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.

Friday, 28 September 2012

Day +10

This morning Ryan woke with a sore throat again. Today instead of increasing his background morphine we requested a bolus to give him extra pain relief for a few hours until he has managed to drink and lubricate his throat. Once that kicked in we got busy decorating the room for Gareth's birthday.

Ryan bought Gareth a remote control helicopter which he is looking forward to flying around the room later today. But Gareth got the best birthday present he could wish for when the doctor announced Ryan's white blood count had increased from 250 to 1,710 (0.25 to 1.71)! Happy 40th Gareth xx

The doctor also said 'If your count stays above 1,000 for two more days Ryan you can go out for an hour'. Ryan replied 'Thanks but i'm not sure I can be bothered, it's too much hassle!' She did laugh! The trouble is he knows that coming back and being reconnected to all the machines is no fun but we will talk him round as the fresh air will do him good, even if he does have to wear a mask!
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