Medical costs piling up for young Sisters man and his family

When George Van Ry started having intense headaches, it took doctors some time to figure out why. Finally the 19-year-old Sisters man was diagnosed with a large, slow-growing tumor in the right temporal lobe of his brain.

With that diagnosis, Van Ry was quickly scheduled for surgery last October at St. Charles Medical Center in an attempt to remove the tumor. He went back to work as a Sandwich Artist at Sisters Subway and hoped his medical troubles were behind him.

“I was doing OK for about two weeks,” said Van Ry.

Then his headaches and hallucinations returned. Van Ry said the hallucinations are “entirely visual” followed by a migraine and nausea. It turns out his surgery caused swelling which has not yet decreased and his symptoms are now more severe than before surgery.

Van Ry said as disturbing as his symptoms are, he is not in constant pain and is trying to go on with his life.

“I’m still pretty much able to do things,” said Van Ry. “I will continue to work here as long as I can.”

One thing he can’t do now is drive. While he was walking the three miles from his home in Tollgate to Subway, now his co-workers give him rides.

With this ongoing need for medical attention, Van Ry’s family is financially stretched. While Van Ry is fortunate to have health insurance covered through his mother’s job, the family starts the New Year needing to reach their annual $2,500 deductible again. Van Ry’s mother, Helen Condon, and her husband have five children between them with three still at home. One of the other boys needed surgery for an injury.

“Paying for all this with (husband) Scott being out of work is more than we can handle,” said Condon.

Condon said she is looking at all options for improving her son’s health including some that may not be covered at all by insurance.

One new type of chemotherapy that could help Van Ry would not be covered. Also, Condon wants to explore alternative therapies that are not be covered by her health insurance.

Condon knows her family is “not the worst case” but also sees “things are piling up.”

To help with the extra medical costs, Condon has opened a donation account at US Bank in Sisters. The family is also organizing a “Hats For George” campaign in which those wishing to donate in-kind can knit or crochet winter hats to be sold by the family for the fund. Condon got the idea from the Caps for Chemo Patients project she was familiar with.

Van Ry said he likes to help others in the Sisters community and is humbled by help coming to him.

“I believe there are people out there who are more deserving than me,” said Van Ry.

Condon simply wants her son to be healthy and able to move on to college and the rest of his life.

“We’re hoping and praying that it will go away,” said Condon.

The hats can be mailed to George Van Ry, PO Box 1597, Sisters, OR 97759-1597. Donations can be sent to the PO Box or deposited at any US Bank.