Ah, phooey! :mad:
That sums it up well. 
Hopefully the fever breaks soon.
Jim
The leak came back the other day - pretend to be surprised if you like - so today they tried a different surgery, lower on his brain stem. That’s probably another week in the hospital. He’s also started some physical therapy, since he’s lost almost 20 pounds (and was wiry to begin with) and has hardly moved for a month. The fever is just about gone, although we don’t know how he’ll react to the latest surgery. By my count, that’s his tenth procedure in a month.
Tomorrow, I’m bringing his bass to the hospital. Maybe it’ll pick his spirits up and he’ll make the effort to practice. What can you say? He’s sick of this and wants to go home.
How are you holding up. This has got to be tough on you after nearly a month?
Are you finding ways to keep your spirits up and frustrations low?
Good luck as always,
Jim
I just wanted to pipe in here to tell you that many of us are following Tyler’s progress and wishing him a swift recovery. Godspeed, Marley. Thanks for being the kind of big bro that we all would like to have. Tyler is a lucky boy/man to have you by his side.
I’m sure we haven’t heard from you because you’ve been busy…
Can you only imagine the thoughts that are with you two…
You raise a good point, because the answer is probably ‘no,’ at least, not lately. My days, recently, have consisted of work, going to the gym, seeing Tyler and or my girlfriend, and going to bed. And mostly I crash on the weekends. But come to think of it, I’ve been more active the last day or two and I’m feeling better as a result. I should watch that. I bought three seasons of Simpsons DVDs while feeling depressed this week, which has paid off nicely, and I’ve got some friends coming over for Simpsons monopoly tonight. I’ve also picked up the tennis racquet again, and my workouts and my need for an outlet are showing. I have so many things I want to write about this ordeal, but lately I’ve been unable to gather the energy.
My mother actually came home last night. That’s the first time in a month she was back here. Tyler seems to be doing alright, and I really hope this week’s surgery was the last one for now.
Add one more to the list of those wishing your family well.
Hospitals suck and sometimes the people there lose their personability. They do these things all day every day and sometimes they suck.
With my sons we’ve had some wonderful staff and some horrid ones. Made me smile a bit when your brother let them have it.
You are awesome to be there and I’m so glad that this was able to happen some place close enough for you to be able to be there.
I’m coming to this thread very late and reading it in its entirety has brought me to tears more than once. Tyler sounds like an amazing kid with an especially amazing family. I can’t even imagine how hard this must be for all of you.
Please know that there is someone else here among the many that are rooting for you and keeping you in their thoughts. Wishing you all strength, patience, and courage.
Hey, we’ve got some good fucking news! 'Bout time, I might add. The doctors said yesterday that the leak is gone. No timetable on Tyler coming home, but without any other complications I expect he could be back in a week. I showed my mother the tattoo to celebrate, and she took it better than I thought she would. She seemed mildly amused. I played Tyler’s bass for a while - I brought it in Saturday, my dad’s suggestion, but Tyler isn’t up to playing it yet - and we watched a few episodes of the Simpsons.
So yesterday was a very good day for all of us. I don’t know what’s happening next, and Tyler certainly has a lot ahead of him - even if he’s home next week, he’ll need physical therapy, plus the operations, radiation and tutoring so he can finish the ninth grade. But it’s such a relief to make some progress again after weeks of going nowhere.
Son of a bitch, that kid has been dealt a hard hand. Glad to hear about the good news. He sounds as strong as a bag of hammers. You can tell him I said so.
That’s great. What good news.
Jim
Hot damn!
Yay!
So glad to hear it! Keep us updated.
Wooohoooo!
out-fricken-standing! You needed some good news! Please keep us posted on his progress. Here’s to a quick recovery! <raises glass>
Wonderful news!
Well, they finally did it. They made my mom cry.
I can remember two times in my life when she cried. Once was during some inconsequential fight at dinner with my aunt and uncle, I’m sure she wouldn’t remember it now. The other time came when I was rejected by a college we thought was one of my safety schools. That’s it.
My mom was crying when she called me today and said Tyler had had a tracheostomy. They were supposed to take the packing - blocking and little strings that made him look like he was wearing a bad Dali mustache - out of his nose today, but they couldn’t get the breathing tube in his mouth. His oxygen levels were getting dangerously low, and they found a large chunk of mucus above one of his lungs. They removed it and had to put a breathing tube in his throat. He won’t be able to talk for five days, and then they’ll put a different tube in. He’ll be able to speak when they do that, but the other tube will be in for a month - and he may have to stay in the hospital that whole time. His blood pressure is still too high, and they’ll do a contrast dye test to make sure the leak is finally stopped. Tyler’s hands did seem a little stronger from the putty he’s been squeezing.
Today was a turning point, at least for her. Things were looking up. Today, ‘fate’ ran out of ideas, and went from being frightening to being just plain cruel. A boy who can’t really shake his head yes or no can’t speak either.
My dad finally shared something about size of the tumor, which I’d never heard. My mother may not want to know. He said it was “the size of a small hockey puck,” about an inch deep. What we’re both worrying about, at this point, is keeping Tyler motivated to recover. You get the sense he wants to wait this out or something, and he really can’t do that. And at this rate, I don’t think he’d get done with radiation until June or so. That won’t give him much of a summer, and I wonder if it would be hard for him to start 10th grade on time.
I’m so so sorry to hear that, Marley. Gah.
I’m grateful for the update. I wish I could help you. I wish I could help Tyler.
Damn, Marley. Just … damn.
Your whole family is in my thoughts and prayers.