Ryan Sharar

When you know something more is wrong,,,  Saturday night, he ordered ribs, his favorite!  He ate one and no dessert.  Sunday, mmm...sliders at the movies. He ate one.  Something is wrong with my boy...
Monday evening, Ryan was taken to after hours care at the Texas Children's Pediatric Urgent Care with a low grade fever and exhaustion.  He has been sick off and on since January, with flu, strep, and viruses.  He just has not ever gotten better.  He had aches that we attributed to growing pains, bruises that came from unknown causes, and was struggling to make it through his swim workouts.  All of these could be normal for a twelve year old boy.  He just looked awful and never felt good.  We thought he would be diagnosed with Mono.  
The doctor diagnosed pallor and exhaustion.  She told us to take him to the emergency room at Texas Children's Hospital.  Emergency Room?  The doctor instructed me to take him to the ER and that she would call ahead that he was coming.  Confused and not seeing this as an ER worthy visit, Eric and I drove to Texas Children's Hospital 30 minutes away instead of the ER across the street from where we were.  After taking several vials of blood, the doctor returned to tell us that Ryan was going to be admitted. They suspected Leukemia.  We were transferred by ambulance at 2:30 a.m. ,Tuesday morning, to Texas Children's Pediatric Cancer Center, downtown.   Ryan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on March 21, 2017.