Tyler - 17 year old fighting cancer!

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

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Some News from the Oncologist

Finally, after so many weeks with nothing, we do have some news from the surgical oncologist today. It's not the news we were hoping for, however. The surgeon has met with the adult cancer surgeons and the pediatric surgeons. The tumor is not operable at this point. They said it is like cement on all of his organs.

They are trying to get him into a trial. They need to do some more biopsies in order to see if he can be a candidate for the trial they have in mind. If that doesn't work, they will try another one.

Please pray for Tyler. I know you are already, but today's news is so disheartening. We are all emotionally and physically drained. Tyler (and his mom...and the rest of us) need renewed strength and hope. Please pray that he will be a match for the right trial. Please pray that they will find a breakthrough for him. Our family is continually grateful for your thoughts and prayers these last few months.


Monday, December 17, 2012

No big changes

Sorry for the lack of updates. There haven't been many big changes going on. Tyler is still in the PICU. He's still making progress in terms of his stomach closing. He has about 10 centimeters to go still until it is closed. So, he goes to the O.R. every couple of days and gets "cinched" together a little more. You can imagine it's pretty painful. So, he has his good days and his bad days with the pain.

They are also continuing to push him on his physical therapy. He sat up for a couple of hours in a wheelchair last week. Although painful and exhausting, he did it.

He has been running a fever and been throwing up a bit too. They think that may be due to clamping his G-tube (drain from his stomach). They are trying to get his stomach back to working on its own, so this is part of the painful process.

We do have a praise report. Michelle received a letter that his insurance coverage will continue until at least November of next year. We are so grateful! I cannot even imagine what his hospital bills would look like at this point. I'm sure we're approaching $1million, if he hasn't already gone over that amount.

Another praise report has to be the Ronald McDonald house. What a huge blessing they have been to the family. They have made a room available for us every night since he has been there. Local charities bring food in every night for all of the 29 families that are there. And, since they know we'll be there celebrating for Christmas, they have already offered us up one of the common areas to reserve for our family. So amazing! Now if only we can wheel Tyler over there to join us. I doubt it, but I can be hopeful until then!

I can't thank you enough for your prayers. Tyler is so blessed by them too! When his grandma mentioned to him that she was praying for him, he jokingly said back to her, "You need to get people praying for you, I have tons of people praying for me already!" So, thanks again.

We are still overwhelmed by your care, concern and generosity. But, we still need your prayers too. Thank you for continuing to keep Tyler in your prayers. We're still believing in our Healer for a full recovery and a plan to take care of that nasty cancer tumor!