About Ryan

On February 11, 2005, Ryan Krabill was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma—a type of skin cancer that infected his tongue. Since it was caught early, in Stage 1, the prognosis was good, but Ryan had no idea what kind of challenges were ahead of him. One week later, he had surgery to remove the tumor and 30% of his tongue with it. Two weeks after surgery, on March 4, it was revealed that not all of the tumor may have been removed.

A few months later on June 28, a second surgery removed 19 lymph nodes on the left side of his neck. One of those lymph nodes proved to be cancerous and was, to quote his doctor, “ugly.”

On August 3, he began receiving daily treatments of radiation to eliminate any potential remaining cancerous cells. This treatment ended on September 21—a period of seven weeks. At the same time, he began receiving chemotherapy treatment on August 9. The last of four treatments was on September 13, 2005.

When radiation began, Ryan weighed in at 168 lbs. On September 22, he weighed 142 lbs. The loss of weight was due primarily to a series of painful mouth sores and overall discomfort in his gastrointestinal tract—side effects of the radiation and chemotherapy. With a 6 foot frame, his appearance was weak, to put it mildly. It was only much later after he had gained some of the weight back that friends and colleagues revealed how concerned they had been for his health.

For the next nearly four months, Ryan battled fatigue and frustration as he tried to recover, oftentimes sleeping up to 16 hours per day. He turned the corner on January 17, 2006, and immediately began training for the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in Washington, D.C., held annually on the first Sunday in April.

On April 2, 2006, Ryan finished the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in a time of 1:24:37, beating his goal of 1:30:00 by more than five minutes. Since then, he has pursued an active life, understanding that good health is something not to be taken for granted.

You can read all about his experience as it happened by reading his blog entitled My Tongue Sucks.

Hike for Hope 2009

The Pacific Crest Trail