On November of 2017, Rylan became sick. He had several different doctor trips, labs, tests, and x-rays over the course of 6 days that gave us no definitive answer. Each day I would think he would surely wake up and feel better, but he didn’t. In fact, he kept feeling worse. After 3 days of nothing to eat, night sweats, and excruciating pain, I took him to the ER. He screamed in pain the entire ride to the hospital. Nurses, the Nurse Practitioner, and the Physician all suspected appendicitis. The Physician came in to examine him and explained to me that he would need a CT scan to confirm appendicitis, then they would plan to remove his appendix shortly after. Not long after the CT was complete, the Nurse Practitioner came in to tell us that Rylan’s lung had collapsed and immediately started him on oxygen. A few minutes later, the Physician came to the door and asked me to come with him Still not realizing that our world was going to be turned upside down just a few minutes later, I followed him as he sat me down. He explained that the CT scan revealed masses throughout his little body, with the main, biggest mass in his chest wall and near his heart. He explained that Rylan had to be transferred and he had to be transferred “ASAP”. Before I knew it, that tiny ER room was full of our closest friends and family…and the flight team. Rylan was air-lifted to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, where he was diagnosed with Stage IV Burkitt’s Lymphoma. Though Rylan faced many complications, he completed his treatment plan and was declared in remission in February of 2018.
Rylan loves the outdoors. He enjoys playing golf and is a straight-A student He finds rocks, gems, and fossils interesting and wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up.