Support Ryan Smith's Fight Against Brain Cancer

Hello there. My name is Chris Sharpshair. My daughter's name is Alaina and my son-in-law's name is Ryan, aka Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They got married a little over a year ago now and are just starting their married life together!

On July 3rd, Ryan had a really bad headache. Alaina had to work that day and told Ryan he should go to the clinic. When he arrived at the clinic they advised that Ryan should go to the Emergency Room. He told Alaina and she immediately took him. Along the way, he was struggling with speech and began to vomit.

The next day, July 4th, they were informed that Ryan would need emergency brain surgery the next day for a removal of a malignant brain tumor that was the size of an orange, if not bigger. The neurosurgeon team believe that his tumor has been slow growing for at least the last decade and in recent months became more aggressive and fast growing. Of the 3,500 neurosurgeons in our country, this particular neurosurgeon is one out of 50 in our country who is capable of performing such a complex brain surgery. The entire staff at Kaiser repeatedly reassured them that if their family were to need brain surgery that they would want it to be with him.

After 9 hours of surgery, they were able to de-bulk 40% of that tumor, described to be as mean and as aggressive as they expected. Unfortunately, the surgeon was unable to remove more than that as the tumor is located on the left side of the brain which is responsible for speech, mobility and memory. Being too aggressive could have catastrophic results for Ryan’s ability to essentially be himself. Additionally, a titanium metal plate was needed to reinforce part of the bone in Ryan’s skull that had eroded as a result of the tumor. Ryan was released from the hospital 4 days after surgery and is at home resting now.

Yesterday the 70 staples from the incision were removed. Pathology reports have revealed that Ryan’s tumor is a high grade (fast growing) glioma, cancer of the brain, meaning it doesn't spread beyond the brain. The next steps will be to meet with the chemo and radiation teams who are continuing to work closely with the surgeons to come up with the best way to fight this. Ryan does have a very aggressive treatment plan ahead of him and is expected to have radiation treatments 5 days a week for six weeks in combination with chemotherapy for many, many months to come.

Ryan and Alaina did not have medical insurance, which is now in place to start August 1. Even though they will now have medical, they still have a monthly premium due, along with the daily co-pays and daily parking for radiation treatments. Ryan was their household's main breadwinner working as an animator and graphic designer for television shows and these creative talents have really carried them over the past several years. Despite Alaina also working, they both have already experienced a significant loss of work and face questions as to what employment they might be able to continue through the course of Ryan’s treatment.

We are asking for prayers for Ryan on his long, windy road to recovery and we also ask for prayers for Alaina as well, as she has been next to Ryan's side throughout this and will continue to be next to him on this journey. As you can imagine, this has been an enormous shock and upheaval for both of them. Additionally, we ask if you are able to help in any way whatsoever, we would be so incredibly grateful. This has all been extremely exhausting for the two of them, but even with everything Ryan has gone through, he has kept his sense of humor and is still laughing and smiling. That will go a long way towards his recovery!

Thank you all so much and God Bless you all for your continued prayers and for any donations that will help them to maneuver their long journey to Ryan's recovery ❤