Ryland’s pediatrician didn’t seem concerned that he frequently spat up or threw up throughout his infancy. However, that changed when his health worsened at age six to nine months. Ryland began projectile vomiting, sleeping more and eating less, which led to weight loss. His mother, Summer, took him to two pediatricians and three hospitals before meeting pediatric gastroenterologist Sarah Lowry at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

Lowry approached Summer’s concerns about Ryland with urgency and ran various tests, all of which came back inconclusive. She next recommended Ryland have an MRI of his brain due to a family history of brain conditions. The MRI revealed a mass on his brain stem. A week later, neurosurgeons took a biopsy of the mass and provided a blood transfusion to treat blood loss from the procedure.

When the tests came back, they revealed that Ryland had a low-grade glioma, a brain tumor that originates from the cells that support and nourish neurons in the brain. The tumor was wrapped around his brain stem, and doctors told his parents there was no way to surgically remove it. As a result, Ryland would need weekly chemotherapy sessions.

Although chemotherapy can be a trying process, all of Ryland’s care team members have lent their support through the challenges. “(They) have made our weekly visits so much easier, mentally and physically,” Summer says.

She is extremely grateful for the Child Life team, particularly Ryland’s Child Life volunteer, Fran Sonnenschein. “She has made coming to treatments a thousand times easier. He absolutely loves her,” Summer says. “We walk in those doors and he sees ‘Miss Fran’ and he goes in the playroom with her and nothing matters anymore because he has a familiar face that he knows he can go play with.”

Even prior to treatment, Summer can recount many instances of extra support during their stays — From the nurse who held and comforted Ryland for hours so his parents could sleep, or the nurse who helped Summer and her husband advocate for Ryland’s health and played with him each night. “It’s extremely comforting knowing that we have Johns Hopkins close to us,” says Summer.

Ryland continues his chemo treatment with his family and care team at his side. He remains a playful, carefree toddler who loves his role as a big brother and dances and plays with his toy cars and dinosaurs.

"I want him to know is that he is so strong and that this doesn’t signify how the rest of his life will go,” says Summer. “He’s doing so well.”