The outpouring of support for Ryan following his heart bypass and retina surgery has been . . . well . . . absolutely amazing! We are already one-third of the way to our goal! We are simply awed by the ongoing generosity of friends, co-workers, classmates, family, strangers, and acquaintances. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!! Update: Ryan, Jaime, and their girls enjoyed their first post-surgery outing recently with a little walk by the water at the park! He says his daily treadmill time and intensity are improving, too, little by little. He will get stronger with time! Ryan also saw his eye surgeon this week to check his retina. The good news: his retina has remained attached! Not-such-good news: there is still significant swelling. The swelling was treated with an injection and the continuation of prescription drops. In one month, he will be assessed again. More thanks: We are seeing how HUGE the impact is when people share the link to Ryan’s story. Thank you! If you would share it again, using this update, we would sure appreciate it. And, if you haven’t shared his story, but want to, please feel free to use this update. One last thing. One of Ryan’s supporters is donating a portion of their small-business sales, as they promote Ryan’s story! Again, we are blown away by the goodness of people’s hearts! God bless you all! ORIGINAL POST: “Hey, Mom. It’s Ryan. Uh, can you come pick up our girls? I just got a call from the guy who did my stress test this morning. He says I need to get to the ER . . . now!” I’m Cheryl Neff, Ryan’s mom. That phone call came on Friday, April 14th, and every single day that’s followed has been jam-packed with alternating fear and hope. That night, the hospital medical team admitted Ryan. They gave him medicines, countless tests and scans, and vigilant care. Days later, at the young age of 44, he was diagnosed with advanced artery disease, heart failure, and kidney injury. He, his wife, and our family were all in grave shock. There is no family history of heart disease. During Ryan’s initial hospital stay, daughters, Sadie (12) and Mallory (9) got to come to see him. They also video-called him to “tuck them into bed” . . . and they cried, missing having their daddy home, and scared about him being so sick. Jaime, his amazing wife of 18 years, did all that she could, working and taking care of all the many additional responsibilities. He was given a treatment plan of all sorts of new meds and cautions. The goal was to keep him stable until he could schedule a bypass surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center. After 6 difficult days, Ryan was discharged. However, several days before his discharge, Ryan said, “My left eye is really bugging me, Mom. I see like a black shadow in this one area.” He’d been receiving regular treatments for vision issues caused by his type II diabetes. But this was different. He struggled to read anything. A few days after leaving the hospital, he saw his ophthalmologist. His retina was detaching! He needed vision-saving surgery ASAP. The heart surgery now had to wait until four weeks after the eye surgery was done, in order to protect his retina. This began what has now become: • Recovery from open-heart surgery that will take another couple of months • Recovery from retina detachment surgery that will take more time • Cardio rehab through November • Medical bills that will exceed $12,000 • Lost wages of over $30,000 After more weeks of alternating fear and hope, the retina surgery was done. Thankfully, before further detachment occurred. Such answered prayer! Then on Tuesday, July 11th, Ryan had successful open-heart, triple bypass surgery by the amazing, Dr. Oyetunji, at the University of Washington Medical Center!! How grateful all of us are to everyone who provided Ryan with such incredible expertise and care, and for all the people who kept him in their prayers! There are simply not enough words! Today Ryan is facing a challenging recovery. He fatigues quickly. He will have to take everything slow for a good while, begin cardio rehab in 3 or 4 weeks, and then adapt to a new lifestyle to regain his health. How they’ll cover his medical bills and lost wages weighs heavily on both Ryan and Jaime. They are such private and independent people. But they need help. This couple is hard-working. They have both faithfully worked, holding down jobs all of their married life, even ones they didn’t like, to meet their obligations. They even took on a weekend cleaning business in recent years to provide enough funds for their girls’ dance and swim lessons. Earlier this year, Ryan was blessed to be hired for a great job, as the IT Administrator for Dogwood Industries in Sedro Woolley. They appear to be holding his position for him. However, he has not been able to return to his work since April, except for a few days. The healing of Ryan’s retina requires leaving an oil bubble in place for at least 3 months. His eye surgeon assesses his retina monthly to determine the progress. The oil distorts his vision, making it very difficult for Ryan to read emails, phone texts and documents. Combined with his hearing loss (from birth) communication is considerably harder. It seems that the soonest Ryan will be able to return to work is possibly mid-September after recovering from the oil bubble removal surgery. Ryan and Jaime have experienced the amazing outcome of God’s blessings through all who have already prayed. So, if your faith leads you to gift them with prayer for their situation, they would be incredibly grateful for this priceless gift! They would also be blessed by the gift of a financial donation. Even the smallest donation will have a giant impact, seeing how many people . . . like you . . . really do care. Thank you for taking the time to hear the story of this loving family of four. We will keep you updated on Ryan’s progress as he recovers from his heart and eye surgeries. God bless you!
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