Saturday, March 13, 2010

A plea for help...


By now, many of you know about my niece, Ryan. At the beginning of February, my sister went into her room to find her unresponsive. Over the course of the next few weeks, Ryan suffered seizures due to extremely high blood pressure. Finally, the cause was discovered: adrenocortical carcinoma. This type of cancer affects literally 1 in a million people. She underwent a lengthy surgery to remove the tumor on her adrenal gland, and was fortunate enough to receive treatment at St. Jude. While all treatment at St. Jude is provided at no cost to their patients, the medical bills for Ryan's treatment prior to going to St. Jude are astronomical.

My brother-in-law, Jeff, plays for the Missouri Mavericks who were kind enough to set up the Ryan Christian Love Fund to help raise money to offset those expenses. To all of you out there with children of your own, imagine being in this position. All you care about is the health of your child. Not your house, not your car, not the latest fashion or stylish haircut. But the bills still need to be paid. You still need to eat. And yes, you still need some time away every once in awhile.

If you have the ability, please consider donating to the Ryan Christian Love Fund. Once the family's expenses are under control, funds will go to St. Jude so even more children can benefit from the kind of care Ryan is receiving. You can donate here.

To those of you who have already donated, thanks from the bottom of my heart.

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