Cancer is a horrible, nasty thing. It can strike anyone, anywhere, at any time of their life without warning and without cause. Ryan Stephens was my son-in-law, but I would have been proud to call him my son. He was only 25. He and my daughter Courtney had been married almost 3 short years. He was totally in love with her and cherished her deeply, and she felt the same way about him. I don't know if I've ever seen two people as deeply in love and perfectly matched as Courtney and Ryan. They doted on each other, protected each other, made fun of each other and ultimately wanted only the best and to please the other. Both were hard-working kids with a bright future and plans for that future. They both worked for The American Red Cross office in Douglasville, Georgia. Ryan worked in the blood processing lab and Courtney in Donor Recruitment as an Account Specialist.



Ryan was from a small town in North Georgia called Ellijay. He was smart, well-read, with a great sense of humor and a love of music. Courtney and Ryan met at Jacksonville State University in Alabama in Marching Band in their freshman year. They quickly become best friends and they remained best friends forever.

Everyone called Ryan the "Animal Whisperer" because of the way he had with dogs and cats and pretty much all animals - they all just gravitated to him and loved him. And he had a curiosity and love for all animals as well.

Ryan started complaining of back pain about six months ago. The doctor thought that he had pulled a muscle in the gym and sent him home with some pain meds – they never did even an x-ray. His back continued to cause him discomfort. A couple of visits to Urgent care and the ER turned up nothing on the x-ray of his back. Due to the pain, the doctor had written a note for Ryan to take a week off of work for bed rest - for a pulled muscle. In January alone, he had lost 30 pounds. He couldn't wear his wedding ring - it had become too big. He lost another 10 pounds the week before he went into the hospital.

On Wednesday, 2/10, Ryan called Courtney at work to say that he wasn't able to stand up to get out of bed because he was dizzy and his heart was racing. Courtney left work and they rushed Ryan to the ER where he was admitted into the ICU. X-rays, CT Scans and blood tests revealed that Ryan had Testicular cancer. It had already spread to spots in his lungs and liver, as well as a large mass between the kidneys and his spine.

On Thursday they operated to remove the testicle. The doctors said the he had done well. We visited on Friday and he was very upbeat. We talked about cars and racing (just two of his passionate interests). He seemed like the same old Ryan, but you could tell he was laboring to breathe and his heart was still beating too fast. Ryan and Courtney were still very positive about the outcome because this particular type of cancer has a 90-95% survival rate.

Saturday morning because of the elevated heart rate and breathing, it was decided to put Ryan on a ventilator to help his breathing because the cancer cells in his lungs were putting off fluid making the breathing more difficult and as a pre-emptive measure. He was put into a sleep-state to allow his body to tolerate the ventilator along with pain meds to relieve pain from the surgery.

The results from the biopsy were due to be back on Monday. But on Sunday, because they were very confident the biopsy would confirm the diagnosis of testicular cancer and his symptoms were worsening, it was decided to start his chemo treatments immediately that night. He completed the first round of chemo on Thursday. Everything appeared to be stable for the next week, but because of the issue with his breathing, they kept Ryan on the ventilator.

Because his kidneys were not functioning well enough to keep up, they began dialysis. That Friday night (2/26) Ryan's blood pressure dropped dangerously low to 50/30 and his heart rate was over 120. The hospital stopped the dialysis and began administering medications and processes to try to get the pressure back up and heart rate down to a stable level. Ultimately, his internal organs shut down and it was only the ventilator that was keeping him going. Courtney had to make the the terrible decision that no 25 year-old should ever have to make.

Ryan passed away at 7:00pm on Sunday night, 2/28/2016. He was surrounded by family and friends, all dumb-struck with disbelief that this was happening. Courtney lost her true love that night. The universe has lost one of it bright lights that night.

Ryan did have medical insurance, but frankly, after over two weeks in Intensive Care with cancer, I know that there will be many costs above and beyond that which the insurance will begin to cover. I set the goal at $50,000 simply because I had no idea where to start. Obviously, Courtney will need the money as soon as possible to begin covering the funeral and other costs.

I hope that none of you ever has to go through anything like this in your life. If you have, I'm very sorry for your loss. But if you have the means, or feel there is something in this tragedy that has struck a chord, please make a donation to Courtney for whatever you can, large or small. She is hurting right now in a way that only someone who has last someone in this way can imagine.