A United States Navy veteran recently revealed that an experimental immunotherapy treatment and his faith both played key roles in helping him defeat cancer.
According to Fox News, U.S. Navy veteran John Ryan, a resident of Aldie, Virginia, was diagnosed with lung cancer after serving in the U.S. military for three decades. During a recent interview, Ryan told Fox News that he was part of the “nuclear power program” and participated in roughly a dozen patrols on nuclear submarines during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Fox News reported that after retiring from active military service in 1992 and retiring full-time in 2000, Ryan was diagnosed in 2013 with stage 4 adenocarcinoma, which is also known as non-small cell lung cancer. Despite going through four sessions of chemotherapy at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Ryan’s condition did not improve, and he began to experience weight loss, fatigue, pain, and pleural effusion.
In 2013, Ryan was enrolled in a clinical trial for immunotherapy, an experimental treatment that fights cancer with a patient’s own immune system. The Navy veteran told Fox News that after four infusions of nivolumab over nine weeks, his medical scans showed that the tumor had reduced by 65%.
“The 65% shrink was great and then that just kind of walked down – I was down to like 84% shrink,” Ryan said. “And I was leading a normal life.”
READ MORE: 1,000+ employees fired at Dept. of Veterans Affairs
In addition to the immunotherapy treatment, Ryan told Fox News that he also went through a special type of radiation treatment called stereotactic body radiation therapy, which led to the arrest of his tumor with limited side effects.
Fox News reported that the Navy veteran’s immunotherapy treatment lasted 100 months and required over 225 infusions. However, the outlet noted that Ryan is now cancer-free.
In his interview with Fox News, Ryan emphasized the importance of his faith throughout his battle with cancer. “You’ve got to draw your hope and courage from somewhere,” the veteran said. “Faith was high.”
Ryan explained that he also received great advice from a Walter Reed nurse regarding his health during his cancer battle.
“She said, ‘Let’s cut to the chase, sonny boy, if you don’t take this, you’re going to die.’ I said, ‘Well, let’s sign off on it, shall we?’” Ryan told Fox News. “And she said, ‘You need to take this seriously. Don’t look for things to worry about, because you can get really wrapped around the axle with the pressure and the uncertainty.’”
Ryan said the nurse added, “Working yourself up into a frenzy has absolutely no value. Get a good night’s sleep, shake it off, and the next day you’ll have some blessings you can at least get started with.”