It has been a tough and unknown last few weeks for Ryan and his family as they try and navigate the recent diagnosis of a word no one wants to hear: cancer.

For the last several weeks Ryan has had imaging, tests and a biopsy to confirm that he has an extremely rare type of stage 3 sarcoma that was found from a malignant tumor located behind his knee. We are all still trying to wrap our brains around this new reality and what the next few months looks like. Understanding the findings from even the preliminary tests, we were pretty certain he did have cancer but it is a devastating diagnosis nonetheless. He has now met with all specialists involved and while his treatment plan seems to be promising at this time, he still has a long way to go to get on the other side of this. Ryan’s treatment will begin very soon and will start with radiation to shrink the size of the tumor before undergoing surgery for removal of the tumor. Thankfully the mass has not reached any major arteries or the bone so the orthopedic oncologist surgeon is pretty confident that Ryan will avoid leg amputation at this time but his mobility will be greatly impacted during his recovery from his surgery which is going to limit him being able to work. Ryan is also seeking out other medical treatments that will not be covered by insurance to better his chances at the sarcoma not returning because there is a higher chance of that now.

The Sam Fam would appreciate any help in this very unfortunate time.