Ryan's Story

When healthy, happy and handsome 24-year-old Ryan Anderson of Plymouth smiles at you today, his entire face beams. But in early 2000, while we were celebrating the dawn of the new millennium, Ryan was receiving very scary news from Dr. Bernard Durante, Chief of Surgery at Jordan Hospital. An MRI showed a large juvenile angiofibroma tumor – a rare type of tumor with an occurrence of 1 case in 4,000 – which was lodged down in the nasal passage behind the left side of his face, and growing dangerously and aggressively in his skull base and down toward his spinal column.

“The diagnoses was a complete shock,” says Ryan. “I had thought I would need a simple cauterization that would eliminate the frequent nosebleeds and headaches. But the confidence and expertise of Dr. Durante and his team inspired me, and kept my family and me from fearing the worst.”

“Although I was given the choice,” he explains, “there was never a question in my mind about opting to go to Boston. I found out that we have an extremely high level of training, expertise and competence in our own backyard. I knew I was in great hands right here at home.”

On Monday, March 13th, 2000, Ryan underwent 12 hours of surgery at Jordan at the hands of a team of five surgeons led by Dr. Durante. “The wonderful nursing care at Jordan got me through post op. I was able to go home after a bit and recover successfully. Today I am healthy, I have had no recurrence, I have no physical limitations of any kind, and I have no visible scarring. I am one lucky guy, and I am very grateful to Dr. Durante and all the docs and nurses who helped me through this.”

Ryan as gone on to complete his studies in organizational communications at Northeastern University. He graduated in June 2002, and is now the manager of the Boston Bruins Pro Shop at the Fleet Center, a very fast-paced retail environment that has an average attendance of 16,000 to 20,000 fans on most game nights. During his limited free time, he enjoys roller blading, weightlifting, and jogging. Ryan has done very well indeed.