Justus Family Cancer Fund #TeamRyan
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Please join us helping the Justus Family fight cancer!
This is our beautiful little girl Ryan. Ryan has been sick since July 1st. On July 3rd we took her to urgent care only to be told she has a "Summer Virus" and it had to run its course. She had a fever every morning and had been having body pains. Still not feeling 100% we celebrated her turning 3 on July 19th. Two days later we went in for our annual well check visit. Not having a fever that day we expressed that she still isn't feeling great, continuing to complain about body aches, occasional fevers popping up, and not eating normally. We discussed the possibility of it being growing pain and the fact that we probably need to switch out her mattress as she was still sleeping on a crib mattress converted to a toddler bed. We had a family vacation planned to go to South Carolina and after consulting with the doctors we decided there wasn’t any reason that we shouldn’t go. So we flew out on July 26 and it was one of the most beautiful miserable vacations ever. Ryan woke up every morning with a high fever and body aches. She was sleeping until 1:00 in the afternoon, and not wanting to do anything. Fortunately we got her for a good 1 ½ to 2 hours when she took Motrin and it finally kicked in. We also noticed when we were applying sunscreen, washing her hands, or putting her shoes on that she was starting to have little spots covering parts of her body (A little later to find out that these are called: Petechial). Enjoying what little of our vacation that we could she went running on the beach, hunting for seashells, fake smiling for family pictures, giggling and running at the water park. The day that we were due to fly home we called back to Kansas City to the pediatric office to let them know what was going on and that she still wasn't feeling well. They expressed concern that something greater than a fever was going on and wanted Ryan to be seen by urgent care in South Carolina before we put her on a plane. We just wanted to get home as fast as possible. So we gave her a dose of Motrin and travel through the night to get home. That next morning we went in to the pediatric office and they took blood samples and a urine analysis. They sent us home and told us to wait for a phone call. My husband took the phone call that came in that Wednesday night explaining to us at the blood work had come back and that they were 80% sure it was Leukemia. They instructed us to pack a bag because Children's Mercy was expecting us as soon as possible. We were admitted to Children's Mercy Hospital on that Wednesday night. On August 3,2016 at 10:43pm ( they say you will never forget diagnosis day) Ryan was diagnosis of Precursor B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with Diploid DNA or ALL. A numbness fell over us and we didn’t know what to do next. Luckily we were at Children’s Mercy and we had an OUTSTANDING medical team. Thursday morning they were taking her in to do a spinal tap, collect bone marrow, insert a port and give her the first round of chemo in her spine. She had several blood transfusions and platelets given. We sat in the hospital room that Saturday night and we had the following conversation.
Ryan: "Daddy, Mommy is so sad."
Chris: "I know, what should we do?"
Ryan: Turns to Mommy "Mommy, I got this."
Brandy: "I know you do baby!"
We have a long journey ahead of us but, just like anything else in life that knocks you down we've gotten back up, dusted ourselves off, and we're ready to explode through this obstacle.
Ryan will be receiving 2 1/2- 3 years of Chemo treatments from Children's Mercy-Hematology-Oncology Division in Kansas City, MO. She will require around the clock care in addition to our weekly hospital visits and any over night hospital stays that may occur with any unexpected complications. Brandy will be caring for Ryan and will not be able to work a normal schedule. The loss of this income in addition to the mounting medical bills have become overwhelming. This brings us here asking for help. No donation is to small and if you're unable to donate we ask that you share Ryan's story with as many people as you can. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any help that you may give.
We would like to thank the OUTSTANDING medical team at Children's Mercy Hospital, as well as the medical team at Raintree Pediatric.
Please say a prayer for Ryan as we attack this nasty cancer. WE GOT THIS!!!!
- TEAM RYAN
This is our beautiful little girl Ryan. Ryan has been sick since July 1st. On July 3rd we took her to urgent care only to be told she has a "Summer Virus" and it had to run its course. She had a fever every morning and had been having body pains. Still not feeling 100% we celebrated her turning 3 on July 19th. Two days later we went in for our annual well check visit. Not having a fever that day we expressed that she still isn't feeling great, continuing to complain about body aches, occasional fevers popping up, and not eating normally. We discussed the possibility of it being growing pain and the fact that we probably need to switch out her mattress as she was still sleeping on a crib mattress converted to a toddler bed. We had a family vacation planned to go to South Carolina and after consulting with the doctors we decided there wasn’t any reason that we shouldn’t go. So we flew out on July 26 and it was one of the most beautiful miserable vacations ever. Ryan woke up every morning with a high fever and body aches. She was sleeping until 1:00 in the afternoon, and not wanting to do anything. Fortunately we got her for a good 1 ½ to 2 hours when she took Motrin and it finally kicked in. We also noticed when we were applying sunscreen, washing her hands, or putting her shoes on that she was starting to have little spots covering parts of her body (A little later to find out that these are called: Petechial). Enjoying what little of our vacation that we could she went running on the beach, hunting for seashells, fake smiling for family pictures, giggling and running at the water park. The day that we were due to fly home we called back to Kansas City to the pediatric office to let them know what was going on and that she still wasn't feeling well. They expressed concern that something greater than a fever was going on and wanted Ryan to be seen by urgent care in South Carolina before we put her on a plane. We just wanted to get home as fast as possible. So we gave her a dose of Motrin and travel through the night to get home. That next morning we went in to the pediatric office and they took blood samples and a urine analysis. They sent us home and told us to wait for a phone call. My husband took the phone call that came in that Wednesday night explaining to us at the blood work had come back and that they were 80% sure it was Leukemia. They instructed us to pack a bag because Children's Mercy was expecting us as soon as possible. We were admitted to Children's Mercy Hospital on that Wednesday night. On August 3,2016 at 10:43pm ( they say you will never forget diagnosis day) Ryan was diagnosis of Precursor B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with Diploid DNA or ALL. A numbness fell over us and we didn’t know what to do next. Luckily we were at Children’s Mercy and we had an OUTSTANDING medical team. Thursday morning they were taking her in to do a spinal tap, collect bone marrow, insert a port and give her the first round of chemo in her spine. She had several blood transfusions and platelets given. We sat in the hospital room that Saturday night and we had the following conversation.
Ryan: "Daddy, Mommy is so sad."
Chris: "I know, what should we do?"
Ryan: Turns to Mommy "Mommy, I got this."
Brandy: "I know you do baby!"
We have a long journey ahead of us but, just like anything else in life that knocks you down we've gotten back up, dusted ourselves off, and we're ready to explode through this obstacle.
Ryan will be receiving 2 1/2- 3 years of Chemo treatments from Children's Mercy-Hematology-Oncology Division in Kansas City, MO. She will require around the clock care in addition to our weekly hospital visits and any over night hospital stays that may occur with any unexpected complications. Brandy will be caring for Ryan and will not be able to work a normal schedule. The loss of this income in addition to the mounting medical bills have become overwhelming. This brings us here asking for help. No donation is to small and if you're unable to donate we ask that you share Ryan's story with as many people as you can. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any help that you may give.
We would like to thank the OUTSTANDING medical team at Children's Mercy Hospital, as well as the medical team at Raintree Pediatric.
Please say a prayer for Ryan as we attack this nasty cancer. WE GOT THIS!!!!
- TEAM RYAN
Organizer
Brandy Rouse-Justus
Organizer
Lee's Summit, MO