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11-11-2011, 01:36 AM
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll...111100343/
The night of Oct. 14 brought tears to Michele Finck's eyes.
She watched her son Ryan help lead the Conner football team onto the field as one of its captains, and at halftime be honored as a member of the school's homecoming court.
It wasn't just those things that made a proud mother - and the rest of the Finck family in attendance - cry. It was because Oct. 14 also marked the seven-year anniversary of Ryan being deemed free of the cancer that began ravaging his body when he was 4½ years old.
Michele and her husband, Dave, were warned that the side effects would likely result in stunted growth, multiple learning disabilities and no coordination to ever play sports.
Yet there was their 6-foot-1, 255-pound son, starting his 16th straight game at left tackle - and it will be 20 straight when Conner plays a second-round Class 5A playoff game at Franklin County on Friday.
"He has defied all the odds and is truly a miracle," said Michele. "To watch him out there just sends chills through us."
Michele Finck says it started with a rash on Ryan's chest that she said, "didn't look right." It led to her and Dave taking Ryan to their pediatrician the night of Jan. 20, 1999. The initial diagnosis was Ryan had contracted a germ that had been going around and proven fatal in some children. The family was referred to Children's Hospital in Cincinnati to make sure.
It was the next morning when Dave and Michele received the diagnosis.
"They said his blood cells were 99.9 percent full of cancer," said Michele.
It turned out to be Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).
Jan. 21, the day that diagnosis was made, was already a tough enough day for the Fincks. It had been eight years earlier on that very day when their son Tyler had died of heart disease when he was five days old.
Now they weren't sure how long Ryan had to live, either.
What followed were painful daily injections of chemotherapy, sometimes in his thighs, and then eventually to taking pills. Ryan was forced to do that for three years and two months, sometimes taking as many 27 pills in a day.
Ryan says he remembers some of the, "horrors," of it, including having spinal taps, but he admittedly was too young to comprehend the gravity of the situation.
"When I was first diagnosed I had no idea what was happening, but now no looking back, I'm like, 'Oh wow,' '' he said.
After all the treatments it was on Oct. 14, 2004 that the doctors gave the Finck family the good news.
"We were told words that we will never forget: 'Mr. and Mrs. Finck do you realize your son is now cured of cancer?' " Michele recalled. "The doctor then asked Ryan if he had any questions. Ryan said, 'Yes, can I play football now?' The doctor looked puzzled and said yes, of course he can play."
It wasn't until Ryan got to the eighth grade in 2007 that the Fincks finally allowed him to play.
"He's one of those kids who knows what he has is something special, and he appreciates he has the chance just to play football," said Conner coach Dave Trosper. "This year especially he has shown that."
Finck hopes to play football in college - anywhere in college. If not, he's ready for the next journey in his life.
"Not everything in life is handed to you," said Ryan. "I know I'm not going to make a living playing football, but I love it so much, because it's taught me how to be a man. No matter what though, I appreciate my life today, so I don't take anything for granted. I'm going to play as hard as I can on Friday, because it might be my last game."
The night of Oct. 14 brought tears to Michele Finck's eyes.
She watched her son Ryan help lead the Conner football team onto the field as one of its captains, and at halftime be honored as a member of the school's homecoming court.
It wasn't just those things that made a proud mother - and the rest of the Finck family in attendance - cry. It was because Oct. 14 also marked the seven-year anniversary of Ryan being deemed free of the cancer that began ravaging his body when he was 4½ years old.
Michele and her husband, Dave, were warned that the side effects would likely result in stunted growth, multiple learning disabilities and no coordination to ever play sports.
Yet there was their 6-foot-1, 255-pound son, starting his 16th straight game at left tackle - and it will be 20 straight when Conner plays a second-round Class 5A playoff game at Franklin County on Friday.
"He has defied all the odds and is truly a miracle," said Michele. "To watch him out there just sends chills through us."
Michele Finck says it started with a rash on Ryan's chest that she said, "didn't look right." It led to her and Dave taking Ryan to their pediatrician the night of Jan. 20, 1999. The initial diagnosis was Ryan had contracted a germ that had been going around and proven fatal in some children. The family was referred to Children's Hospital in Cincinnati to make sure.
It was the next morning when Dave and Michele received the diagnosis.
"They said his blood cells were 99.9 percent full of cancer," said Michele.
It turned out to be Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).
Jan. 21, the day that diagnosis was made, was already a tough enough day for the Fincks. It had been eight years earlier on that very day when their son Tyler had died of heart disease when he was five days old.
Now they weren't sure how long Ryan had to live, either.
What followed were painful daily injections of chemotherapy, sometimes in his thighs, and then eventually to taking pills. Ryan was forced to do that for three years and two months, sometimes taking as many 27 pills in a day.
Ryan says he remembers some of the, "horrors," of it, including having spinal taps, but he admittedly was too young to comprehend the gravity of the situation.
"When I was first diagnosed I had no idea what was happening, but now no looking back, I'm like, 'Oh wow,' '' he said.
After all the treatments it was on Oct. 14, 2004 that the doctors gave the Finck family the good news.
"We were told words that we will never forget: 'Mr. and Mrs. Finck do you realize your son is now cured of cancer?' " Michele recalled. "The doctor then asked Ryan if he had any questions. Ryan said, 'Yes, can I play football now?' The doctor looked puzzled and said yes, of course he can play."
It wasn't until Ryan got to the eighth grade in 2007 that the Fincks finally allowed him to play.
"He's one of those kids who knows what he has is something special, and he appreciates he has the chance just to play football," said Conner coach Dave Trosper. "This year especially he has shown that."
Finck hopes to play football in college - anywhere in college. If not, he's ready for the next journey in his life.
"Not everything in life is handed to you," said Ryan. "I know I'm not going to make a living playing football, but I love it so much, because it's taught me how to be a man. No matter what though, I appreciate my life today, so I don't take anything for granted. I'm going to play as hard as I can on Friday, because it might be my last game."
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11-11-2011, 01:36 AM
11-11-2011, 09:21 AM
Great story, I am so glad he overcame.
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