Ryder Gerritsen, His Road to a Cancer Diagnosis

Hello, my name is Carol Roberts, I am a long time friend of Shylo, Jeroen and their extended family.

 

Dearest Friends, Family and Community,

 

Given permission from Ryder Gerritsen and his parents, I am saddened to announce that after extensive medical testing, due to his ailments, Ryder got a diagnosis of Adenocarcinoma, a very rare-in-children type of colorectal cancer. Needless to say, he and his family are ready to fight this with vigour and get him on the road to recovery.

 

The journey ahead will likely be lengthy and hard-fought with courage and valour. In saying that, while in the midst, no family should do this alone and have to worry about the extra costs while they are in the fight of his life.

 

In the spirit of the holidays, please, help me, help them. There are already and will be many more unforeseen expenses incurred throughout their journey. You can help ease the monetary burden by contributing any amount that you can, no amount is too small and will be very much appreciated. In addition, you can send the family well wishes and words of encouragement to help them along the way.

 

Who is Ryder?

 

Ryder is the Son of Shylo Gerritsen (nee Harris) and Jeroen Gerritsen, and brother to Xander and River Gerritsen.

 

The Gerritsen family resides in Prince Rupert, B.C.; they are very important pillars of this community.

 

Shylo is an employee of School District 52, Prince Rupert Middle School (PRMS), Counsellor and Jeroen, Prince Rupert Grain, Information Technology. Currently, Xander is in his second year studying Civil Engineering at University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) and the youngest, River, a grade 6 student at PRMS.

 

Ryder is a grade 11 student at Charles Hays Secondary School. He is a very talented and bright student and is quite sad that he had to miss this term of school. He is genuine, sweet and kind-hearted. Consequently, he is very well liked by his peers, teachers and all those that he meets. Honestly, he is just a real stand-up young, vibrant, 16-year-old boy who always has something to joke about. Even in the darkness, he is the light, already joking with his anesthesiologist and recovery nurse even before he opened his eyes while coming out of his eight-hour surgery.

 

The asymptomatic Ryder lived an active lifestyle, he particularly enjoyed swimming, skiing and music. Unfortunately, over the past few years while suffering through the then unknown chronic illness, it took over and drained him emotionally and physically, so he had to quit all that he loved to do.

 

Background

Ryder suffered with chronic abdominal pain for many years. Due to unrelenting symptoms, he had many diagnostic tests performed under the books in Prince Rupert.

 

In mid September 2021, alas, Ryder was referred to BC Children’s Hospital, area of expertise, the gastrointestinal (GI) team. Ryder’s conditions were worsening, he experienced anemia, weight loss and severe pain. His mother was adamant in getting him in for an in-person appointment instead of the mid October planned Zoom meeting. Luckily the relentless advocating Shylo did for Ryder was a success, he was later scheduled for a colonoscopy and endoscopy two days after the in-person appointment. 

 

After two weeks of waiting the doctors were gobsmacked at what they found in his colon and were quite certain that it was not linked to any sort of inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn’s, colitis, or irritable bowel syndrome. His GI doctor from BC Children’s Hospital suggested a computed tomography (CT) scan be completed to see the mass they spotted from a different angle. Once the size of the mass was determined, Ryder and his mother were medivacked to Vancouver, destination, BC Children’s Hospital and have been in Vancouver since Saturday, December 4, 2021.

After a lengthy two weeks of rigorous testing, blood transfusions, a positron emission tomography (PET) scan a 2nd colonoscopy, laparoscopic surgery for biopsies, and bloodwork were done, Ryder and his family finally got the gist of his diagnosis.

 

Ryder has adenocarcinoma (colorectal cancer). The reason it took so long to diagnose is because this is extremely rare in children. We are talking one in millions. The tumour grew in his colon and into his small intestine. 

 

Within 24 hours of finding out his diagnosis, Ryder underwent an 8-hr surgery!!

 

Surgeons removed approximately a foot of his colon, a part of his small intestine and the tumour.

The tumour conjoined the two and they did not anticipate the intestine to be impacted but it complicated things and thus had to go in surgically through his chest.

 

He is in a lot of pain but remains very hopeful and positive, still joking around with his nurses, doctors and his medical team.

 

The surgeons are hoping they removed the entire mass and the blood flow to it. Ryder’s medical team and family are hoping that they caught this in time and that the removal means cancer free and no chemo, however they will not know this until every lymph node and blood vessel surrounding the mass is biopsied with the pathology team.

 

Ryder and his family will be there until 2022 at the least.

 

Shylo and Jeroen mentioned that although the diagnosis is very sad and worrisome, it is a relief to know what it is, and are so grateful that they are in great abled hands with the paediatric team at BC Children’s Hospital.

 

Suffice to say, the doctors do not know when the tumour started growing but it definitely looks like it has been there for a while, especially given the pain and struggles endured over the past few years.

 

Ryder is very strong and is doing his best to stay positive given his circumstances. He knows that this is going to be a long journey ahead and is proud to say that he is very unique and that he is one child out of millions that has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

 

They are all overwhelmed by the well wishes that they received and continue to receive. His mom is very proud of Ryder’s strength and is loving the stories that his teachers and friends have shared about him.

 

Myrna and Bill Harris, Shylo’s parents, traveled to Vancouver to give them support during the first week of their arrival to BC Children’s Hospital. Jeroen, Xander and River were on route via BC Ferries while Ryder was in surgery. Sadly, due to Omicron, Shylo waited alone during what was likely the longest 8 hours of her life. I spoke to a few of their family members and the common theme was how deeply saddened we all were that nobody was there to hold her hand.

 

This Christmas for the Gerritsens  will be different, however, they are together. Shylo did mention that she is so grateful for the outpouring of love and support they received so far from BC Children’s Hospital, friends, family, colleagues and community.

 

All funds raised will be disbursed to Shylo and Jeroen to go towards the costs of being at Ryder’s side over the holidays and into 2022.

 

 

Thank you all for your kindness, love, well wishes and prayers.