Ryan Pennock, 9

St. Louis Children’s Hospital

Life seemed just about perfect for Kim and Larry Pennock. They had a beautiful, healthy three year old daughter and were expecting their second child. Kim went to her doctor for her routine 20 week ultrasound expecting to hear her child was developing normally and would be born healthy.

Her ultrasound results proved to be very troubling. A more extensive ultrasound showed that their unborn son’s heart was not developing correctly.

The pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Angela Sharkey diagnosed their baby with a Double Outlet Right Ventricle with a small right ventricle. She continued to explain the series of surgeries their baby would need shortly after birth.

For the next few months leading up to the birth, Kim underwent several more tests and visited St. Louis Children’s Hospital, getting comfortable with the place they would be spending a lot of time once their son was born. During the final ultrasound, Kim’s doctor found yet another problem; a cyst on the baby’s pancreas. That couldn’t be diagnosed accurately until the baby was born

Ryan James was born on September 4, 1996 and was immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. At just four days old, Ryan had his first surgery. Then surgery went well but his recovery was difficult, having issues with his heart rate and blood pressure. The Pennock’s came very close to losing Ryan.

Just two weeks later, doctors discovered that the cyst on Ryan’s pancreas was actually a cancerous tumor, neuroblastoma. The tumor was removed and further tests revealed that the cancer had not spread.

Ryan’s heart was still not functioning as well as they had hoped and he required more surgery to enlarge the chambers of his heart to allow for greater blood flow. He then was cleared for an open-heart surgery to put in a Glen-Shunt. Both of those surgeries went well and Ryan came through like a champ.

Since his last surgery at three years old, Ryan has been doing great. He is very active in school activities, baseball, soccer, and even football. His mom says he knows his limitations and knows when he needs to rest, although she says that’s not very often. Ryan is a vibrant, energetic nine year old that is constantly teaching his parents about the beauty and preciousness of life.