Help Send Ryan to NYC for Amazing Clinical Trial!

My sweet brother, Ryan, has fought so hard for so long and now he deserves a second chance at life!

He NEEDS this treatment! And with your support, we can help make it happen.

Many of you know that my brother, Ryan, is my hero. He always has been. Even as a little girl I wanted to be just like him, and when I grew up that remained the same. He has always been the funniest and most talented person in any room. A great athlete, a phenomenal dancer, and the crowd favourite of every show he was ever in. He’s who gave me my passion for acting and ultimately why I became an actor. He’s the kindest person you could ever meet, and is the absolute best person to spend time with, talk with, and make fun memories with.

Many of you also know that Ryan has had a hard life. Every chapter seemingly more difficult than the last. While some of you in the United States are only aware of his recent struggle for his life, when a gallstone destroyed 70% of his pancreas, many of you in Canada are aware of his heartbreaking journey with Sensory Neuropathy that has deteriorated the nerves in both his hands and feet, having stolen from him the life he once had. He’s no longer able to work, dance, play sports, play guitar, or even walk well without the use of leg braces. It has also left him with excruciating nerve pain that at times has him literally screaming in pain. Sometimes the pain will last a few hours, and sometimes for days on end. While it is extremely painful for him, it’s also extremely painful for all of us to witness. We love him so very much.

But most of you don’t know the worst battle that my amazing brother has had to endure. My sweet and wonderful Ryan has suffered from depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder for nearly his entire life. After being diagnosed with Neuropathy he developed depression. It became so severe that he rarely left the house. His OCD then became so bad that he could no longer live a normal life. All of his time was spent doing compulsions.

The amount of medications Ryan has had to take throughout his life is hard to comprehend. The constant changes to those medications and their doses is uncountable and heartbreaking, and continuously take a difficult toll on his already compromised body. Ryan has been to countless doctors and they’ve tried him on every drug they can think of, but his depression is treatment resistant, and they’ve all run out of options for what can be done to help him. At least in Newfoundland. And seemingly anywhere in Canada. It has been a long road with never ending dead ends. Our hope periodically gets restored, and is constantly crushed. Ryan’s strong faith in Jesus, and having a family who loves him so very much, is what has helped him survive.

Two years ago we learned of a new treatment that sounded too good to be true. But even if it was, it sounded too far out of reach for our family in Gander, Newfoundland, as it was (and still is) only in its infancy as a clinical trial in the United States. I’ve prayed on this ever since, that if this was the treatment that could give Ryan his life back, that we would find a way to get him into this clinical trial, and now that prayer has been answered! We found out that Ryan has been accepted into the program, in New York City, this July! Incredible!

He then applied for funding, from the government of Newfoundland, to help cover the costs of going on this trip and receiving this miracle treatment. Sadly, we just found out that he was denied because it is not considered an in-patient treatment. Even though he will be required to be in the hospital 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, in another country, for 2 weeks straight… he didn’t qualify. Which is both frustrating and heartbreaking. Ryan NEEDS this treatment, and he more than deserves a spot in this clinical trial! What he doesn't deserve is yet another grand medical expense.

The treatment in New York is called Accelerated Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), and it has shown to improve symptoms of OCD, Depression AND Neuropathic Pain with a 90% success rate! 90%!!!! Ryan needs to get to this clinical trial!!!! But he doesn't deserve the burden of the cost of it. 10K is a big expense for one person, but with many it could be reached fairly quickly! I’m so full of hope and happiness that we’ve very likely found the help that my brother, my hero, so badly needs. I wish I could pay for his travel expenses, and if I could, I would in a heartbeat. I alone don’t have the means, but with your help, together, we can send Ryan to NYC and give the most deserving soul a second chance at life!

Anything you can offer to help me reach my goal of this $10,500 gift for my brother, is so beyond appreciated. The funds will go towards his travel, accommodations close to the hospital on the upper east side of NYC, and food while away from home.

Thank you in advance for helping me achieve this for my brother, I love each and every one of you for your kind hearts, generosity, and support.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

Leah

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If you would like more information on the clinical trial itself, please read below:

Study Overview

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a FDA-approved treatment for depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The goal of the study is to learn how to optimize the treatment to improve symptoms of depression and OCD. This research project will test a new accelerated 5-day accelerated rTMS protocol for treating symptoms of depression and OCD.

A second goal of this study is to identify biomarkers of depression and OCD in the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This approach will predict who will benefit from TMS, determine the optimal treatment target, and improve treatment outcomes.

Subjects will receive a clinical assessment of symptoms and an fMRI brain scan before and after each treatment course to measure the effect of treatment on symptom severity and on fMRI measures of functional connectivity.

Participants will be randomized to receive rTMS targeting either the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) or the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC). Participants will complete a 5-day course of rTMS delivered hourly for 10 hours per day. Participants who show a partial response to treatment but not a full response will then receive a second 5-day course. Treatment non-responders will be crossed over to receive rTMS targeting the opposite brain area.

The primary hypothesis is that accelerated rTMS treatment will yield rapid improvement in symptoms for patients with depression and OCD in just 5 days, and that response rates can be further improved by adding a second 5-day treatment course.