Ridge's Rocky Road with Cancer
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copied from Ridge's Rocky Road - Facebook Page kept by mom (Brenda)
We've had the question "Who is Ridge" more than once. The answer is: Ridge was a normal 17 year old boy that loved all sports but especially soccer, volleyball & football. He loved hangin' out with his friends and was rarely home - always busy going somewhere. He was so excited about going to school to be a firefighter and said that was the only thing he could imagine doing for a career.
His normal life came to a sudden halt on July 24th when he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. After 4 rounds of treatment he was expected to be home by Christmas. The first 3 rounds went pretty well. Not fun, but for the most part he got through them with his spirits intact. Then came round 4 which seemed pretty good until about a week after the last dose went into his body. His body went into septic shock and in a short period of time he was 10 liters positive of fluid (over 20 pounds). That was very rough of on heart and lungs and he was on the ventilator 3 separate times. During that time he had several strokes (at least 8) which left him partially paralyzed on the left side. He seemed to recover okay from all of that to find that he had 4 "growths" on his lungs so he then had lung surgery to remove them. All seemed to be going better then; however, his energy level was very low. Tests on his heart showed he was in heart failure.
As it turns out, being in heart failure has been way worse than going through the cancer treatment, including septic shock & strokes. His heart is very bad; however, he is not a candidate for a heart transplant right now as the doctors fear the cancer will come back due to his suppressed immune system. They'd like to put an assist device in his heart but they can't get him stable enough yet and it will probably be awhile yet as there are several complications. His cardiology team has been nothing short of amazing trying to accommodate Ridge's wishes to be home; however, today his blood work was just too bad for him to go back home. Ridge's friends have also been amazing but for the most part Ridge has quit talking and is not responding much so it's very hard for visits. Please know that we know you're all still out there and we're just hoping and praying that things turn around for him and that he regains his spirit soon. The prayers & support we've received from our community has truly carried us through this extremely difficult time. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
We've had the question "Who is Ridge" more than once. The answer is: Ridge was a normal 17 year old boy that loved all sports but especially soccer, volleyball & football. He loved hangin' out with his friends and was rarely home - always busy going somewhere. He was so excited about going to school to be a firefighter and said that was the only thing he could imagine doing for a career.
His normal life came to a sudden halt on July 24th when he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. After 4 rounds of treatment he was expected to be home by Christmas. The first 3 rounds went pretty well. Not fun, but for the most part he got through them with his spirits intact. Then came round 4 which seemed pretty good until about a week after the last dose went into his body. His body went into septic shock and in a short period of time he was 10 liters positive of fluid (over 20 pounds). That was very rough of on heart and lungs and he was on the ventilator 3 separate times. During that time he had several strokes (at least 8) which left him partially paralyzed on the left side. He seemed to recover okay from all of that to find that he had 4 "growths" on his lungs so he then had lung surgery to remove them. All seemed to be going better then; however, his energy level was very low. Tests on his heart showed he was in heart failure.
As it turns out, being in heart failure has been way worse than going through the cancer treatment, including septic shock & strokes. His heart is very bad; however, he is not a candidate for a heart transplant right now as the doctors fear the cancer will come back due to his suppressed immune system. They'd like to put an assist device in his heart but they can't get him stable enough yet and it will probably be awhile yet as there are several complications. His cardiology team has been nothing short of amazing trying to accommodate Ridge's wishes to be home; however, today his blood work was just too bad for him to go back home. Ridge's friends have also been amazing but for the most part Ridge has quit talking and is not responding much so it's very hard for visits. Please know that we know you're all still out there and we're just hoping and praying that things turn around for him and that he regains his spirit soon. The prayers & support we've received from our community has truly carried us through this extremely difficult time. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
Organizer
Kay Zahn
Organizer
Chandler, AZ
