Ryan is a 39 year old loving son, brother, brother-in-law, cousin, nephew and friend.
But Ryan wears many more hats, for example he is well know for telling a great yarn, a talented artist, a prankster extraordinaire, and being super handy in the garden!
Currently, Ryan lives in Melbourne with his big sister Emma and brother in law Pete, who have both been caring for Ryan during his illness.
Around Christmas 2017 and for the following few months, Ryan started experiencing a series of aches and pains that did not seem to be relieved, despite repeated consultations with doctors, who initially believed he was suffering from pulled muscles or a possible stomach ulcer. However, in April 2018, Ryan was diagnosed with Stage 4E Diffuse Large B Cell Non Hodgkins Lymphoma (DLBCL). Further genetic testing revealed Ryan had a mutated gene that makes his form of already aggressive cancer even more aggressive.
After many gruelling months of chemotherapy, and despite some initial signs that the cancer was responding, it was discovered that the cancer had continued to grow. Ryan then bravely soldiered into 3 rounds of aggressive chemotherapy, requiring hospitalisation for several days each time.
Unfortunately, just before Christmas Ryan received the devastating news that aggressive chemotherapy had also failed to work and the cancer had not gone into remission. Not only that, it had now also spread to one of his kidneys.
To compound Ryan’s hardships, recently his father Brendan has been admitted to palliative care at the young age of 66, after battling Parkinson’s Disease for past 15 years. Brendan, who has being living in a nursing home for the past 3 years, and Ryan’s mother Dianne are located in Ballina Northern NSW. For the 6 months prior to his diagnosis, Ryan temporarily left his job at Bunnnings in Melbourne to live in Ballina to provide support to both his parents as Brendan’s health deteriorated. However, since Ryan’s diagnosis the family have been forced to be geographically separated during this difficult time as Ryan has treatment in Melbourne and is unable to travel and Brendan is too frail to relocate, causing additional stress and heartache.
Despite everything thrown at him for the past twelve months and the horrible side effects of treatment and painful tests and procedures, Ryan has battled on like a trooper, never complaining and always carrying on with a cheeky laugh and a smile. It’s rare to find him without a funny yarn, a laugh or some kind of classic prank.
With Ryan no longer responding to standard treatment, unfortunately his treatment options in Australia have now ran out. Specialists advised Ryan that the best chance for survival is an immunotherapy treatment called ‘CAR T-cell therapy.’
In exciting news, Ryan has been accepted to receive this treatment at Boston Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Ryan and Emma will need to relocate to Boston for 3-4 months, so Ryan can access this lifesaving treatment.
Ryan’s father Brendan’s dying wish is for his son to get the chance to travel to Boston for this lifesaving treatment.
It would ensure that Ryan could live to fulfil his lifelong dream of becoming a landscaper, starting his own business, and being around to look after his mum who has gone through so much in the past few years. Ryan and his mum have dreams to travel to Tasmania and Darwin when Ryan recovers – a well-deserved break for both of them.
The cost of treatment overseas is a considerable burden for any family. While the treatment itself will hopefully covered by MTOP (Medical Treatment Overseas Program), there are considerable associated costs not covered by the program.
Ryan’s family have undergone a tremendous financial burden over the past 15 years with Brendan’s illness and now Ryan’s. With the family’s savings having been depleted and incomes significantly reduced due to family members not working in order to care for Brendan prior to him going into a nursing home and more recently caring for Ryan, the family now need financial help to cover the additional costs associated with traveling overseas for treatment.
All money raised will go to assisting the family with these costs. Your generosity and support towards Ryan’s cause would be greatly appreciated.