Local infant doing well after cancer surgery

Mark Reimers
Tribune reporter

Rylee TenKley

LYNDEN -- Rylee TenKley is cancer-free at the moment, but doctors are keeping a close eye on the 6-month-old.
  Rylee’s parents, Jeremy and Heather TenKley, of Everson, had been monitoring a lump on his back for some time when they decided to get an MRI done at Children’s Hospital in Seattle.
  The MRI results showed something they never expected: a grapefruit-sized tumor in his abdomen.
  “God put that lump there on his back so we would get him checked,” said Jeremy TenKley, who is the manager of the Lynden Starbucks on Guide Meridian. “We wouldn’t have noticed the tumor if it hadn’t been for that lump.”
  Doctors in Seattle removed the tumor on April 22 and a biopsy confirmed it was Neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that often develops in young nerve tissue.
  TenKley’s coworkers have set up a fund to help defray the expenses not covered by the family’s medical insurance.
  Shift supervisor Brook Korthuis, said employee Rosalyn Krebsbach came up with the idea of raising money, and they started the Rylee TenKley Medical Fund with Bank of America, which, she said, has already accumulated several thousand dollars.
  TenKley said additional testing has determined that Rylee does not have any other forms of cancer and the parents are in the process of scheduling an operation to remove the lump on his back.
  “I used to wonder what it was like to have a child become this sick,” he said. “But it’s just another piece of the puzzle of God’s faithfulness.”
  The TenKleys have been journaling their experiences at www.caringbridge.org. Type “ryleetenkley” in the search engine to read their entries.
  E-mail Mark Reimers at reporter@lyndentribune.com.