Kennedy's Home and Team Tyler

     

Reading in the hospital with a rocking t-shirt.

Kennedy is home and is doing much better.  Her fevers stopped and we were released on Sunday night.  The blood transfusion helped up her counts and the chemo hold helped her liver recover.  We went to clinic today and her liver counts were nearly normal and her ANC was 700, all good.  We resumed chemo tonight.

I know I’ve said it before  - but we are lucky.  We are lucky because Kennedy has ALL Leukemia and is low risk.  She is doing a fabulous job of kicking cancer’s ugly ass – excuse the profanity.  Unfortunately, not all kids and families are so lucky.  Tonight I will tell you about Tyler Blatt.

There are a lot of things one is exposed to while spending a week in a hospital.  One, you see families grieving for children who choose to take their own life unexpectedly,  you see families that leave their children to sit alone in a hospital room all day, you see a tremendous amount of love and support when families face the news of despair and you also hear about fellow cancer patients struggling with their battle. I was hit hard this stay partially due to Jordan (the little boy I mentioned before) but mostly due to Tyler.

Miss. K helping make dinner

Tyler is 12 years old, maybe he is 13 now.  Back in March of last year, I met his mom Nancy when like us, they were hit with the news of Leukemia.  For Tyler, it wasn’t low risk ALL but a complicated form of AML.  Tyler had fallen playing basketball and was complaining of some pain.  Never would they have ever imagined the pain was caused by AML Leukemia.  They’ve had a tough journey.  We had six inpatient weekend stays at Loyola and for most of them, Tyler was inpatient.  I admired Nancy’s upbeat attitude and found the window chalk they used in Tyler's room really cool.  It’s funny the things your remember.  Mom made it so cool for Tyler to be stuck there.  The last time I saw Tyler was at last year’s Cure Search walk and I was so excited he was finally out of the hospital; that was in September.

Unlike Kennedy, the chemo didn’t work for Tyler.  He’s been subjected to chemo that most grown men couldn’t handle, that plus radiation and other intensive cancer fighting therapies, Tyler's body is tired.  At this point they are done fighting.  So why am I sharing this?  Well, I’m hoping to make Tyler’s next week/months AMAZING.  My heart is broken and I can’t even imagine what they are all going through.  I really don't know what else to do but give this kid some happy time.

This is Tyler (I stole this from his blog). 

I NEED HELP from everyone.  Any connections you have; please use them.  Theater, museums, any cool experiences you think Tyler would enjoy, let’s donate them.  A family photo shoot, a dinner out somewhere fun, a chance to do anything really cool,  a huge silly cake, anything!  I too am exhausting all of my resources so expect some calls!!!  Out of respect for the family’s privacy, if you would like to donate some fun for Tyler, please reach out to Megan Gertz, child life specialist at Loyola, her email address is  megertz@lumc.edu

I ‘m not one to ask for things but I need this for them; they need this.  Thank you in advance for anything you can dream up!  Experiences are needed more than money.