has really his chemo-free week. Last weekend Ryan, Eric and Corey picked up Ryan's Accord at Grandma and Grandpa's house and took it home. Ryan spent part of the day last Saturday and Sunday making it spotless. (Hey Ryan, if you enjoy cleaning up cars, I got a couple for you!)

This past Friday night, Ryan, Brad and Susan attended a Buckeye Football dinner at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe. Ryan had the privilege of eating dinner with starting quarterback Todd Boeckmann. Matter of a fact, I think Boeckmann was serving Ryan dessert. Pictures are posted online.

On Saturday, Ryan was able to pay-off a promise he made shortly after his diagnosis. Let me take you back to that time in mid-to-late-April. Ryan was pretty much bed-ridden...he just had major back surgery to remove a tumor on his spine and the cancer in his core made walking seem like an impossible dream. At that time, Ryan promised his Dad's softball buddies that he would be well-enough to walk out to the mound and throw-out the first pitch at the first game of the fall season. On Saturday as the team donned TeamSalmons shirts and wristbands, Ryan walked out the the mound and paid off his promise! Check out the photos!

Now, one request from Uncle Barry...Ryan, I call official photographer it you get the opportunity to have your picture taken with the USA Women's Volleyball team...Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh! They need to be drafted to TeamSalmons...don't you think? Back to the serious...

Ryan is back in the hospital as of today for five days of chemotherapy. He was feeling good today after his first treatment, but the medication is already making him very tired. Please keep Ryan in your prayers through this next round...he is refusing to lose!

God Bless to All!

Friday Update

In trying to update the last week's events, I'll start with the best news first. Ryan had another round of testing done while he was in for his chemo treatments last week. The MRIs showed that his leg and spine are still clear. And, that his pelvis didn't show any increase in the tumors that are there. That is very good news to say the least. Chemo is such a long, hard process but it is doing its job.

Since Ryan left the hospital on Monday, he hasn't been feeling the best. And, he has had a very, very difficult time sleeping. In fact, he hasn't slept much at all since he had been receiving his chemo last week. Please pray that this turns around for him. His body and his mind need this much needed rest.

Wednesday night Ryan was taken back to the hospital because of intense headache pain which resulted in not being able to see clearly or speak for a short period of time. A CAT scan and MRI on his head came back clear which is a blessing. I believe the doctors thought that maybe it could have been associated with some dehydration or a migraine. He was released from the hospital yesterday.

The Photos of Ryan link to the right was recently updated. Take a look at the great pictures taken which include shots from Ryan's birthday and his trip to the Mid-Ohio racetrack where he spent some time in the garages of Indy Car drivers Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan.

Thank you for your prayers for Ryan. Please continue to pray for him. As has become all too clear to me personally recently with some very dear friends of ours as well as with Ryan, we will face many very difficult and devastating circumstances in our lives. But, I have to put my faith and trust in God to pull us through these difficult times. He will give us peace and protection because we can't do it on our own. This is what gives me hope. And, it is my trust and my faith that make me so confident that Ryan will get through this one day at a time and his body will be clear of this dreaded disease.

~Aunt Amy