Ryan Smith

Update, June 2000: Ryan is off the IV treatments because his tumor is in remission. Ryan has been on antineoplastons capsules for 7 months and his scans are still clear. If all goes well, Ryan can stop therapy completely in July.

My name is Cindy Smith. This picture of my little boys, Ryan and Joshua, was taken in October of 1997 just a few short months before our lives were turned upside down. I will never forget the night of January 7, 1998, when Ryan was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor - cancer!

Ryan had been an otherwise healthy 10-year-old who had played Pop Warner football all fall and was playing basketball at the YMCA during the winter. On January 7, 1998 during a routine checkup for a previous ear infection, I asked the doctor to look at Ryan’s left hand. He hadn’t been using it very much, which I thought was the result of a football or basketball injury. The doctor immediately sent us for a CAT scan, which showed a brain tumor. An MRI and biopsy followed that confirmed a 3- to 4-cm astrocytoma, grade 2 brain tumor - cancer!

We were referred to neurosurgeons at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Both doctors agreed that due to the size and location, Ryan’s tumor was inoperable. They also agreed that chemotherapy and standard radiation were not options for us. They told us we were going to lose our son. They did offer stereotactic radiotherapy that would buy Ryan some time; however, they gave no guarantees as to the amount of damage it would cause Ryan because healthy cells would inevitably be destroyed as well as the cancerous ones. The doctors agreed it would probably be 6 months before we would see significant symptoms and needed to begin treatment. We began a frantic search for alternatives. The neurosurgeon at Dartmouth-Hitchcock told us he had heard of a doctor in Houston, Texas, who was having good results with brain tumors. So we got on the Internet, on the telephone, and went to the library to find out all we could about Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski and this treatment.

After months of research and soul searching, we decided that Dr. Burzynski was Ryan’s only hope. On April 6, 1998, Ryan and I left for 3 weeks in Houston. Although sometimes demanding and exhausting, we have spent the past year on Dr. Burzynski’s antineoplaston therapy and have amazed an entire community with outstanding results. Ryan’s tumor began to shrink after only a short time on the treatment. However, because of several complications last summer, Ryan was on and off the treatment for the better part of 3 months. In August, afraid of what we might find due to the interruptions, an MRI showed that his tumor had continued to shrink, this time by 56%. By November, the tumor had decreased by 91% and on January 27, 1999, Ryan’s cancer was gone!

I can’t thank Dr. Burzynski enough for giving my son back his life, as well as an entire community for their prayers and support. Without them we would not have been able to get where we are today. We have seen an awesome amount of good in people. Family, friends, and strangers helped us raise over $200,000 to pay for our trips to Texas and Ryan’s treatment.

It’s impossible to even imagine where we would be today if I had listened to the doctors at Dana Farber Cancer Institute who told us absolutely not to go to Dr. Burzynski. I am thankful there are some doctors who are open minded enough to know they don’t have the cure and who are willing to keep informed about alternative therapies and give our children a chance. We were fortunate. We were able to seek out Dr. Burzynski before Ryan underwent any other form of treatment. Today, Ryan’s left hand, which at his lowest point had turned into a claw, and his left leg that had dragged behind him, are almost 100% back to normal. Our 11-year-old Ryan can run and catch a pass just like he did a year and a half ago.

My son’s story is one of courage and hope. Ryan has never given up hope and has been my inspiration. He has held my hand on the days I didn’t have the strength to hold his. He has comforted me when I was too distraught to comfort him. We have rejoiced together in the good moments and held each other through the bad. The most important message through it all has been to never give up hope, don’t take "no" for an answer, and fight for your right to know all your options. Don’t settle for the traditional, especially considering it very seldom works. There is an option, and there are miracles. Dr. Burzynski has been ours and we thank him from the bottom of our hearts!

Cindy Smith (Ryan's Mom)

You can contact Cindy at CLSmith164@aol.com

March 1999