Hi Rally for Ryan supporters! Here’s an update from Brooke:

Hi all! It’s been a while since we’ve updated, but things have been chugging along very well and we didn’t have much to update until last week.

Ryan had a monitoring CT scan to check on how things look on his liver. We got great news: no new metastatic disease and the two spots on his liver have shrunk by almost half and look more dead in the middle. This is a fantastic response to the chemotherapy, and makes all the long days worth it.

This week, we met with the oncologist for the plan. After much discussion about how to proceed (we are going blind right now as Ryan is in a very unique situation), we decided to continue chemotherapy for two more cycles or four treatments. We will see the surgeon at the end of April and hopefully plan for surgery in June as long as he gives the ok. When we met with him in January, he said this would be another huge surgery. He will open Ryan up again to do a liver ablation with ultrasound guidance to make sure he gets things as close as possible. We pray this is still his plan and that we can proceed.

In the meantime, we are heading back out to the BRCA specialist in May. Unfortunately, because of policy in Iowa, we have to go in person. While out there, we will see another nationwide specialist at a hospital named Memorial Sloan Kettering. They are known for their incredible research in BRCA mutated pancreatic cancer and we hope to discuss any other options that may be coming along to help Ryan post surgery.

We will have a busy next few months. In the meantime, I’m working to make sure Ryan has access to his chemo medication as there is a nationwide shortage. I’ve been in contact with a non-profit called Angels for Change who will help to make sure Ryan gets what he needs. We are in a critical time and changing the chemo protocol right now could be detrimental.

As always, we are so grateful for your support and prayers. God is absolutely amazing, and we have seen multiple signs recently that HE hears your prayers. Please continue praying and keeping us in your thoughts. We love you all!

Brooke and Ryan