He was diagnosed as an infant, but the disease is just now progressing. Symptoms of the disease can include, lost vision, hearing and speech. "He'd been getting brain MRI's every 3 to 6 months and the last MRI came back the disease was starting to attack his brain," said Ryan's mother Chrissy VanLoon.
That was about 2 months ago. Now Ryan will undergo chemotherapy starting August 17th, followed by a bone marrow transplant on August 27th. Ryan's twin sister Isabella will give him her bone marrow. "He will have no immunity at this time, he's not producing anything of his own, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, so it's a very vunerable time," said VanLoon.
Ryan will be vunerable for quite some time. He can not come home for at least 6 months after surgery, and when he does, it will look a lot different. His entire house needs to be gutted to make it as sanitary as possible. "He's going to have to wear a mask anywhere he goes, if he gets really really sick or a disease catches him, mold spore or something, he'll have to wear gloves and a hat and gown," said VanLoon.
The bone marrow transplant alone will cost $500,000. Not to mention the cost of redoing the entire home. Some supplies for the home have been donated, but the family still needs to rip out the carpet and install wood floors, get new furniture, new insulation and paint all of the walls with hospital grade paint just to name a few things.
If you would like to make a monetary donation, there is a Memorial Fund set up at all Ent Credit Unions. You can make checks payable to Ryan M. Stauffer Memorial Fund and drop them off in person, or mail checks to any of the Ent locations. For a complete list of the Ent locations, click here. Ryan's dad Joe VanLoon says they would appreciate anY supplies that you can donate. For more information on what they need, you can email Joe at Loontime@hotmail.com.
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