by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — Ryan Boothby is most likely feeling totally exhausted and nauseated today. The 23-year-old Cobden man is probably laying in bed on this Thursday morning – wishing he was definitely somewhere else.
On Wednesday, Aug. 17, he suffered through another four-hour chemo treatment in Ottawa. His father, Stacey, patiently waited for him, so he could drive him back home. Every second Wednesday, this will be Ryan’s life until Dec. 21. But, then it’s a waiting game.
“There’s still the possibility of radiation,” he said. “That will be determined in January if it’s required.”
Ryan has Hodgkins cancer in his lymph nodes. There is no cause for it. It’s a cancer that affects a person’s filtration system, he explained. It’s the same cancer his Aunt Traci Martin went through when she was just 14 years old. It’s cancer – something his father went through a few years ago.
Instead of laying in bed, Ryan should be on a BEI Inc. construction site, a company he has been working for for the past three years.
Ryan recalled last Christmas, when he suffered through night sweats, a rash on his body and always being tired. In the spring, once back working for BEI, it was worse and he was having a hard time swallowing. The rash on his legs would burn while he was working and was very itchy, he recalled.
“My legs were burning and very uncomfortable because of the rash,” Ryan recalled.
He had some tests done and it was discovered a lymph node was pressing on his esophagus.
When he began losing weight, which the slim body could not afford to do, he was sent for more tests. That’s when it was discovered he had advanced leukemia Hodgkins.
“I had a chest x-ray at 8 a.m. and by 4 p.m. the doctor had called,” Ryan said. “When the doctor calls you back the same day, I kind of figured it was serious.”
He was sent Ottawa for more tests and a catscan as well as a muga scan. In the mugascan, the person is injected with a solution that takes a picture of the heart and measures the gama rays, which determines if chemotherapy will affect the heart, Ryan explained.
He also had a petscan, which means injecting his body with a sugar solution. The cells eat the sugar which highlights where the cancer is.
It was discovered there was a large tumor on his neck and another on his lung.
“The one on my neck was the size of a small tennis ball and very hard,” he recalled. “They did a needle core biopsy, which means they froze it and did an ultrasound.
“I was still awake and could feel the needle but not the pain.
“The tests came back saying I had Hodgkins disease,” he recalled.
Chemotherapy treatment will help Ryan recover, however, it meant he had to quit working.
“Chemotherapy makes you more sensitive to the sun,” he explained.
There are many side effects of chemotherapy, and one of them is the feeling of fatigue, he said.
“For a few days after chemo, I’m totally exhausted,” Ryan said.
While he was hopeful of working, his bosses at BEI totally understood his situation and told him to go on sick leave.
“They’ve been very supportive of me,” Ryan said. “They told me to take time off for any of my appointments. Neil Mullin, my boss, was shocked but was very supportive. Thane Childerhose, the owner, told me to take the time I needed.
“They told me to call them if there’s anything I need and just to keep them updated – I haven’t yet.”
Chemo also makes him nauseous, but he doesn’t throw up.
“I’m on four oral meds, plus one in the IV, I’m taking while getting chemo,” he said. “The meds cause constipation and headaches.”
He explained that he craves certain foods, but by the time he gets that food, it could be he doesn’t want to eat because he’s feeling nauseous, even though he’s hungry. Another side effect of the medication, his taste buds have changed and there is always a metallic taste in his mouth.
Ryan also dislikes needles, and so is quite happy when he gets a nurse who can insert a needle without him knowing it’s going in. But, he does admit, they can’t all do that.
“If a nurse puts it in without hurting me, I tell her,” he said, adding, “But, if a nurse puts it in and it hurts I let her know. How are they going to get better if they don’t know?”
The nurses have plenty of patients to look after, but they seem to “keep it all together,” he said. “They always introduce themselves, answer any questions and joke around.”
Ryan also noticed that he’s the youngest in the pod when he goes for treatment.
“I’ve seen patients without hair,” he said, noting he hasn’t lost his. “It’s depressing seeing all the patients. The first time I went for chemo, that’s when it hit me, and I was a complete mess.”
While the nurses are upbeat, it’s Justin, a hospital employee who stocks the medical supplies, who helps keep him upbeat. He always asks if there’s anything Ryan needs while he’s getting his treatment, and he talks with him and makes sure he’s as comfortable as he possibly can be during the four-hour treatment.
Ryan lives at home with his father as he needs someone to help him through this difficult time. In return, he tries to keep up with housework and yard work – when he’s not too tired. His father is all too familiar with chemo treatments, because he went through them when he had colon cancer.
While Ryan was shocked when he heard he had cancer, it was a diagnosis his father had a hard time comprehending.
“I wondered if I’d been diagnosed correctly,” he recalled thinking.
Since chemo started, Ryan has noticed the lymph node on his neck has decreased in size and the rash is disappearing.
One thing he did notice was how people reacted to him. While some friends were shocked and seemed to genuinely care, there were some friends who didn’t care and yet other people who just seemed to want to be nosey and find out how he was doing so they could pass the information around.
He can understand there are some people who find it hard to think he has cancer, because with the exception of the three days after chemotherapy when he suffers through major fatigue and feeling nauseous, Ryan doesn’t look sick. He can get out and about and laugh and have fun – but he can’t work.
“My family has been very supportive,” he said. “Aunt Tracy is putting on a benefit dance for me. She has gone through it. I’m her only nephew.”
Having cancer is expensive, he said. The money from the fundraiser will help with various expenses, such as transportation, parking costs and prescriptions, he said.
“There are three pills I have to take when I go for chemotherapy and together they cost $120,” he said. “Because I have three treatments in August, it adds up to almost $400.
“I still have living expenses. Thankfully my car insurance is paid off for this year.”
He’s also noticed there are people who will help without being asked. When his Aunt Traci decided to do the benefit dance, which is next month, friend Eric McLean, stepped up to help her organize the event.
“People are volunteering to do things without being asked,” he said.
Ryan admits it’s difficult seeing posters around town with his face on them saying there’s a benefit dance for him.
Taking a sip of his coke, it doesn’t take him long to answer the question, “Are you scared?”
“The biggest scare is I could get cancer again,” he said. “I’m only 23. The doctors are able to save more people and they are pushing me.
“I know I’ll survive, but I’m hoping to be cured.”
Ryan isn’t sure what happens after Dec. 21. He knows some people go into remission, but he’s not sure if everyone goes into remission after cancer treatments.
The chemotherapy will shrink the tumour while radiation is expected to kill the tumour, he said.
“But I’m wondering how this is affecting my body, my brain, what are the long-term effects,” Ryan questions.
