On March 24th, Athanasius Luke Ruf (son of Lisa and Christian Ruf), was found to have a large (softball size) tumor rapidly growing inside him. From Chippewa Falls, WI, he was sent to the Minneapolis Children's Hospital for further testing and diagnosis. He was diagnosed as having a rhabdoid tumor in his abdomen, but not in his brain or bone marrow. Treatment shrank the tumor to the point where surgery looked possible. However, the tumor metastasized in his liver and his condition became untreatable.
After a five month battle, Athanasius passed away on August 23rd. While we wish that we had more time with him, there were many blessings along the way and we know that he is in heaven now.
Three days before he passed, his mother, Lisa, was admitted to a hospital with Covid viral pneumonia. Lisa, Christian, and Athanasius were all together in Lisa‘s hospital room when Athanasius passed on the 23rd. Lisa was then intubated and flown to a higher level hospital. Lisa was about 30 weeks pregnant at the time.
On August 31st, Bellamarie Natalia Ruf was born by c-section at 31 weeks. We expect her to be in the NICU for 2 months or so.
We will continue to use this site to provide updates on Lisa’s treatment and recovery and teh status of Bellamarie.
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This is not the site where donations can be made to help with medical expenses. Any donations made on this website will go to the CaringBridge site itself and not to Lisa and Christian Ruf. If you wish to donate to Lisa and Christian for Athanasius, then please go to:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/athanasius-medical-expenses 
