Bryan’s Story

From the beginning of Bryan Cruz’s life he has been a miracle. Bryan’s parents experienced a miscarriage before having him and they were unsure if they would be able to get pregnant again. During the recovery from Marta’s miscarriage, they found out they were miraculously expecting Bryan. The first of many miracles! Bryan was born early, at 32 weeks, and was in the NICU for 3 weeks. From there, he began growing into the joyous boy he is today. At age 2, Bryan was diagnosed with autism and ADHD. Not letting these diagnoses define him, Bryan continued to grow and develop his kind contagious personality.

At the end of 2021/beginning of 2022, Bryan began experiencing several strange symptoms. In April 2022, he was finally diagnosed with B-Cell ALL, a type of leukemia. This completely shocked his family. His mom, Marta, recalls that everything felt like a blur. The medical terminology whirling around the room and English already being a second language made the diagnosis that much harder to understand. They were able to begin understanding the diagnosis and start on his treatment plan at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Bryan’s cancer journey has not been linear. Many side effects from chemo and several setbacks have found their way into his story. Multiple hospital stays, ICU visits and scares have left his family trusting that the Lord is in control of his story. Multiple times Bryan has overcome odds or come back from a setback no one thought he could. A scary cardiac incident cause his family to receive news that doctors did not think Bryan would make it. But again, another miracle. His parents have chosen complete and utter dependence on the Lord, crying out to him in hospital rooms. When people stand in awe watching Bryan overcoming so many odds, his parents say “It is not us, it’s God. Nothing is impossible for Him.”

Bryan now suffers from seizures and many other side effects from all he has been through. He is followed by many teams: orthopedics, endocrinology, cardiology, hematology, neurology. His family hopes he will complete active treatment at the end of June and move to a season of regular monthly appointments to monitor his side effects.

Bryan’s ongoing story serves as a reminder to us all that the battles in our lives are not our own but through God, we get the victory!