Tyler - 17 year old fighting cancer!

Tyler - 17 year old fighting cancer!
Ready for Battle!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Tough night

Tyler's surgery went ok yesterday. Same as usual, just cleaned him out. They will continue to do this every couple of days until the swelling goes down. He has gained 20lbs of water weight in the last 2 weeks. He is also starting to lose his hair from the chemo treatments.

Tyler made his favorite nurse (and ours), Laurie, work hard all night. We think he likes her attention. His fever spiked to 103.5, but she was able to bring it down with the cooling blanket. His blood pressure and heart rate weren't staying put either. Thanks to her hard work his numbers are looking better now. His fever is at 101 now. They are planning to do dialysis today again to help take away some more of that water weight.

We just found that he has a blood clot in his leg too. They will start him on some blood thinners today to help with that.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Surgery at 12:30 Today

Tyler is scheduled for another surgery at 12:30 today. The surgeon will again go in and clean him out and try to put a mesh in and close. Tyler's fever is at 102 and his heart rate is up today. Please pray that Tyler will heal very soon from being septic - that the infection will clear up so that he can close and heal. This is a tough road, knowing that the cancer battle still lies ahead. But, we will continue to hope and pray that he will come out of this and battle on!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Thurs Update

Well, we are 2 weeks past the first surgery and Tyler is remaining critical, but stable. He had a good night, his temperature is holding steady at 99.5. Everything is pretty much the same as yesterday. We'll take that.

Since you've seen so much of my heart poured out on these posts, I wanted to share what Tyler's Aunt Tammy posted on her Facebook page yesterday. I love to see the heart of others who also love Tyler so much. Tammy works with special needs kids. I'm amazed at her stories of these beautiful little ones and give her so much credit for the strength she must possess to do what she does everyday. Here is her post she shared when she sent Tyler's update out yesterday:

"If you have been keeping up on the blog, you'll see what a roller coaster ride it has been! In the midst of all this going on in my life, I was in a meeting with a parent and listening to the struggles they went through in the beginning of their child's life and that how this child's life today is a miracle. I had to hold back tears and try my best to be professional during this time, of my life struggles, when the parent didn't hesitate to give his praises and said, "God is Great!" I had a moment and thought... "God is great!" He has a plan and it is a well planned masterpiece! We might not understand, but there is a purpose and reason for all things! I pray, trust, believe and hope that His plan will give us comfort and peace."
 
Amen! Please continue to keep Tyler and our family in your prayers.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Yet another surgery complete

Tyler just got out of surgery. They replaced some tubes, changed his dialysis port and put in the tracheotomy. They cleaned him out again, but weren't able to close. He is still very septic. They will go in again Friday to clean him out again and see if they can close. His blood pressure is still high, as well as his white blood count which is now 23,000.

Surgery at 10:45 today

Tyler's fever broke and is down to 99.8 this morning. Amen! What an answer to prayer! His blood pressure is 149/53, though, so they are watching that. The plan is still to do surgery this morning. Please continue to pray. As his Aunt Tammy posted on her Facebook page last night, this family believes in the power of prayer. Please keep it coming!

I'll get you an update as soon as I have details from the surgery.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Roller Coaster Ride

Thanks to all who have joined us on our emotional roller coaster ride these last couple of weeks. We had quite a scare this afternoon. It's no coincidence to me that a fever that continued to climb to dangerous levels all day, started coming down after I sent out an urgent prayer request to you all. Thank you for partnering with us in prayer for Tyler. God is good, even in these circumstances.

One of the many doctors tonight made a comment to Michelle that Ty is only alive because of his age. If this were a 30 year old, he wouldn't have made it this far. I say NO, that is not the only reason. We have the Most High God on our side and we'll continue to praise Him, even for these small victories!! We'll continue to ask him to be merciful to Tyler and this family.

Last week, Tyler's phone was getting texts from some of his friends. So I opened it up and started replying to his friends and giving them the blog to follow for status. As I was doing that, I ran across a text he sent to one of his buddies on the 4th (a few hours before his stomach perforated) and he said, "I'm just fighting for tomorrow...to see the next day". I say, "fight on Tyler!" and we will continue to hold you up in prayer!

The plan for tomorrow is to do the surgery around 10:45. They are hoping to put a mesh in him and close him, as well as do the tracheotomy for his ventilator. Again, thank you for your continued prayer! We so appreciate it!!

Urgent Prayers

Tyler's fever continues to climb - it's up to 105. They have called the family in, which is never good news! Please lift us up during this time. I don't have any other details right now.

Rough Morning


Tyler's having a rough morning. Now his white blood count is too high (20,000 range), he's running a high fever (103.5) and his heart rate is high (150 range). Tyler is sleeping well, though, so that is good.

You know, all we have are these numbers that the doctors are constantly updating us on. We aren't sure what they always mean, but just trying to cling to any positive news we hear each day. The doctors warned us that the numbers would fluctuate a great deal as he battles through this. They told us not to get hung up on asking what this or that means, or looking at the bags hanging around him and asking what this or that is doing, or looking at the machines and asking how it's helping...but it's so hard not to!!

I continue to ask you for your prayers for Tyler. We are waiting on the Lord and crying out to Him every day. For me it occupies almost every thought I have throughout the day. I heard this song this morning and just loved how it took the words right out of my head.God, we need you! Take a few minutes to listen and pray to the One true God on behalf of Tyler today.

Love,
Jettie





Monday, October 15, 2012

Morning Update

Tyler's white blood count jumped up to 15!! This is excellent news. We no longer have to wear a mask, gloves and a gown when going in to see him. Praise God for this progress. We pray these white blood cells will kick into high gear and fight off this infection now!! The feeding tube is looking good and they are planning to start giving him some "nutrition" through the tube tomorrow. He's about to start his 6 hours of dialysis for the day.

So thankful for this bit of good news this morning. Thank you for your fervent prayers for our boy, Tyler. 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Another surgery complete

Tyler's surgery went well this morning. They cleaned him up again and were able to put in a feeding tube and a drain tube. His blood count is up to 5 now. The dialysis is helping with that. He is now in dialysis for the next 6 hours.

The plan is to go back in on Wednesday and clean him again. They will also have to do a tracheotomy for the ventilator. He can't have it in his throat for more than 2 weeks, so they have to change that.  And with the drain from today, he will no longer have one going through his nose. Hopefully that will give him some more comfort.

Tyler is still very critical and very septic. We will cling to the positive news (Philippians 4:8) and continue to pray for his full healing.