Ryan Bartlett’s battle: Cancer at age 34
WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. — Ryan Bartlett is a varsity head coach with the White Bear Lake High School football team. Besides being a resilient coach, Bartlett is also a loving husband and a father to four wonderful kids. Amazing how we make plans not knowing what life has in store for us. The same was the case with Bartlett.
A while back, Bartlett was diagnosed with stage four cancer.
“That first night, I thought I had something beyond repair,” he said upon hearing the news. His world went upside down. The things that mattered stopped mattering. Every moment seemed shorter. The future seemed unreal, like a distant dream. All he had was here and now.
Bartlett stayed strong, and his mental toughness was his savior. Shortly after he found out he had lymphoma, the most curable type of cancer.
“When I heard (the doctor) come in and say it was Hodgkin’s, my wife and I, for some reason, we were relieved,” he said. “I remember thinking, ‘That isn’t a death sentence. I’ll beat that.’”
Still, it was a traumatic event for Bartlett, causing more trauma because of the unlived life.
“Especially being a little younger, you just don’t expect it and you don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “There’s so much unexpected and unknown that it’s overwhelming.”
His tenacity off-field was just as admirable. His “never giving up” attitude aided in maintaining his mental toughness.
“Hodgkin’s stuff, they’ve really had a good success rate with it. So that was relieving, hearing it was that,” he said. “I just wanted a chance. Tell me it’s something you can try to treat, and I’ll be fine.”
The battle was not for him alone; it was for his family, his wife and his three boys at the time. It is one thing to go through it alone, but to know the kids could lose their father, now that’s mind-numbing.
“We’ve told them that dad will be sick and not feel good all the time,” his wife, Amy, said.
The team and the coaches admired Bartlett and stood by him during this time, helping him in any way they could.
“The coaches, they’ve been great,” Bartlett said. “All have stepped up in different ways. The team has been unbelievable. I can’t remember everything they’ve done. It’s been overwhelming.”
After his chemo treatment, Bartlett went into remission. His good attitude and support from friends and family helped him through that. But now, his lens through which he saw life changed completely.
“The little stuff? Already, it doesn’t get to me like it used to,” he said. “I don’t stress out about that stuff. I enjoy it so much more now. This is the least stressed out I’ve ever been going into a season.”
He won his battle against cancer. Bartlett did not give up! All he wanted was a fair chance to fight. After getting that, he kept his attitude positive and that is what ultimately got him through that.
Bartlett welcomed his newborn son in 2020. He continues to live his life one day at a time. His life is different now and he greatly appreciates it!
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