Christopher Patrick Ryan

On May 5, 2012, Christopher Patrick Ryan died from complications arising from surgery at the age of 22. He is survived by his Grandmother, Gaynell McLemore, mother Benita Ryan, brother Shawn Ryan, Shawn’s fiancee Ting Fu, sister Jessica Jones, her husband Mason Jones and their two sons, Maverick and Jaxson Jones, his girlfriend Jessica Ramon, his uncle James N. McLemore, James’ wife Ruth McLemore and their son Steven McLemore.

Born on August 7, 1989 in Bakersfield California, Chris struggled with illness from a young age. At four years old, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer known as rhabdomyosarcoma. Treatment commenced on his fifth birthday, and would include two and a half years of chemotherapy with a six-weeks stint of radiation midway through. After completing radiation, Chris’s immune system was severely compromised, at which point he grew deathly ill again. It turned out that he had been hosting the spores of a fungus, coccidioidomycosis, since childhood that was now taking advantage of his compromised immune system to spread in his lungs. Chris was held in a medically induced coma for five weeks while the doctors worked to control the fungal infection.

Five months after Chris completed his cancer treatment, a month shy of his eighth birthday, he began experiencing neurological issues. He spent seven months undiagnosed in and out of Shannon Hospital with fluid accumulating on his brain. To deal with the building fluid, Chris had a drain tube, called a shunt, implanted into his head that was meant to allow the excess fluid to drain to his stomach, where it would not be harmful. However, the fluid shifted to another area of his brain, so Chris was transferred to San Antonio to receive more specialized care. There it was determined that his problems had been caused by the fungus that he had fought before, which had spread to his brain. Chris would undergo intravenous antifungal treatment for 18 months more, and then continue taking oral antifungal treatment for the rest of his life. He would also require periodic shunt replacements, which involve brain surgery, for the rest of his life.

As he grew, Chris began to develop scoliosis in his lower back arising from irradiated vertebrae and back muscles, and two vertebrae that had fused. He would struggle with severe back pain until around age 18, at which point the pain became more moderate.

On February 18, 2012, Chris went to the emergency room with symptoms that he recognized as indicative of a failing shunt. During the replacement surgery, he experienced excessive brain bleeding, and two neurosurgeons worked for ten hours to stabilize him. Over the next three months, He would need more than a dozen brain surgeries, and would display few signs of consciousness. Chris died in Temple, Texas at Scott and White Memorial Hospital on May 5, 2012 due to complications from his last shunt removal.

Memorial services will be held at Johnson's Funeral Home Chapel located at 435 W. Beauregard Ave., San Angelo, Texas 76903 at 3PM on Thursday May 10, 2012.