The Battle Continues

No adequate words to describe the "worry" or "angst" on my son's newest diagnoses of Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) on the left side of his tongue. Is a fifth time the charm to be finally done with all this nonsense?? Believe it or not, after a routine post op visit on November 16th (with a PET CT scan in hand from two weeks prior), Dr. Ord, surgeon, of the University of Maryland, did not like what he saw on Ryan's tongue. He immediately ordered a biopsy and it was done within the hour. He ordered the results "stat", of course, but that took an agonizing week to hear back from the lab. On the day before Thanksgiving, November 23rd, the results indicated the SCC was back and another surgery scheduled for this Thursday, December 1st. There has got to be a silver lining here, don't you think?  Well, this one was caught relatively early, and the surgery is way less "invasive" than the one he had in May. Hopefully, the tumor will be removed with ultimate care and all margins will be clean with this surgery. Deep breath...

Faith, Hope and Love...

And although our hearts our heavy right now, we are so very thankful for loving hearts of our docs, a strong nuclear family unit, and family and friends near and far to lean on for support when we need it the most during the coming days.

Our ask: If you are inclined to prayer or positive thoughts, we would appreciate those on December 1st, including of course, Ryan, but the surgeons too, and all those wonderful folks that will be apart of his case.

Lastly, how does one cope with all this craziness? For us, it's by giving back, even in "small" gestures, like donating lots of quilts to the Peds Hem/Onc Department at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, compliments of my wonderful quilt guild, Southern Comforters of Bowie, Maryland.  Today, and for the next few months, many kids will be given a beautifully hand-made quilt with loving thoughts stitched into each and every quilt. A terrific coping mechanism for sure!

#RyanStrong!

Terri
Photos of Ryan and Dr. Aziza Shad, Donated quilts given to Sinai with Ryan, Danielle (Art Therapist); and Kelley (Child Life) and the family.