05/06/2026
Last year, during a routine follow up appointment at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, an undetermined growth was found on Riley's thyroid. That was near the end of last summer.
At the suggestion of one of Riley's doctors, we decided to wait six months to see if there was any change in what they found. In February, they found that the growth hadn't grown, but that there were additional growths present.
Although present, they were borderline too small to conduct a biopsy. As explained before, a bruised ankle that Ri had before hadn't healed correctly. What we found out was that the healing process was hampered by his body creating too many immature white blood cells. The immature white blood cells were keeping his ankle from healing. What he was diagnosed with was acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ACL)...a blood cancer.
We were actually lucky, if it weren't for Riley's injured ankle, he could've gone months or even years with cancer. Catching it early perhaps saved his life. Most recently, a friend was diagnosed with late stage ACL. But in his situation, it was too late, and less than three months after having been diagnosed, he passed away.
Riley has been in remission for years. He was saved by a bone marrow transplant. But he was changed forever. Having had rigorous chemotherapy, his cancer was defeated, but he was also rendered sterile. When he gets older, he will not be able to father children. He was also told that he will always be looking over his shoulder because there would always be a chance that he could develop a different form of cancer.
That is why he is having a biopsy done.
At 10:30am EST on Wednesday, May 6, he will have that biopsy done.
Please join me in prayer. Please.