Welcome to our Caring Bridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. My name is Katie and I am Ryan's wife. Ryan moved back to MN in March so we could begin our lives together. Ryan started a job a Wild Prairie Harley Davidson working with some amazing people. We have been enjoying our time together as a family and falling into our new life. We could not have been happier to begin our new journey together and our first year as a married couple and new family. We could not have imagined that we would be creating this caring bridge site within 2 1/2 months of getting married.

Ryan's cancer journey began in mid-end of March. Ryan had initially noticed a foreign "pea sized" lump on his left testicle. By the time he completed his move to Minnesota, started his job at Wild Prairie Harley Davidson and got settled in that small lump grown significantly all in the matter of 3 months. He had to wait until his health insurance from his new employer to kick in to be seen and for that lump to be evaluated.

Thursday August 1st, Ryan went to see his primary care provider who ordered an immediate ultrasound of the left testicle and a blood work up. He was able to have the ultrasound completed the same day where the images of the left testicle and the blood work indicated that presence of cancer. The primary care provider referred him to MN Urology and an appointment was made for him to meet with his urologist.

Wednesday August 7th, Ryan and I met with his Urologist and discussed next steps. The Urologist said the first immediate step was surgery to remove the left testicle, a Radical inguinal orchiectomy. Once that is removed, they would remove send it out for pathology and depending on the results of the pathology and additional scans after surgery will determine additional steps if needed.

August 15th, Ryan went in and had a Radical inguinal orchiectomy (left testicle removal). The surgery went well and there were no issues during the surgery. Ryan has been home recovering and healing. We have been blessed to have Ryan's mom, Diane here to help us as Ryan recovers from surgery and as we learn more about the diagnosis and treatment plan. She will unfortunately head back to Massachusetts on Monday.

Yesterday, Monday August 19th, Ryan noticed that the pain and swelling at the incision site had increased instead of decreasing. Ryan called the Urologist who advised for him to be seen at an urgent care or emergency room. We took him to the urgent care who did an abdominal CT scan with contrast and blood work. His white blood cell count was low and the CT scan did not show anything abnormal from the surgery. The radiologist at the urgent care did inform us that his lymph nodes were enlarged and that the cancer may have already spread there.

After numerous appointments with Oncology, Ryan was referred to a doctor on the "tumor board" at the Mayo clinic. After meeting with this doctor, they are suggesting Ryan has surgery and it will be called Radical Lymph Node Dissection. Given his previous surgeries and injury it will not be able to be done robotically and they will have to make an incision from chest down to his lower abdomen. They said based on the types of cancer that was present in the testicle it is better to remove these lymph nodes so no additional spreading can occur. They do not know if what is in the lymph nodes is cancer, they will determine that with the pathology once they are removed.

There is still a chance he could still need chemo after, but for now this gives the best chance to get everything out in 1 attempt. Ryan parents are going to be coming for the surgery and for the initial post operative healing. We are very excited for them to be coming and grateful for their assistance during a very busy time of year for our family. Ryans recovery is estimated to take 7-8 weeks before he can lift anything more than 1/2 a gallon of milk.

He will not have short term disability through his employer so his 2 months out of work will be unpaid. His surgery is scheduled for November 22nd and the week prior to surgery he will have labs and scans done to ensure surgery is still the best option. Of the lymph nodes get larger or the blood work shows an increased level of beta HCG it will indicate malignant cancer and Chemo will be ordered immediately and surgery will be cancelled. We are planning for both, but hopeful we continue the course of surgery. I will update as the surgery gets closer. Any assistance or financial assistance is greatly appreciated as we have over $8,000 in medical bills already and that is before more rounds of tests, scans, and surgery. With Ryan being out of work for 2 months and the never ending medical bills coming in, we are asking for any financial donations you can give. Small amounts can add up quickly. Please see the Venmo link below as it is a preferred way to donate without fees and of course GoFundMe. Any funds we receive will help us with paying the medical expenses down and our monthly bills since we will only have 1 income in our household for the next few months.

Please share this link around your social media pages and spread the word.

Lastly, if this has taught us anything, please make sure you take the time in your busy lives to hold your loved ones close and don't be afraid to tell them you love them on a daily basis. Be grateful for what you have and cherish every second of it.

***Donation Note*** With regards to the Caring Bridge site, tribute donations go directly to Caring Bridge and not Ryan. It is best to donate to Ryan using the WAYS TO HELP at the top of the page and follow to GoFundMe link or donate via Venmo to @Katie-Tillery-84