Back in July, Ryan started getting occasional, but sudden migraines with visual disturbances. After a couple of months of trying to narrow down what triggers the migraines, we agreed it was time to have it checked out by a doctor.

On September 29th, Ryan scheduled a same-day appointment with a doctor. He left that appointment with a referral to an ophthalmologist and orders for an MRI to be performed in the coming weeks.

On October 10th, Ryan had an MRI done through Sanford in Windom. Not even an hour after he finished the scans, he received a call from the clinic advising him to come back in. The results showed multiple lesions on the brain with a suspected brain bleed. We were advised to go to an ER and have the scans reviewed by a neurologist. Rather than be admitted to Sanford, we made the decision to drive up to the cities and be seen by the neurologists at United Hospital in Saint Paul. Upon arriving at the emergency department, Ryan was transferred to a bed in the Neuro ICU and additional imaging was ordered. Within a couple of hours, they completed a head, chest, abdominal, and pelvic CT. The head CT results came back with presumed metastases involving the right frontal lobe, right occipital lobe, and left cerebellum with vasogenic edema, not appreciably changed. Additionally, his chest CT found a solid nodule with slightly spiculated borders in the posterior basal segment right lower lobe of his lung measuring 19 x 21 mm.

On Saturday morning, the doctors and specialists met with Ryan and discussed the next steps. The doctors told us the mass could be scar tissue, an infection, or malignant tissue. A biopsy of the lung was scheduled for Monday.

On Monday morning, Ryan was taken for a PET scan prior to the biopsy procedure. The nodule on his lung showed increased metabolic activity, meaning this was not scar tissue and was either an infection or cancer. Around 1:00, Ryan was brought in for the biopsy procedure. Doctors used a needle through his back to obtain a tissue sample to be tested. We were advised the results could take 24-48 hours, so we waited.

Tuesday, October 14th started with the infectious disease team talking to Ryan. They admitted they had been able to rule out a number of potential infections, but they would keep testing for less common ones. Just before 10:00, we got the news - Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma that had metastasized to the brain.

Tuesday afternoon, Ryan was discharged from United Hospital in Saint Paul and met with a team of neurosurgeons at Abbott Northwestern in Minneapolis. Ryan was immediately scheduled for a craniotomy of the right frontal lobe and the right occipital lobe for Thursday morning.

There were three lesions on the brain, two of which the surgeon was able to successfully remove in Thursday's surgery. The lesion on his occipital lobe was the largest and what has been causing the visual disturbances. The lesion on his frontal lobe is slightly smaller than the occipital lesion, but still significant in size, nonetheless. The third lesion is deeper in his left cerebellum, but it is rather small. The neurosurgeons feel the best plan is to surgically remove the lesions in the frontal and occipital lobes, then use targeted radiation to treat all three areas after about two weeks.

After the brain surgery, Ryan will meet with oncology to discuss the course of action for the cancer in his lung.

Ryan has a long journey ahead of him and it will no doubt be a struggle for him and his family. Thank you for helping the Campbell family through this difficult time.