Ryan Smith Sr. Fight against Leukemia

Hello! This is Ryan and his family. Ryan (31) and Bianca (30) have been married since April of 2013. They have two boys that are 9 and 7 and one girl that is 7 months old. Ryan is a young man that works hard to support his family. Ryan is loved by so many and is always the life of the party. He meets no stranger and can make you laugh like no other. Ryan has struggled with back pain for a few years now. In June of 23, Ryan started experiencing excruciating pain on his right side of his abdomen that wrapped around to his back. For three days, he got no relief and no sleep. It hurt to sit, stand, or lay down. He went to three different ERs before he was admitted. He was told he had a large mass on his spine. They started doing testing on his blood and he received the news that it was cancer but they weren’t sure what kind. He received 3 biopsies and no diagnosis. They finally decided to do an open surgery biopsy where they confirmed the tumor was very large and wrapped around his nerves. They were able to relieve some pressure off his spine and nerves and get multiple samples . During this time, Ryan's wife was pregnant with their 3rd child and 1st girl and due on September 23rd. The stress of it all sent Ryan's wife into early labor due to preeclampsia on August 21st. The same day his wife when into labor, he received his diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. What should have been a joyous moment was turned into a day a darkness. Rylee was born at 4lb 3oz just 8 days before Ryan had to go in for induction chemotherapy.

During induction chemotherapy, Ryan is only allowed 2 visitors for his entire stay which was 5 weeks. Chemo hit him hard. He lost 25 pounds, lost all his hair, got several mouth sores, skin changes, and experienced severe nerve pain that affected his ability to walk. He was in the hospital from 8/30-10/4. His follow up appointment was in November and he was told that his tumor was gone and he was believed to be in remission. The doctors explained that his case was very unique and rare because typical patients with AML have cancer cells in the bone marrow. Ryan had no cancer cells in the bone marrow. He only had involvement in his spine where the tumor was. He was told that because his case was so rare they were not able to stage his cancer. When he went back at the end of November, the doctors informed him that the tumor was starting to grow again and he was going to have to do another round of chemo. He spent a few days in hospital and they determined that his blood counts were too low for another aggressive round of chemo so they were going to do outpatient radiation instead.

Ryan completed radiation at the beginning of February and was told he had reached remission again. Now there was a decision to be made. Normal AML patients once they have received remission would be preparing for a bone marrow transplant but because Ryan had no bone marrow involvement, the question was did he need the transplant to remain in remission? The doctors told Ryan that it wasn't a right or wrong answer but there was a 15% chance that he could die from complication from the transplant instead of the cancer itself. Ryan decided not to do the transplant but instead do a few more rounds of outpatient chemo and then maintenance drugs.

Ryan started his second round of chemo in late February but his regime had to be changed because his blood counts were still very low. During this round, Ryan was hospitalized two different times because he had no immune system and caught a bacterial infection. He spent two weeks in the hospital unable to see his children or family. While all this is going on, his job let him go on February 1st and his insurance would end on the 29th of February. His first hospital stay started on March 1 and he had no insurance. He was able to get insurance through Marketplace but it wouldn't begin until April 1. He was without income and without insurance. Ryan is currently on his 3rd round of chemo and has infusion appointments every MWF. He is having to do all this and stay home with their baby girl, who is 7 months now, because they can't afford daycare and Ryan and his wife's family are not in Oklahoma City to help.

His wife is a special education teacher and is now solely providing for the family while Ryan continues his treatment. The doctors say he is unable to work right now. Ryan has applied to social security and awaiting a decision. His wife is doing the best she can but taking care of a family of 5 in this economy on one income with all these medical expenses is next to impossible.

Ryan's family needs help with bills, gas, food, and medical expenses to get by while he is being treated. If you can donate to help this family out, it is greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read about Ryan and his family. Please keep him lifted in prayer!