Tyler's numbers continue to increase!!!  He feels great & is now driving. He passed his learner's on the first try. We are so proud of him. He is a very good driver.

Never a dull moment...........
We noticed a spot on his arm a few weeks ago. It looked like a foreign object under his skin & it was a perfect line & the vein could be clearly seen on both ends. It is about 3 centimeters long. We took him to the local pediatrician & had several tests done at the local hospital. It was a mystery to everyone with no results. I decided to call his doctor at MCV. The doctor scheduled him for a doppler & then an appt in clinic with her after the test was done. It was the quickest trip to MCV that we have ever had. Ty had the doppler done & the lady that performed it called his doctor right away & we went upstairs to clinic & got directly back into a room. She comes in & says this is a mystery.....you have a blood clot in your arm. The clot is in a peripheral vein & she is not putting him on medication....his blood is already thin. We were told to watch the area & call if things changed. Everything seems to be a mystery with our little guy. He always keeps us & his doctors on their toes. We are praying that this blood clot that is now separating will go away on it's own & not cause any harm. Please pray with us.

January 5th

We had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a healthy new year. Tyler's blood counts continue to go up each time he goes to the doctor. His appointments are spreading out more & we are loving it!
Tyler loves school & is looking forward to getting his learners permit this month. He is ready to drive & we are sure that he will be a great driver. We are thankful for healthy children.

We wish you all a happy new year & we pray that everyone will have a healthy year.

Hello family & friends,

Tomorrow is a very exciting day for our family. Tyler will be having surgery in the morning to remove his port. It gives us a tremendous amount of joy in knowing that his doctors are confident that he is better & it is time to remove his port. I think we will finally be able to breathe. 

His blood counts are great! His wbc is 4.3 & anc is 1500 & hem is 13.2 & platelets are at 108. YAY!!!!

He is not able to stop taking medicine. He has a new medicine added to his nightly regimen. His kidney's have taken a hit & are functioning at 65-70%. The doctor said that this is as good as it will get & this medicine will hopefully sustain the kidneys....but with God all things are possible. 

Tyler is anxious to get this port out & back to hunting. He & his dad have big hunting plans & sitting in the house just wont do. 

Thank you for your continued prayers. God has heard them & Tyler is healed!

Tyler is having great year. He is loving school & taking drivers ed this semester. He is enjoying driving around on the farm. He is getting ready for hunting season.

His blood counts remain steady. We are not sure if they will ever be normal but we are thankful he has come this far. God has done an amazing work in his life as well as our whole family.

There is talk about taking his port out. That is very exciting.

We are thankful for this journey & thankful for God's grace & love.

Stacie

March 1st

Tyler is getting better everyday! It is so exciting!!! Tyler's platelets were 106 & hem 11.1 & WBC 3.5 this week!!! What an answer to prayer!!!!

Thank you all for your continuous prayers!!

Stacie

February 7th

Hello family & friends!!

We have fantastic blood counts! Tyler is doing great!! His Platelets were at 83 last week. They have not been that high in a year! It is so exciting!!! Thank you so much for all of your prayers!

Please continue to pray for Tyler. Please thank the Lord for all he has done in Tyler's life. We have all been changed by this challenge but we have learned so many things. We stand united as a family & we are certain that God will never forsake us or abandon us.

Stacie

December 13th

Hello again!!

All is well with Tyler. Christmas break starts in a few days & he is almost finished with exams from the first semester. He loves going to school & seeing all of his friends. His teachers are WONDERFUL!!!!!! We couldn't be happier with his progress.

Tyler got to skip the first week going to MCV in 10 months...that was super exciting! We will be heading back to MCV tomorrow for a blood check & to follow up with ENT. So far things have been good. His #'s are steady so we are very happy about that...but they do need great improvement. The #'s will all be normal with time.

We are so thankful for all of the prayers & blessings from so many people. The Lord has heard your prayers & he has touched Tyler. Tyler told his sister Josie the other day that God saved his life & if it was not for God he would not be here right now. INCREDIBLE! I am certain that Josie will not forget that. The Lord has been amazing! We are so thankful for his GRACE & MERCY & LOVE he has shown us through so many people.

We all hope that you have an amazing Christmas with your family & God Bless You!

Stacie, Donnie, Tyler, Josie & Bradley

November 1st

Hello. Tyler is doing well. He went back to school 3 weeks ago. He loves high school. It has been wonderful to see him doing so well & so happy.

Tyler's kidneys are doing much better & his blood counts are staying about the same. They are not great but they are steady. We are praying that they will come up.

We are not sure what the next step is right now. We are watching and waiting.

Thank you for your continued prayers! Have a great day!

Stacie

September 30th

Tyler went to his weekly visit yesterday. His WBC's are completely normal & the hemaglobin is almost there. His platelets are still very low....but they came up a few points. His kidney's are recovering slowly.

We are thrilled with his progress. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Stacie

September 26th

Tyler has been making progress. He is getting stronger every day & getting his energy back. He is not taking his WBC stimulator shot anymore. His WBC's continue to get better on their own. His hemaglobin is going up on its own & platelets are swaying a bit...but still ok.

The kidney function is better. We are still praying that he will get 100% kidney function back & that his bone marrow will continue to produce on its own.

It is truly incredible that he has come this far. We are certain that it is all God's grace. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Stacie

August 27th

The last dose of meds are in & we are waiting on blood this morning. Tyler's hemaglobin dropped to 6.4 so he needs blood before we can leave. His levels dropped again by 2 points for the creatnine so that means his kidney function is getting better.

Thank you for your continuous prayers!

Stacie

August 26th

Things are looking up for Tyler today. The acid level went from 10 to 0 overnight. This is really good. The kidney levels are better today. The WBC's & platelets are climbing up. The hemoglobin dropped but he did not need blood today.

Tyler is in great spirits & continues to surprise us all. He has been having a good time cruising around & visiting with the nurses. They are all big fans of Tyler.

The plan is to head out tommorrow after his boost. We are looking forward to going home. Please continue to pray for Tyler.

Stacie

August 24th

We went back to clinic this morning to meet with the kidney doctor & the transplant doctor. Donnie & I were pretty nervous about this appointment because we were anticipating a curve ball. WELL WE GOT ONE!

Well first of all Tyler's #'s looked really good today. His platelets went up again. They were 19 today & hemoglobin was 8.3 & WBC's were 4.5. So this was a very positive surprise.

Tyler's kidneys are functioning at 40%. They are getting worse. His medications have been adjusted, which Tyler is thrilled because it means he can back off the pills. It also means that the treatment for the Aplastic Anemia has stopped because the medication is causing alot of damage to the kidneys. So with the adjustments that have been made & a 3 day treatment starting tommorrow we will know quickly if the kidneys will recover. If the kidneys recover we will be delighted. If they do not, it will mean a kidney transplant.

Tyler's bone marrow has to be stable & back to normal to get a kidney transplant, so he will need a bone marrow transplant first. After he recovers from that transplant, he will have a kidney transplant.

It has been a stressful day today. Please pray for Tyler & please pray for comfort & strength.

Stacie

August 22nd

Tyler's platelets went up again by two points. Platelets are 16, WBC's are 11, & hemoglobin is 6.8......so he is getting blood today. The doctor did a blood test last week & it showed that Tyler's bone marrow is starting to produce new cells. We saw the Nephrologist this morning & Tyler is having kidney problems & the kidney's are only functioning at 50%. He has gotten more blisters again & that is a big concern because of infection. Hopefully they will go away soon. Please continue to pray for Tyler. We are very appreciative!

Stacie

August 15th

Tyler went for a check up this morning & we have wonderful news!!!! He did not need blood or platelets today. He has not had platelets in over a week. He got blood once last week. His white blood count is wonderful & has been for over a week now. We are absolutely thrilled about this! We see God working in his body! It is wonderful! We are praying that it will hold steady & that it will keep getting better each time he goes back.

His gall bladder is much better now. He can finally eat real food again & he wants to eat. I am excited to cook real food!

Tyler keeps telling us that he is getting better & he can feel it.

Please continue to pray for him & thank God for working in him.

Stacie

July 26th

Tyler got out of the hospital the following week. He is doing good. He turned 14 yesterday. That was exciting! Today his WBC"s are 2.3, platelets are under 5, & hem is 5.4. So the numbers are not good but he is getting a boost today. He is doing very good. Please continue to pray for him.

Stacie

Monday July 18th

Tyler came back into the hospital on Saturday evening. He is in alot of pain when he eats & we were not able to manage the pain at home. He is having an MRI later today to see if that will shed some light on his gall bladder. Thank you for your prayers!

Stacie

Monday July 11th

We came in this morning for the first of 3 visits a week. Tyler had alot of swelling this weekend and had a low grade fever. He does not have a fever this morning....so that is good. His white count is still very low. He is getting platelets & then we are going back home! He will be getting an extra IV at home, so now it will be 2 a day....but that is better than staying in the hospital. Please continue to pray for him & thank you so much.

Stacie

Thursday

Yeah!!!! We are going home today!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday

We are still here. We almost got to leave today but it did not work out. Tyler got the last treatment today & his body is trying to recover. We may come home tomm. & it will be so exciting! He got platelets today. His white count is hanging out around 1.2 & we really want to see that come up. He feels really good today. He has a great appetite & he ate all 3 meals today & that is a huge improvement. He has not eaten 1 full meal in months...so 3 is outstanding!!

He is really anxious to get better & he is already talking about hunting season.

Thank you for your prayers!

Stacie