Tyson's Page

Ridgeview Women

Tyson's Page

BY THE GRACE OF GOD

ROUND 4 OF CHEMO STARTED

ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3rd

THE PURPOSE of this page is to keep all who are praying for Tyson and his family informed of his progress and to give specific prayer requests, in keeping with the scripture that says:

"He called his twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness." Matt 10:1

If you cannot find the specific information you are looking for, or would like to be added to the list to receive updates by email, please send your question/request to ridgeviewwomen@earthlink.net

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!

Click here to email your request to be added to or removed from our email list. Please type "Add to Tyson's list" or "Remove from Tyson's list" in the subject line.

Something physical we can do to supplement the prayers:

The meals for Jeremy & Summer have been WONDERFUL and they SO APPRECIATE YOUR LOVE AND GREAT FOOD!!! It has made their lives easier at this time. I am now looking at the month of October on Tue. & Thur.. Please let me know if you would like to take a day. It can be brought to school and left in the frig. with their name on it. Thanks!!!! (Click here for more information on providing meals) Peg

UPDATES AND EMAILS ABOUT TYSON'S PROGRESS/CONDITION

Email Update from Summer 6:30pm Friday, October 3rd

KEEP PRAYING -THE MIRACLES KEEP COMING

Yesterday, Tyson and I came to Washington for his first consult since surgery. The Nurse Practitioner told us she had not seen the MRI but Dr. McDonald (Oncologist) had and that he was very pleased with the result of the surgery. We also ran into our Social Worker - she attends all meetings about Tyson with the Dr team - and she was very excited about being tumor free.

Are you ready for the miracle - There is a national shortage on one of Tyson's next chemo's. Dr. McDonald said patients are literally lining up waiting for there dose. Tyson's dose is at the hospital with his name on it. - GOD IS GOOD

There was a small concern with Tyson's head (he has a sore from surgery) not being completely healed, but Dr, McDonald's words were the following "We are lined up for a knock-out punch on this one and we do not want to do anything to harm that". We are going forward with chemo and we will deal with the sore. You have to understand the impact of this statement. Dr. McDonald is not at all pessimistic, but he is very reserved in the choice or words he uses. For him to say this made me want to jump for joy!!!

They still have not given us any indication of what will come after these next 3 rounds of chemo. They mentioned probably needing radiation in the very beginning, but since then pretty much take things one step at a time. The step right now is getting through rounds 4-6.

We started round 4 about 1 hour ago. I am at the hospital and Jeremy's sister Emily is with me. The chemo that he will get later tonight is the one that will come through his skin. This will start happening by about 8pm. We are scheduled to take a bath every 4 hours and are just going to try to wash him down every 2 hour is between baths. Hopefully this will be enough. If this chemo starts to irritate his skin it could cause chemical burns so we have to be very pro-active. We will have to follow this schedule for the next 48 hours.

The wound nurse came to look at this head and check on his bottom. She said we have about 7 days to get his head cleared before his counts drop and there is fear of infection. I love exact time frames because it tells us all exactly what to pray. It also makes it very clear when our prayers are answered.

They are saying right now that he is scheduled for his stem cell harvest on Monday at 1:00pm and should be done by 4:00 and we will come home. This is still slightly unbelievable to me. After we are home we will have to come back if he gets a fever, but if no fever, we will be home 17 days - that would be GREAT!!!

It was so good to be home for these last few weeks. To see Tyson get so healthy and even start crawling was what we needed to see. To know that when this is over, he will be our Tyson. In some ways it makes it harder to come back and start again, but I told a nurse this morning "It won't be over if we don't start"

Thank you so much for your prayers, I can not tell you how much I believe that Tyson is with us today because of your prayers. Recently I have found myself asking the question "Why Tyson". Not, "why did he get this, but why is he doing so well." "Why Tyson" I sometimes feel guilt that he is doing good and then I remind myself - that is what prayer does!!! I should not feel guilt for getting what we are asking for - God just says to ask. So thank you so much for asking!!!

Specific prayer:

-Pray that his head heals in the next 7 days
-Pray for no chemical burns during chemo
-Pray for Tyson and us over the next 48 hours - it will be exhausting.
-Pray for Jeremy not being able to be with us
-Pray for our patience as we wait for future plans - I know they will tell us as soon as they feel confident in them
-As Tyson's counts fall, pray that he continues to eat and stay physical, the therapist here is going to try to stay on top of things since he started crawling - she doesn't want to see him digress.
-Pray for continued healing - the cells have to be completely gone.

UPDATE from Peg R. October 2nd, 3:30PM

As of this moment - Tyson, Summer and Sandy are on their way back from DC. The Dr. was pleased and the plan is to go ahead and start chemo tomorrow, Friday, October 3rd, 2008.

Summer and Jeremy will be going back on Fri. Continue to pray for ALL the family and their safety.

Peg

Email Upddate from Summer

Saturday, September 26, 2008 10:50:23 PM

I can't believe Tyson's birthday came and went and I have not even been able to thank you. Your prayers got him to this special day and I am thrilled that so many of you will be a part of it with the cards you have sent. We are actually not celebrating until tomorrow (Saturday) because we could not do Kaylynn's party until tonight - she knew her birthday was first. So tomorrow we will officially celebrate. With that, let me officially say "thank you for your prayers"

It is hard to believe Tyson had his 2nd brain surgery just last week. He is doing well and we are thrilled to have so much time together right now. The biggest problem we are facing with Tyson at home is that he is jealous of sharing his time. We have to remind ourselves that he has been used to having one of us give him our undivided attention pretty much since June. He is not used to sharing that time and has shown a little attitude since we have been home if we try to do something with the other kids. We are praying really hard that he will begin crawling soon, we think
being a little more mobile will help with this problem.

On that note, before we left the hospital, Tyson did get to see the Therapist. He said that his conversational skills and his fine-motor skills are right on schedule, if not advanced, for his age. He also said that he believes his not crawling is just a product of his environment and that it will pick up quickly once he has more strength and time. This is how we felt, but it was definitely good to hear it from a professional.

We have not been able to see an Optometrist since surgery, this is one thing that makes me nervous right now. He shows some signs of vision lost and I am anxious to have someone check that out.

We have heard from Washington and are scheduled to return on Thursday to have his check up and will then begin round 4 either Friday or the Monday after. The Oncologist likes to wait 2 weeks from surgery until he starts chemo. They also have to coordinate these next 3 rounds with the stem cell team. These are the rounds were Tyson will have to have a bath every 2 hours, but should be able to be home more. His time at home will definitely make me more nervous than the last few rounds because he will be home as his counts fall. Once they are low, he may end up back in the hospital, but we are used to being there 18 days at a time so anything less than that will be a blessing.

We are not sure what is in store for us after the next 3 rounds. Having the tumor gone will definitely be helpful!!! In the beginning, the Oncologist told us that his type of tumor usually requires radiation to reduce the chance of it returning. They will not do radiation (unless it is immediately necessary) until he is over 3. We may do at-home low dose chemo until he is old enough for radiation, we are just not sure. Hopefully, they will be able to tell us a more long-term game plan very soon.

Knowing that the tumor is gone is huge peace of mind, but we also understand that we still have a long road ahead of us and that this is something we will deal with for years to come. We also know that just getting this far is a miracle and we are so thankful already for what God has given us. Tyson has a big future ahead of him, and I truly believe there is a special plan in his future.

In the months of his life when I should be teaching him how to walk and crawl, he has taught me much more important things. He has taught me to pray, he has taught me to understand the peace that passes all understanding, I have a deeper understand of how God cares even about the small details of our lives and that even someone who can't even crawl can have such an impact for God. Through this I have had to go outside of my comfort zone and my 'normal' circle and talk and reach out to people on a daily basis. If someone so little can do so much for so many, think of
what we could do if we were as dependent on God as a baby is dependent on his father and mother. I guess that is something we all need to think about.

Thank you again for all of the birthday wishes, cards, and prayers. Also, to all of the nurses and doctors at UVA that are keeping up with Tyson, let me say THANK YOU, you have been a blessing to us and have helped get us to this point, we would not be celebrating this day without you.

Summer

Specific prayer requests:
    -Pray that Tyson continues to gain weight and strength while he is home, he will need it going into the next rounds.
    -Pray that he will begin crawling soon
    -Pray for his vision
    -During surgery, the strap for his head did cause a bad sore on his head, please pray that this heals before we start chemo.
    -Pray that the next round of chemo will stay on track and be able to begin next week.
    -PRAISE HIM for the good results so far!!!!

UPDATE ON HUNTER:
Hunter had surgery yesterday. I talked to his mom tonight and Hunter is also officially tumor free!!! His surgery went great and he may go home tomorrow. His plan is to begin round 4 of chemo about 1 week after us. Praise the Lord, He has done another miracle.

BUBBY and COREY:
To everyone keeping up with Bubby and Corey.

Corey (he is the one that could not have his tumor removed) had his MRI after round 3 and the tumor had shrunk from 18 centimeters to 5 centimeters. The tumors on his spine have shrunk considerably. He has already started round 4.

Bubby (he is the one whose tumor kept growing during the first 3 rounds) had his 2nd surgery and they could not get all of the tumor. He will begin full brain and spinal radiation very soon. The doctors are telling his mom it is his only chance. Since they can not do focal radiation, the have to do full, he will probably need to re-learn almost everything (he is 2 1/2).

God is listening and is answering prayers for Tyson daily with a resounding yes.

Tyson was moved from the PICU to a regular hospital room on Friday, 24 hours after the second brain surgery!!! PRAISE GOD for HE is GOOD! Pastor Don showed a video of Tyson in Sunday service, and he was smiling and wriggling and reaching out. If it wasn't for the bandages and hospital bed, you would never have guessed what has happened to him!

Assuming he continues to do well, he is expected to be released to go home Monday or Tuesday.

Thanks so much for your prayers.

OUT OF SURGERY!! GOD IS SO GOOD!

From Summer, Thursday, September 18th at 10:30pm

So many prayers answered I do not think I can count them all!!!

Tyson is doing very well. He is in the PICU and will be there for a few days. His air tube came out very easily with no problems like last time. For the next day or so, they will attempt to keep his pain under control and he will be asleep most of the time. He has not opened his eyes yet, but he is moving quit a bit. His left arm and leg are both moving, which shows that they were not bothered in this surgery like last time.

Dr Jane said that this surgery was much easier than the last and that he handled things wonderfully. There was a lot less bleeding (this was a specific thing we prayed for) and no complications. The cavity was completely open like he expected and he did not have to go through any good brain tissue to get to the tumor. He said that most of the tumor was under the surface but there was a little piece sticking out and he was able to see it right away (this is the piece we prayed for specifically). The preliminary pathology report shows that is was tumor that was removed and Dr Jane does believe he got it all. He has called for a MRI to be scheduled before we leave just to make sure. He said that while he was in there, he looked around the cavity to see if there was any other concerns. He saw no sign of any other tumor pieces. Can I officially say we are TUMOR FREE, or do I need to wait for the MRI??? I guess we should wait from a medical standpoint, but from a faith standpoint I think we know that answer.

He does look a lot stronger than he did after the last surgery, but it will be a tough few days. It is hard to see your baby have to be kept sleeping just so he is out of pain. Considering everything, the family had a good day. God's peace is amazing. I think the difference this time is that we knew the magnitude of God's peace going in. That may be hard to understand, but I have been told so many times "I do not see how you are doing it." When it all first happened, I did not know how I would do it either until I relied on God's peace. And what I have come to understand, by experience, is that God doesn't give out peace to be stored up, He gives it when it is needed in the amount that it is needed. Today, I understood that on a new level. I had more peace going in knowing that if something were to go wrong today, an extra blessing of peace would have been given.

The great thing about God's peace is that the peace that got me through today is the same peace that will get you through your day - no matter what you are facing. You just have to rely on it.

Specific Prayers:

-The final 24 hours after surgery are always a concern - pray that Tyson stays strong.

-Pray for the results of the MRI - that it shows what the surgeon believes to be true.

-Pray that Tyson heals quickly and comes home early next week.

-Pray that chemo can stay on schedule and we can just keep moving forward.

Update on Hunter:

He reported to the hospital today for surgery tomorrow but his counts were not high enough for surgery. They

are having trouble getting his white blood counts back to where they should be. At this point they have postponed until next Thursday, but his counts have to be high. Please pray that his counts come back strong this week

Also, Hunter's mom was able to see Bubby's mom today in Washington. Bubby will start a 35 day radiation treatment at UVA in 2 weeks. Because his tumor did not respond to chemo, he will have to have full brain radiation and spinal radiation. The doctor's have told his family that he will most likely need to re-learn everything once it is all over. Please pray for this family as they start this new step in their plan.

SURGERY HAS BEEN COMPLETED -- PRAISES TO OUR GOD WHO IS WORKING MIRACLES IN RESPONSE TO OUR PRAYERS

Emails from Peg R

Thursday, Sept 18th at 3:20pm

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!! THE DR. FEELS HE GOT ALL OF THE TUMOR -- "EASY SURGERY"!! (HOW EASY IS BRAIN SURGERY)??? went in at 12:30 out by 3:15. PRAY FOR ALL - THEY ARE JUST SO EXCITED AND EXHAUSTED.

Thursday, Sept 18th at 11:15am

Pastor just called (11:15) - they have taken Tyson downstairs to prep for surgery - they said by 11:45-12 they should be started - please continue to pray

Thursday, Sept 18th at 9am

Morning: All is well with Tyson - the surgery 'MIGHT' be earlier than noon???????????????

Please continue to pray for all of them and BOTH DRs. Jane - both will be in the operating room due to Jr. going out of town this Sat. I will let you know when I hear something.

From Summer Wednesday, Sept 17th at 12:30am

Well, we got another prayer answered. GOD IS GOOD!!! We are defiantly going to surgery. If you have not

already heard, surgery was moved to Thursday.

Our tentative schedule right now is the following:

Wednesday - Admitted to UVA, MRI done to get exact measurements and location (this will be under anesthesia)

Thursday - Surgery at around noon

Monday or Tuesday - hopefully home from surgery if everything goes well

The next Monday - Begin round 4 at Children's

If we are able to stick with this schedule, we will start round 4 in the normal time period but will be going into it with no tumor.

Dr. Jane was very pleased with how Tyson was doing, in his words, "Children are not suppose to thrive on chemo". He thinks he is doing great.

When it comes to surgery, his only concern is that the tumor will not be sticking out. He said if he can not determine for sure that it is the tumor that he sees, he will not take any risks. The MRI shows at one angle that the tumor is definitely sticking out and another angle shows it is flat with the good brain. He said he prays it is evident when he gets in there.

He believes there is no brain tissue that he will need to go through to get to the tumor and that it should be a much easier surgery than the first one. He also believes that the small things showing up on the MRI are not tumor pieces. He did tell us what he thought they were, but even if I could remember the word, I could not spell it. And for everyone who is wondering, he will go through the exact same place on his head.

There were 2 things with a second surgery that could always be a risk.

1) Due to healing of the first surgery, there could be increased bleeding. He said just being aware of when this could happen decreases the risk of problems.

2) There could be a problem with the skull healing for the 2nd time. This is something that could take up to 3 years to know, and a simple surgery could fix later. We are just going to pray hard for healing on Thursday and trust God to take care of that for the next few years.

I know that as the hour approaches for surgery, I will get more and more anxious. I truly believe this is the next step in God's plan for Tyson. It is his best chance of getting this thing, and is one step closer to the end of our planned treatment. We are excited to be closer to home at least for the next week. I know that we are going to have so many prayer for us over the next few days and that God's peace is going to continue. But I also remember the feeling of seeing Tyson right after surgery. It is going to be a hard few days. I know that Tyson is strong and I believe he is stronger that anyone thought he would be at this time. I attribute that to your prayers. He is already our miracle, but I believe there is so much more to come.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Specific prayer requests:

-The MRI on Wednesday, pray that he handles the anesthesia well and that they get the measurements

they need.

-Pray that the tumor is sticking out!!!

-Pray for limited bleeding and that his skull heals properly again

-Pray for the surgeon and his team

-Pray that all of the tumor comes out

-Continue to Pray that they get Tyson's counts where they need to be to stay on schedule

-Pray for peace in the next few days. Actually, the peace will be there, pray that we rely on that peace

-Pray for the kids, it will be easier on them to be so close, but Jeremy and I will both be gone a few nights

-Pray for the family that is not able to be here. Jared and the boys are staying in Columbus due to work

and due to situations in Texas, Jeremy's family will not be able to be here. I know this will be harder on them than we can imagine.

Update on Hunter:

Hunter had his consult today and will be having surgery on Friday in Washington. His tumor is slightly bigger than Tyson's and is surrounded by good cells, but his surgeon is very confident that this is easy surgery and he will be fine. Hopefully, both of the boys will bounce back quickly and we will be able to continue on a similar schedules. Please pray as much for Hunter this week as you do for Tyson.

Next Step for Tyson

Here is a new and exciting development in Tyson's battle with cancer.....

Email from Summer - Sunday, September 14th at 10pm

By late afternoon Friday we had settled in to the fact that we were starting round 4 of chemo on Monday. We were fine with this knowing that we were right on track with the plan. Until, we got a call from our surgeon, Dr Jane, Jr., at UVA. We are scheduled to have a consultation with him on Tuesday and are heading in the direction of surgery now. They have actually booked the operating room for Friday!

We are not quite sure of the purpose of the consult. Is it to just explain things? Is it to ask us what we want to do? Obviously my prayer is just like before (which was answered!!!) we do not want to choose the plan, we want the plan just told to us. We are hoping Tuesday is just for information and we will go to surgery on Friday.

I have said a few times, "I think it is crazy that I am excited about brain surgery, but I am." The understanding from the oncologist is that taking out the remainder of the tumor, would be great for going into the last 3 rounds. If everything goes well, we could be tumor free in 5 days!!!

The surgeon did say there was a small concern (he did preface this with it is his job to worry and be concerned) - since the tumor is so small it may be hard to see when he gets in there. I was joking with someone in church this morning and said I think we should all pray that it will be hot pink so there will be no question. (For any teenagers or youth workers who may get this - LOL) I am sure he will explain his concern in more detail on Tuesday, and I will try to relay that as best as I possibly can.

We think that if everything is a go after Tuesday, they will probably admit Tyson on Wednesday or Thursday to get him ready. He has trouble with his platelet counts during chemo ands this is what makes your blood clot. They will want to make sure those numbers are stable before Friday.

Specific prayer requests:

-Pray for Tuesday. 1) Clear direction when we get there, 2) Peace with the decision, 3) That we ask the right questions while we are there

-Pray for Tyson's platelet counts to be where they need to be

-Pray that in surgery, the tumor is very apparent

-Pray for family as they begin traveling this way mid week

From Summer - Tuesday, September 9th at 11pm

UPDATE ON NEW MRI

PRAISE THE LORD!!!

It was such a relief to hear that the news was good. The doctor came in this afternoon and was very pleased with what was going on.

He said "the tumor is responding to treatment" in the middle of all the explanation, this is the bottom line - it is responding.

We were able to see the MRI's side by side as he explained and even we could see a size difference. The tumor before was very light is color and has very "fuzzy" edges (this is the best way I can describe it). The new MRI showed that the tumor was brighter in color and had a more definite, smooth shape. The doctor explained that this shows that the tumor is bleeding into itself and hemorrhaging which means it is dying. This is exactly what we want to happen and he was pleased that he could already see that progress.

He said that when the tumor does die it will become a hard mass that would need to be removed to increase the chance of it not growing back. The plan is to do the surgery again after round 6; but..... they are going to talk to the neuro-surgeons this week to see if they want to go ahead and take it out now before the 4th round of treatment. This would mean surgery in the very near future. If it does not happen now it will happen later and that will keep us on track with treatment, but if it could be taken out now, it would be great!

He said that the surgery would be pretty easy because the cavity where the tumor was originally is still open and they would not have to go through good cells to get to the tumor.

The question right now is that there are a few small areas that they are not sure of -- it could be bits of tumor, or scar tissue, or just blood. If they are not sure what it is they will wait to do the surgery. Either way, the news today is good and our prayers are being answered!!

Also, his spinal MRI was completely clear and they did not even feel the need to do a spinal tap.

I am not sure if I explained all of that very well. As I said earlier, in the end "the tumor is responding to treatment" and that is what matters.!

Specific prayers:

-Pray for Tyson's counts to come up quickly. He could come home Wednesday or Thursday. He also needs to be strong for whatever comes next.

-Pray for the surgeons as they review the MRI and make a decision on the best plan for Tyson

-If there is no surgery right now, he could start round 4 on Monday. This starts the high dose, so we will be learning again

-Pray for our family as we are apart more right now than together. The good news is, we hear that the next 3 rounds will allow us to be home more

-Pray for us as we prepare ourselves for surgery (whether now or later). It will be easier but it is still brain surgery.

-Pray for God's continued peace as we continue on one day at a time

Update on Hunter:

Hunter's MRI showed that the tumor was smaller but still there. He will have to have surgery again before he starts the next round. This is the one thing his parents did not want to do. Please pray for peace for them as they wait to know the date.

Update and Prayer Request from Summer - Monday, September 8th at 5pm

As I write this I am sitting in the MRI waiting room. Tyson has been in his MRI for almost an hour now. He should be there about 30 more minutes. Right now we are praying that the sedation and the MRI goes well and he wakes up quickly.

We will not get any results of the MRI until tomorrow. For some reason being a radiologist is a 9 - 5 job and they have to read things first. We are just planning to have a wonderful night just the 3 of us.

Tyson is doing great today. His counts are still low but we believe they are on the way up. He has not had a fever since 5:00pm yesterday (Sunday) which means as long as he has no more fevers he can come home as soon as his counts are at 250. He is happy and his mouth sores are doing well.

As for the MRI, obviosly we are nervous but we have been talking about perspective and I am calmer right now than I have been for days. Let me explain. In the beginning this is what the doctors told us to expect:

"His tumor normally takes chemo and radiation to get rid of. The best plan of action is to have 6 rounds of chemo to stop the tumor from growing and kill all the tumor and cancer cells. After that we would do low dose chemo to maintain and keep it from growing until he was old enough to safely have radiation."

As much as I would love for them to say that his tumor is gone. I have to remember that as long as it is not bigger, we are right on track. Even being the same size would be an answer to prayer.

Even as I type that my stomach does a flip. I want this ordeal to be over so bad, but I am constantly reminded that God is in control. HE ALREADY KNOWS WHAT THE MRI SAYS!!! And that is exciting. The One running the show knows the outcome. He has prepared us and given us peace so far, he is not going to stop now.

Please don't get me wrong - praying for a miracle is what I am still doing, but I can not be disappointed by being on track with the treatment plan. God gave us doctors for a reason.

Continue to pray for Tyson's strength and for us as we wait. I will let you know the outcome.

Summer

Update from Summer - Wednesday, September 3rd at 5pm

OK, in my last update, I asked you to pray for Tyson's bottom. He was getting the chemo that caused his diaper rash and the doctors were worried it would get much worse and were actually preparing for infection. Well, I don't know how many prayers went up, but I am sure God heard more about Tyson's bottom than He ever wanted to. HIS BOTTOM IS GREAT. It is actually better than when we got here and it was not affected by the new round of chemo. His white blood counts were able to stay up longer and fight any problems he may have had. Just another small request that has been answered because of our prayers together. Thank you!!!

We have been waiting for his chemo to clear and it happened to clear this morning (one day earlier than normal) which is great. But, last night his blood pressure dropped a little low. Today he needs a blood tranfusion and so they want to go ahead and keep him one more night to keep an eye on things before we go home. Normally, by the time his chemo clears he is already running fevers and we have to stay anyway, but no fever yet. Maybe we can get through the night with no fevers and come home for a few days. We will see.

He has definatly done so much better this round than the other 2 rounds. He seems stronger and like he is holding off the flu-like sickness longer. Tonight he will get a new shot that should help boost his number. We are praying that we can get through this next week quickly. The next few days are when he is the weakest. The great things are 1) his bottom is good, 2) he does not have mouth sores yet (last round at this point he was already on morphine because they were so bad, 3) he is still eating - this is definatly helping keep him strong.

Today is day 10 in this round. Normally by day 18, his numbers have come back up and he is back to his normal self. We have 8 days to go!!!

They have not yet given us a date for the MRI. It has to be in the next 11 days. I will let you know as soon as we know. We have been talking to nureses and other families on the possibilities that are to come but are always quickly reminded that everyone is different. We just have to wait for the MRI results to get our plan of action. We are just praying to be able to go straight into the next 3 rounds
of chemo.

Just keep praying, this MRI will be huge.

Specific requests:
-Pray for the results of the MRI and for us as we wait for those results
-Pray for his bottom to continue to do well as his numbers fall and for his mouth to stay free of sores
-Pray that he can go without fevers so we can go home a few days earlier
-Continue to pray for Carson & Kaylynn. The routine of school seems to be helping them cope with things a little better
-Pray for our friend Bubby - he has to go back yo UVA on Friday for a secound surgery because his tumor has grown
-Just keep praying that this last round of chemo sinks into the tumor and finishes the job!!!

Thank you for your prayers

Update on Hunter:
He has had a very good third round. His counts began coming up today and he should go home by the weekend. His MRI, spinal MRI, and spinal tap are on Monday, the 8th. This will determine if he can go straight for the next round or if he needs surgery to remove the last little piece before they move on. Pray that his last round has also finished the job.

Update from Summer - Thursday, August 28th at 10:30pm

Well, The first 3 rounds of chemo are OVER!!!!. He got his last dose tonight. Obviously, this round is not officially over until he is home and his counts are up, but we are just excited that those chemos are over and we are half way done.

The chemo he got today is defiantly the one that affects him the most. It caused the mouth sores and the diaper rash. The nurses have been working very hard the last few days to take every precaution to keep these things from happening. All we can do is pray hard. I find it funny that I am asking people to pray for Tyson's bottom, but God cares about what we care about. So we will all care together and hope this next week is better than last time.

Obviously we are getting more and more anxious about the upcoming MRI. Please continue to pray for peace as we build up to that and keep praying for the miracle that I know you have been praying for. The Doctors are very optimistic and still say he is handling things very well.

Carson, Kaylynn, and I are leaving tomorrow to head to Washington to all spend the holiday weekend together. Mom, Dad, Miyah, Graycee, Chyloe, Keegan, Reese, and Tyler will all be there for at least some of the weekend. We are very excited to just all be together. The hospital has a beautiful apartment for families of patients and we are all getting to stay there together. On Monday, I am planning to stay at the hospital and mom is staying with me.

Specific prayer request:

-Pray for travel for the family as we all come together.

-Pray for Carson & Kaylynn. Carson has had a few rough moments over the past few days. He cried in my arms yesterday and said "I just want my daddy to give me a big hug."

-Pray for Tyson's strength. Other patients have noted that round #3 tends to be the easiest of the first 3 - we would love to have that

-PRAY FOR THE MRI!!!

-Pray for our friendships with those that are going through this at the same time - let them see God's love, grace, and peace in us.

Update on Hunter

Hunter is now 3 days ahead of us. He is finished with his first 3 rounds and is waiting for the chemo to clear in hopes of going home. Jeremy said even still today he was riding his new bike in the hall at the hospital with his brother. His 3rd round is going much better than the first 2 (please pray that this continues). He will also have another MRI before round 4. Pray that progress on the tumor has continued.

Email from Peg R - Tuesday, August 26th around 8pm.

Hi Dear Friends:

As of this afternoon about 3 Tyson was doing great. It will be about 4:30 and they will do another treatment. This morning he was "tooling" around the halls in his hot rod walker!!!! Just having a great time spinning his wheels!!! Mr. Personality was flirting with all the girls!!! Continue to pray that this goes well and the MRI has good results Jeremy and his sweet Mom are there with him now and Summer will switch this weekend.

Monday, August 25th

Today Jeremy and his Mom drove Tyson back to DC to start the third round of chemo. All have been able to get a little rest while they were at home together, and are ready to get another treatment behind them. Be in prayer for all the items Summer outlined in her email last Thursday.

Tuesday, August 19th, 11pm - Update From Summer:

Tuesday Update

Well...today all our plans got turned up-side-down. I guess I was planning a little too much. Tyson and Jeremy left this morning to start round #3. He had a hearing test this morning with plans to start chemo tonight. He woke up during the hearing test so they did not get to finish and his counts had dropped back down and were too low to start the next round. In the end, they are back at home tonight. As excited as were are to be back together, there are obviously mixed emotions. Th e Dr. assures us that if a child has to push back chemo for a week or so, it does not affect the outcome. All we can do is trust his judgement. He is saying that Tyson's counts do show that they are on the uprise, but they are coming up slowly. He says it is very normal for this to happen.

Our plan right now is have his blood-work re-done on Friday in hopes that it is on the rapid increase and plan to be back in Washington on Monday to start.

Specific prayer requests:

-Just pray for us in dealing with the change in the chemo schedule. I know God is in control and He knows that Tyson just needed a little more time.

-Pray for our plans with schedules. Jeremy's mother flew in today to help with treatment and we are all at home. We now have to get our next 3 weeks schedules re-adjusted.

-Pray for Carson as he starts Kindergarten next Monday. We were planning on Jeremy and I to both be here that first day and that can not happen now.

-Pray for this 3rd round. Rounds 4-6 are different chemos, so we only have this set 1 more time. One of the medicines he gets has all of the bad side effects (mouth sores, rash). He only has to get it 1 more time. Pray that he comes through that strong.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Summer

Friday, August 15th, 4pm

Tyson started home early this afternoon (Friday). They should be home by now. He is due back in DC to start the next round (#3) on Tuesday of next week. Praise the Lord for He is Good!

Pray for safety in travel, for peaceful sleep and good rest for everyone to prepare for the next phase.

Thursday, August 14th - 9:30am

Jeremy was at church last night; he was to return to DC to trade with Summer after church. He said Tyson is beginning to improve slowly. His white count is up to 500, and he is beginning to eat and talk. The sores in his mouth and on his bottom are healing. With God's grace, he will be able to come home soon -- they are praying for the weekend.

Let's all pray with them!!!

The "single parent" thing is difficult and is wearing on everyone.

Monday Afternoon: from Summer per Peg R - 1:10pm

Not much really new - last night was a better night - still a low grade fever and still fighting sores in his mouth and bottom - on morphine but it causes itching!!!!

His numbers are going back up !!! Just pray for them all - I don't know if discouraged is the word -----but frustrated!!!!

Morning Service, Sunday August 10th

Pastor Don said Summer and Sandy went to DC on Sunday to spend some time with Tyson. On Saturday they had put him on a fluid IV but he was unable to sleep because of the board used to keep it in place; when the board was removed and he was left to sleep, he pulled out the IV, causing some concern. But everythng is continuing as well as can be expected. Let's ask God to put his hand on this and get Tyson in shape to be home with the family at the earliest possible time.

From Summer - Friday evening, 6pm

Well, we had the changing of the guards. On Wednesday, Jeremy headed to Washington to be with Tyson for the rest of this stay. When I left we was doing pretty well. He handled Chemo even better this round (which is exactly opposite of what should happen). He was his normal happy self most of the time. The only problem he is having is that he has a terrible diaper rash. He has very sensitive skin and through the diaper is how he gets this chemo out of his body - so that has caused a big problem. Yesterday, an open wound specialist was called on board to try a few different things to try to get things healed. Because of the pain and discomfort he has been on Tylenol, but because his white blood counts (called ANC) is below 500 he can no longer have Tylenol. So, today they started him on Morphine. This sounds bad but it is just the first medicine they can give him that does not cover up a fever (they have to know if he gets a fever).

He has gotten a fever the last 2 nights, but cultures are not showing any problems and we believe, like last time, it is just him getting hot in the night. But, this will now cause him to be in the hospital for at least 48 hours after the last fever AND his ANC must go back up to 500. This morning it is 0. As much as we want him home, right now he is probably in the safest place possible (In his daddy's arms getting ready to watch the Olympics).

As much as it is hard to see him in pain - My 10 month old is going through chemo and all that he is dealing with is a diaper rash - GOD IS GOOD.

They have moved his MRI to after his 3rd chemo treatment. We believe this to be a good thing not a bad thing, even though we are axious.

Specific prayers

-Pray for Jeremy as he is there alone this week

-Pray for Tyson's rash to heal quickly and his ANC to raise quickly so he can come home (If he can get home by Tuesday he will be home 1 week before round #3)

-Pray that it is working - for the MRI. Four boys, under the age of 5, are on the hall right now with brain tumors. 2 have had the 2nd MRI and 1 has had the 2nd spinal tap and all have shown great progress. We are the only ones that do not know anything yet.

-Pray for Carson and Kaylynn - school will start soon and hopefully that will bring a more normal routine to their little lives.

-Starting with treatment #4 he will be getting all high dose Chemo's. One of the chemos clears the body by coming through the skin. This could really cause Tyson problems because his skin is so sensitive. They are telling us he will have to have a bath every 2 hours consistently until the chemo clears. This will be hard on us and him.

Thank you for your prayers - please continue - God is good

Update on Hunter - the boy in the next room:

Thank you for adding Hunter to so many of your prayer list. This past chemo treatment, he has a traumatic event. A nurse that hooked up his chemo did not check the line as well as she should have, because of this his chemo leaked on the floor during the night and did not go into his body. On top of that, once they found the problem, they did not continue the dose but just threw the remaining in the trash. Because of this, there was no way of knowing how much chemo he did get and so they could not give him an additional dose. Sandy (Hunter's mom) is obviously devastated. She keeps saying, if the chemo doesn't work, she will always wonder if is was because of this lost dose. PLease pray for healing in-spite of this loss - God doesn't need the chemo to heal. Hunter has defiantly had struggling times but they got a good report this week. His first Spinal Tap showed A-typical cells, meaning not cancer cells on the spine but not normal cells. Tyson has the same cells, so they gave him a dose of chemo straight into his spine in hopes of getting rid of them. They did a 2nd spinal tap on Hunter this week to see if they should do the same spinal chemo and his a-typical cells were completly gone. Whatever they were - they are gone. Hunter's 2nd MRI is scheduled for the 15th of August to check the tumor size - please pray it is smaller.

Tuesday, August 5th, 9am

email from Peg R

Just talked to Summer - things are going fine and non eventful, which is GOOD. He has a severe rash on his bottom that hurts really bad and it is making him cranky!! Other than that he is doing well. They are just waiting for the chemo to pass on through.

Love Peg

Saturday, August 2nd from Summer

Good Morning Prayer Warriors:

The latest from Summer is brief; Tyson had his last treatment for this series yesterday and at that time was doing the same as last time. Pray that he continues to do well. Specifically, that the chemo will be quickly flushed from his system and that his white count makes a fast recovery.

This means he is 1/3 of the way through the chemo. Praise the Lord!! Keep lifting up the whole family for this long haul they are facing.

Wednesday, July 29th, 6:06pm - email from Summer

Tyson is currently sleeping and I am getting out of that room for at least a few minutes.

We got back to DC on Monday for a hearing test - due to some miscommunication, it had to be moved to Tuesday. This left Tyson and me spending the day in DC together. It was nice for us but disappointing to realize we could have had one more day together as a family.

Chyloe flew in Monday night to keep us company for the week and we spent the night at the Ronald McDonald house which was wonderful. Tuesday morning, we checked in. Tyson had his hearing test and chemo had to be held off until the results were in. At 5:00, the doctor told us his hearing was great and we could start our next round of treatment at full strength. I never would have thought I would be so excited for my child to start chemo. It was started at 6:00, just 22 hours behind schedule. This is a praise considering there are others starting days late and, with hearing loss, not at full strength. God is keeping Tyson strong - he definitely has the best chance possible.

Today, he has followed with the same side affect as last time. It is odd how it is almost to the hour after chemo started that he is being affected (I have kept very good notes). The only difference today is that he seems very mad (strange for him - I know). Maybe he is just in battle mode.

His second day of chemo will start tonight. This means of the 12 days of low dose chemo - he will be half way done. The nurse practitioner did tell me that the MRI will most likely be near the end of this cycle and not necessarily this week. This means they are just giving it the longest chance possible to allow it to work.

The plan right now is that treatment will be tonight, Thursday, and Friday. After Friday, we will have to be here until the medicine clears his system. The estimate is Wednesday. At that point they will send us home. This is when his counts will have bottomed out and he will have no immune system. They do expect that, like last time, he will get a fever and end up back here. When he gets back, they will do his MRI. That was kind of depressing, but the fact that they can predict what will happen just helps me place more trust in them.

Just keep praying that things are working and that his little body will continue to stay strong and fight hard. Hopefully, we will know something more permanent soon, but the doctors are saying that from the outset, everything is going great for him.

Keep us in your prayers.

Summer

Saturday, July 26th

Tyson and the family were seen enjoying an outing to the Stuarts Draft "Sweet Dreams" Day at the town park. He was alert and smiling in his stroller, enjoying watching all the children on the rides. Jeremy and Summer looked relaxed and happy to be spending a day doing familiar activities with all their children. To God be the glory!!

Pray for success and few side effects from the next round of treatments that will begin on Monday, the 28th.

Thursday, July 24th, 9:30am - From Peg R

Summer went to DC to bring her big man and little man home!!! Kaylynn and Carson went with her and will get to see where Tyson has been.

His count is up to 19,000!!!!!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!

Pray that all will continue to be good and that they can enjoy their time home till next week when they start all over!!!

EXCITEMENT IS IN THE AIR!!

Please continue to pray for Hunter, the little boy in the room next to Tyson's!!!

Love Peg

We have such an awesome God -- Give Him all the glory -- He answers prayers!

LATEST UPDATE FROM SUMMER

Subject: Update from Summer

Date: Jul 21, 2008 11:55 PM

THANK YOU!, THANK YOU!, THANK YOU!

TO all of you involved with the yard sale (whether it was your donation, your baked
goods, or those of you who spent hours organizing) all I can say is THANK YOU!
I was completely overwhelmed by you love for our family. Knowing that so many of
Tyson's doctor bills will be taken care with just one day is such a blessing.

I am sorry it has been a while since I have responded personally. While in DC,
the only Internet is in a locked room outside of Tyson's ward. Obviously, we
only leave him for a few minutes while he is asleep; and since his chemo he only
wants to sleep in our laps. Needless to say, we are getting very acquainted with
the inside of that room.

Tyson did get to come home for a few hours but it was the first day that his white
blood cell count went to 0. This is completely normal and will happen every time,
but during this time, if he has the slightest temperature we have to be back at
the hospital. So, Thursday we headed back to DC. I was very disappointed but God
knows what He is doing. After getting to the hospital, they discovered his blood
pressure was very high (this is something we would not have known at home). High
blood pressure is also very normal and after ruling out any major problems with
a CT scan and an ultrasound, they have just put him on medicine until this whole
ordeal is over.

As of this morning (Monday), his counts are finally on their way up. They are hoping
to do a stem cell harvest near the middle of the week. This will help him during
his high dose chemo later when they can inject his own stem cells back.

The doctors assure me that everything we have seen happen over the last 2 weeks
is exactly what they expected to happen - all just 'normal' chemo side affects.
They say he has done very well. We could defiantly tell when his counts started
to go back up, because his personality began to come back. As of last night, he
is back to waving and laughing and flirting with the nurses. We are praying very
hard that he may come home for a few days before his next treatment starts next
week.

Specific prayer request:
-Continue to pray for Carson & Kaylynn - they are doing well, but we can see
signs that this is getting harder for them.
-Pray for the stem cell harvest will go well and quick - it could take 1 - 3 days
depending on his blood.
-Pray that his counts will come back quickly and with no fever
-Pray that we get to have him home for a day or two before we start this process
again
-Next week during his treatment they will do a new MRI - they are hoping this will
tell them if it is working - PLEASE PRAY THAT IT IS.
-Pray for Jeremy and I and the family as we all just wait for that result. That
will be a very important day.
-Pray for Hunter and his family - Hunter has experienced the exact same side affects
and his 2nd MRI will also be the same week as Tyson's.
-Satan is attacking all around (not just us - attacking those praying and supporting
us). Pray that we will all strengthen our faith and stand together knowing that
our God is an awesome God.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

UPDATE - JULY 21st from Peg R:
Tyson is still in DC - Jeremy went up last night and Summer came home this morning. His counts are coming back up - but slowly!!! This may push things forward some but the Dr. says as long as they are in a "10 day" zone they are ok! (whatever that all means - apparently they can change his chemo by some - but not by more than 10 days.) Have not heard anything more this afternoon.

His blood pressure is/was up but have not heard much about that. They did a CT of something? and an ultrasound of his kidney??????????????? the CT came back good? Not much new right now - just waiting on the count to come up to 250 and it was 50 this morning. - can not do another treatment until at least 250! very prone to infection right now!

They are just tired and Summer is trying to catch up here at school.

The yard sale went GREAT $5000.00!!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!! from whom all BLESSINGS flow!!!! IT WAS ONE GIANT YARD SALE!!!!! Very exciting.

LET'S PRAY FOR TYSON'S COUNT TO GET BACK UP SO THEY CAN PROCEED AND TRY TO GET THINGS BACK TO NORMAL!

Love Peg

A NEW CAMERA FOR THE WOODYS!!

You may remember that there was a request for funds to replace the Woody's camera and Peg and Laurie Day were collecting for it. The plan was to just give them the money and let them get what they preferred. God had different plans and we purchased one , possibly the same one they had stolen. We had it when Summer returned from DC on Wed. and she was so excited. GOD IS SOOOOOOO GOOD. We had money left over for the "Tyson fund"!!!! HOW EXCITING. GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD AND HE REIGNS FROM HEAVEN
ON HIGH!!!!!
Peg R

THIS IS A TIME FOR MEGA-PRAYERS

After arriving at AMC, Tyson and Summer were transported back to DC, where they are working to get his levels under control.

On Tuesday the blood cell counts were still running low, so the doctors held Tyson to let him get built up. Summer went home to get some things done at school and to spend some time with Carson and Kaylynn. Jeremy stayed with Tyson. On Wdnesday they released him to go home, but after a restless night for all, he started to run a fever, so they took him to AMC to be checked. This may result in returning to DC; but we know that we can petition our God, THE healer and ask for His help.

KEEP PRAYING!! and watch for further updates.

Lift up the entire family -- the children, Jeremy and Summer, the McClures, and all the extended Woody family. They all need strength and stamina, as well as God's peace and assurance.

TREATMENT BEGINS

Email from Summer

Friday, July 12th, 10:30pm

Please keep bathing our baby in prayer - God is working.

This morning Tyson was called the "magic baby" - I like to think of the word is "miracle" but whatever.

He is done with his regular 4 doses of treatment as of last night (Thursday). The doctors added one more dose directly onto his spine this morning for precaution since this tumor is so prone to spread down the spine. During the procedure they did do an additional Spinal Tap to make sure that was no change.

Dr Packer (Neuro-Oncologist) came in this morning. This is the first time we have spoken with him while Tyson was awake. His words were "I finally get to meet the infamous Tyson".

He said he was doing very well. And he was very pleased once he found out he already had the last dose of this treatment (the last dose is considered a high-dose). Jeremy asked him how he was doing overall - is the way he is acting and handling things "normal"?

This was his response:

With every child there are 2 things we have no control over and managing them are hit and miss.

1) How they react during the treatment week and

2) how does their immunsystem react in the 2 off weeks. He said when it comes to reacting to the treatment, regards to Tyson, "It does not get any better than this." Tyson has done great this first round.

Specific prayer requests

1. We can not come home until all of the medicine is out of his system - the goal is Monday

2. They are trying set up his every Monday treatment at AMC or UVA as well as his labs being taken - pray that this works out.

3. After getting him home, his levels are going to drop, we have to keep him healthy and free of infection - even a slight fever will put him back in the hospital

4. Pray for the rest of the family as we adjust to this new way of life.

5. There is a family up the hall with a son that also has a brain tumor. He is on the same treatment as Tyson just one day behind. We will see this family every time we are here until November as we both go through the same trial. Please pray for their son and for God to open the door for ministry

Thank you so much for the support you have given - we could never thank you enough.

Summer

Email from Rita Woody, Tyson's Great-Aunt

Wednesday, July 9th, 9:30am

Dear Ridgeview Women,

I just wanted to thank you (and everyone at Ridgeview) for all of the love and support that you have given Tyson and his family during this difficult time in Tyson's life. Knowing that Jeremy and family are in God's arms, surrounded by all of you and receiving top-notch medical treatment has helped those of us who live so far away to have more peace of mind. The Woodys in Michigan join all of you in lifting little Tyson up in prayer for a complete and speedy healing. May God bless you all.

In God's Love,

Rita (Woody) F: Tyson's Great-Aunt, Jeremy's Aunt and Rich Woody's (Jeremy's Dad) sister

Update from Peg, per Summer --

Tuesday, July 8th, 10:30AM

Dear Awesome Prayer Warriors:

Tyson is doing great - he is hungry right now but can't eat till he is done with the MRI scheduled at 2pm - another chemo at 6:00pm tonight.

Doing good - no signs of side effects at this time.

(Summer sounded good!!)

Peg

Update from Summer:

Monday, July 7th, 7:00pm
Thank you so much for your prayers; please do not think they are in vain, God is answering. The spinal tap and the tube went really well. He is in very good spirits and handled everything great. We are in our room and getting settled. A few minutes ago we were able to meet Dr. Paker, he is our neuro-oncologist and considered in the top 5 in the world. Not only is he one of the best at treating pediatric brain tumors...10years ago he was on the team that helped name the ATRT tumor! (this is what Tyson has). We could not be in better hands.

His first round of chemo will start tonight, 8:30 to be exact. They have told us that other than being nauseated, he should be pretty much himself through most of this treatment. For every chemo medicine they give him, they will be giving him a medicine to counteract the sided affects; this should minimize his sickness.

Specific things to pray for in the next 24 hours:
-We would love to see a negative result on the Spinal Tap; this would mean the cancer has not spread to the spine like the team at UVA thought.

-Pray that he handles this first chemo well and sleeps well after it is administered.

-Pray for the doctors as they are reviewing his treatment plan. Just last week the Boston Children's hospital reported a newer drug that was getting even better results for this kind of tumor. Our Oncologist has spoke with them and they are working together on the best mixture of medicine.

-Pray for Tyson's strength. He will have about 5 more tests over the next 2 days just so the doctors here have an exact knowledge of where he is and how he is being affected by the tretment. I know this will be exhausting on Tyson (and us).

-Pray for Jeremy and me as we attempt to just enjoy these days of just the