CT man with brain cancer has a wish: to speak to Taylor Swift. ‘To keep him fighting,’ his mom says

Hartford Courant – Tuesday, November 26, 2024
By Helen I. Bennett

Linda Scelza has not heard her son Ryder’s voice in 75 days.

Ryder Scelza, 20, has gone silent due to the effects of four brain surgeries performed to remove glioblastoma tumors from his brain.

Ryder was diagnosed at 17 with the rare brain cancer and, despite surgeries, the cancer has recurred five times.

For now, while he is a patient at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare, Linda Scelza communicates with her son using writing implements, and sometimes through Ryder’s identical twin brother, Reno, as they “read each other’s minds.”

As the Rocky Hill family supports Ryder Scelza, whose latest tumor has been called inoperable, his mother said, he has a wish.

It is a wish based on what has helped him as he worked hard to recover from surgeries in ongoing therapy at Gaylord: a wish to receive a call from Taylor Swift.

Both Ryder and Reno are major Swift fans, and their mom and the hospital noted her music has been inspirational to Ryder during the cancer journey.

“It’s just her as a whole, her attitude … the music she writes,” Linda Scelza said. “If there is even a chance she would pick up the phone…”

The mom said Ryder is such a Swift fan that his first tattoo was the words, “long story short; I survived,” from the lyrics of one of her songs.

“Last night he was really upset … even if it was in any way shape or form possible … he would forget he is dealing with something completely incurable,” Linda Scelza said.

“It’s helped him through everything … she has been such an inspiration to keep him fighting,” Scelza said.

“All I ask is for her to help my son,” she said.

An email seeking comment was sent to a representative of Swift.

Ryder Scelza’s health journey started in March 2022, when he suffered facial drooping, numbness, drooling. The family took him to an emergency room, but were told it was likely the result of wearing facemasks, Linda Scelza said.

They were sent home, which she said “did not make any sense” and later that month he suddenly had a seizure while he was sleeping,” she said, noting “it was literally the scariest thing in my life to that point.”

“He was rushed to the hospital. He was so scared. We were all so scared,” Scelza said.

A CAT scan showed it was a brain tumor.

“They went in and took out 98% of it,” Scelza said, and Ryder then was doing better, able to walk and talk at that point.

But in July 2022, a doctor said it came back in the same spot, was inoperable and that Ryder had just weeks to live, she said.

“It crushed us,” she said.

Scelza said she called everyone, shared his story everywhere, and sent his records to every hospital in the United State that does glioblastoma treatment. She even rented a car as she planned to drive to Texas to see a doctor there.

“I carry his paperwork with me everywhere I go,” she said.

But it was during her own visit to Yale New Haven Hospital for migraine treatment that they found a doctor who looked at Ryder’s information and said, “we can do this, we can get it out.”

“She got every bit of it out,” Scelza said of YNHH neurologist Dr. Jennifer Moliterno.

The cancer, however, has kept returning, even after the fourth surgery. They have had more than 50 emergency room visits, Ryder has been in the hospital at least 30 times, and the cancer, in a “very rare” occurrence, has returned both on the right and left side of Ryder’s brain, Scelza said.

“It’s been very hard on him,” Scelza said. “It’s horrible to even imagine what everyone is feeling.” She said Reno has been tested regularly to make sure he does not have a tumor. The family is considering its options for Ryder’s next steps, she said.

His mom offered praise for Gaylord, “The most amazing hospital,” where she said they treat Ryder “like family.”

“If they do not know the answer they find someone who does,” Scelza said.

Joy Savulak, a spokesperson for Gaylord Specialty Healthcare, said speech therapist Stefanie Gaidos uses Swift’s music to motivate Ryder.

“He means a lot to a lot of people here,” Savulak said.

“It’s all about quality of life,” she said.

Linda Scelza also said it was Gaidos’ idea to try to reach Swift through the media, noting it would make a Christmas dream come true.

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