Ryan’s Story

Ryan Middleton was the son of Wendell and Karen Hensley Middleton. His fiance’ was Megan Helton and he had a younger sister, Whitney.

Ryan was 14 years old getting ready to graduate 8th grade when they found out he had cancer in his right knee. Dr. Fazal Ahmad first diagnosed him on May 20, 1999. Ryan was referred to St. Jude Children’s Hospital where he took chemo for 4 months. On September 9, 1999, they removed the tumor. He had several complications from an infection that was in the prosthesis of his leg. He had surgery again and was on IV and PO antibiotics around the clock for about 6 months. Ryan almost lost his life from the infection. He did great after that and they thought that was the end of the cancer. He was in remission for almost 6 years.

Ryan began to feel bad and had no energy. With a visit to the emergency room, they found out that his cancer was back in the lung, pancreas, and pelvic bone. All those tumors were removed, and again, followed by chemo therapy.

Around a month later it showed up in his thigh and sacrum. The doctors told his parents they couldn’t do anything about the tumor in the sacrum, so they removed the one in the thigh. They said they would lose him on the table if they took the tumor off the sacrum. That’s when the Lord stepped in. When the doctors ran another PET CT, the tumor was gone. They were clapping their hands.

Then a few months later, it showed up in this left thigh and that, too, was removed. Around 4 months later, it showed up in in the left lung and right kidney. Those tumors were also removed and followed by chemo. Two months later, they found 7 spots in his right and left lung. He had a swollen lymph node next to his heart and a swollen lymph node in his stomach. He was on an experimental drug during this time.

Ryan was taken off his experimental drug.  He spent the next couple of months in and out of the hospital. He had 3 very good weeks at home before passing away at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington, KY.

 

During all of this, Ryan kept his faith in the Lord and lived his life to the fullest. He stayed active in school at EKU studying to become a speech-language pathologist. He remained on the Dean’s and President’s list every semester.