Team Ryker
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A boy who fights BIG battles…with a smile
10 years ago today, we started traveling to Boston for Ryker’s care.
He was 11 months old.
The day before his first birthday, instead of getting ready for cake and presents, I handed my baby over to surgeons for a major surgery. What we thought would be a trip to Boston turned into three months away from home.
I had no idea that would be the beginning of the next 10 years of our lives.
Traveling back and forth every 8 weeks.
28+ surgeries and procedures.
So many flights I’ve lost count.
So many times packing a suitcase without knowing when we’d unpack it again.
I’ve handed my child over to surgeons more times than any mother should ever have to. I’ve kissed his forehead and told him, “I’ll see you when you wake up,” while trying not to let him see how terrified I was.
Then I’ve walked away and fallen apart.
And somehow, every single time, I pull myself back together before he sees me again.
We’ve spent Christmas, New Year’s, Halloween, birthdays and ordinary days that were anything but ordinary inside hospital walls.
I’ve slept in chairs. Cried in bathrooms. Prayed harder than I knew how to pray. Watched monitors all night. Learned medical things I never wanted to know. And carried an exhaustion that sleep could never fix.
There are memories from Boston I wish I didn’t have.
But strangely enough, there are memories I wouldn’t trade for anything, too.
Because somewhere between the surgeries, fear, hospital rooms and flights, we found our people.
Other medical families who understood without an explanation. Nurses and doctors at Boston Children’s who watched my baby grow into the incredible kid he is today. People who celebrated the wins with us and stood beside us when things were scary.
And somehow, people kept helping us get back there.
Children’s Flight of Hope and Southwest Airlines have helped make these trips possible when the last thing we needed was another burden to carry. I don’t know if they will ever fully understand what that has meant to our family.
I hate that Ryker knows Boston because he’s sick.
I hate that airplanes, hospital rooms, IV poles, operating rooms and waking up from anesthesia have been part of his childhood.
I hate how much he has had to endure.
But I am so damn proud of him.
Ten years later, we’re still doing it.
Still packing the bags.
Still boarding the plane.
Still walking through those hospital doors.
Still handing him over when we have to.
Still praying.
Still fighting.
And no matter how exhausted, scared or completely drained I am…
I will get on that plane with him every single time.
Every flight. Every surgery. Every hospital room. Every sleepless night. Every mile.
Whatever it takes for my boy. Always. ❤️🩹
🎥 Please watch this video that Southwest put together.
Few stories better illustrate the impact of the Medical Flight Network than that of 11-year-old Ryker. Born with a rare condition that left his intestines outside his body, Ryker has required ongoing, specialized medical care since infancy. At 11 months old, he began intestinal rehabilitation at Boston Children’s Hospital – more than 1,600 miles from his hometown of Wichita, Kansas.
Through Children’s Flight of Hope, a Medical Flight Network partner organization, Ryker and his family have access to Southwest-donated travel for the ongoing treatment he receives in Boston. Nearly 10 years later, those journeys continue at no cost to the family, ensuring Ryker can access the treatment he needs. Children's Flight of Hope
09/22/2026
🎩✨ WHO WANTS TO GET FANCY FOR A NIGHT?! ✨🎩
Come have an amazing night, get dressed up, have some fun, spend a little money 😉, and most importantly… support an incredible organization that shows up BIG for medically complex and seriously ill kids and their families.
💛 RYKER HAS 5 SEATS AVAILABLE AT HIS TABLE — AND WE NEED TO FILL THEM! 💛
$150 per seat
📅 October 10, 2026
✨ Wichita’s Littlest Heroes Bravery Ball
📍Kansas Star Casino
We would LOVE to have Ryker’s table filled with people who love him, support him, and believe in everything Wichita’s Littlest Heroes does for families like ours.
Who wants one of the 5 seats?! 🙋♀️🙋♂️
Come sit with us, celebrate these incredible kids, and help support an organization that means so much to our family. 💛
ONLY 5 SEATS AVAILABLE — LET’S FILL RYKER’S TABLE!
Anyone have any laying around and need to free up space?
09/19/2026
🎉FUNdraiser Friday 🎉
☕ Dutch Bros – Buck for Kids
Today is the day!! Grab a drink and give back! $1 from every drink sold goes directly to Wichita’s Littlest Heroes. 💙
🎳 9-Pin No-Tap Bowling Tournament
Bowl for a cause! Join us Sunday, September 20th for bowling, raffles, and fun—all while supporting our Heroes.
⛳ Golf Cart Raffle
$100 could win you a 2026 TEKO Turbo Golf Cart! Every ticket helps provide critical financial assistance to our Hero families.
❤️ https://donorbox.org/golf-cart-giveaway
💙 VENMO: -1
🦌 Once-in-a-Lifetime Elk Hunt
Only 50 tickets at $500 each for a guaranteed elk hunt, 2-night lodging, and meals—all while making a BIG impact for our Heroes.
💛 https://donorbox.org/elk-hunt-raffle
💙 VENMO: -1
✨ Bravery Ball
Join us October 10th for a night of glitz, giving, and gratitude as we celebrate our Heroes and raise critical funds for the families we serve. ️ ❤️ https://event.gives/braveryballwichita01
💛 SO MANY WAYS TO MAKE AN IMPACT💛
09/18/2026
8 years ago, we were getting 3 yr old birthday pictures don’t of Ryker.
Now, he’s almost eleven!!! ♥️
09/18/2026
Homeschooling gets to look fun sometimes.
We were able to see piglets being born, which of course, grossed Ryker out. 😂 🐖
09/16/2026
Making Ryker’s “meals” looks a little different than most. ❤️
His meals consist of a variety of medical supplies, pumps, batteries, medications, and of course, his awesome medical backpack—which has truly been life-changing for us.
It may not look like a typical plate of food, but this is what helps fuel his body, keeps him going, and allows him to live life beyond being connected to an IV pole. 🎒💙
⏰ 12 hours of eating through his ♥️, everyday!
🎒: Resilience Medical
09/16/2026
Today was CAIR (Center for Advanced Intestinal Rehabilitation) clinic day — thankfully through telehealth this time! Our next visit will be in person with some additional testing that needs to be done.
Overall, Ryker is doing well. ❤️
One thing the team is watching closely is his weight. He hasn’t gained weight over the past year, so they’re going to increase the calories he receives through his TPN and Omegaven (the IV nutrition and fats that help provide what his body can’t absorb well enough through his intestines).
The BIG win is that they’re increasing his calories without increasing the amount of time he has to be hooked up each day. He’ll stay at 12 hours a day.
That may not sound like a huge deal to someone outside the medical world, but it is to us. When you’ve worked so hard to get fewer hours connected to an IV pump, having those hours go back up can feel incredibly discouraging — for Ryker and for all of us. Fewer hours connected means more hours of simply getting to be a kid.
His labs looked great, which we are very thankful for!
We’re also going to continue very slowly increasing his G-tube feeds. Right now, we’ll increase them by just 1 mL during the weeks he’s taking his medication for bacterial overgrowth. He takes those medications for two weeks and then has one week off.
So much of intestinal rehab is basically: “Let’s tweak this tiny thing and see how his body responds.” Small changes, watch closely, adjust, repeat.
Ryker has always been a mystery to literally EVERYONE. 😂 His body definitely likes to make its own rules.
But one thing I will always appreciate about his CAIR team is how much they include us in every decision. They listen to what we see at home, what works for Ryker, what doesn’t, and what matters to our family before making changes to his care.
Our voices are heard.
When you live the medical life, you learn just how valuable that truly is. ❤️
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