Ryan's story

Ryan was diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma N-MYC amplified in July 2008. He was out of treatment for just over a year when in November 2010 our lives were again turned upside down when we discovered the disease had returned in his bones and bone marrow. After a year of treatment re-staging scans in November 2011 showed that he had again achieved remission.

However just 3 months later, in February 2012, end of treatment scans gave us the devastating news that the disease has returned, this time with a tumour near his spine. In March Ryan started 4 weeks of radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy. Re-staging scans in May and August showed no evidence of disease. On the 4th September 2012 Ryan received treatment in Tubingen for a haplo-identical stem cell transplant. He is a happy, active boy who is now enjoying life to the full.

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Week 2 of radiotherapy

Ryan was understandably a bit reluctant to come back to Bristol, although going home was lovely it was almost too 'normal' and so for Ryan he was almost surprised to remember he had more treatment. He was very good though and didn't make a fuss about the treatment. He was greeted by the nurses with a sticker chart, each day he adds a sticker and he can see how many more sessions he has to left.

Today we hope to find out when he is being admitted for chemotherapy, it will be Friday, Saturday or Sunday and will mean a 24 hour stay in hospital. Here he is being super brave, the mask covers his head and shoulders and is bolted to the table during radiotherapy.

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