Sunshine and Motivation

We're finally getting some nice weather here in Michigan and that has allowed for Tyler to get outside a couple of times. He went outside on Thursday afternoon, but PT made him work a bit. He had to walk to his wheelchair and then wheel it to the elevator. That was A LOT of work for him to get outside. He was completely exhausted after that.

On Saturday, his nurse asked him if he wanted to go out and he said no. He didn't want to have to work that hard again. Andrew, his nurse, told him he wouldn't make him work at all...he would just take him out there because it was so beautiful. Tyler agreed. He went out for 15-20 minutes and just soaked up the sunshine. It was still a little work, because just sitting in his wheelchair is work for him. But, he enjoyed it. They could only stay out a bit because he is sensitive to the sun, due to the chemo. But, for the first time in 7 months, he got to go outside, and enjoy some sunshine!

On Sunday morning he woke up and said, "Bring me my chair, I'm not sitting in this bed all day!". Michelle and I had to laugh. We had not seen him that motivated before. So we started joking with him...asking if he was going to train to run a marathon or something. He said he's just sick of the hospital. If that's not an understatement, I don't know what is!

So, he got up and sat in his chair for nearly an hour. When he was tired, he got back in bed, but while he was working on getting back in, he said, "I'm going to get back in there in a little bit". I've watched the effort it takes for him to get up and in and out of the chair and the bed. I assure you it is the equivalent of me running a mile. It is work and it takes effort and concentration and endurance. After about a 20 minute rest, he asked for his chair again and got back in. This kid continues to amaze me!

On another note, he FINALLY gets to have something to drink. In the last 30 days, he's only had 3-4 days where he could drink something. On Saturday, he was allowed to have 8 oz a day. On Sunday, Michelle went to the regular daily rounds, ready to fight to get him 2 more ounces. :) She even bragged about all the work he was doing, sitting in his chair and going outside. She said she was going to hang a sign on his door that says "Will work for drinks!". The doctor realized this drink was very important to him. I saw this moment of compassion in him and he told the resident to go talk to surgery about being more liberal with his drinks. He said, "Let's give him his Coke!". Because I'm a total sap, I started crying after I thanked the doctor. I was just so overwhelmed because this drink IS important to him and I was so happy to hear that the doctors finally saw that! Let's hope surgery has as much compassion!

Finally, I received a text from Michelle later yesterday, after I had left. She let me know that Tyler walked much further than he had in the past. He probably doubled the length he has done in the past. He's motivated. He's strong and tenacious. I just love that kid! He inspires me to never ever give up. No matter how tired and sick he is...he's still fighting.