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Ryan Jacobs' journey through a battle with AML, including his bone marrow transplant. Ryan was diagnosed at 5 months, relapsed at 11 months, and had an unrelated stem cell bone marrow transplant at 1 year. He is now CANCER FREE! Praise God for the miracle He performed in Ryan!
Journal
Monday, January 23, 2023 4:44 PM CST Hey everyone,
Ryan here. Today marks my 20th anniversary of being cancer free. There’s a whole lot I could say for my first entry on this site, but more than anything I just want to express how grateful I feel today. I’m grateful for my friendships. I’m grateful for my brothers. I’m grateful for music. I’m grateful for my schools. I’m grateful for my mentors. I’m grateful for my nieces. I’m grateful for all the places I’ve gone and all the people I’ve met because of it. The list goes on, and I’m grateful for that, too. More than anything else, though, I’m grateful for my mom and dad, whom I feel this story is really about.
I’ve been told the story of my cancer journey for 20 years now, and I’ve been sharing it for as long as I’ve heard it. I’ve also honestly always felt a little separated from it. I was too young when it all happened to form any memories from it on my own. So as sad of a story it is, I’ve always known the ending. Now don’t get me wrong, I am SO thankful for that. But that’s why I ultimately see it as my parents’ triumph more than my own. This triumph is also shared by my parents’ friends, my grandparents, my extended family, and everyone who ever prayed for me, supported my family, or simply left a message in this guestbook. None of them knew the end. None of them even knew what tomorrow or an hour later would bring. Yet they still prayed, cooked dinners, babysat my brothers, essentially lived at Minneapolis Children Hospital and “The U” for a year, and so much more. They chose joy, love, family, and support in the face of one incredibly sick baby and two separate funeral plans. So I think they are the ones that really won this battle. I’m simply living proof of what happens as a result.
I’d like to thank all of my doctors, nurses, specialists, and anyone else tasked with going up against AML in the chubby little five-month-old that was me. What strikes me the most about their tireless contribution to my journey is the fact that after I finally went home, they all got up the next morning and went right back in to work. To my knowledge, lots of them are still working in the same building 20 years later. They are also the ones that have won the battle. But they have their sights set on the war. And I just know they’ll get it someday soon.
There’s still so much more I want to say, but it’s my first day of classes for my sixth semester at Berklee College of Music and I have a rehearsal to make for the Tap Dance Club (I have a solo in the showcase next month!). I wish so badly that I could go back in time and tell that to the 34-year-old John and Liz still holding me in the hospital room.
I love you all. And I am so, so grateful.
Ryan
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