History

Monday, December 31, 2007 6:33 PM CST

New Pictures in the album (12/31/07)
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Hey everyone!

The last few days have been tough pain wise. It is bearable though so that is good. My mom's parents are in town. My mom decided she wanted the kitchen remodeled, so my parents and grandpa have been working hard on that. It looks really good. It’s a light green on the walls and a almost white green on the ceiling. I am sure it will look a lot better when we get everything back in there and it actually looks like a kitchen (i.e., table, chairs, etc.) I went to the last Falcons game. I went with my buddies and my dad. The Falcons won 44-41. It was a high scoring and exciting game by Falcons standards haha. I might go to some of my friend's parties to see some more high school buddies while they are still in town a little later tonight.

I hope that everyone has a safe and happy 2008 in which we all STAY healthy. Enjoy 2008!

-Tyler
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I am the healthiest I have been going into the new year since a long time ago. :-)

At the same time I hate this time of year, because I am always worried it will be the year I relapse or worse. I keep my mind straight and do stuff to distract it, but when I rarely slip up for just a minute my mind starts debating itself and I start thinking deep thoughts about sickness and death and pain. It stinks, but I really don't consider myself out of the woods. I STILL NEED YOU GUYS TO PRAY FOR ME!!! Pray as if I still have cancer! That is what I need most. If you have asked what you can do for me, then make good on your word and pray. It is a simple task. I know it’s easy to just assume that I don't need all the prayers that you did before, but that is completely false. I need the same amount if not more!

A lot of people have been asking if I am cancer free. The easy and logical answer is yes. Mine opinion is more like a stance of "they haven't seen/found any more cancer cells...yet". I am sure I will feel this way for awhile. I am not going to tell myself I am cancer free or in remission. I feel if I do that, then it will only hurt myself if I do in fact relapse in the future. By doing that, if and when I relapse, the emotions will be less, and I will already be immediately prepared to make a decision to fight if that is what I choose to do in that situation. I just have to live my life as normal as possible, and enjoy what I do, because I never know how long I will be alive. Some people may say I can't live my life or think that way, but it is easier to say that when you are perfectly healthy and haven't been thru what I have been through. Everyone has their way of dealing with small stuff . My life depends on the way I prepare and fight has gotten me this far. You are mentally insane if you think I should change my approach at this point. Period, end of story. You aren't changing my stance. Don’t let your support of me slip though…

-Tyler

Friday, December 28, 2007 8:49 PM EST

URGENT-

Hey everyone. I need all you prayer warriors to add another of my buddies to your list. Herbert Shaw Jr. My cabin mate from Camp Sunshine. He had surgery on the 16th of December to remove tumors pressing on his spine. He had relapsed previously. He has a long road ahead as he is about to begin radiation. He has created a caringbridge site. Please drop a note by and check on him from time to time. He is a great writer just like I am, so enjoy. It is:

http://caringbridge.org/visit/herbertshawjr

Please keep up with him. If your keeping score, both my best cabinmates, Austin and Herbert have relapsed in the last few months. Both were going to West Georgia, then you have me who is the one legged gimp of the group haha. I have my own long road to recovery.

-Tyler
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December 28th, 2007 5:32 PM EST

Sorry for the lag in updating. This will be semi-short as it has been a long few days. We had a great Christmas. I got a GPS for my car so I can find my way around :-)...

My mom's parents came to stay on their way back down to Florida. That allowed my mom and Dad to go out for their 21st anniversary. They had a good time. Little did they know that they left where they went on my GPS haha.

Anyways I was in alot of pain last night. I fell asleep, but when my parents came home I woke up and was in terrible pain. I don't remember much, but it was the worse pain I have ever been in...period!!! And I have been thru alot, so that speaks of how bad it was. My quad which is tied down to my bone on my amputated leg, was grinding up and down my femur. Then it felt like it was dislocating to the side, and my scar was torn open.I think I was just thrashing around and I hit my head on the wall a couple of times I think. I don't think my mom could have handled me because my leg couldn't touch anything, and i kept falling over because my good leg was cramping up. So super mom did what she could! I think she was running out of super power though...Anyways after my mom gave me all the pain meds she could and it wasn't helping we got in the car to go to Scottish Rite ER. I somehow was subdued in the car, but I guess I had no choice. Finally we got there, and the doc came in and wanted blood drawn for blood tests of f infection which where clear. Then I got a x-ray, to make sure the bone wasn't broken or for bone spurs i guess. Finally I just got some IV morphine, and eventually just wanted to get in the car to pass out. Woke up this morning really sore, and my throat was killing me because of all the screaming I did last night...I went to physical therapy, and then went shopping afterwards. It seems to be alot better but I don't want to take of my liner incase it does hurt when I take it off...I told my mom Happy Anniversary, and my gift was a trip to the ER and leg pain. I finally drew a smile out of her!!! She couldn't help but laugh!

We will try to update more often. I start college on January 7th, also the date of the nat'l championship football game starring my Ohio State Buckeyes haha!

Happy New Years everyone!
-Tyler and the rest of the Copley Clan

Friday, December 14, 2007 6:07 AM CST

Thanks for checking in on Tyler and for praying for his friend Austin. Austin was able to go home after 23 days in the hospital and is doing better now. Tyler and a few of his friends went up to Egleston Sunday afternoon to visit with him. They were all glad to see that Austin was doing ok.

Tyler's phantom pain is better than those few days last week but it is just something that he is going to have to deal with for a long time. He has been to physical therapy and to the school as usual to volunteer this past week. Tyler is still having some shortness of breath here and there which is a little concerning. I offered to take him up to the Dr. but I guess he decided to wait until next Wednesday when we see Dr. George for the monthly visit. Hopefully it will get better and will not be an issue over the weekend. (I hope that I didn't just jinx myself with that comment!! We have 20 people coming over Saturday night for dinner- I don't need to spend the afternoon in the ER. And Tyler has his orientation at GA Highlands all day Saturday too!) So pray that Tyler feels well and has no issues this weekend. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Connie

Wednesday, December 5, 2007 1:37 PM CST

Ok, maybe we should just go with the no news is good news routine. I stated just how well Tyler has been doing over the past few weeks and now he isn't feeling so hot. His phantom pain has been worse the past three days (lots worse) and he has been short of breath some too. We went to see PT/prosthetics yesterday and didn't really stay all that long before we went to the AFLAC clinic to talk to Erica the nurse. Tyler decided to hold off on a chest x-ray for a few days to see if he feels better (and besides that he wanted to get to Harrison to help out in the special ed. room.) We are hoping that an occasional puff on the inhaler will help him out. I just peeked in on him and he is taking a nap now! He needs that for sure since the pain has been keeping him up a lot for the past few nights. Anyway, say a prayer for him to get over his issues and get back up to speed.

Thanks,
Connie

P.S. Tyler's friend Austin is out of the ICU, and doing a lot better!
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My friend Austin is doing alot better. You can follow him on his Care Pages site, which is listed below under "Links". Thanks for all the prayers for him!

-Tyler

Sunday, December 2, 2007 1:48 PM CST

My friend Austin is doing alot better. You can follow him on his Care Pages site, which is listed below under "Links". Thanks for all the prayers for him!

-Tyler
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This will be a short update just to let you know that Tyler is doing very well. He is going to physical therapy about three times a week and working in the Mild to Moderate (MIMO) special ed. class at Harrison HS twice a week. We went to our first Christmas party last night (Air Force sqaudron) and I think Tyler had a really good time. I'm sure that he is ready for his 'off at college' friends to come home for Christmas so that he can visit with them.

The rest of us are all doing well too. Kirk and Sara are still in the thick of school homework, projects, and studying for tests. I'm just trying to keep my head above water keeping our schedules straight. It seems as though there is always something that needs to be done.

If you would, please keep Tyler's friend Austin in your prayers. He is still in PICU at CHOA. I believe that he is improving a bit everyday- but it is a long process to go through for him and his family. You can check his progress and leave him a message at www.carepages.com His site is Austinmassey. I am sure that his family would appreciate your prayers.

I hope everyone is enjoying the festivities of this Christmas season.

Love,
-Connie & Tyler

Sunday, November 25, 2007 7:56 PM CST

Nov. 29th 10:57am-

Sorry it has taken so long but like everyone else I have been trying to give Bonnie and Austin time. Yesterday was not a good day for Bonnie she had a "melt-down" with the events that took place. After settling down she was able to get alot of sleep which did her good. Austin is able to answer questions with the nodding of his head for yes and no. He will wake up if you say his name. The doctor's are decreasing his pain meds and he is coming somewhat out of the sedation but he is still on the ventalator. They could possibly take him off late today or early tomorrow. He will need to be breathing more on his own. He is doing ok step by step. Last night when he was opening his eyes Cary showed him the picture of Tripp Chandler and a few pictures of the bulldog players that came to the hospital that day. He also told him that he had been out for 9 days. He probably understands some but is still really confused, which is normal considering the pain meds he is on. Please pray that Austin will be able to come off of the ventalator soon and that his pain will be controllable. Also, for you mothers out there who know what it is like to have a sick child, pray for Bonnie. She is doing better and looking forward to a brighter, yet quiet day.

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Nov. 28th, 2:19pm-

They had taken Austin off of the ventalator this morning. He was given a type of mask with oxygen that monitors how much oxygen he is intaking. Later he was able to open his eyes but his breathing was labored and the oxygen intake wasn't enough based on the pain he is in. Bonnie asked him if he was hurting and he squeezed her hand. Because of the pain, they have had to sedate him again and put him back on the ventalator. They will not be able to take him off for another 24 hours. Please pray for the doctor's and nurses to make decisions based on his pain, that it can be controlled even off of the ventalator. This is very much a waiting process. The most important thing is keeping him calm and controlling his pain. Pray for strength today for Austin and Bonnie.

Thursday, November 15, 2007 10:07 AM CST

I can't believe that it's almost Thanksgiving! And we haven't posted an update in almost two weeks!

For those of you who may not have seen the AJC article about Tyler last week, I have left the website up at the bottom of this page. Tyler is doing quite well these days. He continues to go to the prosthetics dept. at the hospital every two-three weeks for general checkups and to take care of any problems that he may be having with the prosthesis. He started going to our local physical therapist about a week ago and is going about three times a week to build up strength in his residual limb. Swimming at the YMCA is still on the agenda too a few times a week.

Tyler has been able to ween himself from some of the pain meds but is still needing help later in the evening. Hopefully the phantom pain will continue to diminish (rapidly!) and he will not have that to be concerned with. He's also dealing with some cold symptoms this week but otherwise is feeling well.

We were at the clinic yesterday for Tyler's monthly appointment. His counts are perfectly normal, and he received his Zometa quickly with any problems. We got to hang out in the infusion room for that because the room nurses were swamped. It was nice to see everyone there since they are always so sweet and cheerful and willing to help out. We met a very sweet lady (volunteer) that gave us some great advice for getting Tyler settled into college. Her son went to Auburn, one of the colleges that Tyler is interested in attending perhaps next fall. I just love when help appears at just the time we need it, reminding us that we are surrounded by God's grace and love every day! As for college right now, Tyler is enrolled at Georgia Highlands and we are working on lots and lots of paperwork to get his HOPE scholarship in order. His orientation is next month, and he will probably take one class to get his feet wet again in the academic world.

I just have to say how absolutely proud I am of Tyler and his struggle to get to this point, and his whole attitude since his amputation. He moves forward every day. He has stared death in the face, made peace with whatever may happen in the future (he knows there is more to his life that this world could ever provide), and moves forward full force anyway knowing that his life has a great purpose here and now. We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Thank you all for your love and support theses past years. We couldn't make it without our friends near and far!

Connie

Tyler's AJC article:

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2007/11/06/tyler_1106.html

Thursday, November 1, 2007 5:43 PM CDT

Hey everyone! Our time in the Smokey Mtn's was great we had ton of fun! Shopping, go-carts, and putt putt were the tops of the trip!

We arrived home to find that my AJC article was run 5 days earlier than expected. If it is still Tuesday (11/6) then go grab a AJC! Or check out my article at:

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2007/11/06/tyler_1106.html

-Tyler
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Hello Everyone!!!

So sorry for the long delay in updating...

We have been quite busy lately. Last Sunday my dad and I went down to Atlanta Motor Speedway and got a behind the scenes tour of the track and a few trailers too. We arrived at the credentials trailer, and picked up our passes. Then we got a golf cart ride because you know who is handicapped haha. We met the #38 M&M's assistant crew chief (Brent) and we started out by checking out their trailer that had every imaginable car part you may need for the race (a complete second car was up top)!!! Then we got into the drivers meeting that was mostly crew chiefs and drivers. We got to see all the big time NASCAR drivers. After that we went onto pit road and checked out the actual cars. After that we climbed up into the #38 pit box and pit stand. Had some fun with the tire changer. It is very fast and very dangerous if you don't know what you’re doing. Think that it only takes 14 seconds to change four tires and get gas. It is amazing what they can do...After that we hung out in the trailer area and looked at all the tools and the 2nd hood they had (3rd hood if you count the 2nd car). Then we saw the driver introductions and saw Bo Duke from the Dukes of Hazzard sing the national anthem. Then since we didn't have tickets to the race we left.

Thanks to the Robert Yates Racing #38 M&M's team and The Rally Foundation for all you did!

I can't think of anything else big that has happened. Just living daily life every day.

We are headed up to the Smoky Mtn.'s for the next 5 days. We should have some fun up there!

Please pray for my buddy John Walden. He is going thru the last phase of terminal cancer. I know he finally has some peace about it, which is very good. Having been there myself, it defiantly stinks, but it is a lot better to deal with when you have your ducks in a row and you have stared death in the face.

Oh and it looks like I am headed to Georgia Highlands in the spring! I got accepted(without any ACT scores haha), and depending on what my ACT scores are (I know I did really well!) I may apply to Kennesaw State just for the heck of it to see if I can get in there.

Have a good day!
-Tyler

Friday, October 12, 2007 5:32 EST

Quick Update-
Sunday, October 14th, 2007 8:45 PM EST

Just to let everyone know, the Thrashers game went great last night besides the fact that the lost in the last few seconds in a 6-5 game. Lots of goals scored!

I was watching the game which I had recorded on my TiVo and guess what... I WAS ON NATIONAL TELEVISION! That's right, I walked out to center ice with my new leg and dropped the first puck in front of 20,000 screaming fans...and 450,000 fans at home in the USA on Versus!!! Even if it was just for a minute, how many people can say they have done that!

It has been a crazy last two days for me, hasn't it? I just hope the Thrashers get out of this hole and win a game soon! How about them Ohio State Buckeyes going from 10th to 1st in just over 2 weeks!

GO THRASHERS!
-Tyler
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Hello Everyone,

Today was a major day in the life of Tyler Copley. I got my new prosthesis (C-Leg)...finally! I had an AJC reporter that followed me all day and is going to do a story within the next week or two on me and my new leg. I will give the date when we get it.

We got down to Scottish Rite close to noon and we started working right away. I got the leg and started to put in on but we realized that I needed a hole in the socket to be able to see through, in order to make the screw lock into the locking mechanism. After that for about 2 hours it was alot of technical work trying to fine tune it so it would be perfect for me. It involved alot of walking back in forth in the hallway. Finally we got everything in the right place and all the mechanics in order. I then walked thru the big hospital without crutches for the first time in a long long time.

I am still on cloud nine about it. I can’t wait to get back to living my life again. There isn’t much else to say so I am going to sign off!

-Tyler

P.S.- I’m in the process of getting pictures up right now so everyone can see the new leg.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007 4:57 PM CDT

Tyler and Todd had a great time in Ohio over the weekend. They got to tour the OSU campus and eat at Tommy's Pizza- I'm so jealous! They were able to visit with friends and family even if it was for just a short time. Sara and I really enjoyed camping over the weekend as the weather was perfect and our time away together with friends was entertaining and relaxing. Kirk and his buddies had a good time too at the football game and homecoming dance. He came home exhausted though!
Tyler is feeling well this week. He has been to the YMCA a few times and is also volunteering at the high school once a week with the special ed. kids. He is so good with them, and they really like having him in there.
Everything is a go at the prosthetics clinic on Friday at noon! We had to reschedule Tyler's prosthetic appointment from Tuesday to Friday due to some personnel issues in the clinic on Monday. But that's ok because he will still get his new prosthesis by Saturday for the Thrashers game.
I'll try to update after his appointment on Friday and have Tyler load some pictures from his big day.

Connie

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 2:26 PM CDT

Hey everyone,

I guess we've been pretty busy these past two weeks. I kept thinking I'd sit down to update and just never did it. Tyler had his prosthesis appointment last Tuesday and this Tuesday to try the test socket and work out all the kinks in preparation for the permanent socket that they are now in the process of making. We hope that it will be ready for him by the end of next week. We also found out that our insurance approved the type of knee that Tyler wanted and the physical therapists thought would be good for him. YEA!!!!! I wasn't too worried about that until I found out the price difference between a regular old hydraulic knee and the C-leg. I did have a few panic moments when I thought too much about it, but now I can finally breathe! Thank you God!

We are really hoping that Tyler gets his new prosthesis by the end of next week because we were invited to the Thrashers game on Saturday (Oct. 13) by Cure. We can't wait! Todd will be out of town doing an air show, but Tyler, Kirk, and Sara and I are ready for some hockey action. The kids are going to play a street hockey game before the thrashers game, and Tyler was invited to participate in the pre-game puck dropping ceremony! It would be so cool if he could walk out there on the ice with his fabulous new prosthesis!!

We all have a busy weekend planned now too. Sara and I are going on our annual Mother-daughter Girl Scout camping weekend. I can't wait to enjoy a nice fall weekend outside. Todd and Tyler have planned a last minute trip to Ohio. Todd is driving a friend to Dayton for a reunion (the WWII vet that spoke at the Air Force Anniversary Ceremony), and after they drop him off they are going to spend Friday and Saturday in Columbus with family. They were able to get some appointments at Ohio State so that Tyler can visit the campus and talk to admissions etc... about going to school there sometime in the future. This is very exciting to all of us because he's finally getting to do things that bring him towards living a more normal life. Kirk is hanging out with a buddy for the weekend and will be enjoying the homecoming weekend football game and dance. I'm sure that by Sunday we'll all be thrilled to get home and relax before the busy week starts again.

Love to all,
Connie

Monday, October 1, 2007 8:41 AM CDT

New Update coming soon! We will update after our appt. with the prosthetist and Physical Therapy lady on 10/2. We have some really cool and exciting news, so check back on Tuesday sometime in the evening, or maybe Wednesday morning.

Thanks for all the prayers!
-Tyler

Tuesday, September 18, 2007 6:30 PM CDT

Today was quite a busy day for us, but it was a good day! Tyler and I started off with a quick visit to his pain management doctor. After discussing many different options to keep Tyler comfortable, we decided to skip the new drug that we were considering and go back up on his long acting pain med just a bit to help control the issues he is having. We figured that we'd give it another month and see where he's at after he gets his permanent prosthesis. Then we headed off to see Dr. George at the heme/onc clinic. It is always good to see everyone that works there. Everyone there is just the BEST, and they are always happy to see the kids (although I'm sure Dr. George looks for the valium bottle when he sees Tyler's chart on the door! Tyler just loves him to pieces and shows it by yanking his chain for all it's worth!) Tyler has been off his chemo since mid July, and his counts are finally ALL in the normal range! He got his Zometa infusion quickly and then we headed to the back to visit for a few minutes before his prosthetics appointment. We were absolutely thrilled to see some old friends- a sweet boy named Fausel and his mom. It was great to see him sitting there playing and eating and looking so cute. He has been sick for such a long long time- they just keep on keepin' on with different things to help him. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

We then went to see PT/prosthetics. Tyler's leg is 1cm smaller than last week, so they went ahead with casting him for a test socket that they will make, and then he will work with it over the next few weeks to see how he tolerates the pin/locking mechanism that they plan on using with his new leg. Tyler asked what the realistic time frame for actually getting his new prosthesis was, and the answer was 3-4 weeks. We really wish that it was two weeks. Oh well, Rome wasn't built in a day either. Our joke of the day was that Tyler got plastered (casted) and passed around a joint (his prosthetic knee joint). Well, we enjoyed the laugh anyway!

On a side note, Todd has had a very busy few days. Today is the 60th anniversary of the Air Force and he has been working on a way to honor this day for months. You can read about his work at the following websites:

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123068039

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123068007

http://www.dobbins.afrc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123062295

Tonight he is capping off the night working a booth at the Braves game for Air Force Night at the stadium. We're very proud of him, and we're very proud to be an Air Force family- it's been a great ride so far!

Connie

Friday, September 14, 2007 7:45 AM CDT

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE NEW PICTURES UNDER "VIEW PHOTOS"!!!

-THE MANAGEMENT

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Hey everyone,

I am so glad that it is Friday! Tyler had a good week. We went to PT on Wednesday. They spent a lot of time adjusting Tyler's temporary prosthesis. A screw had come loose, and it was too short for him, so they lengthened it and put a small shim in his left shoe. It seems to be easier to walk now for Tyler. He had been relying a lot on his crutches but now is trying hard to only use them a little bit for balance/safety. Yesterday he walked around Kohl's with just the cart for balance. He did great! Tyler decided to try a different medication that one of his doctors offered for the phantom pain. Hopefully they will call it in this morning and we can start trying it this evening when the pain usually kicks in. Next Tuesday Tyler will see Dr. George for his monthly visit, and then we'll head over to PT/prosthetics for some measuring in preparation for his permanent socket and prosthesis. We can't wait to move on to the next step. Tyler is doing such a fantastic job and still has a super attitude. He is really ready to move forward now.

As for the rest of us, Kirk and Todd will be going on an Order of the Arrow (scouts) campout this weekend. Tyler and I will be taking Sara to the Taste of Kennesaw for her two performances there in the morning. Any locals that want to have some great food and enjoy the beautiful weekend should plan on attending the Taste of Kennesaw located at the Depot on Saturday. You will not be disappointed!

Have a great weekend!
Connie

Wednesday, September 5, 2007 1:30 PM CDT

Hey everyone,
There's not much to report this week. Tyler saw PT etc... yesterday and they are, again, very happy with his progress. He has been given permission to put as much weight as tolerated on his left leg now, and he got his silicone liner to wear now instead of ace wraps or compression socks. I think it will accelerate the process of getting his limb to the size that it will permanently be. As soon as that happens, they will start measuring him for his socket and start the process of getting his permanent prosthesis. Tyler is tolerating the weaning of his pain meds pretty well though he does still have phantom pain here and there mostly in the evening. Next week he only has two appointments- one for PT and a dental visit just up the street. Woohoo! Of course we'll make up for it the next week with several downtown visits!
Not much else is happening around here due to us being deep into the school projects and after school activities with Kirk and Sara. Thanks for checking in!

Connie

SEPTEMBER IS CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH! PLEASE CHECK OUT THE LINKS BELOW TO SEE HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED AND HELP!

Thursday, August 30, 2007 2:59 PM CDT

Tyler has had a good week so far. He is up and out every day and is doing his exercises as he is supposed to. Yesterday we saw Dr. Fabregas quickly for him to remove the rest of the stitches. The actual incision is well healed but there are a few holes (for lack of a better word) where the big stitches were. He had those last week too when the doc took out the first stitches. They should heal up quickly though. We saw the prosthetist and physical therapist after that. We got to look at the silicone liner that Tyler will have for his permanent prosthesis, but he won't be able to wear it until next week when the 'holes' are completely healed. Not much else is going on this week or weekend. Todd and Tyler have tickets to the Braves/Mets game on Sat. afternoon. Hopefully it won't be too hot for Tyler that day. Don't know what the rest of us will do- maybe I'll get a nap!!

We have started to wean Tyler off of his pain medicine, so prayers for an easy transition would be appreciated. This is no real easy task, because Tyler has been on some form of heavy pain medicine for the past three years! Also, please continue to pray for Krystle- she has started her relapse chemo and is not feeling well at all, and she has pneumonia too so she's in the ICU for now. Thanks for checking in and let's all thank God for the rain that we are finally getting here in Atlanta!

Connie

Thursday, August 23, 2007 5:37 AM CDT

Yesterday was busy for Tyler. We stopped in first to see his orthopedic surgeon. He took out about half of the stitches and was impressed with the way it looked. Hopefully next week he will be able to take out the rest of them. Tyler is now aloud 50% weight bearing on his left leg so he is beginning to see how it really feels to walk with a prosthesis. After our visit with ortho. we walked across the hallway to see the prosthesis maker and the physical therapist. We spent some time with them mostly talking about different types of prostheses and what Tyler wanted to be able to do. Next week they will give him a silicone sock to use with his temporary prosthesis to help decrease swelling even more (in place of the ace wraps and/or compression sock). If it does what we hope after a week, then Tyler will start being measured for the socket that they will make for him. They are all very happy with Tyler's progress! Tyler's big job now is to continue researching different types of prostheses, and keep up the good work on exercises and walking around.
Tyler also had his monthly exam with Dr. George. His counts are nearly all normal. He received his iv meds fairly quickly and had a very uneventful visit. Yea!! We got to see a few friends there- up for their share of meds, count checks etc...

Prayer requests for the week are pretty much the same- continued healing and immediate relief from phantom pain. (They aren't there all the time, but when they are there they can be real doozies!) Also, I found out yesterday that a sweet girl we know has just relapsed and is in for another long fight. Krystle goes to Harrison HS where Tyler went, and she was so looking forward to a new year back in school, hanging out with friends, and moving on with her life. Please pray for her and her grandparents whom she lives with. She is in the hospital this week getting her work-ups and port put in etc... I believe that her caringbridge site is ...visit/krystle. I know that she would appreciate messages of encouragement. Thanks for checking in and for all of your prayers.

Connie

Thursday, August 16, 2007 9:55 AM CDT

First of all I want to thank EVERYONE for your prayers and messages of support and love. Thanks to all those who sent food, visited us in the hospital, sent in goodies for Tyler, and called to check on us. Tyler's room was filled with balloons, cards, food, and magazines! We were never bored that's for sure!

Tyler got home last Friday afternoon, and we have been out of the house most every day even if it's just for a little while. He has gotten used to putting on his temporary prosthesis pretty quickly, learned how to manage stairs, getting in and out of the car, stepping over dogs (but usually just gives them a boot with his crutch!), and is thrilled to be home in his own bed and getting into his own shower.

He is still on antibiotics and will be for another week or so. It is not the best thing for his stomach but he is managing ok. His meds tend to make him a bit drowsy at times too- that's not so fun during the day when you want to be up doing things. We are doing dressing changes every day and are noticing very little drainage now. His incision has healed well on the outside edges; the middle of it looks good- it's just taking a bit longer to heal. They tried a new compression sock on him the other day at PT which seems to help with the swelling and shaping of his limb, but it seems to have set off more phantom pain for Tyler. I switched back to the ace wraps to see if that would help- not really. So this morning we slapped on a few lidoderm patches for the day to see if that helps. I sure hope so!

Tyler is doing his exercises every day and will see PT and the prosthetist next Wednesday. He is also scheduled to see his ortho doc, Dr. Fabregas, to remove a few stitches, and have his monthly oncology visit for an exam and his IV zometa. We still don't know when he will be able to start putting more weight on his left leg or when they will begin to measure for his permanent prosthesis. This is all dependent on how fast his swelling goes down and how fast his incision heals. So biggest prayer requests for this week are for fast and permanent healing, decreased swelling, and for immediate relief from the phantom limb pain.

On a side note- Kirk and Sara's first days of school have been great. With this being the first year of high school and middle school respectively, they were both happy to see old friends and are already making new friends too. They are both already back into the swing of things with extracurricular activities. Kirk is going on a camp out this weekend, and Sara has auditioned for and made the Intermediate 1 company at the studio that she has been dancing at for several years.

I'll try harder to update on a timelier basis from now on!

Connie

Thursday, August 9, 2007 11:32 PM EST

To continue the update...

I have been really busy with learning new things and getting used to walking with the prosthesis. I am back to being more independent. Part of my therapy today was to go on a field trip of some sorts. It was to get me out in the "real world" and help me adapt to situations you don't get in the hospital. Well, we went to a bowling alley. I had been in a league before, but haven't bowled in over 2 years or so. I certainly learned fast how to not to fall when 4 to 8 year olds run and dart in front of you! Then I went to my bowling lane and started bowling. The first round of bowling I had to adjust to the lane a little bit and figure out the curve on my throw. I ended up rolling an 83. The second game I rolled a 132. Pretty good for a 9-day-old amputee. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot over the last few days. There are a lot of things you don't think of that you have to adjust to doing! I am headed home tomorrow (8/10/07) and will learn to adjust in my own home...

Thanks for all the support!!!

-Tyler

_____________________________________________________________

Tuesday, Aug 7, 2007

Hey Everyone,

I have been doing really well. I am in little to no pain THANK GOD! I am off my IV pain meds and have been off IV fluids since about Friday (08/03/07). I have been sleeping through the night almost every single night. Lots of visitors have stopped by, and I really appreciate it!

I now have a "learner's prosthesis". It is kind of like a training leg until I get my real one. I will try to get a picture and upload it and put it as my home page picture. I actually walked on my prosthesis from my room to the parking deck elevators on Sunday (08/06/07). Right now, I am only allowed to put some weight on it, so I still have to use crutches. I can put only enough weight to transfer, in able to walk. I just can't walk on it without crutches. I've done a lot of physical therapy! I got transferred to the CIRU (Rehab floor). WE ARE NOW IN ROOM 362!!! The rooms over here are amazing. They have all new stuff, and the beds are more comfortable. I am now doing 3 hours of physical therapy a day. I am also doing 3 hours of occupational therapy, which teaches you to do things like: getting dressed with the prosthesis on, walk up and down stairs, make food for yourself, etc. This will be very good for me because I would rather learn how to do everything with my new prosthesis here in the hospital with professionals, than have to learn how to do it by myself at home. Everyone knows I am the type of person that wants to recover to my very best, and will make sacrifices to make sure I recover 150 percent

Tyler

Friday, August 3, 2007 6:26 PM CDT

NEW UPDATE:

I am in the process of updating the site to tell everyone what is going on. I have a long thing written out saved to word. The problem is the wi-fi connection was lost when I moved room yesterday (08/06/07) and I now have to go get the new codes to connect to the CIRU (Rehab floor) network adapter. A good, long update is coming soon (possibly this evening), so make sure to CHECK BACK SOON!!! I am doing great. I'm just working my butt off doing physical therapy and occupational therapy.

-Tyler

______________________________________________
PLEASE READ THIS!

Please call me BEFORE you leave to come up here to visit or call the night before your planning on coming! I will have a very important physical therapy schedule to stick to. Visitors need to come during my free time (the night before I will find out when my free time is).

There have been people that have not called and I was at Physical Therapy or have been out of the room. They waited a little, but had no idea where I was so they left. It makes me feel guilty and frustrated, because I know you guys drive here just to visit me, yet I can't visit with you because a plan may not have been made beforehand. I need visitors to come visit, and distract me throughout the day. I need to spread all my visitors out, that’s why you need to call to make an arrangement. Remember it has to be when I have free time and I am feeling up to visitors to drop by and see me.

I am in the process of moving from the AFLAC Cancer Center floor (3 North, Room 309) to the CIRU (Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit, or Rehab floor). I will be doing 2 hours of physical therapy a day along with 2 hours of occupational therapy. Like I said before, they (the rehab therapists and nurses) plan every minute of your day. Even when you’re supposed to eat and sleep. The exception is for "Free Time" (when you, the visitors, can come and visit me). I can do whatever I feel like doing during “Free Time”. I can visit with people, surf the internet on my Dell laptop, watch a movie, or even read magazines or do crosswords. Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy comes first though, because that is what will build my strength back up, and it will set the building stones for me to be successful in life as an amputee.

Keep up the prayers!
-Tyler
...and Connie too...

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 1:15 PM EST

PLEASE READ THIS!

Please call me BEFORE you leave to come up here to visit or call the night before your planning on coming! I will have a very important physical therapy schedule to stick to. Visitors need to come during my free time (the night before I will find out when my free time is).

There have been people that have not called and I was at Physical Therapy or have been out of the room. They waited a little, but had no idea where I was so they left. It makes me feel guilty and frustrated, because I know you guys drive here just to visit me, yet I can't visit with you because a plan may not have been made beforehand. I need visitors to come visit, and distract me throughout the day. I need to spread all my visitors out, that’s why you need to call to make an arrangement. Remember it has to be when I have free time and I am feeling up to visitors to drop by and see me.

I am in the process of moving from the AFLAC Cancer Center floor (3 North, Room 309) to the CIRU (Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit, or Rehab floor). I will be doing 2 hours of physical therapy a day along with 2 hours of occupational therapy. Like I said before, they (the rehab therapists and nurses) plan every minute of your day. Even when you’re supposed to eat and sleep. The exception is for "Free Time" (when you, the visitors, can come and visit me). I can do whatever I feel like doing during “Free Time”. I can visit with people, surf the internet on my Dell laptop, watch a movie, or even read magazines or do crosswords. Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy comes first though, because that is what will build my strength back up, and it will set the building stones for me to be successful in life as an amputee.

Keep up the prayers!
-Tyler
...and Connie too...
_____________________________________________________________________________
Hey everybody. I had a really busy day. I had visitors from 11am-7pm. I did have a little break in between where I went to physical therapy.

I started walking on crutches, and it felt great to get out of the bed. It went from me being paralyzed from the stomach down, to me starting to get out of bed and learn to walk a little bit all within 24 hours. I should be transferred to the Rehab unit tomorrow (Friday, 08/03/07). I will probably be going to physical therapy for 1-2 hours and occupational therapy for 1-2 hours each day until I get discharged from the hospital.

I started to start eating on a meal schedule again. But I am still eating out of the "Food supply" we brought ourselves. Some of those foods include:

* Plain Spaghetti from the hospital Cafe (I add butter,salt, and parmesean cheese to it)
* White Rice with Kikkoman Soy Sauce.
* Onion Rings (people bring to me)
* Strawberries with sugar
* Bagels with butter and lots of sugar
* Lots of Gatorade and Wild Cherry Capri Suns!

Thanks for all the prayers!
-Tyler

_______________________________________________________________________________
Hey everyone. I am doing okay after the amputation. I am in a lot of pain, because we took the epidural out without having an effective plan that helped with the pain. The epidural pretty much paralyzed me from the belly button down, including my good leg. It was really tough to move just a slight movement. I slept through the night last night, with my mom turning me over every so often to avoid bed sores. Then I woke up burning up. Turns out I had a fever of 101.4!!! I run in the 96.5-97.5 range, so it really was more like a 103 degree fever to my body. I got that taken care of finally. I finally am able to sit up and move a little bit in the bed and surf the internet on my new Dell laptop. I got my catheter out of my bladder which was a huge relief.

Thanks for the prayers everyone. Please keep praying even more than you have been.I really need it...

Please pray for:
- Us to get the pain under control, and the pain medicine to work like it should and be effective.
- Good sleep throughout the night
- Me to be able to start physical therapy soon so I can get out of the hospital quicker, and for it to not cause me any pain.
- The nurses to be as helpful as possible.
- My mom to get sleep and continue to be the angel that she is, who takes care of me. She is getting up a lot at night to do various things and has to help me do stuff.

Thanks again for the prayers!
-Tyler

________________________________________________________________________
Tues. July 31 12 noon

Tyler made it through his surgery just fine. Dr. Saripkin did the endoscopy first and took some brushings and biopsies for yeast etc... but otherwise all looks well. His Fundoplication is still in place and looks good.
Dr. Fabregas spoke with us and said that the amputation went well also. They put him on 3 North (YEAH!) in room 309. He should be coming up shortly. He has an epidural in place that should help a lot with pain for a day or so. He will also be on pain meds too. I'll update later when he gets settled in. Thanks for all your prayers!

Connie

___________________________________________________________________

Just a quick note to let you know that Tyler is still feeling well and is quite ready for this surgery. We went into town for labs and his yearly visit to the GI doctor this morning. His counts are good, so everything is set for tomorrow. After speaking with the doctor about some of Tyler's swallowing 'issues' he decided that he would like to do and endoscopy later on in the week, ya know, "since you will be in the hospital anyway!" and Tyler gave a big fat NO to that. No thanks to being put to sleep again right after the amputation! So he worked it so that he could take a quick look right before Dr. Fabregas works his wonders on Tyler's leg! We are still set to arrive at the hospital at 6am and Surgery should start around 7:30. I will try to update shortly after we hear that he is out and is doing well. Thank you everyone for your love, prayers and support.

Connie

ps. We should sleep very well tonight. Tyler spent an hour or so boxing and bowling on his new Nintendo Wii, and then we went outside until dark to play. Tyler donned his roller blades to take a few whacks at a ball with his hockey stick, then shots some hoops with his roller blades on, then played catch (baseball) for a long time too. (I hope my arm isn't sore tomorrow

Monday July 23, 2007

Tyler got his transfusion on Friday without any glitches and had his pre-op anesthesia appt. too. We received the scan results also, which were stable. Surgery is still scheduled for the 31st, and this week Tyler will be busy with physical therapy, dental appointments, and a visit to the prosthetist for some measurements before surgery.

Oh and Tyler and Todd got matching tattoos (horseshoe with a four-leaf clover for good luck) on Saturday! See the the "View Photos" page above to see what it looks like.

Please pray for Tyler's 17-year-old friend Will Place, as he recovers from his own amputation (arm) which took place Monday morning. THIS IS NOT THE SAME WILL THAT MANY OF YOU ARE THINKING OF. He is having a real tough time. Will and Tyler will be up on the 3rd floor (Rehab/Oncology) recovering together most likely. Thanks!!!

The Copley's
__________________________________________________

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

We returned safely to Atlanta on Sunday night although it took us 12 HOURS! Two hours were spent going 4 miles between Cincinnati and Lexington. Blah! We really loved getting to spend time with family in Ohio but are glad to be home too. So at Todd and Tyler's request I will attempt to rewrite what I wrote a few weeks ago about Tyler's situation that somehow got deleted. (Certainly not word for word!)

We will start with the fact that Tyler is a walking, talking miracle for living with relapsed Ewing's Sarcoma for over three years. Remember that the go-for-the-cure treatment was ruled out early in 2004 soon after relapse. Since then he has been on a low dose of chemotherapy to keep the cancer in check (they said it would not cure it but extend his life for a while). When he outlived their expectations they recommended that Tyler continue this type of therapy as long as it worked and for at least two years. Tyler has been on some type of chemotherapy for two and a half years and is really ready to be done with it. After Tyler's fracture and negative biopsy that was NOT accurate, he had the rod placed in his leg, and we got the news that the biopsy from the surgery was positive for cancer cells in his left tibia. But, his scans have remained stable and the PET scan (in Dec.) was negative for any cancer cells. Tyler worked hard to graduate this spring and was successful at that! But his leg continues to be quite bothersome- painful, irritating, and not so strong. He is ready to get on with his life and wants to do all the things that he used to enjoy- sports, school, and mostly just being normal (which includes going to college). So he has chosen to have his left leg amputated because he will have much better function with a prosthesis, and we hope that this will rid his body of cancer for good.

That brings us to now. His CT of the lungs was stable and he will now have a PET scan on Thursday (7/19/07) to ensure that the rest of his body is stable. He has been going to physical therapy for weeks now to strengthen his upper leg. We received his counts for today and found out that he is anemic from this round of chemo, so he will go in on Friday for a transfusion, monthly iv zometa, see Dr. George, and hopefully see some sort of report on the PET scan. I'm not counting on seeing the report that early though. He also has a dental appt. and GI appt. thrown in the mix for good measure! Not too busy are we?! His surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, July 31 at 8 am. We expect to be in the hospital for about 10 to 14 days. After a couple of days on the regular floor they will send him up to the rehab unit for the rest of his stay. I'm not sure about what comes after that- it wouldn't matter anyway because my brain is already working on overdrive trying to handle the here and now. Tyler is ready, he's been ready for a long time to get on with his life, so please pray that this goes smoothly and continue to root him on in his fight for a cure!

Connie

Friday, July 6, 2007 9:11 PM CDT
We made it to Ohio fine and dandy. Tyler drove about 65 percent of the way. We are seeing family and friends and having fun. Grandpa Magley (mom's dad) is doing alright. He has a few coughing fits here and there, but is overall hanging tough. They bought a recliner/glider to put in their room so he wouldnt have to keep sleeping in the living room on a leather chair. We will update when we get back to town sometime next week.

-Tyler

Thursday, July 5, 2007 11:42 AM CDT
Sorry for th delay in updating. I am going to buy a new keyboard so that I can type the fifth letter of the alphabet and everyone can read what I write! Off to visit Dr. Fabregas this afternoon.

(Tyler updated this from a Scottish Rite computer that had a keyboard with a working letter "E"...)

Connie

Monday, July 2, 2007 6:20 AM CDT
I'll try to update later today but wanted to get a quick note out this morning about Tyler's schedule this week.

Tyler will have a CT of his lungs this morning, see his pain management dr. tomorrow for a thorough visit (they said plan on three hours!), and then see his orthopedic surgeon on Thursday afternoon. And, he will have physical therapy a couple of times this week too. Your prayers for a smooth week and good scan reports are much appreciated.

Love to all,
Connie

Sunday, June 24, 2007 6:24 PM CDT
Oh boy, where do I start. Well I guess I will start by saying I had an amazing time at Camp Sunshine. I got to see all my friends and had alot of fun with them all. It went by so fast. We arrived Sunday afternoon and just kind of got settled in.

Monday and Tuesday, I did various activities throughout the day like the Ropes Course, zipline, paddleboats, waterbikes, pool, and newspaper. Then Wednesday, all the Seniors had the Senior lunch, and did our Senior service project by cleaning up a garden down by the Nature and Fishing docks. After that I did the new climbing wall. I made it all the way up to the top, even with my gimpy (useless) leg.

As soon as i finished that, I was picked up from Camp Sunshine, to go attend the Braves game. We got to the game right as the gates opened up and me and dad decided to wait for 10-15 minutes to let the line die down a bit since it was 95 degrees out. Once we got into the ballpark I looked for my friend Jessica who is one of the Braves Girls, and found her at the sign-making station. I made 2 signs and then Me and Dad went on our way. We were kinda just fooling around, but I was really hot and the heat was draining me.

I started to watched batting practice and an usher approached me with a proposal. She had found a man (guardian angel, Mr. Terry) who had an extra ticket right on top on the dugout. He allowed me to come down and watch batting practice with him. Then right before it was over he asked if I wanted to watch the game from his seats. I of course was elated and after conferring with Dad I decided to take him up on his offer. The Red Sox beat the pants off the Braves 11-0, and hit 5 Home Runs off them. So that's story of how I got to watch the Red Sox play the Braves, while sitting 15-20 feet from the Red Sox players the whole game.

I then headed back to Camp Sunshine, and got back at about 11 pm, right as everyone was getting their snacks after a Sister Hazel concert and fireworks show that I missed. Even if the top 5 bands ever showed up to give Camp Sunshine a concert, I'm not sure it would top what I experienced at the Braves game.

Thursday came and went fast with me having fun with my close group of friends aka the Fab Four (Me, Courtney, Sean, Mia, and Mandy). Thursday night all the campers put on a circus show that they had been taught by former Ringling Bros, and Barnum Bailey clowns, jugglers, etc. It was pretty good. Then we had a campfire, and had fun there singing songs and just being together.

Friday was a great day. It was sad for the Fab 5 since it was our last day at Camp. We had gotten alot closer than we thought possible just by experiencing all of Camp and cancer together. The dance/prom was indescribable as was most all of Camp Sunshine 2007. Just the memories that were made and all the stuff would take hours to describe. I made incredible memories with my friends and overall had a great week.

-Tyler

Thursday, June 21, 2007 10:21 AM CDT
Todd picked Tyler up yesterday at camp for an evening at the Braves/Red Sox game that they had scheduled for in the spring. Tyler really didn't want to miss that! They had a great time- a really interesting thing happened there, but I'll let Tyler tell you all about it when he gets home. Todd got him back to camp about 11pm and it was off to bed for him.

My dad had his bypass surgery on Wednesday afternoon, and all went as planned. He is still in icu but is doing fine. I talked to the nurse this morning and she said that he had been up in the chair twice already and was getting ready to sit up again for a bit. Thank you all for your continued prayers for him and for my mom. Things are going well, but it is still stressful and tiring to both of them.

I will pick Tyler up from camp on Saturday morning so perhaps after a good long nap and a good nights sleep on Saturday he will update with all the exciting things that happened at camp.

Connie

Tuesday, June 19 2:15 pm
I spoke to Tyler last night and he is having a great time. He did tell me that he twisted his ankle during a wild scavenger hunt though and that it is swollen. He'll still manage to have a good time I'm sure.

I would also like to ask you to keep my dad and mom in your prayers tomorrow and over the next week or so. He had a heart catheterization yesterday and will have bypass surgery tomorrow. Hopefully things will go very smoothly and he will only have a short stay in the hospital. Thanks for checking in and for all your prayers.

Connie
_____________________________________________

Sunday, June 17

I just got back from taking Tyler to the Camp Sunshine House downtown where he happily met up with lots of friends and hopped on a bus to Camp Sunshine for a week. He of course is always excited to go- they have such a great time there. I should take a moment to thank everyone of the counselors/nurses/doctors that spend their week with the kids. I'm sure that they get very little sleep and work very hard all week long. This will be Tyler's last year as a camper since he is 18 now. I'm sure that he will make the most of it!

If you would like to send him mail while he is there I have posted the address below. He loves to get mail there of course!

Tyler Copley
Camp Sunshine
c/o Camp Twin Lakes
1391 Keencheefoonee Road
Rutledge, GA 30663

If you send mail he must receive it by Friday so send it early in the week. Thanks for checking in!

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there- especially mine!!! I love you dad!

Connie

Monday, June 11, 2007 5:25 PM CDT
Well, I guess since Tyler asked me to update his site the other day I figured I better finally sit down and write something to let you all know that we're still alive and ok.

So let's start with the graduation weekend. Tyler went to parties Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. His graduation ceremony was wonderful (although long due to over 600 kids graduating)! Tyler made it up early and made it through the ceremony with flying colors. We all made it home and had a great time eating and enjoying the day with family. Sunday we had an open house and boy did we have a houseful. It was a blast and Tyler was truly in his element socializing and enjoying himself with dear friends, family, teachers, etc... Thank you everyone who made this weekend so special for him.

Tyler spent the week resting and recuperating from all the graduation activities. The next weekend was filled with dress rehearsals and dance recitals (four shows!) for Sara. Tyler was a trooper and sat through two shows with me. Of course he didn't really mind since one of his friends danced is several of the dances. We all watched the last show together and had a really good time. And of course Sara was fabulous!

Tyler's counts were fine to start another round of chemo. So far he seems to feel ok and his counts are still pretty good. He will finish this round just about the time he goes to Camp Sunshine. He is really looking forward to camp of course, and really wants to feel well so that he can get out and do a lot of the activities with his friends that he hasn't always felt well enough to do before. This will be his last year as a camper! Please pray for Tyler to feel great next week at camp and for all the kids making their way to Camp Sunshine. Maybe you should say a pray for the leaders too- they get very little sleep that week!

Tyler will see Dr. George Wednesday for his monthly check, iv meds, and counts. Hopefully we will be in quickly and get out before the rush hour. Only having to go once a month is great. I think we made up for it this past year!!

Tyler started physical therapy again to get better range of motion and more strength back in his left ankle. He has been busy with friends too and is getting out of the house most every day. I am very proud of him for waking up every morning, putting one foot in front of the other whether he feels well or not, and finding something to do (still working on those thank you notes!!) If you're looking for something to do give us a call, We plan on doing a lot of just hangin' out this summer!

Much love,
Connie

Saturday, May 26, 2007 8:42 PM CDT
Sorry for the delay in updating. I will try my hardest to give a complete description in the next 24 hours. And the pictures are still not working!

-Tyler

____________________________________________________
I DID IT!
I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL!!!
IT WAS AMAZING!

More Details to within the next few days after all the madness is over with and I have time to update!

There seems to be some picture difficulties right now, so be patient, they will be up soon!

-Tyler

Saturday, May 12, 2007 6:33 PM CDT
Boy have we been busy! Tyler is finishing up his last few assignments before his big graduation day May 26! Yea!!! I know that he is excited because he has been stopping by the school each day this past week for various reasons and meeting with his tutors too. Thursday evening he attended his senior banquet and received his yearbook. He had a great time and was happy to finally be able to enjoy a senior activity. Have you all seen high school yearbooks lately? These books at HHS are amazing (and amazingly priced too)! He went to school Friday to visit the special ed kids and enjoy the end of year 'cook out' with them. All of these kids have a very special place in Tyler's heart. He really enjoys being with them, helping them, and horsing around with them. A wonderful God given gift. I hardly saw him Friday. He was out, being with friends, riding around enjoying life. Thank God for wonderful days like that! Today Tyler, Sara and I ran some errands, and stopped by the local pottery store to paint some plates. Sara chose to paint a Mother's day plate and Tyler worked on a graduation plate for himself. They both turned out very well. I can't wait to see them once they're fired and ready to pick up.

We missed Relay for Life and Pops in the Park (at HHS) last night due to the bad weather. What a storm! The dogs were a mess- panting, whining, and following us all around the house- such BABIES they are! It's not too fun to have a 90 pound shedding, slobbering dog try to sit on top of you. I felt tarred and feathered by the end of the storm. And she (Dakota the white one) is next to me now since we are having stray rumbles of thunder tonight too. Shadow, on the other hand, is cool as a cucumber lying out in the yard.

Weirdly, Tyler fell asleep about half an hour ago, so now I'm wondering if he is really ok, because he never sleeps during the day unless he's sick. (It's really just daytime to him- he didn't wake up until 11am today.) I'm sure he's fine- I just hope he doesn't think that I'm going to keep him company late tonight when he's wide awake and the rest of the world is asleep!

Todd and Kirk are at an Order of the Arrow event this weekend but will be home early tomorrow. I don't think we'll do much for Mother's day; I'm perfectly content to just hang out together as long as I don't have to cook or clean up after anyone! Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there- may you all have a blessed day.

Connie

Wednesday, May 2, 2007 8:11 AM CDT
Tyler had his labs drawn Monday morning and they were finally high enough for him to start his next round of etopiside. Of course there are always mixed feelings about this. On one hand he's happy that his counts are better, and on the other hand Tyler just doesn't want to feel crappy again with the chemo. So, Monday was his first night of three weeks of chemo. And, because things can never go smoothly around here, his g-tube (that I just changed out two weeks ago!!) sprung a leak at 11:30 on Monday! We put a tegaderm over it for the night so that it wouldn't pop out, and on Tuesday morning I made about a hundred phone calls to the GI nurse to figure out how to get a new one that day. You see, generally it would be no big deal, because we always have a back up at home and we can just take out the old one and put the new one in. But because I'm lazy and JUST DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO DO, I never got around to calling the nurse two weeks ago when we changed it so that she could order us a new one for a back up. So we were forced to decide between three things. One- wait a day for the home health to deliver it to us (no, because Tyler would miss a dose of chemo that night, and because it was leaky and it was irritating his skin like crazy). Two, drive all the way to Norcross to pick it up from the health care company ourselves, or three- go to Scottish Rite to have them put it in at the GI lab. (They don't stock the g-tubes in the Dr.'s office which seems like the most logical and inexpensive way to get it.) So we opted for the GI lab- it was quick and easy especially for the Dr. Tyler did the whole thing himself- the Dr. and nurse just supplied the goodies and watched. We were home in time for the tutor to help Tyler and he got his chemo as scheduled without a problem. (And we'll have a back up here at the house tomorrow!)

Tyler seemed to sleep better last night- he's still asleep- and hopefully we will get his open house/announcements finished today and mailed out. Of course he has some school work to do too. Later this evening Todd and Tyler are going to the Braves game so I hope he feels well today and is able to have a good time tonight. Thanks for checking in and for your many prayers.

Connie

Sunday, April 29, 2007 2:46 PM CDT
I'm in between potting plants right now so this will be short. I needed a water break- it's a bit hot out!

Tyler had his labs drawn Friday morning and we found out that afternoon that they still aren't where they need to be for him to start his next round of chemo. (sigh) So we are going to go get his labs done AGAIN on tomorrow morning. This is getting annoying, because if he has to start too much later he will be at his lowest point for graduation day and that would really not be good. We want so much for him to enjoy his graduation festivities especially because he has missed so much of his senior year.

Today was senior Sunday at church- Tyler was able to actually get up and go on time. He didn't feel great, but he went and enjoyed getting to see some of his friends etc... They served us a great lunch too! Thanks to those who planned and prepared the luncheon! We still haven't stuffed envelopes due to not getting our invitations back when we were supposed to. I guess that will get done soon anyways. Our pine straw didn't arrive like it was supposed too either- oh rats!! That will get done next weekend. (Oh, and Todd has drill- double rats!) My parents came through on their way back to Ohio and were a great help to us with a little spring cleaning. Thank you mom and dad! We love you! For the life of me I don't know why they keep stopping in here to and from Ohio/Florida- we always find some sort of work to do while they are here!

Thanks for checking in with us; pray for good counts for Tyler this week.

Connie

Thursday, April 26, 2007 7:37 PM CDT
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SARA! 11 YEARS OLD- WOOHOO!

The past few days have been busy here. We got Kirk all packed up and sent off on his 8th grade band trip to Disney World for five days. I'm sure that he is having a ball (I wouldn't know for sure though because he hasn't called us yet!!) And today is Sara's birthday. So we took a big cookie cake to her class for lunch. Then Tyler and I (mostly Tyler) worked on his graduation announcements getting addresses together and stuffing envelopes. After Sara's dance classes we were off to Taki- a Japanese steak house that Sara loves. It was great food and great entertainment! We just enjoyed some Texas sheet cake here at home and now I'm totally stuffed.

Tyler isn't feeling super, but he is a bit better than he was at the beginning of the week. We will go for labs tomorrow morning to see if his counts are up to par for the start of his next round of chemo. I certainly hope so. Hopefully this weekend we will get some of his school work done and get all of his announcements ready to mail. (Oh, and we have 40 bails of pinestraw being delivered too on Saturday- Oh yea!)

Thanks for checking in on us- we always appreciate your prayers and messages!
Connie

Monday, April 23, 2007 4:14 PM CDT
Hi everyone,

Well it's a no go on the chemo for a few more days. Tyler's counts just haven't come up high enough for him to start today. His white count has taken the biggest hit and is just creeping up day by day. We will go for labs either Thursday or Friday morning to see if his counts have recovered enough to start by the weekend. So, because his labs are all low, he still feels bad. He doesn't have much energy, he's nauseated, and his head is still throbbing off and on. Phooey! I really hope that he fares better on the lower (original) dose of etopiside when he starts again. By the time he finishes this next round of chemo it will be very close to graduation time, so it is really important that he feel well by the time he finishes the next round. That is our next prayer request- that he starts his chemo soon and that this yucky feeling goes away and stays away ASAP! On top of all this, he went to the dentist today and now has some dental work to be done as soon as he is feeling better.

We did manage to get to the printer to work on his open house invitations, and we were able to get a few copies of some of his senior pictures done also. Yikes! There is so much to do when you're a senior!! Blah!! I think my head is going to explode with thoughts of all the things that need to get done.

If you would, please say some extra prayers for another family going through this horrible journey with their 7 year old daughter. Rachel Hansen has battled Ewing's Sarcoma for just about as long as Tyler. Her body can't handle anymore chemo and she it not faring well these past few days. She too is a miracle when it comes to surviving this disease for as long as she has. Her family would greatly appreciate your prayers for healing for her.

Connie

Friday, April 20, 2007 8:35 AM CDT
We've had a semi-light week since Tyler has been off chemo this week and Kirk and Sara had CRCTs (translate no real homework to work on). Tyler seemed to feel ok on Tuesday, but really hasn't felt very well the rest of the week- some nausea, some pain, generally no energy and frequent headaches. He was supposed to start his next round of chemo Saturday night, but since his counts were lower than expected, we will wait until Monday to get counts again and start his VP-16. Hopefully over the weekend his energy will improve and he will be able to get out a little and enjoy the nice weather we're having. We continue to work on adjusting his pain meds with the pain specialist, and Dr. George lowered his chemo dose to what it was originally (they upped it last month due to his increased weight). Hopefully this round won't make him so sick feeling because he's got a lot of stuff to do before he graduates (finish class work, get announcements together, get the announcements out, plan a party! and did I say finish his class work?!) Oh yea, and did I mention he has to help me get his insurance paperwork filled out (they wanted him to fill out some paperwork- so I just handed him my replies and said, "here, just copy this!" Did someone mention college earlier?! We will just be thrilled for now when he graduates from high school!!!! Oops, I didn't mean start ranting about how much we have to get done and show my stressed out side; believe me, that's just the tip of the iceberg. I am looking forward to the sunny weekend so that we can sleep in and maybe get some of this stuff done.

Connie

Tuesday, April 18, 2007 12:32 AM EST
Hey everyone. I haven’t been up to much lately. I have been getting all my graduation stuff together and I am starting to plan the graduation party and invitations and etc. I have also began the process of stuffing graduation announcements. Its very similar to wedding announcements and stuff. Very formal and has to be done a certain way (it drives me nuts because I am very OCD about a lot of stuff, but particularly stuff like stuffing announcements and getting all the address together) And I am doing a lot of school work so that I wont cram it in the last few weeks. Today we went up to the hospital and I got my blood counts taken. Then I had my monthly IV medicine thing (Zometa???). Then since we were in town and we hadn't been to the Camp Sunshine house in a long long time, we decided to go to Family Night and we ate and I talked to some of the volunteers/camp counselors. Then we split up into groups and what do you know, I was the only person over the age of 10 or so. So I had my own group, and got someone’s undivided attention. I went and just talked and played shuffleboard. Mom says she got her baby-sitter for a few hours and I got to ramble to ears that listened. We each were happy!! Mom went and talked to the other mom's and I just went in the Teen room and talked and caught up with one of the volunteers. But I came home and my Thrashers lost 7 to 0, and are now down 3 games to none in a series of best of 4...They need to win the next two games at least to get the confidence up for next season. Anyways, I am off to bed! I will update this entry later and add some stuff to it.

Tyler

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Friday April 13th, 2007 2:30 AM EST:

For some reason my hair started falling out. Just all of a sudden and i touch my head and it was coming out in clumps. So we shaved it (again). My hair has never really fallen out like it did because when I was diagnosed once the first hair fell out we shaved it (and used a whole bag of disposable razors. We should've known to use sheers first!!!) Then my hair hasnt really fallen out since I relapsed but I keep it shaved because when it grows it feels like it is pulling my scalp open. Anyways, dad and I went to the first Thrashers playoff game ever. It was eletric in the arena like I've never seen (better and louder than game 2 of the world series in boston I think) then again Fenway isn't enclosed like Philips Arena. They lost 4-3 but it was a blast... Can't sleep because of the pain and other stuff. So I updated!I am tired because if you did see (or it didn't register) its 2:30am...

Tyler

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Tyler saw the plastic surgeon yesterday and he wasn't too concerned with the way Tyler's skin graft looked. The edges are still well healed but the very top layer of part of the graft is raw like an abrasion would be. He said that the tissue looks healthy, and we should keep dressing it daily to allow it to heal. We did add a course of oral antibiotics just in case there was an infection starting. (He does not think it is infected though.) Afterwards, we stopped in at the clinic for labs and a quick talk with the nurse about pain meds. Tyler's counts are ok, but his platelets are lower that I expected. They aren't near transfusion level, but he still has 5 days of chemo left, so I guess we'll see how much farther they drop by next week. He has his monthly appointment next Tuesday to see Dr. George and get his Zometa. Tyler is still having more pain in his leg but he's managing with the meds that we have. He didn't sleep very well last night so I let him sleep until 12:30 today- plenty of time to wake up before the tutor comes over. As always, we welcome your prayers and your messages. Messages and phone calls always cheer Tyler up!

Connie

APRIL 9, 2007 9 AM

Though we returned home from the Lighthouse Friday evening, I am just now getting to sit down here at the computer without interruption. We all had a super time in Grayton Beach with our Lighthouse friends and families. We got to catch up with some old friends and meet a lots of new friends too! The weather was beautiful for most of the week- it only got a bit chilly on Thursday and Friday. It is just what we needed to rest, recover, and renew our minds, bodies, and spirits.

Tyler did pretty well for the week- he slept in each morning and then got up and going for beach olympics, and general goofing around and hanging out on the beach for the day. I think that he had a good time even though he didn't feel super. Tyler has started to have increasing pain at his skin graft site- it is a bit raw looking in one spot- something I AM NOT HAPPY about. Dr. Williams told him that he could get into the ocean/pool- we followed directions to rinse the site off and dress it as usual every day. I am not overly concerned yet about this as he doesn't have a fever, it's not super swollen or red, and his counts shouldn't be too low even though he is nearing the end of this cycle of chemotherapy. (He hadn't been on chemo for three and a half months before this round so his counts were great when we started this round.) However, I do know how fast these things can get out of hand if not caught early, so we are seeing the plastic surgeon this morning. We'll get counts done at the AFLAC clinic too since we will be just across the street from there. Please pray for Tyler- that this is not an infection, that his pain goes away, for comfort and peace in his heart and ours. This one step forward, two steps back is getting OLD OLD OLD OLD OLD!!!!!

I'll try to update later in the evening after the appointments. Now it's off to drag him out of bed and head downtown (again).

Connie

Thursday, March 29, 2007 12:31 AM CDT
The sun is still shining here in Georgia, but there is a horrible thick layer of yellow pollen on EVERYTHING! All the boys in the house are hitting the Claritin bottle hard (and Shadow should be- he's wiping his nose on everything and snorting and sneezing too). What we need is a good week of rain. I don't think we're going to get it though.

This weekend was pretty slow for Tyler- he didn't want to get out of the house until Monday. He started his chemo on Saturday night, and although he is feeling kind of pukey, he is more awake during the day and seems for like himself over the past day or so. We went to see the plastic surgeon today and he is very happy with the way Tyler's skin graft looks. He said that it has healed as well as he hoped it would. We are still changing a dressing every day, but we only have to put a large bandaid on it- no more ace wraps! Yea!! We won't have to go back to see him for six more weeks. So, although we only have go up to the AFLAC clinic once a month, we still will be getting labs done every week. Dare I say that our lives have become a smidge slower than they have been?! (Ha- read below)

Tomorrow Tyler has labs to be drawn and then we are headed downtown to see the Braves play with some friends of ours. Todd would really like to take Tyler down to the Hoopfest for the Final Four Tournament on Saturday if he's up to it. We'll see- he's not real fond of huge crowds. And then on Sunday we are headed to the beach with the Lighthouse Family Retreat! OK, so that's truly vacation, a.k.a. relax time, but it really is an action packed week. We can't wait to go!!

Hopefully we'll be able to update from Florida, but if not, I hope that everyone enjoys their spring break!

Connie

Friday, March 23, 2007 2:41 PM CDT
We are so glad that the sun is shining today! It makes me even more anxious to for Spring Break and time at the beach!

Tyler's week started off quite slow with him not feeling well at all and not even wanting to get out and go to Blockbuster for a movie. By Wednesday he had decided that he just couldn't stand the daze that he has been in due to the pain meds etc... so he started weaning himself from the break-through pain med first and we have now lowered the scheduled pain med. It will take a few days to see if he tolerates the lower dose. We went to the clinic yesterday for his monthly exam and IV Zometa (a med that is supposed to build up the bone and thus help with bone pain). Tyler's counts were great and it was decided by Tyler that he would start back on his low dose etopiside this weekend. If all goes well, it should help take some of his bone pain away and keep any tumors at bay. Perhaps then he can get off of the strong pain meds and do some normal teenage things- like go back to school and drive.

The results of the CT scan were "essentially unchanged". That's a good thing. I'm sorry if I seemed to linger with the update (I received a few calls asking) but I just wasn't in any big 'tizzy' over what the results were. I guess I was at peace with what they were going to tell us. Honestly, I did not expect it to be the good news that we got. And, it a weird way I didn't do the usual happy dance. Believe me- I'm HAPPY that the scan was unchanged and not worse- but we know that it's still there, hiding, and it's probably not going to go away completely. So while we try to plan for the future (graduation, vacations, and college) we most certainly will always live one day at a time and be grateful for that day.

I could probably write so much more but I've been trying to finish this entry for five hours! We had a major insurance fiasco develop over the chemo Rx that we were trying to fill (of course on a Friday at 4pm), and it took every fiber of my being to NOT reach through the phone line and strangle the insurance 'people' that I was talking to. That's a whole 'nother huge entry for another day!!! I will say though that I am pretty proud of myself for keeping my head from exploding! Todd may think otherwise.

Thank you all who continue to check on us, drop by with dinner (thanks Neill), and visits (thanks Pam and Adam, and the Special Ed class from Harrison). It really brightens Tyler's day to get to see someone besides me!

Connie

Saturday, March 17, 2007 10:35 AM CDT
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! First of all, thank you to all who donated to the St. Baldrick's event in Tyler's honor! Our friend Mike well exceeded his goal in raising funds for childhood cancer. The link to the St. Baldrick's event is at the bottom of this page if you would like to learn more about it. A big thank you to Kay J. for the great dinner this week. We loved it! And thanks to our super-fantastic Sunday school class for sending me flowers this past week. They were just what I needed to cheer me up! You all are without a doubt some of the most caring and thoughtful people I have ever met.

We have had a busy week, and it has been hard for Tyler because he hasn't felt very well. Tyler managed to make to the hyperbaric chamber Monday and Tuesday. It wasn't easy but he did it. He didn't have the energy for much else those two days. Wednesday we got about five minutes from the house and turned around to go home. The meds he is on may take away some pain but they also make him feel dizzy, loopy, slow, etc... so when we get in the car he gets quite nauseous. It just wasn't worth the effort to get to St. Joe's so we didn't go the rest of the week.

Thursday we saw the plastic surgeon to have him look at Tyler's skin graft. He was very happy with the way it looks- there is some beautiful, healthy bright pink tissue there and the edges are healing well. The good news is that he doesn't have to wear the splint that kept him from bending his ankle but was a real pain! Dr. Williams also agreed that if it was too hard for Tyler to get to the hyperbaric chamber that is was ok if we quit going. (Obviously more treatments would be a good thing, but we have had to weigh the benefits with the fact that it really takes a toll on him to get there everyday.)

Friday Tyler had a CT scan of his lungs. Of course it wouldn't seem right if it wasn't on a late Friday afternoon and we won't know what the report is until Monday or Tuesday! (Sarcasm is oozing from my mouth quite frequently these days!) He started using a nebulizer last week and although it seems to help, it hasn't totally taken away his difficulty breathing. I think he is sleeping a bit better but is still coughing frequently during the night. We will see Dr. George next Thursday and he will get an iv med that has been found to help with bone pain, but other than that we won't have to drive downtown again next week! What will we do with ourselves?!?!?!? I can only think of a few million things that haven't been done around here over the past two months! (Taking a nap is the #1 priority!)

So on the chemo front, we talked about starting back, perhaps in the next week or so. I've counted out the weeks from his graduation in May and it would seem to work out well if he started next week sometime. You know, I really should know better that to 'plan' that far out, but hey, ya gotta try !!!

Last night a few friends from HHS came over and just hung out with Tyler. It was great, and he had a really good time. It meant the world to Tyler for them to come over and spend some time with him. For such a social guy like Tyler it has been really hard to be so isolated from his friends. Thank you so much for taking just a little bit of your time to visit with him or send him notes etc... You'll never know how important those things are to him and to all of us.

Today I hope to get Tyler out for just a bit even though it's cold again here!! Of course right now he's watching basketball, catching up on his tivo'd Thrashers game etc... Tonight is the very important fantasy baseball draft, so he will be occupied with that for a while this evening. Todd, Kirk, Mike and West (cousins) are all at the races today. Sara is busy with her friends and happy to have a free Saturday from dance rehearsal (I hope nobody from Bravo is reading this! She really likes it, but it does cut into her social life sometimes!)

Thanks again for all of your prayers, notes and love. This past week was particularly tough for some reason and we are praying for better days ahead.

Connie

Sunday, March 11, 2007 10:54 PM EST
Hey everyone. Sorry for not updating sooner. We are dealing with a lot of stuff this last week. It has been very hectic and very stressful! I hardly have any time to just lay down relax, and catch up on my big pile of magazines. I am almost caught up to all of this week’s issues. Only one more from last week, but it’s a double edition so it takes longer to read. The weekend has passed and I got absolutely nothing done that I wanted to get done! I wanted to catch up on all my shows on my TiVo that I missed while I was I inpatient at Scottish Rite. Then I wanted to watch the Buckeyes play basketball all weekend while they were on. I at least got them Tivo’d so I can watch them at a later date. Then I wanted to watch the Selection Sunday show for the March Madness brackets, and I tivo’e that also. Then I wanted to watch the NASCAR Nextel Cup race, but I didn’t really see it at all.

I haven't been doing well lately. I have been in some of the worst pain in my life…again! My big gun pain medicine, Methadone only seems to help for about 1/2 of the time it is supposed to last. So I am taking my breakthrough pain medicine, Dilaudid almost every time. On top of that there is something going on with my lungs. I've been having lots of trouble breathing since last Monday (3/5/07). So they put me on a nebulizer and I am using that along with an inhaler about 3 to 5 times a day. I am on about 10-12 meds it seems like. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME TO GET BETTER QUICKLY!

The skin graph looks great, and is hopefully healing as fast as it can. The incision scar near my stomach is healing great. I just keep putting more steri-strips on it. I have been known to pick at my steri-strips once they come loose. I have a couple of scars that didn’t heal very well or very fast and they are light red (not skin tone colored)... I am a very slow healer when it comes to scars and incisions. If I take off the steri-strips on the day the doctor says I can, then I get a scar that turns out to be very wide and noticeable. So I keep re-applying the steri-strips that fall off of my stomach incision with new ones that last about 2 days. The screw sites near my knee from my rod placement surgery healed great, yet they are red. Maybe the secret is not to use dissolvable stitches, because it seems like every single scar that was closed with dissolvable stitches are the scars I am having the problems with. That’s why having real stitches on my skin graph and stomach area incision will help hopefully.

My left hip has been hurting really bad. Defiantly worse than my skin graph, or incision!! I have a feeling it may be tumor cells growing. I’ve been off the chemo since New Year 2007. That may be the factor of why it maybe growing.. I have been having lots of pain in my left shin also. The most frustrating part of that is that my shin is covered up by the splint and I can’t rub the skin, put CM cream on it, or use a Tens unit to help it. All those ways are alternative stuff. We know that there are cancer cells in my left shin because they biopsied all the bone that they drilled out when they put the rod in my tibia. It was really small amounts but without the chemo there could be a lot more cancer cells now???

I am delaying my chemo right now until I feel it is the right time to start back up again. I am still trying to go to the hyperbaric chamber thing, Monday thru Friday 9am until 3pm everyday. It would be way to hard to be on chemo, and going to the hyperbaric chamber at the same time. I will probably start back up on the chemo once all my stuff heals because I don't want my blood counts to drop,then something could get infected.

Back to hyperbaric chamber treatments... I have had some ear issues at home but mostly at St. Joseph’s lately. I know that my ear hurts badly when going down and up to the set pressure. That’s a big deal because they are taking you down to a certain number of feet below sea level. They don't want the pressure to rupture your ear drum. We manage to get there everyday it seems like, but sometimes they won’t put me in the chamber due to my lungs (trouble breathing or my ears. It feels like I have fluid stuck way back in my left ear canal. It is also irritated and very red according to the doctors. I need to get my ear candles out and start getting the junk out and make the fluid evaporate hopefully. Doing and dealing with all this is really energy draining and gets old very fast. But I want this skin graph to be perfect or as close to perfect as possible. It isn’t that hard to lay in the chamber. I get to watch movies so and lay down so it is just like me lay in my bed watching TV, except I’m breathing 100�xygen and my body is healing itself (unfortunately it is doing it when and as fast as it wants to do it…boooo )!!!

I continue to try to keep my mind of the pain and do stuff that fills time. Today I managed to stay out of my room. I sat mainly on the computer and just filled time. I watched about 20 videos on Youtube. Then I surfed on the internet. I looked up my friend’s stats on ESPN. She goes to Clemson University (ACC) in South Carolina and plays basketball there. She is a phenomenal player in my eyes. It’s amazing how many different skills she has, and how versatile she is at playing different positions such as point guard, shooting guard, small forward, wing player... She is coming off the bench right now as a sophomore in college, but I can’t wait until next year when she earns a starting position and shows off how good she is. She just scored 21 points the other day in only 25 minutes of playing time.

After that I caught up on judging the NHL hockey fights on hockeyfights.com I am one of the few judges. You pick the winner of the fight (aka match-up or scrap) or if it was to close to call it is considered a draw/tie. Then you rate how good the fight was from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best and 1 being a crappy scrap. Then you decide if it was close, kinda close, not close or a domination! Then if one of the fighters falls after getting punched square in the head and he doesn’t get up that is considered a knockout (KO). HockeyFights.com is the unofficial stat tracker of the NHL. But all the teams, coaches, and Enforcers (also known as Heavy-weights, Tough Guys, Scrappers) use the stats from HockeyFights.com to see how they fared in the fight. The Heavyweights in the NHL rely on their fight stats because that’s their job on the team. If he loses a lot of his fights, his reputation goes down in the league especially when they are proven veterans.

Then I went on eBay and bought a set of 3 vinyl “skins” that I got to choose to cover my phone. There were 128 different prints and designs. I chose one that had a group of baseballs bunched together. Then since my mom has the same type of phone, I got her one that looks like the beach scene out of the Corona commercials (clear blue water, white sand, and a beautiful palm tree). Then my third one was just a solid red pattern. That way it looks good with my Boston Red Sox logo on the front and inside wallpaper. But I am using the baseball pattern, because that will look good to. Then I did some fantasy baseball research for our draft on March 17th.

We need lots and lots of prayers. With Mom and I being gone from 9:30am until about 3pm everyday, we can’t get everything done. That just leads to stress then we start getting frustrated. We are tired of dealing with this situation where we are having to do other things everyday and we can’t because of my health, and my mom has to take care of me at home. She has to help me get all my pills, and give them to me via g-tube. Then she has to help me with my breathing treatments. Then she has to help me get comfortable in bed. Then she watches TV with me when I don't feel good and rubs my back and feet. Her life revolves around taking care of me, by being my “nurse” at home, my "chauffeur" and car buddy to St. Joseph’s and Scottish Rite. I LOVE HER FOR THAT! On top of that she has to make take care of my sister and brother. She has to get them to their after-school-activities, make sure Dad is home when they get off the bus, take them to friend’s houses, and help them with school work. Oh and the cherry on top...she is a Great Mother who makes sure we are fed, does or laundry, deals with our problems, and LOVES US NO MATTER WHAT!!

Thanks to all the people who have helped us out in the lasts few months! Our whole family thanks you. We appreciate and need every bit of help we can get. If you want to help us somehow, give me a call sometime and I will make sure to get you in contact with my mom! I still would love people to call me to take my mind off all this pain and stress!

Thanks for checking in on me!

Tyler Copley
404.395.6146

Monday, March 5, 2007 6:55 AM CST
Tyler made it through the weekend better than we expected. He has some pretty good narcotics to keep him feeling on the upside. This morning, Connie is taking him to Scottish Rite to see if they can adjust his splint/cast that is protecting the skin graft. He says it's hurting him something fierce when the pain medicine wears off. After that it's over to St. Joe Hospital for another round in the hyperbaric chamber. He should finish up with those treatments by the end of March. Speakin' of March...I think Tyler's going to use March Madness College Hoops to keep his mind off of his pain. I'm pretty sure he's going to try and watch all 65 teams go at it with Randy Smith, who has the March Madness Package on DirectTV. Of course, if Tyler's feeling well, we might head on down to Atlanta Motor Speedway to see the NASCAR event over St. Patty's Day Weekend.

Thanks for continued prayers and blessings,

Todd

Thursday, March 1, 2007 3:19 PM CST
PLEASE SEE THE ABOVE MESSAGE ABOUT THE ST. BALDRICK'S EVENT

TYLER IS ON HIS WAY HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL. WE'LL UPDATE WHEN WE CAN.

TODD

Thursday, March 1, 2007 10:15 AM CST
PLEASE SEE THE ABOVE MESSAGE ABOUT THE ST. BALDRICK'S EVENT

Tyler slept pretty well last night but is sore. He said that he is ready to go home, so they are going to try hard to switch him to the meds he will go home on and see if he tolerates the combination. We will stay for a while to make sure that he is stable on the meds and probably be home sometime early tomorrow. We skipped the chamber again today and if for some reason we get home tonight and he is up for it, we will try the chamber tomorrow. (Personally, I would prefer to wait until Monday so we can have a day to 'rest' at home- but we'll see what they say about missing a whole week of hyperbarics.) Thanks for checking in on us and for your prayers. A big thank you to all of you who were able to call him and visit him. Distraction is the key to making a hospital stay bearable! Also, thank you all who sent magazines, puzzles, etc... and for the books from Liz and Regina. They're great! I can never begin to thank you all for your support and please forgive us for only getting out email thank-yous. I plan every week to try to get out a few 'real notes' but it just never seems to happen with all of the other things that I need to get done! We love you all and appreciate all you have done for us.

Connie

Wednesday, February 28, 2007 1:00 PM CST
PLEASE SEE THE ABOVE MESSAGE ABOUT THE ST. BALDRICK'S EVENT

Tyler made it through his surgery just fine this morning. He left for the OR at about 10:30 and returned to the floor about 12:30. He woke up enough to talk to us a little bit and then fell back to sleep and is still sleeping. Todd was here all morning too, and will go home soon to be with Kirk after school and get Sara later from her three day field trip. I imagine that we will be here a day or two more to get Tyler's pain meds adjusted so that he is comfortable when we get home. Then he will continue with the hyperbaric treatments to assist in the healing of the skin graft. WE REALLY HOPE THAT THIS WILL BE THE FINAL STEP IN GETTING THIS BROKEN LEG / SURGERY / INFECTION / NONHEALING WOUND THING BEHIND US!! Please continue to pray for Tyler's quick and perfect healing, and for good pain control (how about for the pain to totally go away?!)

Thanks,

Connie

Monday, February 26, 2007 7:09 AM CST
Please see the directly above message!
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Hi everyone,

Tyler's fever went away yesterday afternoon, and with the help of iv benadryl and his pca pump he was able to pretty much sleep through the night again (up for the bathroom once). We are supposed to be at the chamber this morning so I hope that they are working out the details of how to get over there with an iv etc... I made sure that they would get busy on it first thing this morning so that we wouldn't have any delays. We'll see how that goes!

Tyler has really enjoyed the call he is getting and all the visitors that stopped by yesterday. Thanks everyone for coming up to see us! It's a great distraction from pain and just being here in the hospital. I better go for now so that I can get ready for the day while he's still asleep.

Connie

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PLEASE CALL ME ON MY CELL PHONE! I would really love to hear from anybody and everybody. I am not going anywhere and will be really bored! Please only call between 10am-10pm!!! If you leave a message give me your name, number, and what time I can call you! Thanks.

The number to contact me is:
Tyler's Cell: 404.395.6146

I found a way to print off the old People Magazine Crossword Puzzlers from an online archive, so don't send me any of those. Please don't buy me any NEW magazines. You can send me Barnes & Noble gift cards so that I can buy the new magazines I want. Just send me your old/used ones that your done with. I love to get OLD/USED editions of the following magazines:

The Enquirer (new and old ones)
The Star (new and old ones)
In Touch (new and old ones)
US Weekly (new and old ones)
The Sporting News (new and old ones)

DO NOT BUY ME NEW MAGAZINES! I DON'T WANT TO GET MULTIPLE ISSUES OF THE SAME MAGAZINE!

Please Send the old magazines and the Barnes & Noble gift cards to:

Tyler Copley
47 Pritchett Lane
Powder Springs, GA 30127

Sunday, February 25, 2007 11:32 AM EST
Hey everyone. I am not doing very good. I had a fever of 103.8 last night and am still kinda hot. I took some Tylenol and
it seemed to help. They drew some blood out of my port to make sure my port doesnt have an infection in it. I will still go to hyperbaric chamber tommorrow since its just across the street at St. Joseph's. I have surgery on Wednesday to put a flap of skin over my open wound on my foot. He is taking skin from 1 inch below the hole to cover it then is going to take some skin from my thigh to cover that hole. It looks like I will stay in the hospital after my surgery after all because I will need pain medicine adjustments. Thanks for the calls, and keep them coming!!!

Tyler

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PLEASE CALL ME ON MY CELL PHONE! I would really love to hear from anybody and everybody. I am not going anywhere and will be really bored! Please only call between 10am-10pm!!! If you leave a message give me your name, number, and what time I can call you! Thanks.

The number to contact me is:
Tyler's Cell: 404.395.6146

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Saturday, Feb 24, 2007

We finally got a room late last night. We actually got over to the hospital about 6pm with a room off of three north, but it had a crib in it, so we went to the family room on 3 north to wait for a bed. Our friends the Jacksons brought up our bags since Todd was running wild with Kirk and Sara to their various activities, and they kept us company for quite a while! Thanks Kay and Aly! A bed on 3 north came open while we were waiting so we decided to wait for that one to be cleaned to settle in and get some sleep. Since the hospital is at full capacity the housekeeping staff was hopping (but not hopping fast enough for us) so we didn't actually get into bed until about 2:30 am. By that time they had increased Tyler's pca pump twice to get him comfortable and had given him some iv benadryl. He promptly passed out and slept for quite a while. I hope that we can get the pump adjusted to the right amount in the next day or so, but we will stay here until after his surgery on Weds. because we will have to adjust it after that anyway. By then we hope that we can get things settled so that we can go home with him comfortable.

Tyler would love to have visitors and he left a message yesterday that you can read from him in the journal history. Check there for his cell number etc... if you would like to call or stop in for a visit. Thanks to everyone for always keeping Tyler in your prayers and for all of your love. I'm sure Tyler will try to update later. For now he is snoozing because they gave hom iv benadryl again!

ps. I HATE PULSE OXIMETERS! - Connie
Pss I HATE HOSPITAL FOOD! - Tyler

Friday, February 23, 2007 5:40 PM EST
Hey everyone. I am still not doing very well. I went to my hyperbaric chamber treatment today and got almost all the way through. At the tail end of the treatment my face and hands and feet started to feel like they were on pins and needles. So they started to pull me out fast with my oxygen mask on, and then my shin and foot started to feel like someone was stabbing me...constantly! So I was in intense pain and we came over to the AFLAC cancer clinic and they saw me and gave me some IV morphine and they finally decided to admit me into the hospital. It looks like we may be here until Wednesday. I am having my outpatient skin-graph surgery on Wednesday. We in room 344 right now. They will probably switch me to the AFLAC floor when a room opens up this weekend. We will update a little later.

If you can come see me this weekend or sometime early next week I would be elated! Anyone can come see me, and it would make my day and I will love you forever :-) :-)!!!

PLEASE CALL ME ON MY CELL PHONE! I would really love to hear from anybody and everybody. I am not going anywhere and will be realy bored! I am really counting on you guys to help make this a little easier and/or bearable and it will help get me through this too! Please only call between 9am-10pm!!! If you leave a message give me your name number and what time I can call you! Thanks.

The numbers to contact me are:
Tyler's Cell: 404.395.6146
The Room phone #: 404.785.4344(update when we get a room)

Someone got me a subscription to People Magazine, so please don't go buy them and send them to me. I am interested in reading the old People magazines that have crosswords that people have not done yet. Please don't buy me any magazines, just send me your old/used ones that your done with. I love to get OLD/USED editions of the following magazines:
People Magazine (ones with blank crossword)
In Touch
US Weekly
The Sporting News
TV Guide Magazine (for the crosswords and puzzles)

Thanks.

We are waiting for a room right now and will update a little later.

Hope to hear from you,
Tyler Copley
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Wed, Feb 21, 2007

Just a quick update to let you all know that Tyler slept through the night with a bigger dose of pain meds. The meds really help him sleep in the night, but during the day they just put him in a huge fog and he is pretty dazed and a bit goofy sometimes. We still have a long day ahead of us going to the chamber, seeing Dr. Williams, and then heading over to the clinic to see what we can do to help Tyler with his pain. There is now a pain doctor there that works specifically with the hem/onc kids, so I hope that is who we will get to see. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers and for the messages of encouragement. And special thanks to Tyler's buddies that stopped in for a visit last night. That was HUGE help in keeping his mind occupied for a while!

Connie
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Wednesday, February 21, 2007 4:40 PM EST
NEW UPDATE:

Hey everyone. I am in some really really bad pain and its getting worse by the minute. I am at the AFLAC cancer clinic and will be admitted Thursday to get some IV pain meds and to get rid of what i think is an infection, before it gets to be a big deal. (I always fight when i am forced to go in, but now I am asking I get admitted. Tables have definatly turned.) I just don't want it to get as bad as it did last time in December, and the pain is already worse than it was then! Also I am dealing with lots of knee pain possibly due to me being off of chemo, so it allows tumors to grow. I will update when I get home/admitted to a room!

PLEASE CALL ME AND TALK TO ME ASAP!! I really want to talk to people so I can focus on something other than the pain. Just pick up your phone as soon as you possibly can and call or text me. Over 450 people have been to my site and about 10 people signed the guestbook since Monday. That is fine and dandy, and not to be rude but all I ask is for you guys just take 5 minutes out of your day to call me and see how I am! If you can't do that then you need to get time to relax. Obviously not everyone will call, but just some of you guys need to step to the plate and and call me. I dont care who you are, I just need to talk to people to keep me busy. If your between the ages of 12-100 y.o. I would love to hear from you! My number is below:

Tyler's Cell- 404.395.6146

Thanks,
Tyler Copley

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Hey everyone!!

Please pray for me! I am having some horrible pain and it feels just like when I got the staph infection back in December. The preliminary culture came back negative. I am constantly on pain meds around the clock. My foot is hard to walk on. I have appointments the rest of the week for plastic surgery options and what not. The biggest thing that I am afraid of is having to go on IV morphine which lands you in the hospital. But if I hurt so bad that I need the morphine I will go. On top of that, my ears have some type of fluid in them. So when I go down to the pressure in the hyperbaric chamber it bubbles and sparkles and pops the whole time. It feels like my eardrum is on the verge of bursting, it’s REALLY painful! On top of that, I can't get much sleep because of it and the pain in my leg. All these pain meds could kill a horse but it just leaves me in a dazed state and no matter how hard I try, I can't sleep!

We are concluding the last of the Copley Boys birthdays today by going to see "Spamalot" at the Fox Theater. It is Kirk's birthday present (Feb. 16th b-day) but today is my dad's 44th! It should be really fun to watch and be unforgettable...if I feel okay!

I haven't done much the past few days. Mainly just watching my Tivo'd shows and DVD's! I have started to come out of my room at night and watch TV in the living room. Usually I don't feel well and want it quiet but it’s nice to play with the dogs and watch TV with the family. I am in a morphine induced daze so I am not planning on doing anything this upcoming week I don’t think. I just have to live hour to hour...not even day to day right now!

I could really use your help! It doesn't take much time out of your day but it cheers me up and helps me significantly! I would love cards/emails/e-cards etc. to cheer me up and stuff to read ON A REGULAR BASIS!!! If anyone has "People Magazine" or "In Touch" magazines they are done with I would love to have them to read and keep my mind occupied while fighting whatever it is I am fighting. You can also call or text message me! Please, call me!! I love talking to people and hardly anyone calls anymore since I am not in school, excluding family and best friends. I don’t care how old or young you are. I would just like to talk to people to keep my mind off the pain. It may take me a few hours to get back to you if I don't answer (most likely I am sick or to drugged up if I don't answer) but I will always call you back if you leave a message! My number is below along with my email and street address!

Thanks Everyone!

Tyler Copley
47 Pritchett Lane
Powder Springs, GA 30127
Cell: 404.395.6146
tcopley@bellsouth.net

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Tyler has asked me several times to update the site this week and I just haven't had the motivation to do it I guess. I told him that he could type just as well as I could, but nothing came of it. Not much to tell this past week- we went to St. Joseph's every day as planned. They changed Tyler's dressing more than twice because it just doesn't want to stick to his leg! The wound looks good, we can see some granulation tissue forming when he moves his foot up and down, but there isn't any right where the hole in his skin is. In fact they said the wound is a tiny bit bigger. I don't know if that is significant or not. We have a busy week ahead of us. Todd is taking Tyler on Monday and Tuesday (Todd's b-day is Tuesday!). After the chamber on Wednesday Tyler will see Dr. George for his monthly checkup and port flush (hasn't been used since he got done with iv antibiotics in Dec). Thursday afternoon he will see Dr. Williams, the plastic surgeon. Dr. Dozier (hyperbaric doc) wants Dr. Williams to close the wound surgically on Friday, but that will depend on if Dr. Williams thinks that it is appropriate or not at this time. So, Tyler may have outpatient surgery on Friday or he may just go to hyperbarics as usual and have the wound closed when Dr. Williams thinks its a good time.

Tyler seemed to feel O.K. this weekend. He was horsing around with the dogs on Saturday evening and slipped on the hardwood floor in the entryway. Of course he hit his knee and felt horrible the rest of the night. His knee has continued to give him big problems. It gives out on him frequently, and I don't think it ever really stops hurting. Very frustrating indeed. It would be so nice if we could just get this hole in his leg healed quickly so that he would have the time and energy to get back to physical therapy and get some strength back in his left leg. There just isn't enough time in the day and he doesn't have the energy to go to the chamber all day, sit with a tutor for a while, and then try to fit in PT too. So we do what we can do and leave the rest for another day. That's all we can do! Well I better get moving - it's time to start the daily race to town!

Connie

Monday, February 12, 2007 11:49 AM CST
Tyler had a great birthday on Saturday. Thanks to our friends the Halls and Gadras, Tyler woke up to a yard full of pigs and and sign wishing him a very happy birthday. We woke him up early to go up to Rome for a morning flight in an aerocoupe. Todd's friend took him up for about an hour, and Tyler got to fly the plane most of the time. It's a good thing that it was warm once he got airborne because it was freezing on the ground! There is a picture of him and the plane on the photos page. After that Todd and Tyler drove down to Turner stadium to check out their seats for the upcoming season and possible move closer to home plate. They have a series of tickets that they purchase every year and even though they didn't get to move closer to home plate they still have fabulous seats- front row Lexus level down third base line. There isn't anybody in front for them and they are never in the sun! (Believe me, it still gets hot!) We spent the rest of the afternoon at home relaxing. Tyler wasn't up for going out to eat, so we just hung out at home and had cake later in the evening.
Thanks you everyone for all of you birthday cards, presents, and birthday wishes in the guestbook. Tyler loved all the notes and they all helped make his 18th birthday a special one!

Connie

Sunday, February 11, 2007 2:42 PM CST
Birthday Update coming soon. NEW PICTURES are posted in "view photos". NEW VIDEO also!

Tyler

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 4:15 PM EST
Hello everyone. We haven't done much lately. We went to our friends super bowl party, where I won $75 dollars for the 3rd year in a row. I seem to always win the pools at the Super Bowl and March Madness. We have a big week or two ahead of us. My 18th birthday is on the 10th (Saturday) and so I am really excited for that. We ordered two cakes today. One is a big cake with the Thrashers logo in the middle and the rest of the cake looks like a hockey rink, complete with blue lines and goal lines! It's really a replica of the the ice at Philips Arena! The other is just an 8" cake with Thrashers colors confetti for me to take to the hospital on Friday. Tonight (2/6) I am going headed down the Philips Arena to see the Thrashers play the Sabres. It should be a good game considering they are both in the top 3 in overall standings in the Eastern Conference. My parents have a special surprise planned for this weekend so I am anticipating that also. I just can't wait to go buy a lottery ticket..with my luck around this time a year I wouldn't be surprised if I won haha. Kirk's 14th and Dad's 44th birthdays are on the 16th and 20th of February. Plus Valentines Day is in the middle of it and the unofficial birthday of our black lab Shadow so we are all birthday'd out by March 1st. They pulled me out of the hyperbaric chamber a little early today because I was having some leg pain. Thanks again to everyone that has sent me cards, letters, and mail. I really appreciate it!

Go Thrashers!

Tyler Copley
47 Pritchett Lane
Powder Springs, GA 30127

After the game update (11:25pm): The Thrashers played a really good game but lost in the shootout. The refs were horrible! I loved the seats and have a feeling we will sit in/buy those seats again. I am off to bed to catch the 11:30pm re-run.

Monday, February 5, 2007 7:14 AM CST
We had a pretty relaxing weekend (except for Todd- he had drill both days). Todd is taking Tyler to his treatment today and will be asking about Tyler's continuing chest pain. He only complains about it sporadically, but we really don't know why it has continued over the weekend. Last week he complained about it after a treatment and they did a chest x-ray which was clear. They seemed to think it was because the air in the chamber is so dry that is tends to bother a lot of people. So why does he complain over the weekend? I hope we'll find out.

Anyway, we went to our friend's house for a big Superbowl party last night and had a great time. Thanks Randy and Anne for always hosting a grand party! Tyler had a good time and stayed for the whole game.

Thanks for checking in. I hope y'all have a good week.

Connie

Thursday, February 1, 2007 7:01 AM CST
Phooey! We were hoping for a snow day, but the nastier weather is just North of us. Kirk and Sara are not happy! The rain is quite yucky and it will probably be a nightmare to get to the hyperbaric chamber today but we will attempt it.

Tyler seems to be feeling ok- he worked with his tutor yesterday afternoon. Even though his classes are on the easy side there is still work to be done, and it isn't always easy when your so tired. But so far he is managing. Well, I better get moving since Kirk doesn't seem to be 'getting it' that he has to go to school! Thanks for checking in,

Connie

Tuesday, January 30, 2007 5:18 AM CST
Yesterday was a better day for Tyler. He slept better and he got through his chamber treatment quite well by watching The Longest Yard. They changed his dressing and we were home by 2:30- just in time to get Sara off the bus. Hopefully the days will go well like yesterday, and his wound will heal in record time. (because these are some long days!) The treatments make him tired so getting school work done and keeping up with it is going to be a real challenge. Some how we'll muddle through though! Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.

Connie
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Thanks to everyone that has sent me get well cards and early birthday gifts (2/10/89 can you believe I will be 18!) and who have offered to help in anyway they can. I am usually really good about writing back and doing thank you notes but I am downright tired so it may be kinda slow to get out. Please know that I am thanking you by name in my head right now, so THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH to those people..and you know who you are!

Go Atlanta Thrashers!!!
Tyler Copley

Sunday, January 28, 2007 8:28 AM CST

Hey everyone. I don't feel very good today. I slept for a long time and got up at 2pm! I have a gut feeling I may have some type of lung sickness (bronchitis, pneumonia etc.) Please pray that I get/feel better fast!!

Tyler
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Saturday, Jan 27, 2007

For those of you that want to know how to help us, there are a couple of ways. I am watching alot of movies now. If anyone has some movies I can borrow please contact me so I can come over to your house and pick some out.

Also if anyone would like to, I would love to just get out and go somewhere. It would make my day if some of you just came and took me somewhere when you had free time.

Call me at 404.395.6146

Thanks,
Tyler
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Friday night, Jan 26, 2007

Ok, so we're talking about Tyler Copley. What do you think??? Fractured foot or not?

Unfortunately our votes don't count! He has an incomplete fracture of his fifth metatarsal. That's the 'long' bone of your foot nearest his littlest toe. It is very small, but it's there. The weird thing is that the x-rays that were done on Jan. 5th show a notch of some sort that could have been a fracture at that time. So when he fell he may have just made it worse. Or perhaps there wasn't really one before and when he fell he broke it then. We don't really know. I do know that his foot never really stopped hurting and going to physical therapy was more painful than it should have been, so who knows when it happened- it doesn't really matter does it? It's there and now he has to wear a boot/air cast while he's up and around. Dr. Fabregas wasn't in the office yesterday so we saw one of the PAs that wasn't familiar with Tyler's history. I am going to call on Monday to have Dr. Fabregas review the films and give me his take on this situation. He can still do the hyperbaric chamber because he can take the boot on and off. In fact, yesterday Tyler finished his indium scan at 11am, went to the chamber from 12:30-3pm and then headed over to the orthopedic office for the x-ray. Needless to say he used lots of pain meds, but I am amazed at his will to finish out the day. He's been a real trooper.

Just keep the prayers coming!

Connie

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Friday, January 26, 2007 9:55 AM CST

Right after Tyler updated his site he walked back to his room and fell in the hallway because his knee buckled on him. He had a miserable evening, and now we are thinking that it needs to be x-rayed to see if he fractured his foot or ankle! I put a call in to the ortho to see if they could call an order over to St. Joe's radiology since we already have to be there this morning for the scan that we started yesterday. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray that he can get to our appts without too much pain, that his foot is NOT broken, and we can get through the day at hyperbarics etc... You cannot begin to imagine the level of frustration we have right now. Please cover him in your prayers today.

Connie
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Friday, January 26, 2007 9:55 AM CST
Ok, right after Tyler updated his site he walked back to his room and fell in the hallway because his knee buckled on him. He had a miserable evening, and now we are thinking that it needs to be x-rayed to see if he fractured his foot or ankle! I put a call in to the ortho to see if they could call an order over to St. Joe's radiology since we already have to be there this morning for the scan that we started yesterday. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray that he can get to our appts without too much pain, that his foot is NOT broken, and we can get through the day at hyperbarics etc... You cannot begin to imagine the level of frustration we have right now. Please cover him in your prayers today.

Connie

Tuesday, January 23, 2007 5:45 PM CST
Hey everyone. The first treatment went well. I am going to be watching a lot of movies over the next few months. I will probably be watching at least 1 movie a day if not 2 and it adds up...(one movie in the chamber really makes time go by quicker). Also if anyone would like to take me one day to give mom a break give me a call at 404.395.6146..We both need separation time haha. I am pretty bored. Give me a call to talk to me if you want to.

Thanks for checking in!
Tyler Copley
47 Pritchett Lane
Powder Springs, GA 30127
CEll- 404.395.6146
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We heard from the office at St. Joseph's today and after a couple of days insurance 'stuff' we are now a go for the hyperbaric treatments. Tyler has an appointment in radiology there on Thursday morning for a white blood cell scan of some sort (to make sure that there is no osteomyelitis) and then a wound care appointment. I imagine that we will start the treatments either Friday or next Monday. It will really depend on the times that they have available. I know that they have 7 and 9 am times open right now, but that won't work for us since I have to get Sara and Kirk off to school each morning. They are just going to have to work with us on this one. I am sure that all of my positive thinking and your prayers for a good time will help things work out just fine!

Tyler is feeling ok. Still some pain and a bit of nausea here and there but otherwise good. The tutor came out yesterday and today to help him get going with his classes, and then he drove over to the high school for lunch with some of his friends. He even went to physical therapy (not that he wanted to or anything though!) Thanks for always praying for Tyler and for our friends too.

Connie

Saturday, January 20, 2007 1:05 PM CST
We are very sad to tell you that our sweet friend Catie has gone on to live with Jesus. Please continue to pray for Jenny, Tre', and their entire family as they begin a new journey without Catie here on earth. My heart aches for them, and my heart aches for our kids who have lost one more friend to cancer.

Thanks for all or your prayers for our friends and for Tyler. I think that we have a plan for now. As soon as the insurance paperwork goes through we will start daily trips to the hyperbaric chamber downtown at St. Joseph's. They are confident that they can get Tyler's wound healed with the chamber and a few other things. While this isn't a 'painful' type of treatment, it will be a long one-daily drives to St. Joe's for two hours each day. That's a 4-5 hour day for us! I am not looking forward to the drives at all but it will be worth it in the end. For now we will probably be taking a few months break on the chemo. We pray that Tyler continues to feel better and better, that the wound is healed, that his leg pain goes away, and most importantly, that the cancer is held at bay while he takes this break.

Thanks for checking in,

Connie

Thursday, January 18, 2007 6:24 PM CST
Big prayer requests for now;

www.caringbridge.org/ga/catie Catie continues in ICU with her mom and dad by her side. Please pray for perfect healing and for strength and rest for her whole family.

www.caringbridge.org/page/alexa Alexa had a very serious spinal surgery today in St. Louis. Please pray for an uneventful and speedy recovery.

Tyler- wisdom in weighing his treatment options.

Connie

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 7:22 PM CST

Hi everyone,

After all the nice weather we had over the weekend we are now freezing our toes off! Tyler is doing ok- still not feeling so well but is up and about some. He went to physical therapy on Monday and today he was up for school on time! It's not really because he got a great night's rest (he actually woke up at 6:45 saying he felt bad and that his leg hurt) but he did make it to his first class. He came home after that to rest, and the tutor came by for about an hour to help him. I am praying that he goes to sleep well tonight because we have to be downtown at 7:45 tomorrow for the hyperbaric consult! So let's everyone pray for decent weather too (no snow or rain)! I really have no idea what to expect as far as how many times we will have to do this treatment but I am really hoping that 1- it works perfectly, 2- we won't have to drive down there too many times, and 3- we get a good time to be in the chamber so that we aren't fighting traffic and Tyler can get to school some. That's a lot, isn't it?! Well, I know that it can happen because both times Tyler had radiation we got a perfect- 10:45 time slot.

We are asking all of you to include our sweet friends Catie and Alexa in your prayers. Catie and her family have been inpatient for a while and now she is in ICU and on a vent. Her website is like Tyler's only /ga/Catie. Alexa is in St. Louis preparing for a very important spinal surgery. I believe her site is www.caringbridge.org/page/alexa. Please let them know that you are thinking of them and continue to pray for perfect healing for them.

By the way, thanks so much to the Mullis and Beard families for the meals that you provided last week. They were fabulous and just perfect for our crazy busy family!

We'll update after our appointments tomorrow,
Connie

Thursday, January 11, 2007 6:36 PM CST
After two pretty decent nights of sleep Tyler had another restless night again and didn't feel so hot today. He didn't make it to school yesterday or today, but we did get to the plastic surgeon's office this afternoon. I'm still not so sure about this nerve medicine, but we will keep trying it. They said it takes about 5-6 days to see a difference. Well it's been six days- they may have to adjust it a bit still. Anyway, back to the doctor visit today. With all of the radiation, chemo, etc... that Tyler has had the doctor is hesitant to do anymore cutting, stitching, or whatever to that area of his ankle because it just hasn't healed well so far. He doesn't want to create and even bigger problem without improving Tyler's chances for healing in that area. So his suggestion was to add a special cream to the wound and go to the hyperbaric chamber at St. Joseph's across the street. He feels confident that this alone could heal Tyler's open wound, and if it doesn't completely heal it, at least it will help the healing process if he has to physically close up the wound with stitches or a flap. I wasn't able to reach St. Joe's offices today so tomorrow I will be trying to set those appointments up. Let's all pray that we won't have to drive up there too much and that this works perfectly so that Tyler doesn't have to undergo yet another procedure to take care of this leg! He's so tired of dealing with all of this!! And we are tired for him too!

Monday, January 8, 2007 7:04 AM CST
Well, I'm sure that Tyler is having nerve pain by the way he is describing it, but so far the med that we got isn't really working all that well. He is having so much pain during the night that he can only sleep an hour or two at a time. He didn't make it up for school on time this morning. Phooey!! I am hoping that Dr. Fabregas has a few more tricks up his sleeve since we don't even see the Plastic surgeon until Thursday! I imagine that he will get to school later today at least to get his schedule and figure out where his classes are. Please continue to cover him with your prayers.

Thanks for checking in,
Connie

Wednesday, January 3, 2007 4:05 PM CST

10pm Friday Jan. 5th

NEW VIDEO! Bon Jovi is going on tour...WOO HOO!!!

The Thrashers are kicking butt and taking names. NHL playoffs will be here before you know it! GO THRASHERS!

Tyler saw oncology briefly and his counts are great!! (Of course he has been off chemo for a good few weeks too so that's why they're great) From there we headed over to ortho and had his foot x-rayed and looked at by Dr. Fabregas. This is his explanation of the issue and it's WAY better than what I thought might be happening. Since Tyler's open wound is at the very front of his ankle and his tendon is exposed, it just can't heal because the movement of his tendon inhibits good tissue from growing and staying in place long enough to close up. He believes that Tyler's increased pain and swelling is nerve pain and irritation. So, the oral antibiotics should still do the trick, and he added a drug to help with the nerve pain. Also, Tyler will see a plastic surgeon next Thursday to see about getting his wound closed and healed for good. Although the pain is still there, Tyler's spirits are better, his appetite is improving, and I believe that he is looking forward to being in school Monday. Hopefully the added med will take care of his pain and he can get moving again! Thanks for all of your prayers- keep them flowing!
Connie
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UPDATE FRIDAY, JAN. 5 2007

Tyler will be seeing oncology at 2pm and the ortho doc at 3:15pm- his foot has progressively gotten worse over the past 24-48 hours and is causing him quite a bit of pain. Please pray that this is NOT a big deal and that whatever we need to get this thing under better control can be done at HOME- and that he is better by Monday so that he can get back to school! We'll try to update later in the evening.

Connie
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Hey everyone. I am feeling a ton better lately. Still a little sluggish and slow, but better. I have been watching all the bowl games on TV and a couple of these games are some of the best college football games I've seen...and that’s saying a lot!

We are still at the resort but are headed back home tomorrow (1/04/07). We have had a lot of fun down here in the sun or Central Florida. We went to the Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach area for a few days to go to the beach and see all of our family. Then we headed over to Disney property to our Fairfield Resort timeshare whatcha-ma-call-it place. We have just been relaxing and hanging out by the pool, hot tubs, and lazy river. We saw all the Disney fireworks New Years Eve and every night our suite rumbles a little bit when Disney does the parade fireworks. We went to Sea World on Tuesday (1/2/07), and saw all the big shows. It started raining and my leg couldn't hold up so we just left after seeing all the big stuff. After swimming with dolphins for a week in Key Largo back in February 2006 and all the past Sea World trips, you just are not as impressed as most people would be by looking at water critters. We had fun, and with 4 free tickets from the "Here's to the Heroes" program ran by Sea World's owner Anheuser Busch, it wasn't like we spent a ton of money to get in. Plus dad finally got a credit in Beerology from the Busch Brew House there. Then Wednesday, my grandparents came over from Titusville, and we went to Pizza Hut and went to one of the outlet type shopping places. I finally found some shoes I like. Between my broken leg and my swollen left foot it hasn’t made since to buy the new Nike Dual D scarlet and gray shoes...but I finally got them...and just in time for the BCS Championship game. GO BUCKEYES!!!

I will update sometime later in the week once we get settled back in to our house. I think I have appointments on Friday with all the white coats. We will see how I am doing then.

Tyler

Saturday, December 23, 2006 4:49 PM CST

We are in Florida until the 4th. We are having some fun in the sun! I think we are going to Sea World on the 2nd and we will watch the Disney fireworks tonight from our resort.

Tyler
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Hi everyone,

Sorry for the delay in updates. Getting home on Wednesday afternoon was a big undertaking and we are still trying to figure out a schedule for all of Tyler's meds etc...
Tyler's foot is looking so much better that it did a week ago. The swelling is practically gone and the redness is too. His open wound at his screw incision site is, well, still open and draining a tiny bit. I took him down to the hospital Thurs. and Fri. for a whirlpool treatment and dressing change. We won't be doing whirlpool anymore, but we will be changing the dressing every day and praying that the hole eventually closes (actually praying that it closes and heals very very soon!) He is also getting IV antibiotics three times a day until Next Tuesday night, then he will go to just oral antibiotics for the next three weeks or so. I do believe that Tyler has turned the corner on the pain part of his issues. He is still taking pain meds but not nearly as much. The bad thing about all of the meds is the side effects of them. His stomach is really taking a beating from them. For some reason his sleep cycle is all messed up too. Tyler never had trouble sleeping through the night before, but now he is waking up about every 1-2 hours and has trouble going back to sleep. That's not good for either of us!! Tyler got out of the house for a short trip to Walmart yesterday (short because it's only 2 miles away now!) and tonight he is attempting to go to the Thrashers game with Todd. Needless to say, I sent them with lots or stuff! I'm sure that he will come home worn out, but it will be worth it to get to go. (He missed out on the game last week when he had tickets to sit in one of the boxes with our Thrashers pal/angel Lynette.) We continue to ask for your prayers for increased strength and stamina, healing, and for comfort. So many of you have sent cards, notes and gifts; we are so thankful for each of them and continue to be amazed by your outpouring of love and kindness. Please know that Tyler appreciates all of your mail etc... but is not well enough to send out notes for now (he is usually a master at writing thank you notes!) Time seems to be the precious commodity around here! We will try to update in the next few days. Until then, we wish everyone a very blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!

Connie

Wednesday, December 20, 2006 8:52 PM CST
We are home now! Thanks for the prayers.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 7:38 AM CST
____________________________________________________
We got word that we may be headed home tomorrow (Wed)!!

Tyler

__________________________________________________
Yesterday all the docs agreed that we could arrange to do everything at home for Tyler (dressing changes and whirlpool- via PT, IV antibiotics, other meds etc...) ONCE he gets his pain under control with oral pain meds. He now has to be weaned off of the iv morphine. They tried yesterday with methadone, but that made him terribly sick. So he spent the afternoon with his bucket by his bed. Hopefully today they will come up with a plan that works for him, and we can be home by the end of the week. None of the docs have been by this morning so I will update later in the day when we get a plan and see how it is working. Until then, please pray for his counts to continue to rise, for antibiotics to do their fob, and for Tyler's success with being weaned from the morphine pump. Decreasing pain and good pain control is the key for us to get home!! Thanks for checking in,
Connie

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 7:38 AM CST
Yesterday all the docs agreed that we could arrange to do everything at home for Tyler (dressing changes and whirlpool- via PT, IV antibiotics, other meds etc...) ONCE he gets his pain under control with oral pain meds. He now has to be weaned off of the iv morphine. They tried yesterday with methadone, but that made him terribly sick. So he spent the afternoon with his bucket by his bed. Hopefully today they will come up with a plan that works for him, and we can be home by the end of the week. None of the docs has been by this morning so I will update later in the day when we get a plan and see how it is working. Until then, please pray for his counts to continue to rise, for antibiotics to do their fob, and for Tyler's success with being weaned from the morphine pump. Decreasing pain and good pain control is the key for us to get home!! Thanks for checking in,
Connie

Thursday, December 14, 2006 12:16 PM EST
I love getting cards,letters,and Christmas cards in the mail.

Thanks everyone!

My address is:

Tyler Copley
47 Pritchett Lane
Powder Springs, GA 30127

_________________________________________________________________
We are now in room 312 on the AFLAC Cancer Center floor. We are very excited because the AFLAC nurses are extremely nice. They are also more understanding and fast-acting to Tyler's quirks and beeping machines. Tyler still wants people to visit. Please call or text Tyler to cheer him up and to take his mind off of the hospital. He just wants people to take a few minutes of their day and talk to him. PLEASE CALL! His number is:

Tyler's cell: 404.395.6146
____________________________________________________________________
Hey everyone. I got a new cell phone so please call me since I am bored in the hospital. All ages can call and cheer me up!

I got admitted to Scottish Rite. I was very opposed to going in, but had a really bad infection and a really bad allergic reaction to the antibiotic they were giving me in the outpatient clinic. That reaction probably saved my life because we would have had to do it at home at midnight. Then if it happened again at home it would be bad. My throat was closing up and my eyes were bulging and swollen shut. After that I saw the reality of the situation and how dangerous it think I might have died from not breathing. I am now on a morphine pump and they are trying to figure out what is going on with the infection in my left ankle/foot/leg. I was cleaning the infection this morning and actually saw my bone and the screw that may be the cause of this dangerous infection. The spot that all the puss is coming out of is actually like a crater. It is a dip in my foot. Its pretty bad looking. The skin around it forms to whatever touches it, so lately its had spots from where I rub around it and where the doctors are examining it and my sock impressions (My foot is about 3 times bigger than normal) so my sock digs into the skin as if I was really fat...

PLEASE PRAY I GET BETTER SLEEP, AND WAKE UP IN LITTLE PAIN! PLEASE CALL ME TO KEEP ME OCCUPIED WHILE IN THE HOSPITAL!!!

Tyler Copley
404.395.6146

Saturday, December 9, 2006 12:45 PM EST
UPDATE TUESDAY DEC. 13 7:20 PM

Things kind of went downhill starting yesterday with increased pain and swelling in Tyler's ankle. So we headed to the clinic today. Tyler has celulitis in his left ankle, and the one incision site there is open and just plain nasty. Dr. Rapkin started to order Tyler a bed at the big house but we worked it out so that we got IV antibiotics today (along with a take home Rx of antibiotics) and will return tomorrow morning for another round of IV antibiotics. They also did blood cultures, so- LET'S ALL PRAY THAT WE CAN MANAGE THIS INFECTION FROM HOME AND NOT BE ADMITTED TOMORROW! This really comes at a rotten time- his counts are on the way down (gonna be hard to fight the infection), and we are supposed to go the the Thrashers game tomorrow night! Ugh!!!!
Ok, so please pray for NO fevers, decreased swelling and redness, pain control (this is a BIG one), and a ticket home tomorrow with antibiotics that I can give him.

PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK TO CHEER TYLER UP WHILE HE IS GOING THRU THIS INFECTION WHILE ITS HARD TO GET OUT OF BED!!

Thanks for checking in,
Connie

___________________________________________

Dec 3, 2006

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the delay in updates. We have had ONE BUSY WEEK! We went to the Festival of Trees Sunday and saw Tyler's tree that was made for him by his friends at Harrison High. We found out that Tyler is going to get to keep the tree and all its contents. They will deliver it on Thursday.

Tyler is on his last day of chemo this round and he is really feeling it's effects- headache, pain, fatigue, bloody noses (of course always in the middle of the night!), and just plain sick of being sick. Hopefully he will feel like getting up and around today and perhaps a short trip out to breathe some fresh winter air.

We finally heard from Dr. George yesterday afternoon, and for the most part the news is good. To recap, Tyler had a biopsy in early Nov. to ensure that there were no cancer cells in his fractured leg (negative test which allowed for the go ahead of the rod and screw placement to stabilize his leg.) During the surgery to place the rod, they drilled down the middle of the bone to have a place to put the rod etc... As that marrow/bone came out with the drill, they caught it and sent it to pathology. Unfortunately that test came back positive for cancer cells-this totally caught us off guard. (We have not shared that info with anyone until now) Dr. George asked Tyler to get the PET scan done to further determine if his disease had progressed anywhere else. That test came back negative- totally surprising us again! While we are thrilled with THAT news, we are now in a difficult place. Through the next week we will hopefully be able to find the best course to take to keep Tyler feeling good. We will see Dr. George next week to discuss our options. Thanks for checking in.

Connie

______________________________________________________________________________________

My Life in a Nutshell
By: Tyler Copley

I came into the world February 10th, 1989
Kicking and scream at 10 pounds and 23 inches long
It was a Tuesday
Hotter than heck due to the Phoenix heat
Born as an Air Force Brat
I moved a lot throughout my childhood
First came Sacramento
Then a short stop at Little Rock Arkansas
Next came a move towards the Berlin Wall
Where my first memories are from
We were stationed at Rhein Mein AFB near the Frankfurt airport
We lived in a 900 square foot apartment on base
Just 100 yards to actual Germany land
My room included a bed, closet, a toy chest, dresser and nothing else
Our living room, dining room, and kitchen were all within the same four walls
I loved raking all the leaves in the fall
I would work all day just to have one big pile
I learned some of my greatest lessons from the men in the green jumpsuits
My Brother came just a week past my birthday in 1993
He be 10 lbs. and big pooper too
He took his first steps at the Blue Tails squadron
I was eating ice cream
My dad had just landed from yet another Bosnia mission
He had dropped unwanted toys to the children victims in Serbia
We had just one TV channel
So I learned to read at a young age
I read our encyclopedia’s from front to back
I learned everything about every President
The past Presidents of the USA were listed in Book 19 on page 328 to 332
To this day that book still splits open to those very pages
I started school on the base
The school was named after a World War II vet, known as the Candy Dropper
I was there just a few short months, then
We got orders to move back to the States
I had never truly experienced the American lifestyle
I thought everyone lived like I did, but I was very wrong
Me Mom and brother Kirk went to spend precious time with family
In a little town people called The Kirk
We traveled around Columbus, Ohio
Home to the great Scarlet and Grey of Ohio State
We stayed a month and had enough
So we met up with Dad in our new house in Valdosta
We gone from Germany to the Deep Deep South
I was used to foreign languages from Germany
And was sure that these noises from South Georgia, we indeed a foreign voice
But these people from Hahira swore they spoke English
So I caved in and started speaking this new dialect
I soon met our neighbors John and Tyler Suddarth
I was a year younger than John, yet a year older than Tyler
We would carpool each morning to our school, Hahira Elementary, home of the Vikings
We had school that had two grades per class
So I ended up with a Suddarth in both years of grades 1 and 2
Our teacher was Mrs. Davis
Still one of my favorites to this very day
She was the Principal’s daughter, and a nice one at that
She lived on a huge farm in the middle of Lowndes County
One like Scarlet did in Gone With The Wind
We would go there each Easter and go hunt for eggs
If you were lucky, you would find the one egg with Lincoln’s bill in it
I started playing baseball down in Hahira
You stayed on the same team year to year
We were always the Dawg Pound
My nickname was “Ty Dog”
My friends John and Tyler were “Yard Dog and Jail Dog”
Scott Plyler was our coach in both the Spring and Fall
“Hey y’all look over yonder” was a much used expression by our Coach
Our team stuck together and rarely lost
Then came the days of Pecan pickin’ upin’
And if you must know it is “pee-can” not “Pa-con” in Hahira
We had 14 great mighty trees on our one acre lot
You could make a couple hundred dollars a year just by making the nuts pop
After awhile John and Tyler moved to Stone Creek
It was down the road, and on the local golf course and Country Club
Then Casey and Payne Alderman moved in
Both there parents were defiantly from the Deep Deep South
Miss Missi took over the morning shift of the carpool to Hahira Elementary
She would also drive me and Casey
To the kids choir and activities in the afternoon
Mom was getting fat
Then Sara popped out
I remember vividly sitting in the HES gym
Knowing Mom had gone to the hospital
The bell rang in the gym at 8:05 AM
Sara came out at 8:06
Grandma and Grandpa Magley brought cupcakes to Mrs. Davis’ class
We had decided that if the baby was a boy the cupcakes would be blue
We made no plans for a girl, because the Copley kids were boys
So to my surprise the cupcakes were pink
Oh well cupcakes are cupcakes, and the class was full of hungry kids
So we dug in and gobbled them all up
What had happened to the blue cupcakes I wondered?
Soon I found out when I returned home
We ate all the blue ones up that night celebrating the birth of Sara
We considered the baby small at only 7 pounds 12 ounces
Send that baby back in ‘til its done gotten to 10
We decided to keep her, just as she was
Cooties and all
Some fun months passed then Mom surprised us in the living room
Mom had some news
It concerned her and Dad
She finally was cashing in on her Honeymoon
Ten years after her Wedding Date
They went to the Bahamas
Grandma and Grandpa Magley stayed with Me, Kirk, and baby Sara until they returned
We were still living the military life
But who said you couldn’t have fun while you were at it
There were times that were hard
Who could forget the times that Dad was overseas in the Middle East
We would make a paper chain and count down the days
Until he came home
He luckily missed 2 sets of Chicken Pox that Kirk and I had contracted
And left Mom all on her own to care for us night and day
He finally came back and we got another set of orders
Where were we headed this time? Let it be the Florida Gulf border
Instead we moved inland, way inland
Back to Little Rock, Arkansas
And the hot summer nights proceeded
We lived in Sherwood and it was alright
I went to Oakbrooke Elementary for the first few weeks of school
Then I transferred to ALS
Abundant Life Schools was a private school
We went to Chapel on Fridays
And learned everything from the Abecca Curriculum
After a year I went back to Oakbrooke
For Fourth grade I had Mrs. Herron
On Wednesday’s I would go to Alpha
Which is like the gifted and talented class
We lived miles from the base, but we had many Air Force families close to us
Three on our 15 house street
I became friends with Austin Danielowicz
He was a year younger but fun to play with
We would play sports and go outside almost 90 percent of our free to play time
Austin got adopted by his then step dad, and his name became Austin Taylor
Then on one summer night
We had 38 tornados hit Little Rock
And Me Kirk and Sara were filled with fright
We hid in our only room-locked space
It was our 6 by 6 laundry room
Then came the news of yet another move
This time we headed back to Georgia
Only now were at Dobbins in Atlanta
Some 4 and 1/2 hours from good ole Hahira
We had no idea on how long we would be staying
So we rented a house in Kennesaw
We got there 10 days before Christmas 1999
So our decorations were thrown up in a hurry
I met Blake Hinton our new next door neighbor
Blake, like Austin, loved to play outside
We would make up stupid games and stuff to do.
Our first big fun together was ringing in the new millennium
Y2K had passed and nothing was wrong
The Hinton’s and my dad celebrated with a couple of brews.
Before you knew it I had started middle school
It was my 6th school in 6 years
Then we got news that we would be staying
So the house hunt began in quite a hurry
We settled on a house just 4.5 miles away
In a nice little neighborhood called Wyndam Woods.
We started moving our stuff a truck load at a time.
Before you knew it we had to say goodbye to our old house in Calumet West
A year (2001) passed quickly
I finally had surgery for my Acid Reflux in June
The US was at war against the terrorists that hit us on September 11th
I had gotten braces in October
Thanksgiving and Christmas passed
Then came the most nightmarish day of our lives
The date was January 15, 2002
By this time I was in the middle of 7th grade
A few weeks before I had fallen out of our fort out back
I hurt my ankle pretty badly
Dad was in Montgomery, Alabama doing what the Air Force asked of him
Me, Mom, and Grandma Magley went to Scottish Rite
To me the upcoming surgery didn’t mean much
I woke up in a drug induced daze
I was in horrible pain and screaming a lot
Everyone around me was very emotional and devastated
I tried to get them to stop by making myself stop
It seemed to make them more upset than before
Dad came home from Alabama that night
Then the next morning Me, Mom, and Dad went back to Scottish Rite
On the way there Mom had some bad news
She told me I had Ewings Sarcoma, a type of bone cancer
I didn’t really think much of it because I was so naïve
I complied with everything so we went to the AFLAC Clinic
There we met this small red headed guy
I wanted to call him a leprechaun but decided not to
His name was Dr. Bradley George
I called him Dr. Jorge instead
He told us I needed to have another surgery to put a port in
Once I woke up, I had begun the horrible process of chemo
I was still heavily medicated from all the pain
We went to the orthodontist and they took off my braces
I puked different color traces for weeks to come
I got used to the idea of being sick and in the hospital
It was no fun, but I chugged along.
The Harrison High basketball team wanted me to sit on their bench
My neighbor Ryan Perkins, was the key to their success
I had Ewing's Sarcoma in my left tibia, fibula, and metastasis in my lungs.
I underwent almost a year of chemotherapy, 17 total rounds
With six weeks of radiation to both areas
Before you knew it the goal day had come
I had finished treatment
The date was November 8th, 2002.
I enjoyed getting back into school
I didn’t take anything for granted anymore
I soon went to high school at Harrison
My freshman year went great
I loved living life
I began to follow our varsity volleyball team
But only when there was nothing to do
I ended up having two more surgeries on my stomach hernia
All had been well until June 2004
I complained of pain in my left hip for a few weeks
A biopsy was performed at the end of June
It turned out negative so were elated.
School started and I did great until the pain came back
We dreaded the second biopsy
On October 8th, 2004 the biopsy showed that I had relapsed
It was in my pelvis and lungs too
I was opposed to doing chemo
So I sat and did nothing for awhile
Then my beloved Red Sox made it to the World Series
My dad’s squadron stopped working and wanted to send me to Boston
Somehow it worked out
And I was sitting at game 2 in section 6 at Fenway Park
As most of us know the Red Sox broke free of Babe Ruth’s curse
They had finally won another World Series after 86 long years
And I was apart of it
Once I got back I had a tough decision to make
I decided to try radiation at first
Then I started back on the hardcore chemo cycle
I couldn’t take the sickness and effects it had
So I quit it right in the middle of the cycle
I went back into a state of no more chemo
Doctor George convinced me to try a low dose chemo cycle
I gave in once again and started the VP-16 cycle, it was 21 days on, 7 days off
It seemed to work well so I continued it
I got to go back to school and resume a semi normal life
I was happy we found a way where I could have my cake and eat it too
The schedule was pretty normal and repetitious
I started to follow the volleyball team like a maniac
My best friend Heather Kuhn, had a sister named Ellie on the team
So Mrs. Kuhn willingly dragged me along to almost every game
I enjoyed the games a ton and became good friends with all the girls
The season was over after an early exit in the playoffs
School went on and so did the chemo.
Heather and the Kuhn's moved to the land of the Alamo
Its now known as San Antonio
I miss her and her family a whole lot
She came back for homecoming and I got to see her
I froze my butt off in our homecoming football loss.
But I got to see my best friend so it was worth it.
It eventually became a routine and I got it down pat
Before you knew it volleyball season was back
By this time I had my permit for over a year and was ready to get my Driver’s license
The first games of the season were more like warm up games for ones down the road
I went to them all to support the Hoya girls
We beat Westminster and celebrated in their gym
Then came our first real test of the year
I went with the Disco’s to Pope High School
We ended up losing our first match of the year
Afterwards I went down to the gym floor to try to cheer up the girls
Coach Taylor was still “loudly talking” so I picked up a ball & started to mess around
Then all of the sudden I heard a loud snap
I knew instantly I had broken my leg
I yelled out “Crap…Tommy, I just broke my leg”
He rushed to my side and told me to stay still
The EMT’s arrived within 90 seconds and started to poke around
All the while a tear wasn’t shed and my leg was finally stabilized.
Mrs. Donna Peppers rode with me in the ambulance to Kennestone
My mom arrived shortly there after in a panic
I went home in a splint and it hurt horribly
I eventually got it casted and that was that
I went to all the rest of the games no questions asked
Didn’t miss one, even with the broken leg, there is no excuse for that!
It gave me something to do and watch my friends play
I was their biggest supporter and #1 fan
Fan is short for fanatic and that’s just what I am
We eventually won the State Championship and I was so proud and ecstatic on the win.
My life is back into the routine from days ago
But heck, who could ask for more joy and a better life than that?

(To Be Continued as I live life!!!)

By: Tyler Copley

Monday, December 4, 2006 9:00 PM EST
UPDATE TUESDAY DEC. 5TH

Please say an extra prayer for Tyler tomorrow morning as he will be having a PET scan- Emory Hospital at 8am. We should be in and out within two hours since he is the first scan of the day!

NEW PICTURE! MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD 10 MINUTES TO READ THE FOLLOWING UPDATE! SAVE IT OR PRINT IT IF YOU WOULD LIKE! ITS A KEEPER, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF!!! THANKS, TYLER
_________________________________________________________________________________
I came into the world February 10th, 1989
Kicking and scream at 10 pounds and 23 inches long
It was a Tuesday
Hotter than heck due to the Phoenix heat
Born as an Air Force Brat
I moved a lot throughout my childhood
First came Sacramento
Then a short stop at Little Rock Arkansas
Next came a move towards the Berlin Wall
Where my first memories are from
We were stationed at Rhein Mein AFB near the Frankfurt airport
We lived in a 900 square foot apartment on base
Just 100 yards to actual Germany land
My room included a bed, closet, a toy chest, dresser and nothing else
Our living room, dining room, and kitchen were all within the same four walls
I loved raking all the leaves in the fall
I would work all day just to have one big pile
I learned some of my greatest lessons from the men in the green jumpsuits
My Brother came just a week past my birthday in 1993
He be 10 lbs. and big pooper too
He took his first steps at the Blue Tails squadron
I was eating ice cream
My dad had just landed from yet another Bosnia mission
He had dropped unwanted toys to the children victims in Serbia
We had just one TV channel
So I learned to read at a young age
I read our encyclopedia’s from front to back
I learned everything about every President
The past Presidents of the USA were listed in Book 19 on page 328 to 332
To this day that book still splits open to those very pages
I started school on the base
The school was named after a World War II vet, known as the Candy Dropper
I was there just a few short months, then
We got orders to move back to the States
I had never truly experienced the American lifestyle
I thought everyone lived like I did, but I was very wrong
Me Mom and brother Kirk went to spend precious time with family
In a little town people called The Kirk
We traveled around Columbus, Ohio
Home to the great Scarlet and Grey of Ohio State
We stayed a month and had enough
So we met up with Dad in our new house in Valdosta
We gone from Germany to the Deep Deep South
I was used to foreign languages from Germany
And was sure that these noises from South Georgia, we indeed a foreign voice
But these people from Hahira swore they spoke English
So I caved in and started speaking this new dialect
I soon met our neighbors John and Tyler Suddarth
I was a year younger than John, yet a year older than Tyler
We would carpool each morning to our school, Hahira Elementary, home of the Vikings
We had school that had two grades per class
So I ended up with a Suddarth in both years of grades 1 and 2
Our teacher was Mrs. Davis
Still one of my favorites to this very day
She was the Principal’s daughter, and a nice one at that
She lived on a huge farm in the middle of Lowndes County
One like Scarlet did in Gone With The Wind
We would go there each Easter and go hunt for eggs
If you were lucky, you would find the one egg with Lincoln’s bill in it
I started playing baseball down in Hahira
You stayed on the same team year to year
We were always the Dawg Pound
My nickname was “Ty Dog”
My friends John and Tyler were “Yard Dog and Jail Dog”
Scott Plyler was our coach in both the Spring and Fall
“Hey y’all look over yonder” was a much used expression by our Coach
Our team stuck together and rarely lost
Then came the days of Pecan pickin’ upin’
And if you must know it is “pee-can” not “Pa-con” in Hahira
We had 14 great mighty trees on our one acre lot
You could make a couple hundred dollars a year just by making the nuts pop
After awhile John and Tyler moved to Stone Creek
It was down the road, and on the local golf course and Country Club
Then Casey and Payne Alderman moved in
Both there parents were defiantly from the Deep Deep South
Miss Missi took over the morning shift of the carpool to Hahira Elementary
She would also drive me and Casey
To the kids choir and activities in the afternoon
Mom was getting fat
Then Sara popped out
I remember vividly sitting in the HES gym
Knowing Mom had gone to the hospital
The bell rang in the gym at 8:05 AM
Sara came out at 8:06
Grandma and Grandpa Magley brought cupcakes to Mrs. Davis’ class
We had decided that if the baby was a boy the cupcakes would be blue
We made no plans for a girl, because the Copley kids were boys
So to my surprise the cupcakes were pink
Oh well cupcakes are cupcakes, and the class was full of hungry kids
So we dug in and gobbled them all up
What had happened to the blue cupcakes I wondered?
Soon I found out when I returned home
We ate all the blue ones up that night celebrating the birth of Sara
We considered the baby small at only 7 pounds 12 ounces
Send that baby back in ‘til its done gotten to 10
We decided to keep her, just as she was
Cooties and all
Some fun months passed then Mom surprised us in the living room
Mom had some news
It concerned her and Dad
She finally was cashing in on her Honeymoon
Ten years after her Wedding Date
They went to the Bahamas
Grandma and Grandpa Magley stayed with Me, Kirk, and baby Sara until they returned
We were still living the military life
But who said you couldn’t have fun while you were at it
There were times that were hard
Who could forget the times that Dad was overseas in the Middle East
We would make a paper chain and count down the days
Until he came home
He luckily missed 2 sets of Chicken Pox that Kirk and I had contracted
And left Mom all on her own to care for us night and day
He finally came back and we got another set of orders
Where were we headed this time? Let it be the Florida Gulf border
Instead we moved inland, way inland
Back to Little Rock, Arkansas
And the hot summer nights proceeded
We lived in Sherwood and it was alright
I went to Oakbrooke Elementary for the first few weeks of school
Then I transferred to ALS
Abundant Life Schools was a private school
We went to Chapel on Fridays
And learned everything from the Abecca Curriculum
After a year I went back to Oakbrooke
For Fourth grade I had Mrs. Herron
On Wednesday’s I would go to Alpha
Which is like the gifted and talented class
We lived miles from the base, but we had many Air Force families close to us
Three on our 15 house street
I became friends with Austin Danielowicz
He was a year younger but fun to play with
We would play sports and go outside almost 90 percent of our free to play time
Austin got adopted by his then step dad, and his name became Austin Taylor
Then on one summer night
We had 38 tornados hit Little Rock
And Me Kirk and Sara were filled with fright
We hid in our only room-locked space
It was our 6 by 6 laundry room
Then came the news of yet another move
This time we headed back to Georgia
Only now were at Dobbins in Atlanta
Some 4 and 1/2 hours from good ole Hahira
We had no idea on how long we would be staying
So we rented a house in Kennesaw
We got there 10 days before Christmas 1999
So our decorations were thrown up in a hurry
I met Blake Hinton our new next door neighbor
Blake, like Austin, loved to play outside
We would make up stupid games and stuff to do.
Our first big fun together was ringing in the new millennium
Y2K had passed and nothing was wrong
The Hinton’s and my dad celebrated with a couple of brews.
Before you knew it I had started middle school
It was my 6th school in 6 years
Then we got news that we would be staying
So the house hunt began in quite a hurry
We settled on a house just 4.5 miles away
In a nice little neighborhood called Wyndam Woods.
We started moving our stuff a truck load at a time.
Before you knew it we had to say goodbye to our old house in Calumet West
A year (2001) passed quickly
I finally had surgery for my Acid Reflux in June
The US was at war against the terrorists that hit us on September 11th
I had gotten braces in October
Thanksgiving and Christmas passed
Then came the most nightmarish day of our lives
The date was January 15, 2002
By this time I was in the middle of 7th grade
A few weeks before I had fallen out of our fort out back
I hurt my ankle pretty badly
Dad was in Montgomery, Alabama doing what the Air Force asked of him
Me, Mom, and Grandma Magley went to Scottish Rite
To me the upcoming surgery didn’t mean much
I woke up in a drug induced daze
I was in horrible pain and screaming a lot
Everyone around me was very emotional and devastated
I tried to get them to stop by making myself stop
It seemed to make them more upset than before
Dad came home from Alabama that night
Then the next morning Me, Mom, and Dad went back to Scottish Rite
On the way there Mom had some bad news
She told me I had Ewings Sarcoma, a type of bone cancer
I didn’t really think much of it because I was so naïve
I complied with everything so we went to the AFLAC Clinic
There we met this small red headed guy
I wanted to call him a leprechaun but decided not to
His name was Dr. Bradley George
I called him Dr. Jorge instead
He told us I needed to have another surgery to put a port in
Once I woke up, I had begun the horrible process of chemo
I was still heavily medicated from all the pain
We went to the orthodontist and they took off my braces
I puked different color traces for weeks to come
I got used to the idea of being sick and in the hospital
It was no fun, but I chugged along.
The Harrison High basketball team wanted me to sit on their bench
My neighbor Ryan Perkins, was the key to their success
I had Ewing's Sarcoma in my left tibia, fibula, and metastasis in my lungs.
I underwent almost a year of chemotherapy, 17 total rounds
With six weeks of radiation to both areas
Before you knew it the goal day had come
I had finished treatment
The date was November 8th, 2002.
I enjoyed getting back into school
I didn’t take anything for granted anymore
I soon went to high school at Harrison
My freshman year went great
I loved living life
I began to follow our varsity volleyball team
But only when there was nothing to do
I ended up having two more surgeries on my stomach hernia
All had been well until June 2004
I complained of pain in my left hip for a few weeks
A biopsy was performed at the end of June
It turned out negative so were elated.
School started and I did great until the pain came back
We dreaded the second biopsy
On October 8th, 2004 the biopsy showed that I had relapsed
It was in my pelvis and lungs too
I was opposed to doing chemo
So I sat and did nothing for awhile
Then my beloved Red Sox made it to the World Series
My dad’s squadron stopped working and wanted to send me to Boston
Somehow it worked out
And I was sitting at game 2 in section 6 at Fenway Park
As most of us know the Red Sox broke free of Babe Ruth’s curse
They had finally won another World Series after 86 long years
And I was apart of it
Once I got back I had a tough decision to make
I decided to try radiation at first
Then I started back on the hardcore chemo cycle
I couldn’t take the sickness and effects it had
So I quit it right in the middle of the cycle
I went back into a state of no more chemo
Doctor George convinced me to try a low dose chemo cycle
I gave in once again and started the VP-16 cycle, it was 21 days on, 7 days off
It seemed to work well so I continued it
I got to go back to school and resume a semi normal life
I was happy we found a way where I could have my cake and eat it too
The schedule was pretty normal and repetitious
I started to follow the volleyball team like a maniac
My best friend Heather Kuhn, had a sister named Ellie on the team
So Mrs. Kuhn willingly dragged me along to almost every game
I enjoyed the games a ton and became good friends with all the girls
The season was over after an early exit in the playoffs
School went on and so did the chemo.
Heather and the Kuhn's moved to the land of the Alamo
Its now known as San Antonio
I miss her and her family a whole lot
She came back for homecoming and I got to see her
I froze my butt off in our homecoming football loss.
But I got to see my best friend so it was worth it.
It eventually became a routine and I got it down pat
Before you knew it volleyball season was back
By this time I had my permit for over a year and was ready to get my Driver’s license
The first games of the season were more like warm up games for ones down the road
I went to them all to support the Hoya girls
We beat Westminster and celebrated in their gym
Then came our first real test of the year
I went with the Disco’s to Pope High School
We ended up losing our first match of the year
Afterwards I went down to the gym floor to try to cheer up the girls
Coach Taylor was still “loudly talking” so I picked up a ball & started to mess around
Then all of the sudden I heard a loud snap
I knew instantly I had broken my leg
I yelled out “Crap…Tommy, I just broke my leg”
He rushed to my side and told me to stay still
The EMT’s arrived within 90 seconds and started to poke around
All the while a tear wasn’t shed and my leg was finally stabilized.
Mrs. Donna Peppers rode with me in the ambulance to Kennestone
My mom arrived shortly there after in a panic
I went home in a splint and it hurt horribly
I eventually got it casted and that was that
I went to all the rest of the games no questions asked
Didn’t miss one, even with the broken leg, there is no excuse for that!
It gave me something to do and watch my friends play
I was their biggest supporter and #1 fan
Fan is short for fanatic and that’s just what I am
We eventually won the State Championship and I was so proud and ecstatic on the win.
My life is back into the routine from days ago
But heck, who could ask for more joy and a better life than that?

(To Be Continued as I live life!!!)

By: Tyler Copley

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Tuesday, November 28, 2006 7:41 AM CST
The physical therapy seems to be helping out some. I am finally able to put weight on my leg some. I am going about 3 times a week, so I only get 2 rest days during the weekdays. On those days I have to the exercises at home, just not with weights or balls (they provide elevation so its harder to do stuff.) Me and my mom went to the STATE CHAMPION Harrison Hoyas Volleyball banquet last night. It was really nice and was at the Country Club. They even gave me a State Champion sweatshirt and an amazing afghan blanket thing that had a picture of the STATE CHAMPION Hoya team. It was good to see everyone. I will try to get a picture of the blanket and me in the sweatshirt later. For now its school work...ugh!

Tyler

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I hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend. We all had a good time in Nashville just relaxing and visiting with our cousins and aunt and uncle. I think all the kids had a great time hanging out with each other. Thanks Bob and Michelle for having us over for a great Thanksgiving dinner.

Tyler is progressing- slow but sure. Pain seems to be the biggest issue; some days it's ok and some days it's worse. He has started physical therapy three days a week and is doing well with that. He is doing home-based school, so he is still a bit isolated- hopefully a few trips to school for lunch this week will help. Visitors are always welcome! Just call first because his schedule is picking up a bit with PT, school, labs etc...

Thanks for checking in and praying for us.
Connie

Thursday, November 16, 2006 10:49 AM CST
WE are in Nashville for Thanksgiving at one of our time share condos. I went back on chemo so I am sick alot...yuck!
I will be back on Sunday!

Tyler

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I am headed to the Camp Sunshine Teen retreat this weekend. It should be fun.

I would also love letters written to me.

Tyler Copley
47 Pritchett Lane
Powder Springs, GA 30127

Thanks,
Tyler
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I am not doing well at all...horrible pain and tough choices...Please pray for us!

Tyler
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Saturday, November 12, 2006 12:19 PM EST
I am doing a little bit better tonight. I just sat around all day watching movies and finding old friends and schoolmates from a couple of my many schools on Facebook. Its amazing how much people change when you havent seen them in 7 years haha. Then I went thru the NHL entry draft from 1961-1995 and clicked on about every person that played over 100 games in the NHL and got there bio. Then I looked up there career transactions (trades, free agent, expansion draft etc.) and then I looked to see where they playing in 2004-2005 NHL season if they were still playing. The NHL didnt play in 2004-05 and you would be surprised how many people didnt play in the lockout. Many players retired after they came back because they couldnt adjust to the faster andmore scoring NHL. The teams from european leagues were stacked with talent though. Then I read the AJC, the the Marietta Daily Journal. I still didnt read my ESPN the Magazine or my Sports Illustrated! The the itches started coming back (most likely a mental need to feel an itch. Then I watched some of my Tivo recording, which somehow seems to stay full... Tomorrow I am hoping to get out and go to Blockbuster to exchange movies and possibly go to Wal*Mart or somewhere to look around for Christmas list items and comfy bed clothes. I will try to update tomorrow.

Tyler

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Well I got thru the night. I was going crazy last night because I had an allergic reaction to something (probably the pain med the doctor prescribed). I refused to go to the hospital and just wanted to stay away from there. I felt much better after taking about a 30 minute Oatmeal bath. Normally you take those when you get hives or chicken pox. I have had both and even though I didnt have hives this time around, it was the worse itching Ive ever had. Now I am slowly getting around and getting by. I may go to Wal-Mart to go get a movie or a magazine to take my mind off of the pain. While reading the paper, the pain was less noticeable. I am just back on my normal pain meds lortab and morphine. The perkased I took was horrible. Its like I was so emotional while digging into my skin. It felt like getting stung by 1000's of bees or wasps. It was horrible. And it just caused me to get worked up emotionally and thrash around. By thrashing around it caused my leg more pain. I have noticed this morning that i cant see out of my left eye. Its about 25 percent. My sight is fine if I cover up my eye. Not sure if thats apart of the reaction or what. Thanks for all the thoughts! I cant wait to get back up and running.

Tyler
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Thursday, Nov 9th

I am not doing well at all.

Tyler

Saturday, November 4, 2006 11:28 PM EST
WE WON WE WON!!! THE HOYAS ARE THE 2006-2007 STATE CHAMPIONS!
I AM SO HAPPY AND PROUD OF THEM RIGHT NOW!!!

I should have posted on here but the game was on CSS locally and live on the internet worldwide on WWW.GHSA.NET
If you want to watch it you can still go there and watch it, but it just won't be live.

Anyways we all enjoyed a great celebretory party at Chili's!!! I even got a state champion hat and tee shirt!!!

I am at a lost of words to describe this feeling.

WOO HOO!!! STATE CHAMPS!! WAY TO GO GIRLS!!!

Make sure you watch the new video that is above!!!
Tyler
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Thursday, November 2, 2006 8:44 PM-

We finally have a date for surgery!! Tyler will have surgery to fix his fractured tibia next Wednesday at 1:50 pm at Scottish Rite. He will have his preop labs done tomorrow so that we are sure to be ready for Wednesday. I think he will only be in for one night and hopefully go home sometime Thursday afternoon. We shall see about that.

Tyler went to the volleyball state semi-finals tonight, and cheered Harrison on to a big victory! They will play for the state championship on Saturday. Congratulations girls!

My mom and dad will be coming in tomorrow for a few days. We are all looking forward to that! It has been nice to have family last weekend and now this weekend too. OF course we always find 'little' projects to get into while they are here. I imagine mom will be doing lots of cooking and helping me with my annual pumpkin roll baking. I get tired just thinking about it. Who am I kidding?! I'm always tired! HA

Keep those prayers coming!
Connie

Monday, October 30, 2006 5:22 AM CST
We've had a pretty nice weekend here. Todd's mom and dad made it in for a few days and we are enjoying the family time. We also got busy for Halloween last night and carved some cool pumpkins. Tyler, Todd and Morgan had a great Football Saturday lounging most of the day watching some great games. Tyler didn't seem to feel so well yesterday though, so he just hung low.
We still don't know when or where surgery will be for Tyler. The doc that did the biopsy said that he was super busy and probably couldn't do Tyler's surgery until sometime after the 14th, and it would be at Crawford Long (adult hospital downtown). I don't want to wait that long! Tyler has been off chemo for a few weeks already, and we aren't sure if we could get a urologist in there to fix his other issues while he was in surgery. We know what needs to be done now, but we can't seem to get the where, when, and even the who will do it part figured out. Please pray about this with us. We just want to get this taken care of so that Tyler can get back into shape and get back to having fun and enjoying his senior year at school. Thanks for checking in,

Connie

Friday, October 27, 2006 8:35 AM CDT
Still a lot going on here at our house. I have phone calls in to Dr. Oskouie's office to see if they have the final results back yet (so far- no), but I'm not concerned about that at this point. We are also trying to figure out when they can get Tyler scheduled to fix his left leg so that he can get on with his life! We have complicated it a bit by trying to get a few other things done while he is under anesthesia but as usual the docs we are trying to reach don't seem to like to answer their messages! Go figure! Now I have two other doctor's offices trying to get through to them. Hopefully they will pick up the phone for another doctor. Please, please pray that we get this all straightened out so that these procedures go smoothly for Tyler.

I took Tyler back to Dr. Oskouie's office Wednesday morning so that they could look at his cast 'from the dark side' and change it so that Tyler wasn't in so much pain. They did change it out and some of his discomfort has subsided at least from that issue. We talked to the Dr. again about how to fix Tyler's fracture too. All of this can be so overwhelming- I'll just leave it at that.

Tyler will have home-based instruction for the next few weeks. We are very thankful for the teachers that he has at Harrison and for the quick response to getting his school issues straightened out for us. Some of the teachers will help him out at home a few hours a week to stay caught up in his classes- That's a good thing for him AND me. A teacher of Shakespeare I am NOT. Math and science- go for it, but Language Arts/Lit- yuck!

Speaking of teachers, Tyler felt well enough to go to the Teacher of the Year Pep Rally that Kirk and I were invited to yesterday. It was a day to honor every teacher of the year for Cobb Co. and Marietta schools. Our amazing and fabulous friend/teacher, Jennifer Dawson won the Lost Mountain MS award. Even more exciting is that she won the Cobb Co. teacher of the year too! We went to see her unveil her handprints on the Teacher Walk of Fame in Marietta a few weeks ago. Ms Dawson taught both Tyler and Kirk in sixth grade and was very intrumental in helping Kirk get to the State Geography Bee last year. We're very proud of her as are so many others from LMMS.

As always, we appreciate all of your prayers and notes of encouragement. Yes, we are weary, but we know that God is in control and is holding us close.

Connie

Monday/Tuesday, October 23-24, 2006 11:00 AM EST
______________________________________________________
UPDATE TUESDAY 11AM

Tyler made it through his biopsy yesterday- we got home about 9:15. It took quite a while to get him settled in and semi-comfortable, but I think he pretty much slept through the night. His leg is really hurting- he woke up early this morning and after a few different type of pain meds he is sitting 'just ok' in the bed trying to read the paper. He has an appointment with Dr George this afternoon for his regular monthly check up. The car ride with all the bumps in the road should be pretty interesting.
According to Dr. Oskouie and the pathologist, the initial report is good- no cancer cells that they could see. We will have final results back by Friday. We only talked shortly about surgery options for the fracture. Of course this will all depend on the final results, but it looks like something involving a rod and a bone graft would be a good option. That would probably be done as soon as possible next week. Woohoo! Two surgeries in two weeks. That beats the cast he has on right now though. It is tight, rough (his other leg is getting all scratched up), and it is very high on his leg (so it's harder to move around). At least they cut out a window for his burn- it is starting to heal but is still very tender.

So, to recap- the news is initially great, but Tyler is still struggling with the pain issues.

There was another article on Tyler in the high school newspaper. Email us at tcopley@bellsouth.net if you want us to email you a copy.

Thanks for checking in.

KEEP PRAYING,
Connie
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Just a quick update: Please remember to pray for Tyler today as he goes in for a biopsy of his left leg. This will determine how we treat his fracture of that area. We will check in at Egleston at 1pm and he will go back around 3pm.
Prayer requests:
No cancer cells (and if they are hiding in there- let them find them)
minimal pain (they will do the biopsy and recast over the site)
healing of the burn on his upper thigh (this really hurts)
calm nerves and peace throughout the day (it's really hard to sit and WAIT all day for surgery especially because he can't eat) Also, Tyler woke up at 5:30 am and can't go back to sleep.
perfect skill and discernment for the docs (Dr. Oskouie, the anesthesiologist, and the pathologist)

Thanks for thinking of us today!
Connie

Saturday, October 14, 2006 11:45 PM EST
NEW VIDEO!!! MAKE SURE YOU WATCH/LISTEN!
Note: Give it a few seconds to load!

Hey everyone. Guess what is going on now on the soap opera "The Life of Tyler Copley" ?? "Another break???" No. "Car accident??" No. If you guessed that I burned myself with compressed air, you would be right. Your prize is nothing haha. So I was cleaning the dead skin cells and stuff from my leg with the compressed air. Then instead of the air coming out it spit dry ice stuff out and since it was under my cast and i couldnt reach it I just had to bear the pain until the next day! We got my cast cut around the burn and are letting it heal now.

We went and saw the Oncology Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Oskowee. We met with him for a little while, and he thinks some of the bone in my broken leg looks kinda suspicious. So before we get the bone fixed. I am going to have a biopsy on Monday the 23rd at Egleston. Then we will decide what we want to do to treat me from there.

Tyler

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IT IS OFFICIAL! TYLER COPLEY HAS HIS DRIVERS LICENSE!!!

Hey everyone. Today is October 14th, 2006. 2 years to the day after I relapsed. It was really eerie today. Pretty much I got the word that i passed the drivers test about the same time that I got word from Dr. George that I had relaped in 2004. I finished the test at 10:32 am and we got the phone call in 2004 at about 10:30am. Boy it seems forever ago...Anyways, Thursday night was Senior Night for volleyball. The stuff I got was really neat. (The team and I got the same stuff practicly). I got an embroidered pillow case with my name and Hoyas volleyball logo on it, a bag full of candy, my banner thingy that was in the Harrison gym, and a volleyball signed by the team. I will get a picture as soon as the photographer gets them up. Wish us luck in the state tournement!!! We are ranked #3 in the state right now!

I went to the Thrashers game Friday night. It was tied then with 0.5 seconds left the other team scored...we need a new Buzzer guy haha. That was great. We went and sat in a luxury suite box. I love going to watch the games from there. then watched the game tonight on TV and we won in Overtime!!!

Then today, I woke up and went to take my drivers test for my license and I passed with a 95

Tuesday, October 10, 2006 1:16 PM CDT
New Video for some Thrashers spirit!!!
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Update from mom

Tyler seems to be doing better over the past few days. He has been to school yesterday and today (with a quick trip to the dentist today). I guess his pain is tolerable as he is doing what he wants to do, although he has been a little puky too. Tyler is definitely not liking the fact that his knee is now immobilzed by the long leg cast. How good it would feel for him to just stretch it out for even a few minutes!!! Doctor George gave us the go ahead to stop Tyler's chemo a week early so that his counts would recover by the time we see the ortho docs and schedule some sort of surgery to fix his left tibia. I'm sure that Tyler is glad that tonight will be his last night of chemo for a few weeks. CURE sent us some tickets to the Thrashers game over the weekend, so Tyler, Sara, and I headed downtown to the game on Saturday evening. We had a great time and the Thrashers trounced on the other team 6-0. (Todd and Kirk were on a campout.) After a quick trip to the lab today after school, I'll take him back up to Harrison to watch the volleyball games. That's always fun! I'm so glad that he feels good to go and have a good time.

I, on the other hand, have spent HOURS on the phone with nurses, doctors, insurance 'people' etc... trying to coordinate all of this stuff that has to get done so that we can know what to do about his broken leg. Actually, I have spent HOURS on the phone with phone messaging systems, choosing this option or that option to try to speak with a real live nurse, doctor, or insurance 'person'. I have left multiple messages- even multiple messages to a tricare (otherwise known to us military types as Tri-don't-care!) case manager manager (the head cheese of the other managers). Did anyone bother to call back before the weekend? NOOOO! So I gave it up and started again on Monday. There must be something to be said for a fresh start. I finally talked with someone at Emory Orthopedics and we have an appointment next week!!! I had been told that tricare had denied our request to see them since they are out of network (and this whole silly other story about how they said there wasn't such a thing as an oncologic orthopedic surgeon!), but they were wrong- there is such a thing- and they did give us the approval to see them. So, we will see Emory orthopedics on Oct 18th and the ortho docs at Scottish Rite on Oct 19th. After that, we will sit down with Dr. George and try to hash through all of their opinions and make a decision about how to treat Tyler's broken leg. It is obvious that he will have some sort of surgery to fix it, we just don't know exactly what they will want to do or when they will do it. (again, obviously as soon as possible after our appointments because the cast certainly isn't working and it is a real pain!) We truly appreciate all your prayers for the doctor's judgement in looking at Tyler's films and discernment for Todd, Tyler, and I as we make these decisions. Thanks for checking in on us.

Connie

October 4, 2006
NEW PICTURES!!!

Hey everyone. Last night was a rough one. As I was getting settled in to sleep, I somehow twisted the wrong way or something and was instantly in horrible pain. It hurt worse than when I first broke my leg 5 weeks ago. So we went to the Ortho today and guess what...THERE IS ANOTHER HUGE CRACK IN MY TIBIA!!!

They put me in a long leg cast and we will meet with a surgeon in about 2 weeks. Then I will probably have surgery around the end of October. They will most likely put 2 rods in my tibia to stabalize it. If we let it heal with the cast..there are no guarentees it wont't break again in 2 months due to weakened bones.

Long story short...I forgot to get another prescription for morphine..and I just realized that. I am in horrible pain without the pain meds. Hopefully we can get this over with soon so I won't have to continue dealing with it.

PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!
Tyler

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The picture above would be a picture of a Buick Century, which we just bought! I am so excited to get my license and start driving that bad boy! I will probably go to get my license in the next 2 weeks or so.

Tyler

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September 30, 2006

Hey everyone,

I am sure glad that it's the weekend!! Tyler and I recovered from our 12 hour stint in the clinic last friday and Tyler's port is looking much better now (that bruise was nasty). His counts rebounded amazingly well, and so he started his round of chemo Weds. night. He doesn't usually feel bad at first, but Thursday night and Friday were pretty stinky days for him. He ended up missing the whole day of school on Friday. After some good rest last night he is feeling much better so he and Todd are off to the Braves game tonight.

We saw the P.A. at the orthopedic office on Wednesday and they xrayed and recasted his leg (green now- for Harrison). They are starting to see what he called a little 'fluff' at the fracture site. So that means that it is starting to heal. We are so glad for that! Although it is starting to heal, he is way behind where he should be in the healing process- so lots more prayers are needed for SPEEDY healing. We don't want him to be in a cast and on crutches all fall!! Besides that, his leg has been spasming and really causing some irritating moments. Hopefully those won't last. I'm off now to enjoy the fall afternoon outdoors. Thanks for checking in on us!

Connie

Friday, September 15, 2006 11:04 PM EST
Friday 9/22 11pm-
So its Friday night and guess what me and my mom did today? We pulled the infamous 8am-8pm blood transfusion trick. So thats how are day went. On top of that I got hives at the very end of it and so i had to have bendryl..yuck...To top it off I accidently pulled my needle out in between the blood bags. I now have about a quarter size bruise all around my port! :-(

Tyler
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NEW VIDEO BECAUSE MY RED SOX NEED SOME HELP DOWN THE STRETCH TO GET INTO THE PLAYOFFS!!!

9/20 8 pm-

We haven't been up to much. Volleyball is on a strech where they don't play any regular season games but are competing on friday and saturdays in tournament across GA and Tenn. Next week I will get back into the volleyball action. This strech of no volleyball games happens to coincide with my worst week out of the month know as "Free Tyler's Stomach Contents!" So I will be resting this weekend. We are going to the hospital Friday to get blood labs and possibly "2 Packed Red Blood Cell Units". Who knows maybe The Thrashers will show up and raid MY (and i mean MY) room. Last time WSB showed up and comandeered my room and raised $1.25 million. Lets hope the Thrashers show up sometime...Just in case I will be wearing my Thrashers gear. I am about to go to bed.

KUDOS TO MR. WILHELM (Will) OLSON FOR GETTING MY POWER RANGERS REFERENCE OF "ITS MORPHING TIME" (i said "Its morphine time!)

Hope You guys like the new picture!
Tyler
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Hey Everyone.

There is a new music video for you to listen to. Its By The Dropkick Murphys and its called Tessie. Its the (un)offical song of the Red Sox.

I have managed to get around pretty well since getting my new cast on. The real challenge is the next ten days when my hemoglobin with be down therefore I will lose energy, and my arms will become numb after about 10 seconds of crutching to wherever I am headed. I did go to the Harrison football game tonight though. We stayed thru the 1st half. It then took me about 20 or so minutes to reach the car. My friend Will works for our school doing technology stuff and making sure things run smoothly after school with Mr. Stafford. He is the "chief lollygagger" of about 15 or so students that do the same thing as him. The whole time while I was crutching from the stadium to the car (about 1/3 or a mile or so) I was thinking where is Will and his Land Rover when I need him most haha. I manage to spot him, and he did manage to take me the last 50 yards or so, so I was elated. Thanks Will! I am just going to relax this weekend and MAYBE even do a little bit of school work. Kirk has a band thing tomorrow in downtown Kennesaw, Dad is biking up in Chickamauga (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Sara is has Company practice at Bravo Dance Center. Looks like my TiVo will be working some of these college games tomorrow. I hope you guys enjoy the new pictures. It is Morphine Time :-) haha!

THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT HAS SENT ME CARDS!!! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT! PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!

Tyler

Monday, September 11, 2006 1:04 AM EDT

Update 9/13/06-

Well we went to the doctor today to look at my leg. It turns out my fibula is fractured also. I guess it was just from stress on the tibia. I got a new blue cast. I am just realxing tonight and hopefully will be able to go to the volleyball game tommorrow.

Tyler
----------------------------------------------------
Update 9/12/06-

Well my cast is starting to fall apart pretty badly. My leg isnt swollen anymore but thats actualy a bad thing because it leaves about 2/3 of an inch between my bone and the hard cast. When it moves it is actually as painful as when I was laying on the gym floor while the EMT's were messing with it. I am going to get a x-ray and get it a new cast on tommorrow (9/13). I think my bone went from being up and down with a break in it to the part above the break sticking out sideways. It hurts alot. Please pray it will heal so it will stop moving so easily and making my leg go numb. This next week will be challenging because its my last week of chemo for this cycle and that means my blood counts are going down so it will be a challenge to crutch around.

I have been renting movies and watching them. I watched the movie United 93 on the anniversary on 9/11. I also rented Madea's Family Reunion (only in the South), The Sentinal, Training Day, and a few others. I have Blockbuster Rewards so every monday,tueday and wednesday you get a free movie for each one you rent.

Tyler
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Hey everyone. Be sure to watch the new video above. I love this song! I am guessing I will have my leg x-rayed in the next 10-14 days again to see if it’s healing at all. Also that means a nice scrub down and oxygen for my leg to breathe for a while. Although my leg has been hurting a lot lately. I credit that to my leg being really swollen the day I got the cast one and not its not as swollen, meaning there is a big space between my cast and leg. Also it may be because my muscles are going away in my leg. Either way, my leg feels horrible when I move it around (turning over in bed, going from bent knee to straight etc.) and I feel really sharp pains that feel like when the EMT's were messing with it when I broke it (but only for a few seconds). Does anyone know if there is a "tool" or item that is about 24 inches long, is sturdy, plastic or wood without metal, and about the width of a ruler or yard stick that I can itch my leg with between my cast??? If so give me your ideas in the guestbook! I am dying for a scratcher to itch my leg... at the moment I have a ruler taped to a comb but one of the rulers already broke inside my cast and the comb gets stuck and pulls on the sock cloth on the inside of the cast!

I watched college football and NFL football this weekend. The buckeyes beat Texas 24-7 so I am elated! GO BUCKS!!! I won a small bet against one of my friends who is a Texas fan! And if you haven’t heard I drew an impressive looking buckeye leaf on my cast! I did get beat today in my fantasy football league. I was playing my dad's best friend growing up, Erick Logan. I am going to watch the movie "United 93" tomorrow on the 5th anniversary of Sept. 11th. I got an award from the volleyball team at Harrison. I got a big framed photo of the team and they all signed it. Then on Sunday evening we went to the Olson's house for the Welcome Home Party for Austin and Tom (www.rallyacrossamerica.org). They bike across the east coast and Midwest!! Way to go guys!

I am doing pretty well in school. I am loving my Forensics Science class and I have a 98 or 99 in my World Lit class. Then in Government/Econ. I got my company for my Econ. project. It is the company 3M. I didn’t realize all the stuff they made until I started looking for it. They make Post-It-Notes, overhead projectors, tape, and a whole lot of other stuff. I had heard of them before, but didn't keep track of them. They are one of the best companies on the NYSE on Wall St. And just think I wanted to trade them in at first because I thought they were going to be hard to do a project. HAHA! We sat down and ordered all my Senior stuff today. Hockey season is right around the corner and I can't wait for the Thrashers games to begin!!!

PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!
"Tibia Breakin" Tyler

Saturday, September 5, 2006 9:57PM EST

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NEW FUNNY VIDEO! 9/4/06
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Not much going on this week. I am going to the volleyball game thursday. I am still laying around and you want to know if you can help then a Blockbuster or Wal Mart gift card would help. I am renting movies and games and can always use something at Wal Mart! Hopefully something exciting will happen this week...not broken bones though. The edge of the cast is coming off so its a little sharp but its hanging in there. I drew a buckeye leaf and nut today at school and will have to post a picture soon. Make sure you see the new dancing comedian viedo.
I still got a broken leg haha! and its been kinda bad pains the last two days :( Please pray this heals so I wont have to have a rod!

Hopefully everyone can read my enrty now that its scarlet on grey.

Tyler
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So I went to school Friday, and was expecting to stay the whole day. Well a teacher told me my mom called and guess what...I was going to get my cast on! It was fairly simple and didn’t even hurt when they were washing it and itching it. My toes are about 2 times the size of my right toes. And my inside ankle looks about 2 times the size of my tumor from 2001/02. All in all I got a "scarlet" cast and now people are signing it with "Metallic Silver" Sharpies. They cut it like I asked them so I have knee support on the sides and I am alot more mobile now that the front and back of my knee are movable. I can even get in the car by myself. We will probably re-schedule my drivers test for a few weeks from now. And my dad is going to get my handicap sign on Monday or Tuesday. We had the paper before I broke my leg, by the way haha!

Guess what everyone...Its Football season. Last night my high school almost beat the 3 time defending state champs. We missed an Extra point from 35 yards out and we lost by one. Oh well, we fought hard and should have won. Will someone (locally hopefully (not high shipping charges), with Direct TV or something that picks up the OSU game) please record the Ohio State game for me. It comes on at 3:30 pm EST. Thanks. More leg "drama" later. Its opening college football weekend. Back to the Lazy boy (aka me) sitting on the Lazyboy (aka the chair).

I was in the paper the other day. Here is a link to my story. It is also below in the link section if you just want to click on it.

http://www.mdjonline.com/articles/2006/08/31/89/10229851.prt

Tyler

Tuesday, August 29, 2006 9:59 PM CDT
I've got the x-rays but can load them on the site right now. maybe soon...If anyone wants to know how to help some blockbuster gift cards would be nice so i can rent movies....Please pray for some pain relief while laying down. It seems to feel "acceptable" when sitting in school and when it can be bentat the knee....laying down is literally making me insane it hurts so bad. Some good osmosis of healthy bone thoughts would be nice....and email messages would cheer me up too. I could prob. send the xray image by email...so email me....BACK TO HELL (BED) IT IS!!!!

tcopley@bellsouth.net

Ty
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Okay everyone. I went to the Bodies Exibition today. It was really cool. It is all these bodies and parts and it was pretty fun. I then went to the volleyball game and we lost to Pope High School. I had a fun time watching the game. I then proceeded to break my shin front to back while walking across the gym. The firefighters were already there. They checked me out. The EMT's came and stabilized it. I went to Kennestone Hospital and the xrays showed a complete break on my left tibia. Okay so I will leave you with the song "Losing My religion" by ryan star orginally from REM. I am gonna be immobile for awhile so visitors are welcome, and I love food and presents. Just email me at tcopley@bellsouth.net and I will reply back to when I am free.

Tyler

Monday, August 28, 2006 9:26 PM CDT
NEW VIDEO
________________

So this weekend I went ot the Braves game. They won 10-1. John Smoltz was en fuego. Then Sunday, I went driving with my dad to where I am taking my test. We practiced on the actual course and I did very well. Not alot going on. I made up all my tests today that i missed Friday. Going to the volleyball game Thursday.

Tyler
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THOSE LOOKING FOR MY TEE SHIRT SLOGANS, PLEASE COMPLAIN/BLAME MY MOM!!! ALSO I FIGURED OUT HOW TO GET MUSIC ON HERE WITHOUT PAYING MONEY! JUST CLICK ON THE VIDEO ABOVE. I WILL TRY TO MIX UP THE VIDEOS WITH EACH NEW JOURNAL.
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Friday, August 25, 2006 3:55 PM CDT
THOSE LOOKING FOR MY TEE SHIRT SLOGANS, PLEASE COMPLAIN/BLAME MY MOM!!! ALSO I FIGURED OUT HOW TO GET MUSIC ON HERE WITHOUT PAYING MONEY! JUST CLICK ON THE VIDEO ABOVE. I WILL TRY TO MIX UP THE VIDEOS WITH EACH NEW JOURNAL.
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Does anyone have my goofy Tee-shirt list I posted the other day. If so please email me at tcopley@bellsouth.net so I can post those in the About Me section and not the Journal section. I haven't been up to much. Today I went and sat up at the AFLAC center and got some blood. While I was doing that there was a GREAT tele-thon going on. It was sponsored by 750 WSB here in Atlanta...but Neal Boortz's Nat'l syndicated show carried it too. We raised almost 1,250,000 (1.25 million)dollars today for the AFLAC centers at Scottish Rite and Egleston. THANK YOU TO ALL THAT DONATED!!! Unfortunately, the weren't doing direct donations. That means people we pledging money to help the center and not saying "I pledge 500 dollars to Tyler Copley. Direct Donations...Straight from your hand to mine ha-ha! Other than that I am going to be relaxing this weekend while Jorge and Sara (Kirk and Sara, the other offspring of the immediate family!) are at po' little sick kids sibling camp (aka Sibling Weekend at Camp Sunshine). For those that know me well, you will know I am severely allergic to Peanuts, Peanut Butter and etc. So when I saw my mom wrote about PBJ, I think I almost stopped breathing because I read it. Literally, my throat closed up and my lung were going into shock from READING the letters PB (and J but I love jelly don't get me wrong). Plus how can you eat PBJ when its not at your house (haha I know its hidden somewhere for those late night snacks of my mom's) I guess I better call a person from the Geek Squad (not derogatory, its what the people at Best Buy are called..seriously) so I can rid my computer of those horrible letters of PB. I would appreciate it if anyone could send me my list of tee shirt slogans back. Thanks.

Tyler

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I copied this from Daniel's site:

... the Lord brought home another Angel today. About AM this morning Melissa Cali went into shock and while her Momma held her she slipped away to join our Lord in heaven.
The Angels are blessed today.

She is healed today and free of pain, but the lives she has touched will be forever changed. We love you Melissa, and our prayers go out to her family to feel the love and strength from all of us.
I am trying very hard not to be angry, but when we hurt and when our children hurt its the first emotion. We will all grieve deeply for our loss of a wonderful young woman....

Sunday, August 20, 2006 10:50 PM EST
ANOTHER UPDATE FRIDAY AUG. 24

Listen to WSB 750AM today. They are having their Care-a-thon for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and are broadcasting from the clinic here at Scottish Rite. Tyler is getting some blood today, so he is thrilled that there is something interesting to listen to and be around. (It sure beats doing his homework!! Sorry teachers!) The whole WSB gang is here. So listen in and CALL in with your donations. We are so thankful for CHOA and all of it's staff. They are certainly the BEST!

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE JUST NOW!!!

Oh great! I just checked the site after I updated it and now all of Tyler's funny t-shirt sayings are GONE!!!! TOTALLY GONE!!! I think I'll hide really quick after he sees his site as he will probably be really irritated with me! I guess some sort of bribe is in order if I want him to rewrite them tonight.

UPDATE THURSDAY, AUGUST 24

Just wanted to leave a quick update without taking Tyler's 't-shirt possibilities' down (because I thought they were hilarious- maybe you just have to be stuck in the cancer world to 'get' them!) Tyler is hanging in there this week off of his chemo cycle. He felt terrible on Tuesday but seemed to bounce back a bit yesterday and today. We checked his counts yesterday after school, and his hemoglobin was 8 and most likely still on a downward trend. So we scheduled an early morning appt. at the clinic on Friday to get a blood transfusion. Today would have been way to crazy to fit it in (Sara has dance early after school, and Tyler really wanted to go to the volleyball game today.) Tomorrow will be just the same though as we have to tank up Tyler in the morning and pray that we get done early so that 1- we miss Friday traffic on the way home, and 2- we can get Kirk and Sara off to Camp Sunshine House by 5pm to go to sibling camp for the weekend. Anybody wanna guess the gas cost for our weekend?! Sheesh! I'll probably eat PBJ sandwiches this weekend! HA

I have some other very sad news today too. I found out this morning that our sweet friend Melissa is now in the hands of Jesus after a long battle with leukemia. We met Melissa, her mom Susan and her sister Lauren this spring at the Lighthouse Family Retreat. Melissa relapsed right afterwards. Please, please keep this family in your prayers and stop by Melissa's site to leave words of love to them. It is www.caringbridge.org/visit/melissac

There isn't much going on at the Copley Household (haha)...

Let me re-phrase that...I havent been up to much. If you havent heard, I am back in school full time now. So alot of my time goes towards that. Volleyball season has started so I have been tagging along. I am going for my Drivers License test in Cartersville on the 30th. My right leg is looking like at firing range with all the bumps and bruises. Just to let everyone in Ohio know, I would greatly appreciate if I could get an OSU 2006 magnetic schedule for our "Beer fridge". Its our old fridge that's covered in stuff we can't put on our main fridge. Its about 50

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 4:52 AM CDT
Sorry for the delay. Getting through the first day of school for three kids is quite a feat for me with all the paperwork that comes home to be signed, making lists of what ELSE the kids need for their classes, and trying to keep everything straight so that everything goes smoothly the next day.
I spoke with Dr. George yesterday morning. Here goes- bone scan: spot on the knee but otherwise pretty clean, CT of the lungs: STABLE, and CT of the knee: a spot shows up, but is not entirely what tumor would typically look like. Their first impression is trauma, tumor is second. Wow! Tumor didn't get top billing! That is GREAT!!
(Celebrate here!!!!!)

Now some more reality. Our relief is tempered with the knowledge that his hip was the same way for months before we confirmed it as tumor. So, we will talk with the Dr this Thursday to decide what, if anything, we should do. I don't think that we will be changing his meds, as Dr. George called him the poster boy for successful VP-16 treatment. So, as always to our caringbridge friends, thank you for your prayers, and seeing us through this stressful scan time. We are praying for a lot of 'normal time' now that school has started (at least as normal as possible).

Love to all,
Connie

Saturday, August 12, 2006 7:43 AM CDT
Hey everyone,

Tyler had a CT of his lungs and his left knee yesterday around 5:30 pm. It was a pretty quick trip since it was so late in the afternoon. We went up to the floor to say hi to our sweet nurses and chat for a few minutes. We got to see Keegan and his mom, and Madie and her mom (they was just visiting Keegan). Ericka (Dr. George's nurse) reminded him yesterday to please look at the scans later in the evening if possible, but we didn't hear from him last night. So we may be waiting for the results until Monday afterall. Sigh.....

Well, at least it's the last two days before school starts, so we can concentrate on getting ready for that. The kids all had their open houses, (Tyler got his schedule etc..., and Kirk and Sara met their teachers and found their rooms.) I can't believe that Tyler is a senior! I'm not that old am I!? This will prove to be a busy year with a huge learning curve for Todd and I. Since Tyler has been sort of out of the loop, only going to school part-time, we feel a bit lost about what things should be getting done when, and how to go about preparing for his graduation. I'm going to meet with his guidance counselor on Monday to see if we can get the information we need to get him moving forward toward graduation and beyond. Getting through the next few days will be a huge relief for us though. I'll update when we hear about Tyler's scans.

Connie

Monday, August 7, 2006 3:33 PM CDT
Got my blood counts this morning. Then we went to look for shoes. I ended up not getting any and will get some when i am desperate for some. Not doing much until school starts. Still putting on this stupid face to show the world the nicer side of cancer. I am feeling a tad better today.

Tyler
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Update Monday, 7:40 pm

I spoke with Dr. George a little earlier about the bone scan. While he was overall pleased with the result, they did see a spot on Tyler's left knee that has not ever been there before. (He was only pleased with the fact that there weren't MORE spots than that one.) So we will either do plain films (xray) or CT scan of the knee sometime this week to get more information. The bad news is that there is a new 'spot'. The good news is that 1- there is only one new spot, and 2- we have been very conservative with the amount of radiation that Tyler has received, so they can probably radiate it, or we can switch drugs to see if it responds to that. Thank you for all of your prayers today. We know that God listens to His children and that He is in control of our situation.

Connie

Go to Kendrie's site (listed below) and read the August 6th entry on bone marrow donation. And then get up, make the call, and DO IT! No excuses.

Saturday, August 5, 2006 8:25 PM CDT

Sunday 11pm-

I feel like crap (in nice terms!) I am a little mad about the entire cancer thing. I sat and wrote a nice long entry that doesnt sound nice and probably will hurt people's feelings, but some people need a reality check

I dont want any guestbook entries. I just want people to step up to the plate and honestly look at what they do to help me thru this fight and what they could do. No one is perfect but most of you guys who consider yourself friends need a reality check. If you can honestly say you think you've done your part to support me 100 percent of the time ,no matter what,then good for you (excluding family, only about 10 of you maximum).If not, then you seriously need to kick it into gear and get over it. I dont want people to support me if all they can do is give me fake support and mental support... I am mentally stronger than every one of you and that will always be the truth. You want to truly support me then get off your butt and do something about it! I have no problem calling you out to your face, so be prepared.

I try to be humble and thankful about my cancer situation, but it sure would be nice to feel like people support you in your fight against cancer and haven't put you in the back of their mind. If you want to know what you can do to help, then send me a card/gift in the mail to brighten my day every once in a while. That is a start...
My home address is below.

Its been 4 1/2 years since I was first diagnosed. 22 months since I relapsed. Not sure you guys fully get the health situation because the support right now is extremly low and has been since Feb. 2005. Cancer kills...plain and simple.

Tyler
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Monday 9:30 am

Well, if you like sugar-coating on reality you won't find it here! Do you really want to know what it's like to live with cancer? This is how it is. Some days when you have things to occupy your mind it's ok- (notice I didn't say the top of a mountain) and other days it's like living in the pit of the earth with no way to dig yourself out. I wish that all we had to think about was getting ready for school to start, senior cards, senior pictures, football and volleyball games, cool new clothes, school supplies, etc... Instead we (and here- I mean Tyler) have thoughts invading our mind that no kid should have to ever even know exist. And MANY kids go through this- they live with the thoughts that they may not even be around for those oh so precious senior trips etc... I am just furious that Tyler has to think about this, that he can't just be happy go lucky, that it takes several drugs/narcotics to get him comfortable so that he can sleep! I could go on and on.
Well, I meant to write something with sugar-coating I guess, but what was really needed was a good vent.

Connie

(and that is just what she sees)- Tyler

Thursday, August 3, 2006 7:20 AM CDT
We found out a couple of days ago that Tyler will be having a bone scan this Friday afternoon. Injection is at noon and the scan is at 3pm. It has been almost 10 months since his last scans, so they decided that it would be a good time to see what is going on. Tyler seems to be doing well, but does have a lot of aches and pains here and there. We ask that you pray for comfort on the table (generally and hour or so), clean scans, and for our peace of mind. Again, we have been scheduled on a Friday afternoon which means that we will be waiting to hear what the scan shows until Monday, possibly Tuesday. I'll post when we find out how things look.

"I will ly down in peace and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe."
Psalm 4:8

Connie

Sunday, July 30, 2006 10:39 PM CDT
Hey everyone. Both the ball games were great. We sat right behind home plate about 20 rows up and then our normal seats near the press boxes on saturday. Tomm. i am going to get my blood counts. i should start my next cycle of chemo this week sometime. Still getting ready for school. Volleyball season is up and running and so it will keep me busy for awhile until november.

PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!

Tyler

Wednesday, July 26, 2006 2:28 PM CDT
Hey everyone. I got blood last week and i feel a ton better. I went to my friend Courtney's 5 year off treatment party. 5 years basically means cured. Had fun there. Then I went driving with my dad for about 3 hours. We practiced parking and drove for about 2 hours out of the 3. We are looking for a car and hopefully i will be getting my license very soon. Going to the braves game friday and saturday night. So that should be fun.

PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!

Tyler

Tuesday, July 18, 2006 2:56 PM EST
UPDATE: going in for blood right now. MY hemoglobin was 7.5 my favorite nurse Lynn cared for me today! She is pregnant just like every other nurse att the AFLAC Cancer center!!!

I have felt better today! Still not great but better. We went and got my blood counts today. I am probably going to end up getting blood when i go to the hospital Thursday. I got my senior pictures taken. I got my head shaved by Shannon today and it felt great. I pretty much feel like jello. The things thats wrong with my blood is my hemoglobin which is kind of a measurement of how much oxygen is in my blood. It is normally around 10.0 or so. Well i wouldnt be surprised if its 6.5 to 7.0 For you math geniuses that means about 65-70 percent of what it usually is. Just imagine living with 65 percent of the oxygen you normally use. Thats how i feel blood/air wise. Then you add in 3 weeks of chemo with adds nausea and tons of mouth sores. Anyways I am glad to be home and relaxing. I am waiting for school to start so I can get back to a fairly normal schedule. Plus its my Senior Year!

I know many of you will want a senior picture so email me at:
tcopley@bellsouth.net
...with your email address and i will send you a picture. The ones above are the best ones that we didnt order. We got the closeups of those. I will email you the ones we ordered when we get those proofs back. Thanks!

Tyler

PLEASE SIGN GUESTBOOK!

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 10:50 PM CDT
UPDATE 1130PM EST on Thursday: I have had one of the worse days in about a year. I decided it would be best if i stuck around with my mom and grandparents and take it easy instead of going on the man trip and the hall of fames. Oh well its just a building and another baseball game. Tomm. we are picking up my proofs of senior pictures and i will prob. just stay home and hopefully not be sick.

Tyler

Hello everyone. On monday we went to Downtown Columbus, Ohio State, and MY cousins firehouse. He was on a run when we got there and just as he was pulling in he got another call. At Ohio State we saw the campus and stuff. Then Tuesday, we went boating and tubing. I skinned my knees pretty badly. I have been feeling real crappy the last few days. Today I went and saw Ralph who is 93 and lives by the Kirkersville cemetary. He is funny. Then I went and saw someone else. She was 94 and her son that is mentally challenged is about 51 or so. Tommorrow is going to be a free day. Friday we take off for the Mini man trip.

PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!!!!

Tyler

Sunday, July 9, 2006 5:05 PM CDT
Hello everyone. I havent been up to much. Today we went out to my cousins, Katie and Brian, house. They live on about 30 acres and lived in a modified barn. It really is a house and garage in a barn type structure. We went fishing in the pond and caught about 20 bluegill and sunfish and kept and fileted about 10. Tommorrow I am going to get my labs done. Then getting my senior pictures taken and going to see Brian at his fire house for awhile. We are getting ready for Man Trip Part 2 1/2. We are going to the NFL hall of fame, Rock 'n Roll hall of fame and a couple minor league baseball games. We might go out on the boat on Buckeye Lake on Tuesday and go tubing and skiing. I am having a great time up here!

Tyler

Wednesday, July 5, 2006 10:40 PM CDT
Hello everyone.

We have had a blast up in Ohio. Tyler, Connie, and Sara drove up Sat. July 1st. Tyler drove about 1/4 of the way. On Saturday we stopped by The Copley's on Pickerington and saw our cousins Jen,Taylor and Logan and Uncle Mark and Aunt Liz. The we rested at our second home for July at Connie's parents house in Kirkersville. Then Sunday we went shopping and saw Superman (or Smallville the movie to Heather, Tyler's best friend). We went shopping at Steve and Barry's where everything in the store is $6 or less. Tyler got 2 nice sweatshirts and an Ohio State Jersey. Then we went to Buckeye Lake and saw the fire works. Then we headed over to my Aunt Karen's farm and went food hunting for me haha. I fed the cows and ended up bailing about 300 or so bails of hay with my cousins. Then of course i thought i had hives but i dont. I can't wait for the MLB all-star break. I love watching all the festivites. If your wondering about my grammar look at the time and add about 75 minutes to it plus a narcotic in your system. Thats about it for now.

Tyler

Friday, June 30, 2006 6:34 AM CDT
Hey everyone,
Tyler and I went up to the clinic Monday morning to get labs and to get his port flushed. It was quick and uneventful, and... his counts were good, so he was able to start his cycle of chemo. This is the first time since October that he has been able to start on time. (After a long time on treatment, your bone marrow gets tired and takes more time to recover from the meds, yada, yada, yada, so it's great that his has recovered quickly again. I wonder if it has anything to do with the immunity boosting supplements that we started?!) Honestly, I don't think that he was too thrilled- perhaps a bit disappointed- that he was starting again. This chemo thing is really getting old!!! I know that he is tired of being sick and tired! He didn't feel so hot yesterday, but we managed to get down to the pool for a while, and his tutor came over for a while too. It was such a beautiful night; we all sat outside in the hot tub and enjoyed the evening as it got dark. Tyler and Todd were the last ones to come in. (Todd had to sit outside and wait for the boys, i.e. his C-130 brothers, to fly over on their way home from the dropzone.)

We will be heading out soon to Ohio for a visit with family and friends. Todd and Kirk will be going to boy scout camp in Virginia and the rest of us will head to Ohio a few days early. Please pray for safe travel, for safety at scout camp (Kirk will be in a water adventure camp all week), and for Tyler to feel well this round of chemo.

Don't forget to check out rallyacrossamerica.org to see Tom and Austin's progress on their ride across America. They are raising funds for Childhood Cancer Research. You can read their blogs on the trip and see a short trailer about this wonderful event. Please stop by the site and support their efforts.

Have a safe and happy Independence Day weekend!

Connie

Monday, June 26, 2006 7:20 AM CDT
(Tyler is slowly uploading pictures onto his yahoo photos account. the site is listed above. He will include misc. photos from years past eventually. HAVING A HARD TIME UPLOADING PICS!!! GIVE ME A FEW DAYS TO TRY OUT YAHOO PHOTOS THEN I MIGHT JUMP SHIP TO ANOTHER SERVICE IF I CAN'T UPLOAD THEM FASTER!)

Tyler got home just fine. All the kids had a great time and made some wonderful memories at camp. Tyler was thrilled to have Ron Williams as a counselor this year. Ron is a cancer survivor/cyclist who has done so much in the way of cancer awareness, rode with Lance Armstrong, and medaled in the olympics! Pretty famous guy and outstanding friend to the kids at Camp Sunshine.

Ok, so Tyler informed me that he didn't get iv fluids, and he still doesn't remember much of what happened Friday night, but he did come home and sleep a good 13 or so hours Saturday night. Rest- good for the body and good for the soul. I'm taking him to the clinic this am for labs, and if he needs a transfusion, we'll stay for the afternoon. He doesn't look all that pale to me, but he has been in the sun all week. We aren't scheduled to see the doc until after we get back from Ohio. Pray for good counts and a quick day at the clinic! He is supposed to start his cycle of chemo tonight if his counts are up to par.

Sara is better now, Kirk is still fine, and we have finally fixed the (inherited/'free') hot tub. So, we have been enjoying it every night- even in the light rain last night!

Have a great week,
Connie

Saturday, June 24, 2006 5:38 AM CDT
This week has really flown by while Tyler has been at camp. I have really missed him, but I know that he always has a great time there. It was supposed to be very quiet this week here at home- that didn't happen! It seems that we have never ending appointments- dentist, orthodontists, eye doctors etc... and on top of that, Sara got sick on Tuesday night and couldn't finish out her week at day camp at our church! She was really sad (especially because she never really gets sick), but we managed to get her into the other day camp in July. Kirk spent the week hanging out with friends and seemed thrilled to not have much to do (although I did get him started on his required math packet and reading for the summer).

We received a call from the nurse at Camp Sunshine last night. It seems that Tyler was a bit disoriented and not feeling so well. He passed out and hit his head at the dance. We went through all the usual causes, pain meds, low counts, etc... He stayed in the infirmary for about 3 hours and finally started to become less disoriented. Well, it HAS been 95-97 degrees here in Hotlanta, Tyler has been walking back and forth (from the very last cabin away from the main building I might add). Anyway, he made it through the last night at camp, and I will be picking him up at 10am downtown. He'll probably nap for a good while today.

Hopefully he will feel like updating in the next few days to tell about his adventures at camp. Until then, sleep is the order of the day.

Connie

Saturday, June 24, 2006 5:38 AM CDT
This week has really flown by while Tyler has been at camp. I have really missed him, but I know that he always has a great time there. It was supposed to be very quiet this week here at home- that didn't happen! It seems that we have never ending appointments- dentist, orthodontists, eye doctors etc... and on top of that, Sara got sick on Tuesday night and couldn't finish out her week at day camp at our church! She was really sad (especially because she never really gets sick), but we managed to get her into the other day camp in July. Kirk spent the week hanging out with friends and seemed thrilled to not have much to do (although I did get him started on his required math packet and reading for the summer).

We received a call from the nurse at Camp Sunshine last night. It seems that Tyler was a bit disoriented and not feeling so well. We went through all the usual causes, pain meds, low counts, etc... In the end they ended up giving him some IV fluids to rehydrate him, and he seemed to perk up a bit. Well, it HAS been 95-97 degrees here in Hotlanta, Tyler has been walking back and forth (from the very last cabin away from the main building I might add), and he is notoriously bad at drinking as much as he should. I am sure a little dehydration and lack of sleep were the major factors in this little episode. Anyway, he made it through the last night at camp, and I will be picking him up at 10am downtown. I bet a big long nap is the plan of the day.

Hopefully he will feel like updating in the next few days to tell about his adventures at camp. Until then, sleep is the order of the day.

Connie

Friday, June 16, 2006 6:38 AM CDT
Time seems to be flying by this summer! We're just chugging along mixing our days with appointments, swimming, packing and unpacking for various camps, and just plain sittin' around with nothing to do (sometimes a little too much sitting).

Tyler is feeling good for the most part and is on his last days of chemo for this round. We saw his Dr. on Tuesday and got counts for the week. They aren't too bad but are on their way down. We're praying that they don't dip too low, because he's headed for Camp Sunshine on Sunday. They great thing is that he won't have to mess with his chemo while he's there, but the bad thing is that his counts will drop and he may not feel so hot. So another prayer going around here is for a cabin really close to the main buildings! It will be hard for him to walk back and forth if his counts are really low. At his appointment we discussed the usual things and talked about doing a scan of some sort later in July if Tyler's aches and pains increase. He seems to be having a bit more pain in a different part of his hip, so we want to watch that closely. We also got a different med for break through pain. So hopefully I won't be having anymore sleepless nights to sit up and make sure he breathes.

I have posted the address of the camp if you would like to send Tyler mail while he is there next week. He can receive mail from June 19-23. Send all mail/packages by Wednesday!!!

Tyler Copley
c/o Camp Twin Lakes
1391 Keencheefoonee Rd.
Rutledge, GA 30663

I hope everone is enjoying their summer!
Connie

Sunday, June 4, 2006 9:36 PM CDT
Hello everyone!

I had alot of fun this week. The local dance company had their performances. I have friends in the PrePro program so I went to their show Friday. I went Wednesday and Thursday for Sara's dances. It was great! Then Saturday, Ii hung out at my my bud Michael's house. We started a horse-shoe tournament since there were about 5 friends visiting from diff. places. Then went to the Corey Smith concert with Michael and friends! That was a great time. Corey Smith is a guy about to go big time in the music industry. He went to UGA and is from Atlanta, so he is pretrty popular here. Although there were about 100 kids from my high school (the place held 1000). He sings some great songs. He is kinda country and kinda rock. He tells it like he sees it in most of his songs. Then Sunday we went to church. I went over to Michael's today and admired the horse-shoe pit we built last weekend. Also we finished the championship game of the tournament. Overall I had a great week! Sorry for the long delays in updating...its summer and not alot is going on!

Tyler

Monday, May 29, 2006 10:38 PM CDT
Hello Everyone!

This is Tyler. I have been feeling pretty good lately. Not been doing much though.

This weekend was the first of my summer. I went to my friend Michael's house for the weekend. Sat. was his graduation party, and Sunday we just hung out. We ended up building a horse-shoe pit.

My friend Daniel finally went home after a nasty battle with pnemonia so thats a good thing.

Will update when something happens haha!

Tyler

Wednesday, May 24, 2006 9:31 AM CDT
Tyler's update:

My blood counts are finally high enough to start my chemo (barely) it needs to be 1000 and they will start you at 750 and mine was 800 haha! so i might be really low after this 3 week cycle. Anyway i am busy this weekend with partys and graduation stuff.

Tyler

Friday update:
We went to get labs done this am so pray that his white count is way past 750!! He is finishing his last final as I type and then... school's out for summer!!! Yeehaw!! -Connie

Hey everyone,

Tyler had an awesome time Saturday riding in a brand new red Ferrari with the Dream ride for Kids. There were about 30 cars there (mostly Ferraris- a Lotus, a few Ford GTs, and Andruw Jones' SLR Mclaren) with about 30 very happy kids. They took the kids on a whirlwind ride down through town to Turner Field for lunch etc... It was so cool! The guys who brought their cars down for the ride were so nice and a fun bunch of people to visit with.

We are so glad that this week is half over- only two more days of school left! Tyler has one final on Thursday and one on Friday. He still has some work on his online class to do, but I imagine that it will get done sometime soon. Kirk had his Algebra final a week or so ago and just took his science final yesterday- according to him, he did great! I sure hope so!

Tyler saw his Dr yesterday at the clinic. The good news is that he gained another 4 pounds! I think he is growing taller too (he had a hard time fitting into those little sports cars on Saturday)! The dissappointing news is that his white count actually fell some more instead of raising to the point that we could start his chemo again. Very dissappointing indeed. The longer he is off the chemo, the more time those lousy tumors have to grow and cause a ruckus! I am now insisting on some immune boosting agents for the next forever to keep those counts where they are supposed to be. He didn't sleep so well last night, so I let him sleep in before he heads off for school a little later. Please pray that his counts rise, and that he feels much better today. We want to start the summer off feeling great!

Also, please remember to pray for Tyler's friend Daniel. He is still in ICU at Eggleston fighting pneumonia. You can send messages of encouragement to his site www.caringbridge.org/ga/danielzuniga

Thank you all for your love and prayers,
Connie

Friday, May 19, 2006 8:36 AM CDT
Sunday am Update
PLEASE include Tyler's friend Daniel in your prayers and share this with everyone. He has developed a serious pneumonia and is in critical condition here in Atl. Tomorrow was to be his last day of 136 weeks of chemo and graduation from high school. Send messages of encouragement to him at www.caringbridge.org/ga/danielzuniga

We're still on the go here in Copleyland, but I believe we can see light at the end of the tunnel now. Today will be challenge to get through with just Sara's schedule, but we always manage to get it all done and make it home tired but happy by the end of the day. Only one more week of school left!!

Tyler had a transfusion last Friday and seemed to feel better over the weekend, but he's had more trouble sleeping and waking up through this week. His White count wasn't high enough to start his next round of chemo, so we are waiting until next Tuesday when he sees his Dr for his monthly visit. This is where you come in. Please pray for super counts and for less pain this weekend and beyond. He has had more than usual aches and pains this past week. And, he started breaking out with a few hives here and there- I don't know how long that's been going on- he managed to point that out to me last night at about 3:30 am. Pray for no more of those little boogers!

Tyler was invited to ride in a Dream Ride for Kids this Saturday. It is sponsored by Ferrari of Atlanta and the Yashin Corporation to benefit Camp Sunshine and Ronald McDonald House. The kids will get to ride through the city in an exotic, muscle, or sports car and end the ride at Turner Field. I just get to follow along in my Grand Caravan (Hope I can keep up)! It should be really cool for the kids!

Here's to another week down and one more to go! Then all the summer fun can begin (along with recitals, summer camp, etc...sheesh!!)

Connie

Thursday, May 11, 2006 11:11 AM CDT
The pictures will be coming as soon as i figured out how to download them off my new camera haha! Will update with my trip details Monday! We had a big rush for my prayer map but its fizzled out. You can now also add a place (church,school etc) to it! So if youve already signed it we would love to see the places too. Remember the site is:

www.frappr.com/prayersfortyler

Thanks, Tyler
_-__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Whew!! We have had a busy week- and it's not over yet! Tyler arrived home Sunday night after an absolutely fabulous trip to Washington DC. All of the kids were buzzing around with so many stories of their time there. Tyler was happy- and quite exhausted. It has taken him a few days to perk up. His labs weren't too bad Monday, but still on the way down, so we will head to the clinic for labs and transfusion tomorrow. He is quite pale this morning and still fighting a nasty mouth sore. Hopefully he will feel like updating the site tomorrow while we sit up at the clinic.

THIS IS JUST RANTING AND RAVING SO IF YOU ONLY WANTED TO HEAR ABOUT TYLER- YOU CAN STOP READING NOW!
I honestly don't know how we have managed to get so many appointments and activities accomplished this week. Let's just say that in the past few days the van has been back and forth to Marietta/Kennesaw more than there are days in the week! It would be so nice if the planets would align just so I could get my kids appointments all together (because they are all within a block of eachother)! Fat chance!! So, for the next week or two (depending on how diligent Sara is with her PT exercises) that's just the way things will be. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. And that doesn't even include the follow ups I have yet to get to from a health fair that I worked last weekend! Ok, I feel better now that I got that off of my chest.

Please remember this though, I am so thankful and blessed to have this work to do. I praise God every day for these blessings in my life- a great husband, three wonderful kids, family and friends who are there for us at a moments notice, and all of you who continue to pray for us, and encourage us to stay strong and fight the good fight!

Blessings,
Connie

Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:38 PM CDT
TYLER"S SHORT UPDATE:

Today we went to the FBI academy and had a ton of fun. Last night we went to a Washington Nationals game. We sat by the bullpen and i caught 4 (four, quatro, 1x4,2x2,8-4...yes FOUR balls.)I kept two and gave the others away. They lost 11-3 but my guys on my fantasy baseball who are marlins did great! Tonight we are going to the Marine Barracks for dinner and a parade! Yesterday we toured the capitol and we were on WSB and even CNN picked it up! I have tons of pictures and have met alot of people so far! Off to the barracks! Tyler
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UPDATE: Thurs afternoon
We received a call from Tyler yesterday afternoon saying that he had arrived in DC, and they were heading for the hotel. He called again this afternoon to ask me to record the evening news on WSB because they had taken some footage of the kids at the Capitol. Low and behold they actually aired the clip, and we got to see Tyler on the news! He looked handsome in his dress clothes! They are taking in a Nationals ballgame tonight- what fun! More later....
________________________________________

Hi everyone,

We have been pretty busy this week trying to get things ready for Tyler to go to Washington DC. It is sure to be a fantastic time with other kids from Camp Sunshine. We've been clothes shopping, and shoe shopping, and snack shopping, and drug shopping (that is, to Eckerd to make sure he has plenty of 'stuff' to go with him)! I believe he is ready go now. We sure will miss him, but we are so happy that he has this opportunity to do something so special on his own.

Tyler had his monthly appointment for labs and physical with Dr. George today. His counts are good, and hopefully they will stay good while he is gone. They are on their way down, but he shouldn't hit bottom for another 7-10 days. AND, his weight is up again!! Must be all those Fudge Rounds that he won't share with anyone else (except Kirk now and then). Doc G. was impressed with how he is doing. Aren't we all though?! He rarely complains about aches and pains and is more active now that nice weather is here. (And I think that he and I both have finally recovered from those sleepless nights with the rotten nose bleeds.)

So, the next point of discussion with Dr. G. was what to do about his chemo regimen. What to do? Well, everyone has an opinion, but nobody know what is best for now. Phooey! I really like when THEY can at least give us a hint as to which way to go. The main thing is that Tyler is doing great with what he's on now. If we change it up a bit, we risk the new meds not working and those rotten tumors growing. There is very little info on kids that take just the meds he takes for longer than a year. (That means that those kids are usually gone by then.) So you see that we are in uncharted waters with Tyler and that God is certainly working great miracles in him. So, for now we are kind of in the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' mode. Dr. George will be looking into more info with some others, and perhaps they can give a little more guidance in the near future. Until then, we are living life to the fullest and enjoying every day (except those bloody nose days! Can you tell that I really hated those?!)

Perhaps Tyler will be able to update his activities while he is in DC, but I imagine he won't have much time to just lounge around the hotel! I'll try to update as we hear from him.

Please remember to pray for all of these kids and the wonderful adult volunteers this week as they travel and enjoy the sites. Pray for safe travel, good health, lots of energy, and a fantastic time for all of them.

Love to all,

Connie

Tuesday April 25, 2006
UPDATE Weds. April 26

Yea!! We made it through the night without any nose bleeds- I hope Tyler makes it throught the day at school without any.

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY SARA!!
(All three of our kids are in the double digits now- Yikes! Time is going by way to fast for me!)

Connie

Hey everyone,

Just a short note to let you know that Tyler seems to be feeling better. We were up last night with a bloody nose again, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before. We were only up for about 30 minutes! Hopefully we will get to sleep throught the night tonight!! Thanks for checking in,

Connie
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Hello everyone. I have created a new site that is a map of where people are that are praying for me. It is www.frappr.com/prayersfortyler I would love it you guys went there and filled out the guestbook on the right hand side! Thanks. Tyler

Friday, April 21, 2006 7:07 PM CDT
Hello everyone. I have created a new site that is a map of where people are that are praying for me. It is www.frappr.com/prayersfortyler I would love it you guys went there and filled out the guestbook on the right hand side! Thanks. Tyler

Saturday, April 15, 2006
Hey everyone. I started my next round of chemo. My ANC was barely over 1000 (the number needed to start again) and I am already sick. Pray for no more nausea. I am getting really excited about going to Washington DC. It should be a great time. The only downside is I will be on my last week of chemo :( hopefully i will be able to get blood before i go so my energy will be up to the multiple Bataan Death marches that DC requires...Well i am up early because i was sick so i am gonna try to go back to bed for awhile. PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!

Tyler

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Hey everyone! I had a good day today. I woke up and went to the final regular season home game for the Thrashers. I had a blast! We won 4-3! The Lightning (who we are trying to catch won too with 0.7 seconds left in overtime!!!)so we are still one win behind them for the final playoff spot with two games left for us and one game left for the bolts! We went down there with the Owens'...i had been thru the same charity a month or two before and all the broadcasters (there tickets and we talk to them in between periods.) all reconized me. It was fan appreciation day and we got some cool stuff and saw alot of stuff too. Yesterday i laid sod with our neighbors. That was kinda fun and got me working. I got my letter in the mail and i am going to Washington DC for a trip (by myself!!) in the first week of May. It said i needed nice clothes to wear around town haha! I am off to catch up on Fantasy baseball!! Go Big Papi's Posse!!!

Happy Easter!

Tyler

P.S. Please sign the guestbook! I love reading the entries!

___________________________ _____________________________
Hey everyone!

I guess it was really time for me to post some sort of update- Tyler and I are sitting in the clinic today so that he can get a bag or two of blood. His counts were'nt quite up to par for a new round of chemo so I imagine that he will start next week after his counts recover.

How do you spell relief?............. l,i,g,h,t,h,o,u,s,e,f,a,m,i,l,y,r,e,t,r,e,a,t.
We made it to the beautiful gulf shores at Grayton Beach on Sunday and were immersed in so much love, light, and caring!! We are so thankful that we were able to take part in this great ministry. There are many people to thank for our time there, but the biggest thanks goes to Melinda, who dreamed of, and made the Lighthouse a reality. We met up with old friends (volunteers from last year) and met some wonderful new friends. We even got to visit shortly with Tyler's surgeon who happened to be vacationing in the same area! What a treat! We all came home rested, renewed, and full of more hope than ever. This time last year was so hard for us; We went to the Lighthouse broken and thinking that it may be our only time to go- and now a year later- we are thinking ahead to next year! Certainly we continue to live one day at a time; none of us is promised tomorrow. We thank God that He is in control, and continue on, knowing that He is doing a great work in Tyler and in our family.

We returned home in time for Tyler to go to the teen lock-in at Camp Sunshine. I think he had a good time- he slept until 2:45pm after he got home!

Last night Todd and Tyler went down to Turner Field for the opening day of the Braves. They are looking forward to a long summer of great baseball!

Well Tyler is just about finished with his infusion, so we will be heading out just in time for rush hour here in Atlanta. YEEHAW! Thank God for satelite radio!

Happy Easter to everyone,
Connie

Saturday, April 1, 2006 7:32 AM CST
Come on down,
Come on over,
Come on in to the Lighthouse...

I think a little beach action is in order for the week! We are so ready for some beautiful sunshine and a great time with our Lighthouse friends.

Tyler had good visit with Dr. George yesterday. His counts are ok (they are on their way down, but good for now). We discussed some different medical options for Tyler in the very near future, but are just adding one thing to the mix for now. It should help with aches and pains, and we hope that it will also cut off the blood supply to the tumors.

Kirk had a great time yesterday at the state Geography Bee. (He made it there by winning the school Bee, then took a test to see if he would be in the top 100 in the state to compete at the state Bee.) He placed 18th out of those 100 kids! We are so proud of him! He was very excited when he got home and plans to study throughout the year for the Geography Bee next year.

I hope everyone enjoys their spring break!

Connie

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 8:10 AM CST
I kept thinking that Tyler would update his site and give some wonderful commentary of the past few days, but I guess it just isn't going to happen. So here I am. WooHoo!! Tyler has another week of this round of chemo and is starting to feel it's effects- lightheaded and dizzy, pukey every now and then, and just generally yucky ant times. Mornings are hard for him, but he seems to perk up by the afternoon/evening. We were thinking that his counts were on their way down due to his dizziness, but they are actually better than last week! Just when I think I have his 'count trends' down, it changes.

Last Thursday evening we went to the Thrashers game thanks to the broadcasters there at the game. It actually was quite a boring game up until the third period. Between the second and third periods, we were escorted over to the press boxes and introduced to and got to talk to all of the TV and radio announcers. It was pretty cool. Then finally the Thrashers showed up to really play! The third period was so exciting, and they ended up winning in overtime!

Tyler's weekend was of course spent watching the NCAA tournament. Tyler seemed to be winning his pool until George Mason won!

We will see Dr. George this Friday and get counts before our trip to the Lighthouse (insert major happy dance here for going to the Lighthouse Retreat). I suppose this will be the time we figure out a different 'plan' for Tyler. Unfortunately Todd won't be able to go with us, but I don't think any major decisions have to be made that day anyway. Pray about this for us. Thanks. Also, pray for safe travel for Todd and Kirk and for an OUTSTANDING performance for Kirk on Friday as he competes in the state Geopraphy Bee. He doesn't seem nervous at all at this point, but he does tend to HATE 'performing' in front of people. It will be a great experience for him.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Connie

Saturday, March 18, 2006 8:03 AM CST
Thank God for weekends! Tyler had a bit of a rough start to the week. He started his round of etopiside Tuesday and just felt 'yucky' for a few days. So even though he never feels really good, he perked up a bit at the end of the week and was able to go ice skating last night. Today Todd and Tyler are headed downtown (or wherever the racetrack is) to enjoy some NASCAR fun. (Personally, I'm glad I wasn't invited! Maybe it's because I've never been to a race, but I just don't see how watching cars go round and round is really fun.) I'm sure they will have a great time. Kirk is off on a boy scout climbing weekend, so Sara and I get a day to enjoy together- after dance rehearsal.

Please remember our friends in your prayers also. There are many children and families struggling and suffering physically, emotionally, and spiritually because cancer is invading every part of their life. Some children have lost their battle, some have won the battle but fight side effects, physical and emotional, and some families continue to struggle to find the right path to follow to help their children. Life goes on, but the battle just never ends.

Thanks for continuing to check in on Tyler and for all of your prayers and messages. We really appreciate them.

Connie

Saturday, March 11, 2006 7:08 PM CST
Spring has finally sprung here in Georgia! Today was warm and beautiful so we all got out in the yard to enjoy the day. I started by cleaning up the yard and ended with cleaning out the fort that was piled with flower pots, leaves, and cobwebs. Sara has a renewed interest in it now and is ready to put Todd to work adding new details. Tyler is feeling better than in the past few days. He got out with Kirk and Sara and gave the trampoline a workout and shot some hoops too. Tyler is now deep into planning his strategy for tommorrow's fantasy baseball draft. I haven't heard a peep out of him in the past two hours! He will have labs drawn on Monday to see if his counts are good enough to start his chemo again. Hopefully they will be great and we can start another round. Please remember to pray for us all as we make some decisions about his care after this next round. Pray that we make the right decisions about what medications we add to the mix.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!
Connie

Monday, March 6, 2006 6:10 PM CST
To all my adorning fans:

Hey. this is Tyler. I am still coughing but not as bad. As expected my blood counts were low (7.0 hemoglobin) monday so we went and sat up at the hospital all day to get 2 units of blood. That was the easy part. I had been having the coughs and lung pains that do. well it was weird because my vital signs went up and down all day (57 heartbeat- real low for me considering i dont run marathons or even the main street hall of my school haha. all the way up to 175. It stayed at about 120-140 all day (i was inactive) and those are pretty darn high heartbeats. Then my blood pressure was on the low side of normal. So me being sick, i didnt want to complain about stuff not related to the cough or blood (i wasnt even checked out tues. which i should have been) so i wouldnt end up inpatient in the hospital. Well guess where that got us...another day at the hospital after "The Night of Hell" (10pm-5am, no sleep, horrible pain). So today i got a physical type of check up and ended up getting an ultrasound. So basically i am on motrin around the clock for a week or so to see if the problem gets better. Maybe a few antibiotics (my prescribe bactrim to start with...yea the every monday tues wends thing sure seems not to work...any other cancer moms forget to give there kids antibiotics to fight off infections (NKO i mean you too). So basically i dealing with another problem on my off week of chemo...Things always seem to work so something happens during that week. I will get new pictures up from the teen retreat soon...(the fan favorite of me playing baseball has a new mix to it!) I am off to bed.

PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK THANKS:

Tyler "The Famous Tyler"
-yes i am the famous Tyler and no you can't rub my head. No exceptions!!!
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Hey everyone,

Tyler got back from Camp Sunshine on Sunday, and he had a great time. The only problem is that he still had a cold and it seems to have settled into his chest. He coughed all day long yesterday! I did manage to get him up and to the lab for his counts, and then off to school for his last class today. Unfortunately his hemoglobin is low, so we are headed to the clinic tomorrow morning for a transfusion. Not the most exciting place to spend the day, (expecially when you're hooked up to an iv all day), but we do love the nurses up there! They are great at making our days there pretty nice! Prayers for a day without complications and for Tyler's cold to go away quickly are appreciated.

Just one more thing- A few months ago Kirk won the Geography Bee at Lost Mountain Middle School. We have been waiting on the results of the test he took to see if he will be going to the state level to compete......HE WILL!!! He was so excited to tell us when he got home today. We are very proud of him! They didn't leave us much time to prepare though; I think they compete sometime at the end of March! Guess what we will be reading for the next few weeks?

Please sign the guestbook! Tyler really enjoys reading your messages!!

Connie

Friday, March 3, 2006 6:56 AM CST
Boy am I glad it's Friday! Tyler has had a bit of an up and down week. His counts must be sinking because he walks around in a daze half the time. He has managed to get to school every day although only 15 minutes on Tuesday! I kept thinking that some allergies were bothering him but last night decided that he just has a good old fashioned cold. He is going to Camp Sunshine for teen retreat and is really looking forward to this time. These weekends are so important to him (and all the kids), so please pray that he stays well enough to have a good time over the weekend. I know that he will come home totally exhausted but happy!

Connie

Sunday, February 26, 2006 4:25 PM CST
Hi everyone!

We have had a busy week trying to play catch-up since being away for a week! The kids returned to school Tuesday and are back in the groove of school- everyday- all day- early... and are caught up on their work (hopefully). Tyler had his monthly appt. Tuesday and everything checks out ok; his counts were good and he even gained a bit of weight. Yea! This is his last few days of chemo for this cycle though, so we expect his counts to fall for another week or so. With that comes the general yucky feelings for a while. Tyler and I went to Harrison's Variety Show on Friday night. Great entertainment for sure! Then last night I took Tyler and a friend to a Hawks game in town thanks to Tyler's Wish partner Debbie. We had a pretty good time! Other than some nagging hip pain over the past few days Tyler seems to be hangin' tough. Prayers for a smooth week and not so low counts are greatly appreciated.

Have a great week everyone!

Connie

Sunday, February 19, 2006 10:07 AM CST
Hello Everyone.. we had a great time in Key Largo (about an hour and 1/2 from Key West and 2 hours from Miami). We did alot of things. On Saturday (Feb. 11th) we had a bit of time on our hands because our flight wasnt until 745pm that night. So me and my dad went down to Turner Field to exchange our 20-game-pack of tickets to a closer seat. We went over like 2 sections and down to the front row of the Lexus Level. I am way excited, and cant wait until April 1st comes around to begin MLB baseball again. Anyways that night we got in our van and drove down to the park and fly by the airport. We then flew to Miami. We got to our rental car place and they were all out of the type of car we reserved so we got upgraded to a mini van just like ours. And wouldnt ya know it, it had satilette radio in it too just like mine. Then sunday (12th) we kinda relaxed and watched the Olympics. We went to a place down the road (everything is down the road from Miami down...only one road in and one road out...can you imagine Hurricane evacuating outr of there?!?!) called Robbie's Marina. We got to buy a bucket of fish and feed the Tarpons (and pelicans!). Then Monday we went shopping and watched the Olympics like everyday we were there! We went to meet the people that had set up a "family schlorship program" for us. The Dolphin place was called Dolphins Plus, but the place we went thru is called Island Dolphin Care. They take "special" kids to swim with the dolphins for free of charge. We were there 2 weeks before the rush season started...and know i know why. The water was 61 degrees!!! We learned about dolphins and such then I went and through on 2 wetsuits to keep me warm. On Monday, me and Mr. Jeff (the person from Island Dolphin Care that helps the kids in the water) got in and did some cool stuff. Our Dolphin Trainers name was Wendy and the 3 dolphins we had were named Sarah, Squirt, and Fiji. Fiji is 2 years old and just learning some stuff. He is Squirts son. Then the rest of the week went the same from 3-530pm everyday. (except the rest of the week we all got in!) On Tuesday, we went to eat at a really good place called Lazy Days. I had a good steak! Then on Wednesday, me my borther and my dad went deep sea fishing with a guy named Joe from Robbie's Marina! We got up at 630 and went and caught alot of fish right away, but we were there for the big stuff. We had just been catching bait. I caught the first big fish, a 17 pound Mackeral. Too bad my Dad dropped his camera in the only bucket of water on board! Thats okay we will get some of Joe's pictures soon and i will post them then. Thursday was my Brother Kirk's birthday. We ate lunch at Willie's Bar and Grill. Friday we went to a little beach before going to swim with the Dolphins. Saturday, we got up at 4am to catch a flight back to Atlanta. Pretty much sums up our trip, a whole lot of nothin' and relaxing in the Relax Capital of the world known as Jimmy Buffett town. I am off to watch the Daytona 500 now!

PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK! THANKS, Tyler

NEW PICTURES!!!

Saturday, February 18, 2006 9:53 PM CST
A new exciting update is coming tommorrow (sunday) about our week...in the mean time please pray for Luke Abbate's family. As you may know, Luke, went to Harrison (my high school) and played football and lacrosse (think field hockey). He was killed in a one car crash Monday night. 4 others were hurt and are now out of the hospital. If that isnt enough a girl from my borthers middle school passed away this week also from an ailment she had for a while i think. So pray for them...Tyler

NEW PICTURES AND ENTRY BY 10pm tomm.

Tyler

Saturday, February 18, 2006 9:53 PM CST
A new exciting update is coming tommorrow (sunday) about our week...in the mean time please pray for Luke Abbate's family. As you may know, Luke, went to Harrison (my high school) and played football and lacrosse (think field hockey). He was killed in a one car crash Monday night. 4 others were hurt and are now out of the hospital. If that isnt enough a girl from my borthers middle school passed away this week also from an ailment she had for a while i think. So pray for them...Tyler

NEW PICTURES AND ENTRY BY 10pm tomm.

Tyler

Friday, February 10, 2006 6:00 AM CST
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!!

WE LOVE YOU!

MOM, DAD, KIRK & SARA

Monday, February 6, 2006 7:43 AM CST
UPDATE
Tyler's ANC was just above the mark for the start of his VP16. But since we are making a trip soon we are going to wait a few days to start- that way, his counts won't drop too low while we are away from the hospital. Besides that we want him to feel good for our trip! Prayers for safe travel, excellent weather, and still a healthy appetite are appreciated.

Well Monday is here and the weather wasn't 'bad' like I thought it might be this morning. (The thought of no school entered my head last night- yuk!) Oh, but it is beginning to rain now! We had a nice relaxing weekend- I did hear quite a few "I'm bored!" statements. Sheesh! What's not to love about sitting around all day (we couldn't go anywhere because we were waiting for the new sofa and chairs to come). We had a great time watching the Super Bowl last night with a group of friends- I'll let Tyler give you his take on that. I had more fun eating and visiting!

I'll take Tyler in to the clinic for his labs this morning. His ANC wasn't high enough to start his chemo last week so we are hoping it's up by now and we can start tonight. He has felt pretty good this past week but is not eating nearly enough. So prayers for good counts and a HEALTHY appetite would be appreciated. Have a great week!

Connie

Wednesday, February 1, 2006 9:58 PM CST
Boy when it rains it pours. My ANC is low this week which means i cant fight infections and sickness as well. Well my brother has strep and my mom is coming down with it. At least i am getting my bactrum (antibiotic). Looks like the Kovy's Krew thing when good and they had fun. I hope its the same when I go on th 23rd. I am getting ready to buy an ipod video. I was planning on birthday money, but i decided since i had enough money to buy it right now, i would buy it before my birthday. Thats so i can get it working and get songs on it before we leave for Key Largo. I am catching up on my Tivo. If you get A&E channel there is a great movie called Flight 93 about 9/11, but it is pretty graphic and i dont recommened kids under 15 watch it. I had to stop at some times and gather myself. First times tears have come out of my eyes during a movie in a while. Though i wasnt crying just scared/chills/grief/sadness. Another great movie...Underclassmen! It seems hip hoppy but is a great film. Its like the pacifer with the guy from xXx (triple X was his nickname,thus the title). i think his name was vin dieseal. Its tops alot of my fav. movies of all time. Probably around number 15 out of like 300 or so. Flight 93 is def a top 3 though. Bring a tissue box. Dad didnt want to watch it yet somehow he watched about 90% of it. Cany wait for my bday (feb 10) and KEy Largo. I am gonna watch some of my shows from today so the tivo wont backup long. Oh i spent like 2 and 1/2 hours today building a tool storage thingy, and 2 shelfs for the special education room. They went to lowes and publix to restock the supplies. I love going in there to hang out with them. a couple have Down Syndrome, and the rest of them vary. They really are cool kids. I have been writing alot lately and i even bought some thanks you notes. now i am rambling (thx lortab!). I am so tired....Tyler

Monday, January 30, 2006 9:53 PM CST
Hey everyone. Not alot going on here. Getting ready for Feb. (birthday month for the Copley Guys) and Key Largo. We are flying Delta to Miami and back for only 89 bucks round trip. Pretty good fare. Not starting chemo this week like i was supposed to becuase my blood counts were too low (8.6 hemoglobin, 400 ANC) So I get another freebie week. Off to bed, Tyler

Update from mom:

Tyler's appt with his Dr. went well last week. He didn't need transfused at the time and we thought his counts would be on his way up this week, but they decided to dip a bit more. So, as Tyler said, he gets another week off chemo to get those counts back to where they should be. Tyler will have been on this protocol for a year come April, and although it has done a good job at keeping the Ewing's in check, it also increases his risk of developing Leukemia after a year of use. So, we will be changing his protocol somehow in the next few months. Please pray with us that we find the right mix that continues to shrink the tumors and doesn't give him such rotten side effects. Not an easy task.
Also, please remember Tyler's grandma (Todd's mom) in your prayers over the next few days as she has knee replacement surgery this morning. We are sad that we cannot be there to help out while she recovers but are thankful for family and friends nearby that will be there for them!

Connie

Friday, January 20, 2006 6:28 AM CST
PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!!

Hey everyone. Last night was a fun time even though the thrashers lost 2-0. WE got there at 6pm when the door opened. Everyone wanted to get there boblehead and the line was long and packed in tight. We got our bobblehead though. Then me and my dad went up to the headlines grille and bar. For you "subscribers" to my "vents" you might recall about 6 weeks ago i got a puck from Jim Slater during practice then saw Peter Bondra and didnt have my puck on me to get him to sign it. Well, he was signing autographs at Headlines. So i got my puck signed by him. I was excited. When we were in line a guy with an Eastern Europe accent approached us and wanted to know if we could get him jersey signed because they told him the line stopped in front of him. Well, my dad said he would get it signed after he offered to buy my dad a beer. Thats not the end of the story though. We talked some and my dad asked him where he was from. He said he was from small town in Bosnia my dad reconized. Turns out in the early 90's while we were stationed in Germany, my dad did missions that dropped MRE's (meals ready to eat) over Bosnia when they were at war with Serbia (i think). My dad told him he was dropping humanitarian aid during that time over his city. My dad asked him if he got any of the MRE's and he said he got 2. Small World huh? Well i am off to a friends house to watch the great american tradition of NFL playoffs.

Tyler

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IF ANYONE HAS A HOCKEY JERSEY OF A CURRENT NHL TEAM...THE THRASHERS ARE "BUYING" BACK OTHER TEAMS JERSEYS. YOU CAN TRADE A USED "ENEMY" JERSEY FOR A BRAND NEW THRASHERS JERSEY. IF ANYONE HAS ONE THEY DONT USE ANYMORE I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE IT. I AM HEADED TO THE GAME TONIGHT THANKS TO TONY'S GANG. IT IS ALSO IYLA KOVULCHUK BOBBLEHEAD NIGHT!

TYLER
================-====================================
I guess that Tyler hasn't felt much like typing this week, so I'll update for him today. Tyler isn't feeling so well this week due to it being the last few days of his chemo cycle. His last counts actually weren't too bad, but I can tell that they are headed south quickly. He has been having headaches, lightheadedness, and that achy hurt all over feeling, and some nausea/vomiting here and there. YUK! With all of this he has still managed to get to school every day-WOOHOO!! That means that I have had time to clean up the house and perhaps start on organizing some business papers. (should have inserted here- shopping, see a movie, and take a nap!) Anyway, I imagine that he will be laying low this weekend except for going to the Thrashers game Saturday night. A group called Tony's Gang arranged for some great tickets to be sent our way! Thanks Gretchen!
Tyler has an appt. next Tuesday for labs and a visit with Dr. George. We may stay to tank him up on blood if his counts are low. We shall see! Tyler really hates to stay for transfusions! I think just because he has to get benadryl everytime now due to a few tiny reactions he has had the past couple of months. And speaking of transfusions, I may need one by the end of next month with all the boy's birthdays in February! I can't believe that Tyler will be 17, and Kirk will be 13! (We won't say how old Todd is- just older than me! HA) The Kids decided that since Shadow is a boy his b-day should be in Feb. too- and we should celebrate it! He's a pound puppy so we just picked a day we liked. By the 20th we are really tired of cake!

I guess I better get moving since the kids really have to get off to school! Have a good weekend everyone!

Connie

Sunday, January 15, 2006 5:20 PM EST
Four years ago today- I remember the first words of Dr. Kehl very clearly after Tyler's biopsy. Round blue cells... unfortunately it's malignant...osteosarcoma/ewing's sarcoma...an oncologist is coming down to talk to you... I remember thinking, "how in the world am I going to get ahold of Todd.?!" (You see, nothing was going to be wrong so I told Todd that he should go ahead and go TDY with the squadron for the week!) He was as dumbfounded as me. He was about to step out to the plane... so I shouldn't fly?...I think I can be home in a few hours. He didn't get home until late that night. I remember meeting Dr. George for the first time, what a caring and compassionate person he was and still is. I don't remember a word that he said though!

Four years. Life is certainly not what I thought it would be. Many times I wish it was different, but then again it could be so much worse. Tyler's strength and courage continue to amaze me. As much as we try to not let Tyler's cancer define our lives, our lives are very much divided by that day four years ago. Many things that seemed important no longer are. Many things we took for granted are treasured now. I know that many of us have these experiences, but it is still worth reflecting on. What is the lesson in our experiences? How can we grow from them, and how can we be a light to others that may go through the same experiences after us? I learned early on that I needed to turn it ALL over to God's care. And as easy as it is to say that, it is not always easy to do. Always lots of relearning the lesson.

Today has gone by without much notice of it's significance. Todd has been TDY, we went to church (a wonderful message Allen!) and Tyler has spent the day with friends from church watching football (of course!). I just wanted to take the time to remember, and to celebrate the fact that we have come this far only by God's grace. Thank God for the miracles in our lives!

Connie

Sunday, January 8, 2006 10:30 PM EST

For all of you that are daily readers who were wondering what was up with volleyball i have good news. I am offically over the "volleyball withdrawls". I went to a Club tournement all day Sat. and had a lot of fun. It was tiring but tons of volleyball. I am off to bed. Tyler
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Hey everyone. i have been having horrible stomach pains lately. Still throwing up at leaset once a day. I think my stomach hurts because of my fundo complications possibly. Well hopefully i will feel better soon. PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!

Tyler
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Hello everyone. We made it home! I went into the trip and wasnt expecting much. At least i wasnt disappointed by the trip! I am getting ready to head back to school tuesday. I have a business class from 1015am-1145am then another class at 200-330pm. So i will be able to come home and rest most days if i dont feel well, and be able to go to lunch with my friends if i feel okay. the 2pm class is a law enforcement class, and the 1015am class is "easy" to say the least! Plus I know the teacher and she knows what is going on. I am gonna go catch up on all the shows i missed over vacation. What would i do without Tivo?? Hope everyone is doing okay.

PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK! I LOVE TO READ PEOPLE'S ENTRIES!
Thanks,
Tyler
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we have had a great time in NC so far. We went to a huge general store in hendersonville. I have been sick since monday. I was doing okay yesterday. We went skiing here. it isnt anything special thats for sure. it was ice. well i went up the slope once and ended up going about 40 mph and my hips arent to strong so i just fell and hit my head hard on a chuck of ice. So i still kinda got a headache. We will be home sunday evening. Sign the guestbook please!

Tyler

Sunday, December 25, 2005 9:34 PM EST

we have had a great time in NC so far. We went to a huge general store in hendersonville. I have been sick since monday. I was doing okay yesterday. We went skiing here. it isnt anything special thats for sure. it was ice. well i went up the slope once and ended up going about 40 mph and my hips arent to strong so i just fell and hit my head hard on a chuck of ice. So i still kinda got a headache. We will be home sunday evening. Sign the guestbook please!

Tyler
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Not feeling good. Throwing up alot. Just started rd.??? day one yesterday. Getting ready for NC this week. Supposed to snow there. Back to bed for me!
Here is a funny song's lyrics. Sign the guestbook please!

Adam Sandler - Chanukah Song Lyrics

"ok ok this is a song that uh, theres a lot of Christmas songs
out there
and uh not to many Hanukah songs so uh i wrote a song for all
those
nice little Jewish kids who don't get to hear any Hanukah
songs."

Put on your yamakah,
here comes Hanukah,
so much funnukah to celebrate Hanukah,
Hanukah is,
the feastival of lights,
instead of one day of presents we have eight crazy nights!

When you feel like the only kid in town,
without a Christmas tree,
Here's a list of people who are Jewish,
just like you and me!

David Lee Roth,
lights the Menorah,
so do James Konkirk Dougalas and the late Diana Shora,
Geuss who eats together at the Carnagi Deli,
Bosher from Shanana and Arthur Fonza Relli!

Pualoman half jewish,
Goldi Hans too,
put them together what a FINE lookin jew!

You don't need Deck the Halls or The Jingle Bell Rock,
cause you can spin a dradle with Captian Kirk and Mr. Spock!
(both jewish!)

Put on you yarmakah,
its time for Hannukah,
the owners of the Seattle supersonikahs,
celebrate Hanukah!

OJ Simpson,
NOT A JEW!,
but geuss who is?,
Hall o' famer Rod Karou!

We got Ann Landers and her sister Dear Abby,
Harrison Fords a quater Jewish!,
NOT TO SHABBY!

Some people think,
Ebaniser Scrooge is,
well he's not but geuss who is?,
all three Stooges!!!

So many Jews are rich o' biz,
Tom Cruise isn't,
but I heard his agent is!

Tell your friend Veronica,
its time to celebrate Hanukah!,
O don't forget a harmonica,
on this lovely lovely Hanukah!
So drink your gin and tonicah,
and smoke your marajuanica!
if you really really wannukah,
have a happy happy happy,
HANUKAH!

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Today was an okay day. My tivo is acting funny. It works but instaed of being able to scroll down the whats on list i have to sit there with my tv guide. Big effort is involved!!! haha! MY blood counts werent high enough so i get another week off!! This will set it up so i wont be on during my b-day or when we go to Key Largo! I am pretty tired so i am off to bed. Keep those guestbook entry's coming! Thanks, Tyler
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MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and enjoyed it. We woke up at 645am and started to open our presents around 7am (a record for us its normally wake up at 5am and open at 630am haha). My brother Kirk got an iPod Video, which is really cool and has tons of songs on it already. (like 2500 .) Sara got a virtual dancing game and a Playstation 2 to play it on since I keep mine in my room. As for me I got snowman poop. Just kidding. I got a TiVo box with lifetime subscription!!! I also got 2 sets of really really good binoculars (one for less amount of distance the others for up to 1500-2000 feet) my mom tested them out and found out that you can see alot from 1500 feet away! I also got some useless information books (my favorite type) and some clothes, 2 new "squshee" pillows and one has a massage thingy in it. I got some cash and gift cards from the family. And my grandparents (mom's) bought us a new TV about 2 months ago. Before that, we had the same TV my parents got at there wedding (20 years old!). I am thinking about going to fool around on Sara dancing game or my TiVo for awhile. Then i will go sleep on my new egyptian 400 count sheets i just got! Hope everyone has a great break!

Tyler
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Here are my picks (any wagers??):

New Orleans- Southern Miss- right
GMAC- Toledo Univ.-right
Pioneer Las Vegas- Cal Bears-right
Poinsettia- Navy Midshipmen-right
Forth Worth Bowl- Univ. of Houston-wrong
Hawaii Bowl- Central Florida Knights-wrong
Motor City- Memphis- right
Champs Sports- Clemson Tigers-right
Insight- Arizona State Univ.-right
MPC Computers- Boston College-right
Alamo- Michigan Wolverines- Wrong (happy though, big upset!)
Emerald Bowl- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets-WRONG!
Holiday- Oregon (they belong in a better bowl game)-WRONG!
Music City- Virginia Cavs- right!
Vitalis Sun- UCLA-right!
Independence- South Carolina-wrong!
Peach- LSU: right!
Meinke Car Care- NC State-right
Liberty- Fresno State-wrong
Houston Bowl- Texas Christian Univ. "Horned Frogs"-right
Cotton- Alabama-right
Outback- Iowa Hawkeyes- wrong
Gator- Virginia Tech- right
Capital One- Auburn- wrong
Fiesta Bowl- Best matchup besides USC/Texas, but i gotta go with my Buckeyes!-RIGHT
Sugar- Cant spell Sugar w/o UGA!(a stupid phrase obviusly came to use by Georgia Alumni!)-wrong
Orange- Penn State- right!
Rose- USC, (Heisman Winner)Reggie Bush has at least 300 all purpose yards from scrimmage.: i was WRONG!

Tuesday, December 18, 2005 8:19 PM EST

Hey everyone. Yesterday i went to the hosp. for a bag of blood. I really shouldnt have gotten one but i decided i really needed one so i got one bag instead of the normal 2. MY hemoglobin was 8.5 for all health folks. But my ANC dropped from 1460 to 650 in only 36 hours. ANC has to do with ability to fight infection and hemoglobin is amount of oxygen in the blood. I threw up acid and junk yesterday at the clinic but it felt good to get it out. So i feel better now. Today was an good day. I woke up early (630am) and wasnt feeling good. then i got up for good early (930am: haha) and was feeling worse. I couldnt find my mom and the cleaning lady wasnt here. So basically my mom was at the drug store getting anti nausea medicine and i puked my guts out, acid and all. Then we went to Sara's class party for a bit. Then I went and saw all the people at my old ortho place (kirk had appt.) then we went to the Thrashers game. It was a great game. I loved the seats and even saw 3 good fights and a shootout. The Thrashers lost in the shootout but they still got a standings point. In the NHL you get a 2 points for a win anytime, and 1 point in a loss in a shootout or Overtime. I am off to watch the game film on TV now to dissect what went on tonight. School's out!!! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Tyler
-----------------------------------------------------
Hello,
I havent been feeling much better since my last update. I am going to go to the hospital tomm.(wends) to get my blood counts re-checked and hopefully I will be able to get blood since I feel crappy. That way I can feel great for Christmas and New Years, and on our "excursion" to Sapphire Valley, NC to go skiing. Boy, that would be a site to see me in high pressure air without enough oxygen getting to my head fast enough trying to steer myself down a mtn. at 10-20mph. I might have to try that sometime. I am off to surf the internet for now. Have a good day!

Tyler
*************************************************************
Hello everyone. I havent been feeling good at all lately! Boo! Thursday morning I fell/blacked out and hit my head on the bathroom tiles. So it didnt start out that good. Then Friday morning I went to take my Honors U.S History final, and i opened the car door and it slammed back and hit me (HARD!!!) in the same place i had fell the night before. So I threw my backpack at the school door in disgust (then i went and sat back in the car lol). I wasnt feeling even remotely good. But i am pretty sure i did good on the final. Thank goodness! Then I have just been throwing up oof and on all weekend. I really gotta finish my Money Mangement class online soon but i am not really up to it. Any of you "big kids" want to "learn" how to pay bills,buy a house,and make sure you arent cheated out of a penny! I would much rather pay the 2 bucks that miscaculated by than figure out how i messed up or how someone cheated me. That what i think now at least haha! I am off to watch more movies. I saw Dukes of Hazzard and even though its PG13 i dont recommend kids under 16 watch it or even adults if you dont like cussing and lots of skin haha. Good movie that had stuff it didnt need in it. I am finishing Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I liked all the Lethal Weapons although #1 was a little creepy! Off to bed. I Still got money on any of my picks if anyone wants to bet against me. I prefer Notre Dame fans so i can collect easily. haha!

Tyler
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Here are my picks (any wagers??):

New Orleans- Southern Miss- right
GMAC- Toledo Univ.-right
Pioneer Las Vegas- Cal Bears-right
Poinsettia- Navy Midshipmen
Forth Worth Bowl- Univ. of Houston
Hawaii Bowl- Central Florida Knights
Motor City- Akron Zips
Champs Sports- Clemson Tigers
Insight- Arizona State Univ.
MPC Computers- Boston College
Alamo- The ugly Blue and Maze of Michigan Wolverines
Emerald Bowl- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Holiday- Oregon (they belong in a better bowl game)
Music City- Minnesota Gophers
Vitalis Sun- UCLA (and no i cant from here)
Independence- South Carolina
Peach- LSU vs. Miami- LSU in a close one (both deserve better)
Meinke Car Care- South Florida
Liberty- Fresno State
Houston Bowl- Texas Christian Univ. "Horned Frogs"
Cotton- Alabama
Outback- Iowa Hawkeyes
Gator- UPSET!!! Louisville in beatdown over Virginia Tech!
Capital One- Auburn
Fiesta Bowl- Best matchup besides USC/Texas, but i gotta go with my Buckeyes!
Sugar- I have to say UGA but i really like WV's chances,since Shockley & Co. will be injured during the game.
Orange- Penn State, easily
Rose- USC, (Heisman Winner)Reggie Bush has at least 400 all purpose yards from scrimmage.

Monday, December 5, 2005 7:56 PM CST
Dec. 12th-

Hello everyone. Sorry for the long delay in updates (a whole week). I had an okay week. I slammed my hip in the car door, slammed my shin against an oak chair (that only took chunk of skin from my shin about the size of the end of my pinkie) Try saying "skin from my shin" 5 times fast. I dont remember much from last week. WE went to Tenn. from Thurs.-Sunday. We saw all the family folk. I missed the camp party. Then today i went to spa night at the Camp Sunshine House and got a massage and also got a cool lava lamp from them. I also got the yearbook so that was cool. Then i went to Blockbuster and bought a movie pass with one of my gift cards. Now i am getting ready to go watch Airline (A&E) and Real World (MTV). Hope everyone is okay.

Oh and we made it home okay Mrs. Olson! We managed to get it to the auto guy already and hopefully he will fix our brakes/brake pads or whatever it was.

Tyler

Okay so the bowl games schedule is out. And my head has been been going crazy over picks! Here are my picks:

New Orleans- Southern Miss
GMAC- Toledo Univ.
Pioneer Las Vegas- Cal Bears
Poinsettia- Navy Midshipmen
Forth Worth Bowl- Univ. of Houston
Hawaii Bowl- Central Florida Knights
Motor City- Akron Zips
Champs Sports- Clemson Tigers
Insight- Arizona State Univ.
MPC Computers- Boston College
Alamo- The ugly Blue and Maze of Michigan Wolverines
Emerald Bowl- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Holiday- Oregon (they belong in a better bowl game)
Music City- Minnesota Gophers
Vitalis Sun- UCLA (and no i cant from here)
Independence- South Carolina
Peach- LSU vs. Miami- LSU in a close one (both deserve better)
Meinke Car Care- South Florida
Liberty- Fresno State
Houston Bowl- Texas Christian Univ. "Horned Frogs"
Cotton- Alabama
Outback- Iowa Hawkeyes
Gator- UPSET!!! Louisville in beatdown over Virginia Tech!
Capital One- Auburn
Fiesta Bowl- Best matchup besides USC/Texas, but i gotta go with my Buckeyes!
Sugar- I have to say UGA but i really like WV's chances,since Shockley & Co. will be injured during the game.
Orange- Penn State, easily
Rose- USC, (Heisman Winner)Reggie Bush has at least 400 all purpose yards from scrimmage.

Okay. Our friend Johnny Jones ran the St. Jude's marathon in 3 hours 54 min. He raised just over $5,000.

There are my picks. Today at the hospital was okay. Got my blood out of the way then saw the PNP. Blood is good so i am happy. Later, Tyler

Thursday, December 1, 2005 10:30 PM EST
Hello everyone. I got a best buy gift certificate in the mail on 12/3/05 and don't know who to thanks because it didnt have a name or address on it. Thanks to whoever sent it to me! I really appreciate it.
**********************************************************
Dec.5th-

Well today, we went to Alpharetta to go to the Lighthouse Retreat Christmas Party. Lighthouse is a retreat for cancer families to go to Grayton Beach, FL and relax for a week. We went at Spring Break (April 2005). Well we saw alot of Lighthouse families and Camp Sunshine friends. Next week is the Camp Sunshine Party and we won't be able to make it since everyone and there mother is coming from my dad's side of the family to Gatlinburg with us next weekend. So we will be visiting at diff. hotels and stuff most of Sunday. I am gonna go to Spa Night at the Camp House the next night though to get my yearbook and hopefully my present. They always give good presents to the Teens at the party! Well tomm. I am headed to the hospital to do whatever i am told to do. I think I am going for blood and the doc is checking me for my once a month thingy. Then Tues. I am just relaxing and watching the final episodes of Amazing Race and Appretice (Trump's). Thrashers play 4 times this week and 6 times in 9 days. So i expect by wends. or so they will start playing sloppy which means more big fights and them playing the 4th line more aka "The Enforcers" once again a big reason for fights! Oh did mention i cant wait to see them fight this week. Also my Suns were on pace to beat the Hawks 134 to 40 tonight but they let up at halftime and won like 115 to 85. Still a huge loss for the Hawks. I guess they are still playing for the #1 pick in next year's draft again. Buckeyes look like they are headed to the Fiesta Bowl to play Notre Dame. Once all the offical bowl game teams come out i will update with my picks. Until Then, You Stay Classy Planet Earth (definatly from the movie Anchorman!)

Tyler
**********************************************************
Dec. 4th-

Today has been an okay day. I havent felt great but i am not feeling horrible either so i guess thats good. There is the big state championship football game tonight at the dome. i will probably watch it on TV. It between Lowndes and Brookwood. Lowndes is the school i would have gone to when we lived in Hahira/Valdosta. They really need another school in Lowndes CO. besides Lowndes and Valdosta but its not gonna happen because the football programs are to valued to spilt up. I think its kinda funny. WE moved here in dec. 1999 from Little Rock Arkansas, and the first thing i saw here on TV was the Harrison vs. Lowndes state title game. I had no idea who Harrison was (it was the school i was districted to go to) but i sure did know who lowndes was and i rooted for them. I actually saw some of our older (high school aged) neighbors on tv at the game. Well I am gonna go back to my room to rest.

Tyler

**********************************************************
Hello Everyone,

The past few days have been pretty nice. I am almost done with my online math course, and starting on my physical science class. Today I went to school and we talked about the years leading up to the Civil War. Then I came home and ate some breadsticks. Then I went to the volleyball banquet. That was at the Brookstone Country Club, which is very "upscale" to what I am used to. I got home at nine and watched the Apprietice. Only 2 people left. And then my tape recording of survivor since I missed it. I don't have any idea what we are doing this weekend. Not even the slightist clue. Maybe a movie? Well I am off to bed.

Tyler

Wednesday, November 23, 2005 10:50 AM CST
nov.28th-

Today was kinda interesting. I woke up and got on the computer for a while. Then I went to the chiropractor and to the hospital to get blood drawn. Dont know the counts yet but i am way dizzy when i am not sitting. Then i went to school. We had a sub so i caught up on the social loop haha. If ya know me that was a big deal haha. Then I came home and relaxed some more. Thanks to Scott Jones for the movies i am almost all done with them so i will have them for you prob. by friday/sat. Oh i forgot to mention I came home and was the first person in the door yesterday. I look in the living room and my grandparents had bought us a TV. Thanks GMA and GPA Magley. I guess it just slipped my parents mind to tell me. I guess they bought it when i was at the Retreat. Then i am sitting at home today and i here my mom on the phone asking "do you know when are furniture is coming" at first i thought okay nothing big maybe a recliner. Keep in mind i have gone to "test" the furniture before. Yep, you guessed it. They bought a new couch (brown leather) and 2 new recliners (without me testing it out.) For you people that don't know, my school's executive board for student council bought me a really nice TV, because our couch wasnt very comfy and we had a 20 year old TV that was hard to see and I was in a lot worse shape at the time so I needed something to distract me. Well now i come home and we got a couch 2 recliners and a TV thats like a near match to mine. I guess the bed and my TV still wins out though! What's the Tyler-ism? "There ain't no place like your own comfy bed!" Well anyways i am still thankful for what everyone has done to help me. Thanks! I just realized only 3 1/2 weeks of school left and only 2 until my final in US history. Thank goodness I am a whiz at history! We are getting ready to put the Christmas stuff up Tues. and Wends. so i might be a little busy. Oh and my favorite show "Prison Break" just about killed me tonight. They were supposed to break out tonight but it left in a cliffhanger ending and they resume in May. How stupid is that??? Oh well all my shows are slowly ending there season.

Have a good day!

Tyler
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nov. 27th-

Today is Sunday and we are home. WE had a great time. Turns out our friends the Olsons were down there (www.caringbridge.org/ga/williamolson). We even played putt putt at the same place but we didnt see each other. Friday and Saturday we relaxed at the resort. For the rest of the week updates see below. I am going to go bad to my room to rest some more before school tomm. I just realized, its way to soon for school again!!! Have a g'day mate!

Tyler
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nov.24th-

hey everyone we are still in FLA. its pretty cool down here about 55-75 everyday. Monday we hung out at the resort and went shopping. Tues. we went to Busch Gardens, and no i didnt go to beer school there haha. Wed. we hung out at the resort and went shopping and played putt-putt. Today we got up early and drove over to my grandparents house. We ate thanksgiving "dinner" at like 1130am. it was kind of weird. Then we watched football games and went to the beach then we went to my great aunt's hunting farm and saw the whole clan. Thats our week so far hope everyone is ok. Let the sales and christmas stuff start!!! I saw best buy was selling most tv's 50 pecent off. I just want a Tivo!!
Can't Wait til Christmas!!!
Tyler
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nov. 23-
hello everyone. we are in fla. we are having a good time. hope everyone has a good thanksgiving!!!

Tyler

Monday, November 17, 2005 11:27 PM EST
PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!!! JUST CLICK ON THE PEN AND BOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE JOURNAL ENTRY(S)!
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Nov. 17th-

Today was an okay day. I woke up and got in the car to go the hospital for blood this morning. I literally got out of bed with my blanket and sat in the back seat and laid it down. Mom said traffic was horrible because of a huge crash. I slept thru it haha. Then i got my counts done. Everything was really low. So i got a transfusion. Then i came home and watched TV. I am leaving for the Teen Retreat tomm. afternoon so it should be a cold weekend here. It seems to always rain too when we are there. Hopefully i will stay warm and not get sick before we head to FLA. I am off to bed.

Tyler
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Nov. 16th-

Hope eveyone like the new page makeover and can read it still.Yesterday wasnt a good day at all. I woke up at 1am and then at 5am and never went back to sleep after that. I was really tired and really sore all day. My feeding tube continued to be a pain in the gut (literally). I didnt go to school, and I pretty much layed in my bed all day. Today, my online course teacher came at noon, and i woke up, but i couldnt open my eyes and my tube felt like it was stabbing me. So she left and i feel back to sleep. Best thing to do when your in pain is sleep. Plus it didnt help i was up from 5am the morning before. Then today i went to the chiropractor, and rented Charlie in the Chocolate Factory. SO far its pretty good, but nothing compares to the orginal one from 1972. The Thrashers are on TV tonite and i am watching them now. Tomm. I am going to the hospital way early in the morning for blood tests. If they are low i am getting blood. Hopefully they are on there way up. Mom will update this weekend sometime.Have a good day, and don't forget to sign the guestbook, please!!!

Tyler
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Nov. 14th-

Hello everyone. I have had a pretty crappy day. My feeding tube is digging into my stomach. I think there is something weighing it down (acid/stomach junk?) I really felt bad today. So bad that I slept until 1pm. Then I got sick and threw up and continued to feel crappy until sat in the bathtub for a good 45 min. That seemed to take the nausea away but made me feel lethargic. I had an awesome time at the game. We had seats right near the field. After everyone started to leave at the end of the 3rd quarter, I moved down to the front row. That was amazing. I had my binoculars but they aren't the best. Today my dad and I bought a 20 game ticket package for the Braves. I figure I am gonna invest in a really good pair of binoculars! We are probably gonna go to 6-8 games and sell the rest of the tickets to my dad's Air Force buddies. I haven't been watching alot of new movies lately. I have been watching ones I have seen though. Thanks to everyone who loaned me a movie or given me money to rent one. I really appreciate it! My mom is still selling the pumpkin rolls until 12/15/05. I think they aren't taking anymore orders to be delivered before Thanksgiving (unless your really local) but they are still making alot for Christmas time. Call my mom/grandma if you would like one. This weekend is the Camp Sunshine Teen Retreat. I am going to that and leaving early Sunday to head to our resort in Orlando. We are also taking my Grandma back to Titusville/Cape Canaveral. Depending on how I feel I might get to drive a leg of the trip. Well,I am getting ready to head to bed. Hope everyone has a good week. I will probably let my mom update later in the week.

Tyler

Wednesday, November 9, 2005 4:18 PM EST

November 13th 10:30am-

I am headed to the Falcons vs. Packers game. I finally get to see my PAckers play (although its not the same if its not at Lambeau Field. I was there in Feb. 2003) Hopefully i feel good for the rest of the day.

Tyler

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November 11th 11pm-

Hey. Its tyler. I had an okay day yesterday. I cant remember what i did. Today i woke up early so our carpets could be cleaned. Then we went and ate Mexican food. I ate nachos with cheese dip and mexican rice. Then we went to Barnes and Noble. Then i went to school. WE had a debate in US history today on the Mexican-American War. Then i came home and went to Mcdonalds with Mrs. Kirby. It was happy meal friday! Then i came home and my Grandma and Grandpa MAgley were here. So i stayed here the rest of the night. I am off to bed, Tyler
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Wednesday, November 9, 2005 4:18pm:

Hello everyone! It Tyler I have been feeling pretty bad lately. Last night I woke up with a lot of pain. Partially because of the flu shot, but mainly from falling asleep on a big pillow I use to prop me up. Then there was the cold and hip pain to go along with it. Then this morning my online class wouldn't work, so I watched Dog the Bounty Hunter and Hollywood Homicide on DVD. Still watching some of the movies Mr. "Scooter" Jones brought me. They all look so interesting too. I just cant pick where to begin. Oh and my massage therapist wanted to know if I wanted to go to the Falcons game Sunday so I am going to see the Packers(fav. NFL team #1) play the Falcons (Fav. team #2). I have a handful of players from each NFL team on my fantasy football team. Hopefully it will be a high-scoring exciting game. I don't know what I am doing the rest of the week. Saturday Night is the McEachern coffee house if anyone would like info/directions contact Kerry Driskall at kikidee@speedfactory.net

I am off to get a massage to get rid of some of this un-explained pain. If anyone local, bought Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I would love to see it when your done watching it.

Tyler

Sunday, November 3, 2005 11:20 PM EST
PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!

Nov 6th. (2nd entry) 11pm:

So...I find myself not being able to go to sleep @ 11pm on a Sunday night due to some pretty bad pain (oh and football is still on). I took my lortab a while ago so I am hoping it starts to get rid of the pain soon. I know its already working, but I want it to get rid of pain not make me feel woozy/out of it, so I am probably gonna ramble on and on..haha My brother is doing a science project where he is trying to grow molds on potatoes in diff. settings and heat. SO there are potatoes in the bath tub, under a light in the dining room and that’s all I know of right now. I have seen some good movies/DVD’s. Mr. Scott Jones brought me about 30 DVD’s or so to watch so I started on those. Then I rented Herbie Fully Loaded, Kicking and Screaming, and Dog the bounty hunter season 1. I love Dog the bounty hunter. I like all crime type shows that deal with real stuff (example: Dog, First 48, Cops, Cold Case Files, Parco P.I, The takedown, and other stuff.) I am not a big fan of CSI though because it deals with fake stories, but I love Prison Break. I guess it’s the part of me that likes crime. Speaking of that I decided I am going to take Law/Crime classes in school for the rest of my high school career, and yes it is a career. The rest of all the little unimportant stuff (math, science, English) I am taking online at home. Notice I didn’t say Social Studies because I love that haha. I won my fantasy football game today against the brother of a family friend of ours. So I am pretty excited. Also I outscored everyone in the Pick 'Em league (50 people, you have to pick the winners of the NFL games) I am perfect so far and only one game left on Monday Night Football. Oh and the Buckeyes "killed" Illinois 40-2. Harrison High School (where I go) got beat by Walton in the playoffs and now they are done. It’s kind of sad I guess. I only managed to go to 2 games this year. But I somehow made it to 50 matches for the Hoya Volleyball team. Tomm. I will go get my blood counts done at the hospital. I kind of wish they were low so I can get transfused and feel better, but it’s a pain to get transfused so I mixed feeling on it. Getting ready for my Grandparents to come down from Ohio for a while then they go to Fla. for the winter. We are gonna go to Orlando at our timeshare place and gonna have thanks giving dinner with them. They live about 41 miles away from where we are gonna stay. We will prob. go to Busch Gardens in Tampa/St. Pete also. Then we are going to Tenn. to see my other set around Dec. 10th. So I will most likely miss the Camp holiday party. I might be able to sneak in around the end if we leave Tenn. before 11am. Just enough time to get my camp yearbook and stuff. Haven’t been eating much because of the nausea, but I am semi okay. You just get used to stuff. We are gonna buy a 20 game pack with 2 guys in my dads squadron. Red sox are coming to Atlanta in the middle of June. So I am excited. The will be good seats! Well my short entry turned into a long writing. Hope everyone has a good week!!!

Sunday, Nov. 6th 6pm-

Hey everyone. I had an okay weekend. Friday I didn’t go to school. I have been in class for about the length of 2 class periods in the last 2 weeks. So that’s not too good. At least they were doing stuff on Andrew Jackson (I am a presidential genius from reading the encyclopedia so much in Germany when I was 3-5 years old). Then they watched a movie I have already seen. I have gotten pretty far on my online math class. I will probably finish that up before Thanksgiving. Everyone was gone this weekend at our house. Dad and Kirk left for Boy Scout campout, Sara stayed at her friends house most of Sat. and all day Sun., then me and my mom went down to the Kirby's house so they can make the pumpkin rolls they are selling. If anyone wants one they are $10 (with or without pecans). They have been a good seller again this year. I have watched football for most of today. I felt pretty crappy all week. Been dealing with nausea issues all week, so that is no fun. I am off to go lay back down again.

Tyler
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Thursday November 3rd @ 6:30pm-

GUESS WHAT!!! I just went over 100,000 hits to my webpage. Thanks for all the support! I have been feeling really crappy lately. Monday and Tues. I had to lay still and wait all day so those weren’t good then today I woke up and did my online math with my homebound teacher, then went to school. Then I got kind of nauseated and came home. Rev. Jerry was over here. So I layed on the couch and kind of listened and talked some. Then I have been lying in my bed since then. Tomm. I probably won’t go to school unless I feel completely different. Bone Scan came back with no new tumors. Kind of wanted to be able to do radiation so this pain will go away. But I guess I will just take my pain meds for now. I am gonna go lay back down again now. See ya Later, Tyler
Tuesday, 11/01/05 8:30pm-

Just a short note to inform you that Tyler made it through his bone scan and a visit with Dr. George without any problems. We did wait forever for them to inject him with the dye though!! We were late for our appt. with the Dr. Tyler's weight is stable at 96 pounds (he could stand to gain more though), his counts are good, and the MRI shows NO CHANGES from the one they did last Dec!!! We are very thankful for the good news. Of course we will have to wait for the official results for a few days. Hopefully the bone scan will be stable too. The only problem is that Tyler still has PAIN in his hip, sometimes in his knees and in his back. Dr. G suggested increasing the dose of pain meds that Tyler is on. I didn't know that we could, we will try it when we need to. So for now we will stay the course and do what we can to ease the hip pain when it comes. Thanks for all your prayers,

Connie
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10/31/05 10:30pm-

Today was a kind of crappy day. I woke up and went to my sister's class Halloween party. It was "interesting". Well then I went to the hospital. We handed out some candy to the entire AFLAC floor (oncology/hematology). Then I had my MRI at 4pm. The first 30 minutes of it was okay. But then I started to get really bad pressure spots on my ankles and tailbone and shins. It was just from everything being so tight around me. The tailbone was because I had not moved from the hard table in 30 minutes. I watched Herbie Fully Loaded. It was pretty good. I am gonna have to watch it again because of the background noises (MRI's sound like machine guns). Plus I was watching it in a mirror, so all the stuff didn’t look right. I got convinced the MRI guy to let me have a 10 min. break. I just wanted to get off my tailbone since I have zero fat to protect it (and no I am not accepting fat donations at this time, Sorry!) Then we added some towels and pillows so it wouldn’t hurt as bad. Well in the end I layed on that stupid table for 2 hours. It started to hurt again in the last 10 minutes. At least I didn’t have to redo any of the scans! Tonight Mr. Scott brought me a whole bag of movies to watch. Prob. about 25 movies or so. So I will be set for a little while. Tomm. I have Bone Scan and Dr. Appt. So hopefully I will get thru that pretty fast. If you want to read other entries click on Journal History at the top. Oh and another thing kind of interesting happened today. I went on a ski trip back in Feb. 2003 with some NFL players from the Seattle Seahawks. Well I emailed Grant Wistrom's foundation director the other day, and I came home from the hospital and I had an email from Grant. That really made my day after a long day today... Thanks Grant, hope you are warm up in Seattle! Hope everyone had a good Halloween. My brother came home with 12 lbs. of candy!! Way to go Kirk! Well I am off to bed.

Tyler
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10/31/05 7am-

Hi everyone! Just a quick note to ask for your prayers for us today as we make our way to Scottish Rite for Tyler's MRI at 4pm. I am so glad that he is feeling better than last week so that he will be able to lie still for 1 1/2-2 hours. Please pray for his comfort during the procedure, and that we make it home safely!! This is one of the worst traffic days to be traveling in town for some reason, so we will probably just hang out for a while instead of attempting to drive home at 5:30! We will be back at the hospital tomorrow for a bone scan and a visit with Dr. George to look at the scans. Thank you for all of your prayers!

(By the way, I just want to inform y'all that we are managing to get a few healthy types of foods into Tyler too! I can’t believe that he had snitched on me letting him get all that junk food! HA! He's actually taking some supplements too!)

Happy Halloween to everyone!
Connie

Friday, October 21, 2005 10:16 PM CDT
10/29/05 11:30pm-

I had a really good day today. I really wasnt in much pain at all. First I woke up and cooked Cinnamon Rolls and ate 3 of those. Then I watched the Ohio State/Minnesota football game. The buckeyes won 45-31! Then my mom's friend sherry gadra came over, and i finally started the Alaska scrapbook i was supposed to start back in early August. Then i went over to my friend's house (next door) and i forgot it was her Sweet 16. Oops! So I ran home and got her some cash (and yes i took it out of my wallet). Then I went back over there and just kinda hung out with her cousin from Long Island. He only came down for one day, but was here for like 10 days in the summer. He is really funny, so it was pretty fun. Then we had fun watch some of the kids "try" to rap to a beat. One kid was really good! Tomm. I am gonna watch football, and probably my new movie Herbie: Fully Loaded w/ Lindsay Lohan (and i have heard she can actually act now. HAHA!)
Well i am off to bed, Tyler
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10/29 1am-

Hey i feel like crap its really horrible. I thought i would get up for a few minutes to grab a bite to eat. Please pray that these stupid pains will go away. Will be at the hospital monday and tuesday so hopefully that goes well too. I am probably just gonna watch football and movies all weekend. I might start my Alaska/Washington DC scrapbook to get me out of bed. Who knows maybe go out to lunch somewhere. Anyways back to bed, Tyler

10/28/05 6pm-

I had an okay day today so far. Went to school. Then i came home and probably will be watching some movie or TV show for the rest of the night. I found an interesting thing on a friend's website and figured i would try it. So here it goes:

1. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (your mom's father's/mother's first name plus favorite snack): WILLIAM TEDDY GRAHAM

2. YOUR FASHION DESIGNER NAME: (first word you see on your left plus favorite restaurant): HOSPITAL OUTBACK (now thats some good food!)

3. YOUR SOCIALITE NAME: (silliest childhood nickname plus first town where you lived): TOE PHOENIX

4. YOUR "HIP/COOL" NAME: (first initial x2 plus first three letters of your last name) : TT COP

5. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite animal plus name of your school) : DOG HARRISON

6. YOUR PARTY NAME: (last snack food you ate plus your favorite drink): "KRISPIE KREME" HOT TEA (or hottie haha)

7. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: ( first name= Father's/mother's first name. last name= street where you first lived) : TODD SIOUX CIRCLE

8. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (favorite candy brand "kind of candy" favorite musician's last name) : YORK 'PEPPERMINT PATTY' QUEEN

9. YOUR "SPORTS FIGURE/TEAM" NAME: (the name you go by "your favorite athlete's nickname" another favorite athletes last name, OF THE your favorite team in sports): TYLER 'BIG PAPI' KOVALCHUK OF THE BOSTON RED SOX AND ATLANTA THRASHERS(thats right the first hockey and baseball player since Tom Glavine tried it!)

10. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first name= first 3 letters of your last name plus last 3 letters of mother's middle name Last name= first 3 letters of your pet's name first 3 letters of the town you live in) : COPINE SHAPOW

that was fun...I am gonna go lay down, Tyler
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10/27- 5:30pm:

I woke up this morning feeling horrible. Sat in a steaming hot bath for about 30 minutes to see if that would help. It did very little. Then my tutor came and we did my online class stuff. Finished alot of stuff. Then i somehow was convinced to go to school by the tutor to fill out my schedule for next semester. I went filled all the stuff out, then started having bad sharp pains in my chest. Then my knees and hips started to hurt. So i left school with only going to class for all of 5 seconds to get my bookbag and leave. It was funny becuase Ms. Berman was happy when she saw me but I left right away, and she told me to feel better. SO then i came home and "drugged up" on good ol' Lortab. It seemed to help right away. So now i am to a functioning state atleast. We took the Beard's dinner(Mr. Rick just had a heart attack, and now his mom has pancreas cancer,which is no good!) I am probably gonna lay in bed for awhile. Tonight's to watch list: Bewitched (the new movie), Out of Time(Denzel crime flick), Survivor: Guatemala, Trump's Apprientice, and of course the Thrashers game. I like calling them the Thrashees when they lose. HAHA! One of our church friends is organizing a movie list for me. So you can email him at movies4tyler@bellsouth.net !

Tyler
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10/26/05- 10pm
I am still sick as a dog. And on top of that i have the hiccups. Hiccups and nausea arent a good combo. Later, Tyler

10/26/05- 3pm
Hey everyone its Tyler again. I had a pretty crappy night last night. Woke up at about 2:30 AM and threw up. Then my mom got sick, and we probably didnt fall asleep until 5 am. She didnt want to move at all and i was moving a ton because of the pain. Great combo we make! It was no fun at all. I am still feeling kinda bad now at 3pm. I am going to watch some TV/movies. If anyone knows when the volleyball banquet is (Mrs. Kuhn) i would love to know. I guess i miseed school today, oh darn! Check out that movies4tyler@bellsouth.net thingy.
I am tired, Tyler
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10/24/05-

Hey everyone. Well the good news is that my blood counts are great, and I started my chemo again tonight. I have been having lots of terrible hip pain, probably due to me being of chemo for 2 weeks. I will probably be getting a PET scan soon to see what up with it. A PET scan is like an MRI except that it can supposedly tell the difference between tumor and where I got radiation. I will probably be doing a 10 or 28 day cycle of radiation again in the near future (3 months or less) depending on how tolerant I am in being in a car for two and a half f hours a day. I am pretty much laying/staying in bed about 18-20 hours a day. So if anyone has any movies they want to let me borrow it would be greatly appreciated. I also seem to drive past Blockbuster everyday for some reason, so if anyone just wants to give me a gift card to pick out a movie, I would love that too. Went to the grocery store today and bought 37 dollars worth of "Tyler food". This consisted of: Cheeto Puffs, Fudge Rounds, Krispie Kreme glazed donuts, chocolate chip cookies mix, York peppermint patties, bacon, and other stuff. I woke up this morning in a good bit of pain, then went to the chiropractor, blood work, and somehow my mom thru my backpack in the car and I went to school only to do a sheet of work because the teacher wasn’t there. I saw we had a sub, and had a chance to just not go to class and call my mom but being stupid me I went to class. Then after school, I laid in bed for a little bit then went down to the Kirby's house to see what they were up to and how much of a pain Terrell was being today ha-ha. Then I came home and watched more TV and laid in bed more. I won my Fantasy football game this week, and moved up 5 places in my pick 'em league. I only missed one game, the Minn. vs. Green Bay game which was won by the Vikings with no time left on the clock, on a 56 yd. field goal. Well I am done for tonight, my Lortab is starting to do a part of its job. I am willing to by an Ipod that you from someone if they have an extra!

Tyler Copley
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10/23/05 11:45 pm-

I felt pretty okay today. I woke up early for me to go to the volleyball playoffs. Harrison lost to McEachern again, so we are out of the playoffs. It was a really fun season. I then went ove r to the Kuhn's to watch a little bit of football (NCAA). Ohio State did amazing today. Ted Ginn Jr. should have had 2 Touchdown returns but ended up with one, final score 41-10, ohio state wins! Then i saw alot of close games that were really fun to watch. Then i went to Kirk's (my brother) Court of Honor for Boy Scouts. It was pretty cold out there, and i ended up sitting next to a kerosene fire at the end. Kirk got 9 merit badges and is only one badge away from being a Star-ranked Boy Scout! My bud Terrell was the and watched a movie while it was going on. That was pretty much my day. Tommorrow is NFL football and i love it. I am thinking tomm. will be a never get out of pajamas day because it is so cold down here for GA in October. I think its supposed to freeze over Sun. or Monday morning. I just have to stay bundled up to stay warm. Monday, i am not sure what is going on yet. Probably a good nights sleep after all the weekend and NFL then a quick stop by the chiropractor then off to school. Then watch Monday Night Football, Falcons vs. Jets. I also have to find time to watch the movies for US history. Probably will be tomm. (sunday) after the 415pm games since the night game got moved up to friday since of the Hurricane Wilma. I am in the middle of SWAT right now. If anyone has any good movie suggestions i would greatly appreicaite it, so i can watch something new. White Sox won game one of the World Series. Thrasher beat the Devils tonight in an amazing game! I am also hoping that Ohio State will go to the Sugar bowl since it is going to be played in Atlanta this year. Maybe i could swing tickets to that!Please sign the guestbook, Thanks! Off to bed, Tyler
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10/21/05 11pm-

Today was an okay day. I woke up and went to school. Turns out it was a pep rally day. I really didnt want to go all the way to the field sit there for 75 minutes then walk back so i didnt. This whole week our whole 5th period class has been delayed or interuppted. Monday we had a Red Ribbon Week assembly. I dont think its any good in high school, simply because if someone is doing drugs or drinking, an assembly isnt gonna stop them. ITs good for middle school and elementary, but not high school. Then Tuesday, we had class as normal. Wends. we had a fire drill. Thursday we had an actual fire. Then today (friday) we had this pep rally. I left school anyways to go to get a massage at 315pm. It felt good and definatly got rid of some pain. Then i came home to find i got 2 new movies in the mail. So some reviews will be coming soon. Tommorrow i will be going to the volleyball game. We have to win 3 in a row to get to the state playoffs. We should, and hopefully will do it. Sunday is just football, so it should be another relaxing weekend. Probably won't update until Monday, unless my mom wants to update.
Until Then, Tyler

Friday, October 14, 2005 8:37 AM CDT
PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!! THANKS, TYLER

10/21/05 11pm-

Today was an okay day. I woke up and went to school. Turns out it was a pep rally day. I really didnt want to go all the way to the field sit there for 75 minutes then walk back so i didnt. This whole week our whole 5th period class has been delayed or interuppted. Monday we had a Red Ribbon Week assembly. I dont think its any good in high school, simply because if someone is doing drugs or drinking, an assembly isnt gonna stop them. ITs good for middle school and elementary, but not high school. Then Tuesday, we had class as normal. Wends. we had a fire drill. Thursday we had an actual fire. Then today (friday) we had this pep rally. I left school anyways to go to get a massage at 315pm. It felt good and definatly got rid of some pain. Then i came home to find i got 2 new movies in the mail. So some reviews will be coming soon. Tommorrow i will be going to the volleyball game. We have to win 3 in a row to get to the state playoffs. We should, and hopefully will do it. Sunday is just football, so it should be another relaxing weekend. Probably won't update until Monday, unless my mom wants to update.
Until Then, Tyler
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10/20/05 1:15pm-

Getting ready to head to school. Tonight I am going to the volleyball playoff games. Should be fun. I just got done watching the movie "Bad Boys", it was an okay movie. It had lots of action, but i couldnt follow it very easily. This morning i did some of my math on the online course thing. I sure do hope the White Sox win, just for the sake of our friend Bobby "Otis" Oates. I belive he is over in Iraq again, but not 100

Monday, October 10, 2005 9:35 PM CDT
Wednes. 10/12-

Headed to the Thrashers game tonight. Woke up and felt pretty crappy. Went and got a massage. Felt better afterwards. Tommorrow i will be up at the hospital to get blood. Until then, Tyler

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Tues. 10/11-
Felt pretty crappy today. Woke up in a daze. Did some math work with the homebound teacher. Then went to the chiropractor cuz i felt bad. Then went to school. Afterwards i went to the Kuhn's house and played a cool baseball card game with my buddy, Mr. Kuhn. Went to the volleyball game at Marietta. We beat Pebblebrook really badly. Then we beat Marietta in 2 games, yet they were really close. We are getting kinda thin on our bench because everyone is starting to get hurt. Coach Taylor and others said i needed a wig so i can suit up in spandex and be the 5th string setter/blocker. Then i came home and watched Commander-in-Chief, Amazing Race, and Dog the Bounty Hunter. Watched game 3 and four of last year's ALCS, Boston vs. New York yankees. Skimmed thru those in about 90 min or so between commercials and stuff. Next on my movie list is Windtalkers,Longest Yard(2005), and some other movie.
Tyler's Sports World: Well, tommorrow we have Thrashers tickets in a suite/luxury box. Its gonna be fun. Ilya Kovalchuk got signed! YAY! Thrashers are doing really good so far. one of the main guys from the Phoenix Suns is hurt and could be out for 3-4 months. I love the Suns! I am hoping the Angels and Cardinals go to the World Series. I am thinking the Angels will win the World Series.
Most likely will go to the hospital Thurs. to check blood again, and probably end up getting one anyways. My mom keeps saying "this is your good week, you should feel good!!!" it seems like my good week is the first week of chemo. I dont care if my good week is when i am on or off chemo, as long as there are 7-10 days a month where i feel great (not woozy, blood is higher, etc.) My counts werent that great for all you medical people/moms/caregivers:
Hemoglobin: 8.0 (how much oxygen my red blood cells get,needs to be lower that 8 or so for me to get transfused. i decided to wait until thurs. it is normally like 12 or so for a cancer patient.)
ANC: 450 (its a combined number of all the diff blood counts. It is how well your immune system can fight off stuff. I think its supposed to be around 1000 to get chemo. but last time is was a little lower and i started again anyways.)Basically i can feel my pulse everywhere in my body, and it seems like the world is going in like 3/4 speed. It stinks, oh well.

SIGN THE GUESTBOOK PLEASE!
Tyler Copley

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Monday 10/10/05 11pm-

Had a kinda stinky day today. Woke up a little early with really bad stomach cramps. Went back to sleep until around 1145am or so. Went to the chiropractor and had my blood drawn. Went to school,didnt feel good at all. Came home and watched the Parco P.i. marathon on CourtTV. Then watched the CBS comedy shows, Monday Night Football San diego vs. Pittsburgh, Yankees/Angels game 5, and WWE Raw. Hoping LaDainian Tomlinson can pull out a miracle for the Chargers in the RB department. I need around 30 fantasy football points to beat my dad this week. Last time he was my last player to play, i needed around 40 points and he got 44. No wonder he is so good. Hoping to go to 3-2 on the fantasy football season. Did okay on my football scores picks. I thought i would do really good until a couple of teams choked in the final quarters to lose. Oh well. Off to bed.
Later, Tyler

Thursday, October 6, 2005 10:03 PM EST
10/8/05 10pm-
I went to the funeral this morning. It was really sad. Saw some camp friends there. We sat beside the Olson's. Then i went to the volleyball game that just happened to be close by. Another situation fixed by the Hoyas Volleyball Girls playing. Jordan and Ellie were hurt and 3 girls went to homecoming, so we were short alot of players and only had 6 or 7 to play with. I keep score and did the scoreboard. I told Coach Taylor, i didnt know how long to wait to break out my spandex to make sure they had enough players. It ended up that we played our final match where my buddy, Blake went to school. And the tournament was at parkview and i happened to see my friend Kristen from camp. She was taking the SAT's. Thrashers beat the Capitals again tonight. They played them Fri. night too. The finals scores were 7-3 friday night and 8-1 tonight. Tough losses for the Capitals.
BREAKING NEWS: The Atlanta Thrashers sign Left Winger Ilya Kovalchuk to a 5-year $39 millon contract. This ends his 65 day holdout. GO THRASHERS!!! Imagine what the Thrashers will do if the just scored 15 goals in 2 back to back nights(a tough feat in the NHL is to play 2 games in 2 nights. The Thrashers not only did that they were missing one of there star players and the still scored 15 goals!) Sadly,the Red Sox are out of the playoffs..and the Buckeyes lost to Penn State. Okay no teasing over it.
Tyler

10/7/05 6:15pm-
Its been rainy/drizzling since last night. Decided not to go to the game/parade. It would be to wet. I am going to watch the thrashers game tonight. I had plans to watch the Ohio State vs. Penn State game tomm. at a friends house. He has to fly all weekend so we are thinking about finding a place where Ohio State alumni meet to watch the games. We had an offer to go to the Home Opener of the Thrashers but, decided to go to watch the game instead. Tommorrow I am going to a funeral, and then going to see the volleyball team play over in Gwinnett Co. there is a tournament over there this weekend.
Until Later,
Tyler

10/6/05 10pm-
Today was a sort of good sort of bad day. I went to school and got my test back. I got a 94 percent, so I am very happy. Then I got home, and I started to feel sick. My mom was shopping and running errands. Dad got home from Augusta. I got sick a couple of times. Watched an interesting, yet piece of trash movie called "Bowling for Columbine". Will watch part 2 of the trashy movie called "Fahrenheit 9/11" tonight. As for my movie reviews, these "movies" are interesting but about 10 percent true. Will be going to the homecoming parade and game Friday. Got a big Fantasy Football matchup against my dad this weekend. Pretty evenly matched, I have a feeling it will be a close game. Going over to a Penn State fans house that works with my dad on Sat. to watch the Buckeyes "beat the mane off of those Nittany Lions". Go Hoyas. They play in the upcoming cobb/Gwinnett challenge. Hopefully will get to catch some games before heading over to Johnny Jones' house to see the PSU vs. OSU game. Next movie(s) up for review: Saving Private Ryan, Windtalkers, The Patriot, etc. Until then, Go Buckeyes, Thrashers, Lady Hoyas Volleyball, and all of my fantasy "Moving the Chains" teams!
Tyler "Sports & Television Fanatic" Copley

(I have no idea what happened to the rest of what I typed this week. It not on the main screen or the journal history. So in a nut shell...)

10/3-10/5:

(Mon. 10/3)Went to school took test. Came home did Math on nova net. I am going pretty fast on that. Didn’t do much that day that I remember off the top of my head. Watched Wrestlemania 21: Headed to Hollywood. Good matches if you’re a fan of Wrestling. Had great special features (example: Hall of Fame inductions, promos for it).

(10/4 Tues.) Went to the hospital. Scans were clear (edit- not clear, just better in his lungs, and stabilized).Talked to the Doc about new plans. Protocol I am on right now will give me way higher chances of developing leukemia if I continue on just the VP-16. Maybe try a trial that is very similar just a trio of drugs instead of one. (21 days of VP-16, 7 days off, 21 days of Cytoxan, 7 days off, 21 days of another drug, 7 days off, then repeat) Feeding tube broke. My skin closed to 2mm or so without a tube in it. Shoved a 16mm tube in the 2mm hole. Ouch, it hurt(imagine trying to shove a dull knife/needle that was 16mm in diameter thru a hole in your body that was 2mm, and you get just the thought of what I was going thru!) Screamed bloody murder for 15 minutes while my skin "expanded/tore" with the tube in my stomach. Pretty much broke my moms hand squeezing it. Worst pain of my life. I’ve been thru alot. Said stuff I don’t remember it was that bad. Classic line from it, Tyler: "Yea, you better give me the world". Went to the volleyball game. Loved it. They won both matches, plus I got to see my friend Jensine from another school play. Don't know how I got thru being out somewhere (nothing my favorite team of 'Spandex Spikers' can't fix.) Go Hoyas. They play in the upcoming cobb/Gwinnett challenge. Good Luck, in case I can’t come.

Next day (Wednes.10/5), Went to eat at Olive Garden. Ate alot of Andes mints. Was happy for most of that day. Glad I didn’t have to be in the hospital or something and glad my tube was back in. To my surprise the hole hadn't grew tight around my tube yet. I had it out 30 minutes on Tues. and it closed fast. Yet I was sitting around 24 hours later and it has grown tight around the 14 mm tube. Feeling good. Sad that Boston Red Sox are down 2 games to none. We are good at comebacks though. Sad Thrashers lost opener. Glad that someone offers us free box tickets to pretty much any game we wanted to go to. Thanks to the lady that offered (sorry I forget your name, and how I know you. lot of people that say hi and how are ya to me).

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 8:41 AM CDT
Thanks to Gov. Perdue we had a 4 day weekend, and boy was it nice to sleep in all four days! It was pretty quiet around here- just what we all needed. Tyler enjoyed a night at the Camp Sunshine House as Laughing matters hosted a mystery party for the teens. He enjoyed seeing friends he hadn't seen in a while. Then Sunday Todd and Tyler headed off to the Braves game. (I just want to know when the Thrashers start playing! We missed getting to go to the hockey games last year and are looking forward to it this year.)

Tyler's counts surprised us this week! They're up after a week of chemo! Even his white count is up; it's usually the most sensitive. I hope it stays that way! Anyway, he seems to be doing ok but still has many 'I just don't feel good' times! He's still on the cheese rice kick, but we are trying really hard to throw in some strawberries, carrots, and potatoes with it! Somehow he managed to down a whole box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts over the past two days! And no nausea afterward! Amazing!

Tyler's next CT scan is scheduled for next Tuesday morning at 11am. We will head over to the clinic afterward to see Dr. George and get a preliminary report. Please remember to pray for calm nerves and clean scans! Thanks for all of your messages! Tyler really enjoys reading them.

Also, please remember all of our other friends who are fighting so hard. Please send special prayers for our friends the Porters. Their son Blake is under hospice care at home and is still fighting like a champ!!

Remember your blessings today!
Connie

Tuesday, September 20, 2005 11:04 PM EST
Hey everyone. It’s Tyler. I have been pretty okay lately. I have been waking up a lot in pain which stinks. But I am “eating like I am pregnant”. I have been on a Cool Whip and Broccoli Au Gratin binge/surge lately. For you people who don’t know what Broccoli Au Gratin is, I am so sorry you are missing out. And for you people saying, oh good hey is eating vegetables, sorry again. It is“cheese rice (yellow rice, mom I am hungry rice, whatever I want to call it rice”). It seems like I am eating so much. I told my mom to go to the store and just empty the shelves of the yellow rice because that means they will stock it up sooner and then we can empty them again. I went to Shane’s Rib Shack also today and got 20 BBQ wings (for the price of 10). I think I found a new place to eat on Tues. nights and whenever else I can.

Anyways I have been having fun going to the Harrison volleyball games. In a week or so I am going to another match where they play our rivals McEachern (Muck-each-urn), where some of my friends play. Sadly, I have lost both of my fantasy football games this year. But I figure if I can win 7 out of the next 12 games I will make it to the playoffs and then its up in the air. I am doing a fun thing were you pick the winners of the actually games too though. So far after 2 weeks I am in 23rd place out of 50. Three people are eliminated each week. Two people with the lowest cumulative score and the person who scored the lowest in that one week. There are 14 games each week. It’s really fun to see how correct you are.

I have been doing pretty well in U.S History Honors. I got an 82n the questions part and an 85n the essay of my first unit test. I really wouldn’t have done that good if I didn’t get 26/26 of the Who Am I? questions. I really studied the people and details of events and didn’t study as hard on the broad questions. But I still got a good grade considering it’s a “hard” (lots of info/short time) class. The lady from the Hospital/Homebound finally got my online courses set up. She just set it up on a Cobb Co. School Laptop and gave me the laptop to do it on. I finished the first lesson already. I am gonna hopefully be able to get these done pretty fast. Maybe 3/4 classes by May?

I have been watching a lot of TV lately. On Sunday nights I make a list of all the shows I want to watch/record just in primetime TV. It’s about 4-6 shows from 8pm-11pm a night. Then ya got Football all day Saturday and Sunday. Believe it or not, I just realized this, I might just wake up at about 10am or 11am on Saturday watch college football all day, go to sleep and wake up around 11am or 12 noon, then watch NFL all day. Just think I could spend a whole weekend with opening my bedroom door. My bedroom and bathroom are connected and I really wouldn’t have to do anything. I might just try that when I get the chance.

I have been going down the street to see my friend Terrell. He has Cerebral Palsy but isn’t in a wheelchair. He has seizures and can talk because of one he had when he was about 5. But he screeches and snaps at you and still laughs. Even though he is 14, he still loves Dragon Tales and everything. I have been getting him off his bus the past to days. He has a golf cart that he likes to ride and I always go with him and his mom. Its funny cuz he doesn’t like to stop and will stomp on the gas when you stop. He likes to help steer too. This kid is double-jointed in every place you can think off. He only weights about 55 or 60 yet it takes 5 or 6 men to hold him down to get an IV in him. You just got to know him to see it. Everyone gives him the “aww how precious” thing but don’t cuz he is a bigger pain in the rear than I am sometimes. He is very fast too. So you have to lock all the doors and deadbolt them so he wont get out. Yet it seems like he takes me to the door, tries to open it and puts my hand on it. Since I wont open it for him, he usually goes back to watching his movie/cartoon/whatever is on and does what I call the “Terrell Dance”. This kid can jump for like 10 minutes with his hands and arms over his head. Try it I bet you won’t last 5 minutes unless you’re a pro athlete or somebody just as energetic as him.

I just started my chemo again after my week off. My blood counts are very good. That means a lot of blacking out and can’t walk very far stuff. My hemoglobin is 9.6, it should be at least like 12, and they transfuse you at about 8.0 (which also means no chemo for a week!)So lucky me is on the lowest end of starting chemo. Hopefully it will either get better, or it will be low next Monday so I can get blood and stop my chemo for a break. I am off to eat something else.

PLEASE SIGN MY GUESTBOOK! I love reading the notes.
Tyler

Monday, September 12, 2005 12:54 AM CDT
Hi everyone,

I'll try to update quickly before Sara gets home from school! I did try to get Tyler to write again since you would get the REAL scoop and fun stuff but to no avail. Anyway, Tyler seems to be feeling better. Almost two weeks ago we saw the GI dr and we are now trying a new med that I have asked about a few times to several different people involved in Tyler's care over the past few years. It seems to be helping his stomach pain, which in turn helps him sleep better, and I have actually heard him say "I'm hungry" a few times! We will continue to pray that this will aid in Tyler's ability to gain a bit of weight and feel better overall.

We saw Dr. George on Friday and had labs done. His counts are low- not enough to need transfusions, but we will have to watch out for infections etc... His cough is still present and we have started him on an antibiotic to make sure it doesn't get worse. That would be bad, bad, bad, especially with his decreased lung function as it is. Tyler isn't too happy about that, but then, who would be savoring yet another drug to take?! Have we told you all lately that we hate drugs?! Anyway, his weight only went down a smidge, and overall, he looks good to the doc. Whew!!! I really know better than to get all worked up over a little dr appointment but I always seem to let the worry and fear take over for just a few minutes!! Crazy isn't it? I know that God is still on His throne and in control and yet I try every now and then to take the reigns! What can I say?! I'm a goober! Please please continue to pray for Tyler's comfort, joy, and healing; his health is still quite fragile. Tyler will have a CT scan in a few weeks (3-4) and we will compare it to the scan done on June 28. And with an attitude of gratefulness and faithfulness, we will be expecting wonderful results.

Also, I had the opportunity to attend a luncheon last Saturday organized by Chris Glavine, Kristin Connor, and a few other people I'm sure. It was a fabulous fundraiser for Curesearch (National Childhood Cancer Foundation). I am so thankful for these ladies that sacrifice much of their time on our children's behalf.

Love to all,
Connie

Tuesday, August 30, 2005 10:26 PM CDT

I have been feeling pretty crappy lately. I think I have a cold or something. My throat hurt like strep, my skin aches like the flu, and my bones hurt from chemo/cancer. So other than that I am fine. I have been going to school. I work in the office during lunch so I get to hear all the great gossip and see stuff happen. For anyone who knows me, I am sure you know I love this job/class. Then I have US history which I love history so I like this class and it has an amazing teacher too.

Haven't been barfy for a while now. That’s the last thing I need. I had a massage the other day before I started feeling sick and that was nice. My massage therapist wanted to know if I wanted to go to the Green Bay vs. Falcons game on the 13th of Nov. I love Green Bay for you guys that didn’t know. So hopefully I will be able to go. Hockey season is back and getting ready to start. Can’t wait to go to some games. Baseball season is winding down and I am proud to say I am in 1st place in my fantasy baseball league. GO DIAMOND DAWGS! Boston Red Sox are in 1st place in the AL East and looks like "the enemy" (Yankees) won’t be in our way for the playoffs!!! Football season is starting this weekend. Ohio State vs. Miami (OH) is on ABC at noon. I will have to record it because I will be driving on the freeway with my driving teacher. So all I have to do is avoid all types of media until I see the game. It won’t be the first time I have done this for a sports game. I am sure many people can attest to doing this also or know someone who has done this. Hopefully if we can beat Texas we will be able to go to the championship game in Pasadena California January. 4th. I really do love my Buckeyes. I just drafted for fantasy football and had the #1 pick. I took Tomlinson for the San Diego Chargers. Of course I took Brett Favre a little too early in Round 3. I probably would have drop at least until round 5. But I couldn’t take the chance. Anyway my team is looking good this year. The key is to make the playoffs then win 3 games in a row to capture the championship. By the way Favre's family was hit hard by the stupid Katrina. As many sports fans know he has had a tough last year (death of father, wife’s cancer, retirement questions, etc) and his house and all his family's houses were destroyed. Anyways, I have an appt. with the GI doctor. Hopefully we can figure out whets wrong with my feeding tube and why it bugs me and etc. I will try to update more often.

WRITE IN MY GUESTBOOK PLEASE!!! I LOVE READING THEM! IT CHEERS ME UP!

Go Buckeyes!
Tyler Copley

Thursday, August 25, 2005 7:35 AM CDT
Sorry for the slow updates. We are knee deep in school activities and trying hard to get into a routine for school and after school activities. Since Tyler doesn't get to school until 11:45 and Sara gets home at 2:30 that doesn't seem to give me much time here alone to really get things done that I need to do. Seems that everything gets about half done! And, the other day I made trips to ALL the schools for each kid! Sara- can you bring me some cold medicine? I can't breath! Kirk, can you bring me some tums? The lunch made me sick! Tyler- can you come and get me? My knee and hip are hurting! Sheesh! I made the rounds and left some things at each clinic for the rest of the year! So, by the time I get in my "15 minute nap" (totally essential due to the 2 am wakings!!!) it seems that it's time for someone to come home and the house is still the way it looked when they all left!

We were able to start Tyler's VP-16 on Tuesday night. His white count was still low but according to other numbers, they were on their way up, so they said to start the meds. I'm sure he isn't thrilled, but it sure beats delaying and letting the cancer cells start growing again. He still isn't sleeping well- I am at a loss as to what to do now. It seems that he just can't sleep through the night without waking up 'just not feeling good'. It is quite frustrating for him and us. He got a nice one hour massage yesterday so we are hoping that it helps to loosen up the tightness in his back and neck. We will continue to stay faithful to the promises that God has him in his hands and has a great plan for him, even though it seems oh so vague to us sometimes. Please continue to pray for his comfort, joy, and his healing.

Connie

Wednesday, August 17, 2005 6:38 AM CDT
We breezed through the clinic yesterday without any glitches thanks to our wonderful nurses! Tyler got two bags of blood yesterday without having to take benadryl, and we were out the door by 2:05pm! I believe he is feeling much better and actually slept through the night without asking for Zofran or pain meds. (At least he didn't wake me up!) So he should be good to go for the rest of the week at school enjoying a few chemo-free days. We will delay the start of his next round until after his next labs because his white count is still bottomed out (no infection fighting power). Thanks for your prayers for a smooth day!

Please continue to pray for Tyler (improving blood counts, no nausea, increased appetite and decreased pain) and for our friends Will, Dakota, Rachel, Blake, Ali, Mark, Daniel, the Alain family, the Martins, and so many more kids and families fighting the battle. Take some time to hug your kids, spouse or friends, step outside enjoy the sun and fresh air, and remember the blessings we have been given.

Connie

Monday, August 15, 2005 5:42 PM CDT
We are now in full swing with school and extracurricular activities this week. Tyler, Kirk, and Sara all had good days last week and are comfortable with their schedules. Tyler had to adjust his a bit, but I think that what he has worked out will be better for him for the time being. We may try to get him into an online course also. He had been pretty tired over the weekend, and now we know why. His hemoglobin is in the pits (7.3), so tomorrow I will take him up to the clinic to get a bag o' blood or two! This is his off chemo week, so we sure hope that a transfusion will give him the energy to really enjoy the week off.

Well I just now am getting to this computer again and it is now 10:45 pm! So, it's off to bed and up before dawn to head downtown! Pray for little traffic, and a quick and smooth transfusion day!

PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!!! TYLER REALLY ENJOYS READING THE MESSAGES!

Connie

Tuesday, August 9, 2005 6:06 AM CDT
Well, there's just one more day of summer before school starts tomorrow! Hard to believe it's that time again! Kirk and Sara have already been to school to find their rooms, meet a few teachers (Sara's teacher was her preschool teacher a long time ago!), and see a few friends. Tyler will pick up his schedule today after we run the gauntlet of PTSA signups, donation requests, getting pictures taken etc... We went in last week to figure out his schedule, so he already knows what his day will be like! The plan is to take three classes from 10 am to 3:25. I'm proud of the choices he made in getting his school day together. The getting up part will be the hardest thing he has to do though! Please pray that we can get him straightened up in this department because he is still not sleeping well. It's usually 1 or 2 am before he is finally sleeping without waking up (from pain, or nausea, or general discomfort). Also please pray that his appetite improves. I am really working on him to try a few different things to help (and of course he is really tired of me pestering him about it)!

Thanks to all for your continued support, and in case I didn't already tell you Kerry (and also the other choir kids who hung out too), thank you sooo much for spending the day with him last week! It really meant a lot to Tyler that you spent some time just hangin' out and goofing around.

Have a great week everyone!

Connie

Thursday, August 4, 2005 6:47 AM CDT
Tyler had his appointment with Dr. George Tuesday-just an exam and the usual labs, weights, etc... He has lost a few more pounds, but he is hanging in there. We haven't figured out much else about his pain meds; he says he is ok with what he is on for now (I just wish he could make it through the night!) We actually had an enjoyable day there. It was a bit slow at the clinic so we got to visit with the staff and catch up with them since we haven't been up there much this summer. We didn't even have to page Morris- he popped around the corner just after we arrived- and he ALWAYS makes for a fun time!! Thanks Morris for sharing your heart of gold with us!

We also spent an hour or so visiting with some of the families that were inpatient up on 3north. Mark Ellers has been held hostage there for a while with fevers/infection etc... Our little friend Fauzel is having a tough time with an unknown GI bleed, and we got to finally meet Jake Rivers and his mom since he is stuck up there too. I hope that we were able to brighten theirs days a bit since those days up there can be so long and boring sometimes. We also learned of Ethan Alain's passing on Wednesday morning. We met him and his parents at the Emory radiation clinic last fall and have been praying for his healing for a long time. He has been healed- but the real work of learning how to live without him here on earth is just beginning for his family. Please continue to remember Tyler and all of these kids in your prayers daily.

Connie

Thursday, July 28, 2005 8:25 AM CDT
Hi everyone,

We finally got home Tuesday afternoon after two uneventful flights Mon. and Tues. We got off the ground without any problems Monday morning and arrived in Colorado Springs later that evening- just enough time to eat dinner (late) and go to bed for an early wake up again on Tuesday. We landed and were home by about 5pm that afternoon. Oh, I forgot, one of our 'extras' was getting to see Mt. Rainier via the C-130 on Monday afternoon. Very cool. Since the kids slept at least half of the trip home Tues, they had quite hard time sleeping that night- much to my dismay- I was falling asleep on the couch at 9pm!

Tyler started his 21 days of etopiside on Sun night. But before he could start I had the pleasure of changing his g-tube due to the fact that his 'snap' that keeps the button closed broke off in the hole two days before! I was smart enough to bring the extra tube with me in case of an emergency but forgot to bring sterile water/normal saline and a needle to draw it up in (used to inflate the balloon that holds it in place). So, I went on a calling spree to the base hospital for help. I have forgotten how 'picky' base hospitals can be. Of course they wouldn't give me ANY information at all over the phone. All I wanted was 5 mls of sterile water for pete's sake! Thanks to a sweet phamacist at the local Fred Meyer's store I was able to obtain the precious fluid and a needle to draw it up. Of course being a boy- Tyler had great fun along with Todd and his buddy Steve snapping pictures as we changed the tube. The only picture we didn't take was of Tyler pretending to be a whale blowing air through his spout!! It was funny!! Gotta make lemonade when you're given lemons!

Since we have gotten home Tyler hasn't been feeling well. First days of chemo? exhaustion? Who knows- but it really stinks to be woken up by that nausea and a running trip to the bathroom followed by a headache, back pain, knee pain... You sort of get into a catch 22 with the meds; he needed pain medicine but he didn't want throw up again either. We were also using all of our other techniques for pain relief- the tens unit, CM cream, far-infrared, and wraps. He did finally get some relief with a ton of CM cream and was able to get some pain meds in without throwing it up. We are hoping that today is better than yesterday, and he will have some joy, and find something to do that interests him and distracts him from some of these things he has to deal with.

On another note- please check out the website quietheroes.org for an event that will benefit the National Childhood Cancer Foundation. There will be a luncheon in September featuring speakers Linda Armstrong Kelly- mother of Lance Armstrong, and Liz Scott- mother of Alex Scott, founder of Alex's Lemonade Stand. This is a luncheon to honor mothers of children with cancer and will raise money for the NCCF. Anyone can attend and there are also ways to sponsor some of the mothers of these children stricken with this nasty disease. Please consider helping this cause.

As always, we are so thankful for all of you, our friends and prayer warriors. Thanks to those of you who leave messages for Tyler and for those of you who we have never even met, yet you still send kind words, letters and lift us up in prayer.

love,
Connie

Sunday, July 24, 2005 6:37 PM CDT
Well, well, well... we have had such a great time here in Alaska! And we are still here! I'll give a quick rundown of the week with details to follow later. Of course it will not be in order since one day has run into the others. The boys went halibut fishing one day while Sara and I went on a glacier cruise out of Whittier. The boys caught 200 pounds of fish which leaves us with about 150-175 pounds of filets to bring back! Two other guys from the squadron went too, so we won't be eating all of that by ourselves! Sara and I had a great time seeing the glaciers calve and seeing otters, eagles, etc... We have also taken several side trips down the Seward Highway, riding a tram up to the top of a mountain in Alyeska, visited a wildlife refuge to see all of the different animals in Alaska, and watching the bore tide come in through the inlet. We also took a day trip up to Hatcher's pass- an absolutely beautiful view of the mountains and an old abandoned gold mine. Yesterday we all went on a raft trip down the Kenai River. We saw an eagle up close, a beaver, and lots of salmon.

So, today we were up and at the plane early and ready to come home! We got about 3o minutes into the flight and then had to turn back due to an engine 'issue'. As of now, the plan is to get up again early and attempt to fly to Colorado Springs tomorrow and then on to Atlanta the next day. We plan to enjoy the rest of the day hanging out and fooling around here in Anchorage. We certainly don't mind the extra day here in beautiful Alaska!

Love,
Connie

Monday, July 18, 2005 3:29 PM CDT
Hey everyone!

We are now in Alaska and trying to quickly put together a few day trips from Anchorage. The flights up were great! The first day we flew to Cheyenne with a cool fly by of "the heads," better known as Mt. Rushmore. It was fantastic, although they don't really look all that big from the air! The next day we flew about 7 hours to Anchorage. C-130s may be loud, but it was great to be able to stretch out, walk around a bit, and take a nap on the jump seats. The kids all took turns hanging out on the flight deck! Wow, I am glad we have finally been able to take advantage of one of our military benifits! The crew is fantastic! We'll try to update in between the events that we get scheduled! Thanks for all of your prayers for a safe flight.

Connie

Sunday, July 10, 2005 9:11 AM CDT
Well here we are at another Sunday morning and we have missed yet another morning of being in church. Todd is at drill this weekend and Kirk is off camping with friends (in the rain I might add!) Tyler, Sara and I were all prepared to be up and off to Sunday school by 9:15 (a major feat to be up that early for Tyler), but things just didn't work out the way we planned. Tyler took his pain meds early in hopes of helping him go to sleep earlier, which it did, but it also had him up at 2 am with a bad stomach ache. You'd think that I would get used to being up at that time every night by now, but as ususal I barely got back to my bed by the time he got comfortable. By 6:40 he was back to rolling around in the bed with knee pain. This seems to come and go but unfortunately I can't help but think this too is a mass trying to rear it's ugly head. At least his hip was behaving last night and not giving him trouble! So, Tyler's lungs are looking better says the Dr. The spots did look smaller which we are so thankful for, but in just one slice of the scan we could count about twenty spots! I never realized just how many spots there were, even though I look at the scans each time he has one. He also says that Tyler's hip pain is probably a spot too. No sense in doing a scan to confirm it. And, we still have all these other issues to deal with- pain in other places, nausea, vomiting, no appetite, no energy, weight loss... Generally I try hard to stay upbeat; well today you're getting the honest truth of this fight. This journey sucks! It is hard, and it gets harder every day that we go down this road. Don't get me wrong, my faith is as strong as ever- but there are many times that I feel compelled to do my fair share of faithful complaining! Today is that day. So for today we will settle for being at home together and enjoy our time at church tonight at VBS. That is sure to lighten our hearts- crafts with preschoolers- YEEHAW!

Please continue to pray-
for the VP16 to do it's job
for Tyler's comfort
for Tyler's joy
for our other friends fighting so hard, Ethan, Joe, Martin, Blake, and many others.
Also, for our friend and pastor Alan, who was in a motorcycle accident yesterday and is ICU in Rome, GA.

Also, take a minute to sign the guestbook, email or call Tyler sometime. He reads them all, and although he may not always respond, it is a huge encouragement to him.

Connie

Tuesday, June 28, 2005 6:57 PM CDT
Sorry that that this has taken all day. Dr. George's nurse told me that she would call with whatever information she heard as soon as she could. The official report was not written yet but the dictation stated that the nodules in Tyler's lungs were SMALLER and no new nodules evident! Thank you, thank you for your prayers on Tyler's behalf. And all of the praise goes to God for his faithfulness in getting us through the day and to this point.

Tyler is still on his VP16 and seems to be ok. He hasn't felt super lately, but has been able to do what he wants. Today we headed to the bowling alley for a couple of games. The last time he bowled was in Sept/Oct. He bowled a 175 on his first game!! His second game was not that high but he had a great time there. It was nice to see a few familiar faces from the youth league there too. Perhaps he will join the league again for the fall.

Again, thank you all for your love and support to all of us. We will continue to press on, pray on, and continue to walk in faithful confidence of God's healing.

Love,

Connie

Sunday, June 26, 2005 2:24 PM CDT

NEXT SCAN TIME FOR TYLER- TUESDAY 9:15 AM

Hey everyone,

Things are chugging right along here at home. Tyler, Kirk, and I trekked up to Egleston for the third time on Thursday afternoon and finally got Tyler's g-tube fixed for good. They put a different type in; it's not too much different than the other one. It is a bit bigger which Tyler doesn't like, but we can change/fix it here at home if something goes wrong with this one. Of course, we aren't planning on anything going wrong! I have threatened to start using it for night feeds again if he doesn't start eating more because his appetite stinks!

We were also able to get over to the base on Thursday to get our military IDs updated for our upcoming trip to Alaska. One of the squadron planes here at Dobbins is flying up for a week in July, so we are going to hop to Alaska with them. (Hopping is when military personnel or families fly on the military aircraft on a space-available basis.) We have only hopped once when we lived in Germany, and that was pretty much like a normal airline. This will be a really fun experience for the kids. They will get to fly on 'their dad's plane'! It is nothing like an airline but lots of fun! So, now I have a ton of work to do to figure out what we can do while we are there. Todd will be working during the week :-( but we are hoping that there is one day that he can go salmon fishing. We will also get to visit with some old friends we met long ago in Germany as they are living back home (in Anchorage) for a year while their daddy is off on a remote tour with the Air Force.

This week is also action packed for us. Todd and Kirk left for boy scout camp for the week today. I know that they will have a good time. Sara will be going to day camp at church every day this week with a campout on Thursday night. AND, Tyler will have his CT scan Tuesday morning at 9:15. Since Dr. George is out of town, we will wait to see him for a physical and labs on Friday morning. I sure better not have to wait for the results of the scan until then!!! Generally they call me and let me know pretty quickly if we haven't been up to the clinic right afterward for a visit. So, please keep us all in your prayers this week for safety at camp, calm nerves, and CLEAN SCANS!

Connie

Monday, June 20, 2005 6:25 PM EST
Wow! What a week. I just got back from Camp Sunshine on Saturday. That was amazing. My favorite activity was newspaper. We made a newspaper and delivered it at night when we lowered the flag. Other than that I did computers, kayaking, waterbikes, paddleboats, pool, archery, arts and crafts, tie-dye, and sports. I loved the whole week! On Sunday we got there and basically set the rest of the week up (example: signing teen contracts, signing up for evening activates, met our cabin, etc.) My evening activity was Improv/Comedy. It was basically an activity where we played games like the shows on Whose Line is it anyway. On Wednesday we did a show, and it rocked!!! Monday, I got up bright and early 645am, to get my labs drawn. Come to find out they couldn’t do them until after breakfast (8am). So it started a little rough. Then I did 4 activities and Improv that night. After Improv we had a pool party/trivia contest. I went to trivia to test my luck. After the first round we were up by 30 points to the 2nd place team. After a horrible second round on our part the last question would decide it all. The question was who is the only athlete to win both the super bowl and the World Series. The first thing I remembered was "Deion Sanders once played in a football game then jumped on a helicopter and flew to the World Series." I was about 90 percent sure, until I remember that the World Series is in October and the super bowl was in jan/feb. Plus I knew deion had a ring with the Dallas cowboys but the only team I could remember deion playing for that had a chance at the world series during his time was the Atlanta Braves. And Marquis Grissom was their starting CF in 1995 when they won. So I remembered Bo Jackson and how the Raiders and Royals were both big in the 80's. So wouldn't you know it, I put Bo Jackson. Let's just say We won by 2 Points. So on Tuesday, we had concert by Banks and Shane. That was cool. But the story of the night was how Vinnie and Kelly got engaged. Vinnie went with me on my make-a-wish and after 6 years of dating Kelly proposed to her. FINALLY! Congrats Vinnie (and Kelly)! Wends. We had a movie on the grass. We watched Princess Bride, and then enjoyed fireworks after. Thursday the Georgia Bulldogs came and we got to hang out with them. Let’s just say the Running Backs from UGA bet on everything. We were playing putt-putt and they were betting on who got to eat first and who got to drive and triple or nothing. It was quite funny watching them. Then that night we had a luau. That was fun. The hula girls looked like they were 30 and when they said there name and age at the end, I am sure the whole crowd went "WHAT" all at once. Seriously this "17 year old" looked older than my mom, and that’s saying something. I think we were all wondering what they were eating in Hawaii or where ever they were from. Or some of the kids slipped them there steroids, or something. Then Friday TJ Duckett from the Falcons came. That was cool. Then Friday we had the dance that was fun. Saturday we left and said our goodbyes. Mom picked me up down by Egelston. This leads me to Sunday.
Sunday was really fun. It was Father's Day. We had grilled Vidalia onions and steak. We ate at about 4. Around 630 I noticed that my feeding tube was leaking alot. So I lifted up my shirt and it was gushing. There was a hole in it. It smelled bad to since I had just had onions. Luckily we found my clamps to clamp it off and we were off to the Egelston Emergency Room. After an hour there we decided to just come back on Monday. So I slept with the clamps on last night and left at 1pm to head to the GI lab at egelseton. When we got there we didn’t think we could just snip it at the hole and put another feeding tube in. Well that’s what they did but it’s very temporary. We go back thurs. To get a doctor to put another one in. Then also this week we are getting our military ID's so we can go to Alaska. That’s how my week went.

PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK! I DO READ IT!

Tyler Copley

Saturday, June 11, 2005 7:47 AM CDT
Good morning everyone!

We are finally back home from our whirlwind tour of Washington DC and Ohio. It was a wonderful trip full of activities and excitement! Boy are we glad to be back in our own comfy beds though!

We arrivied at our resort in Alexandria on Sunday, May 29th, and stayed for a week to explore the DC area. We went to a parade on Memorial Day (first one there in sixty years), saw all the memorials on the mall, Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, several Smithsonian museums, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (where they make all the paper money), the National Archives, and old town Alexandria. We could have been there a month and not done everything there is to offer! I am so thankful that we were able to do this with the kids now. They were all interested in the things we did and could really appreciate the history of it all. Here are a few interesting things that they learned:
The metro is easy enough for a nine year old to figure out!
There are still WWI vets alive! (There was one in the parade and he looked pretty good too!)
Joe Louis is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
George Washington's farm was huge and he experimented with many plants.
There are LOTS of steps to climb at the Lincoln Memorial.
It's not a good idea to tour Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, and see the mall with all the memorials all in one day!!!
We saw our lifetime salary printed right in front of us in just a few minutes!

We also got to visit with the Kush family, friends and squadron mates from Phoenix. We had a great time relaxing and catching up with each other. We were also able to catch up with Ed Pernotto and tour his 'museum'. The kids learned a lot about Navy SEALS and GI Joes! Thanks guys for your hospitality!

All of the kids were real troopers this whole trip with all of the walking involved. Tyler had good energy most days; he was able to sit in the spa each night after our long days touring.

Once our week was over in DC, we headed to Ohio to see family and friends for a few days. It is always wonderful to go home and just relax. Even though we were only there a few days we managed to fit in an adult night out with friends, a bit of shopping, and a trip to the pool.

Tomorrow Tyler goes to Camp Sunshine for the week. He has had a couple of days to recover from our trip, so he should be full of energy for his week there with all of his friends. I know that he has been looking forward to this week for a long time! Perhaps we'll get to see a few of our friends from the clinic at the Camp house at drop off time!

Don't forget to check out the new pictures of our trip!

Love to all,

Connie

Saturday, May 28, 2005 7:36 PM CDT
We are on our way to Washington DC. We will be back June 9th. Tyler leaves for Camp Sunshine on the 12th.

Happy Memorial Day!

Sunday, May 22, 2005 2:26 PM CDT
Friday was the last day of school, so we started off the summer in grand style by going to a Styx concert Friday night. Sara went to a friend's house for after school festivities and the rest of us headed to Peachtree City, had dinner, and rode in the Simmonds' golf cart to the concert. Thanks guys! It was a great time!

This week will be semi laid back since there isn't any school, but we have lots to get ready for. Sara has her dance recital Thursday night, and then we will be heading to Washington DC for the week. We are all very excited to be getting away from town and going somewhere we (as a family) have never been. After that, we'll drive to Ohio for a few days before returning home. To our friends in Ohio, this will be a whirlwind tour (three days) this time around, so if you can swing a trip out to our parent's houses, we'd love to see you!

Tyler is STILL feeling good and his counts are STILL stable. Praise the Lord for that, and thank you, thank you for your faithful prayers on his behalf. His next scan (lungs only) is scheduled for June 28. By then he will have had three full rounds of the VP-16. Please continue to pray that this drug is effective at shrinking the tumors!

Please also remember to pray for our friends battling cancer too:
Will- for clear scans tomorrow.
Leigh- for high counts so she can finish treatment!
Rachel- for improved scans, improved walking, and ability to tolerate chemo.
Dakota- for healing to be able to return home from Jerusalem.
Martin- continued improvement with his chemo.
And of course for complete and lasting healing for every one of these kids. There are many, many more too!

Have a great week everyone!

Connie

Sunday, May 15, 2005 7:26 PM CDT
There's only one more week of school left! I bet nobody is more happy than the teachers! :-)

Tyler continues to feel well, and his appointment went well on Friday. We were out of there pretty quickly and made it home before the traffic got bad. It is always good to see the all the wonderful people at Scottish Rite. They are the best! We got to see our friends Tina and Caroline Redd in for their monthly checkup too. Anyway, there's no real new news on Tyler. His counts remain stable, his weight is stable, and he just keeps plugging along. The waking up in the middle of the night is still there too for the most part. Ugh!! Tyler told me I wasn't very nice last night! I just say what he tells me, "I don't remember that!"

We made it to Relay just in time for the survivor's lap, and stayed for the evening to enjoy the festivities. It was wonderful to see so many of our friends throughout the community- school, church, the barber shop (Here's a plug for Big Shanty Barber Shop in Kennesaw- they are fantastic!) and other families we have met who have to deal with childhood cancer too. Thanks to Janice Robinson we had t-shirts to wear that showed our support for Tyler! We love them!

This week proves to be a busy one with appointments and school parties, and a Styx concert on Friday! Should be a fun week overall!

Love to all,
Connie

Monday, May 9, 2005 10:33 AM CDT
UPDATE WEDNESDAY MAY 11

Tyler has been waking up every night (like 12-1am Ugh!!) with stomach cramps which is really throwing a wrench in his and my sleeping patterns. Please pray that this subsides and he begins to get the sleep he needs to feel better. I'm wondering if this is caused by the different way his medication has been prepared this time- hopefully it is just the way he has been eating so late at night! Otherwise, he is looking good and his counts are good too! We'll see how they are on Friday. Hope to see some of you at Relay for Life at Jim Miller Park on Friday night!
Connie

It's another beautiful day here in Georgia and I will be going outside soon after I finish this update! We have had a fairly uneventful week and are looking forward to another one like it! Tyler and Todd ended up at another Braves game Thursday night with some friends that had extra tickets. They had a great time. Tyler still has good energy and felt good all week! Mother's day here was nice and relaxing! After a great dinner at Joe's Crab Shack we headed off to a few stores to browse. We ended up at Dick's and of course all the kids wanted to climb the wall so we got them all signed up. Tyler started first and amazingly shimmied right up to the top to push the button for the victory noise! I couldn't believe that he got to the top so fast! Sara and Kirk followed and both got to the top pretty quickly also. I am so glad that my kids enjoy doing this kind of stuff and aren't afraid to try the harder routes sometimes.

The only downer now is that Tyler isn't feeling very well this morning and didn't go to school. It is probably a comination of a few things. First, His Kytril (anti-nausea) didn't come in at the pharmacy so he didn't get it with his chemo last night. Also, yesterday as he was being lowered from the wall at Dick's, he fell backward right as his feet hit the ground and hit his head on the floor. It is a very cushioned floor but it still hurt! So, after a little more sleep time and a dose of Kytril (due in within the hour) he should be good to go. He still tries to go to Student Venture on Monday nights and there are only a couple meetings left, so I am sure that he will try hard to make it there!

Tyler has an appointment to see Dr. George this Friday at 2pm. No scans will be scheduled for another month or so though. He will just have labs and a quick physical. I imagine we will be done just in time to be stuck in Friday afternoon rush hour! Yuck!!!! We'll just have to take a movie along ('cause Tyler is tired of hearing me sing! ha ha) Hope everyone has a wonderful week. Take some time to go outside and enjoy the sunshine!

Love to all,

Connie

Sunday, May 1, 2005 12:17 AM CDT
Happy Sunday to everyone! We are thankful for the beautiful sunshine today here in Georgia and hope to get out and enjoy it. Todd and Tyler braved the yucky weather last night and went to the Braves game. They had seats just under the cover so they didn't get wet! Todd said that it was one of the better games he has seen in a long time- good plays, homeruns, and players getting thrown out...lots of action.
Tyler will start his oral chemo tonight for 21 nights. We are hoping that he does as well as he did with the last round. And, we are praying that it will actually shrink the spots of cancer in his lungs down to NOTHING! He rarely complains of pain and seem to have good energy. I might have that kind of energy too if I got to sleep 11 hours a night!
Well, only three more weeks of school are left and I can't wait! I am ready to have all three of the kids home and ready to enjoy the summertime traveling and hanging out at the pool. Did I just actually say that?! All three of the kids home- all day long- with nothing to do?! I don't know what's become of me- I just got Tyler back to school two weeks ago! Let's see here- counting your blessings and being thankful in EVERYTHING here seems to be the lesson. Hope y'all learn that along with us. Anyway, here's to another week to enjoy the life that God has given us.

Love to all,

Connie
p.s. Remember this entry date when the middle of June comes and I am wondering if I am going to survive the summer with kids everywhere and dirty, wet bathing suits lying all over the place!

Thursday, April 28, 2005 7:08 AM CDT
The last few days have been pretty busy around here! Tyler continues to feel good and have plenty of energy. We are thankful for that and pray that his health will continue to improve. This is his week off from the VP-16 and we are glad for that. His counts remain great! He and a friend went to see Fever Pitch this weekend and had a good time. I think he has a bit of a cold but his body seems to be handling it well. Keep those prayers going for him!
We got the weekend started off right by shopping for more flowers and getting them in the ground before the cold snap that we had on Saturday night! Sunday the Andersons came up from Warner Robins (Air Force friends we spent a few assignments with), and we had a great time visiting. Thanks guys for making the trip up to Atlanta before y'all move out west! Then my mom and dad got in later in the evening on their way back to cold and snowy Ohio! It is always nice to have them here; mom cooks and dad looks for 'jobs' to do. Thanks for your help!
Monday we went to the troop court of honor (Kirk's boy scout troop). I'm sure it was Todd's idea to have it outdoors and to have a BIG fire for the ceremony. It was great- except the sun went down, the wind picked up, and then it got pretty cold. Now he said it was MY idea to have such a big fire. I'm sure y'all know by now that Todd's the pyro- not me!

Tuesday was Sara's 9th birthday! So hard to believe! After school a few girls came over and shared cake. Then we went to a paint your own pottery place and had a great time. After dinner we were off to find a new bike that she liked (found it at the first store- yea!) and then headed home to relax. Things have slowed down for the week so I can finally catch up on a few things I've been putting off.

Thank you for reaching out and praying for our friends. Although there are many heartaches that we see on this road there are many praises too. Little Rachel in Minnesota has improved greatly- you can check on her site- like Tyler's except that it is ...mn/rachelhansen. Leigh's scans show NO cancer for the first time since diagnosis! Will is getting stronger every day! Martin continues to have good days! Dakota is getting stronger and is out of the hospital in Jerusalem! We thank God for his work in our lives and for the encouragement of these good news.

Love,
Connie

Wednesday, April 20, 2005 7:45 AM CDT
Just a quick update to let you all know that Tyler's appointment went well yesterday. Tyler's counts are excellent and he has gained SIX POUNDS since his last visit in March! Praise God for a good appetite! Although I'm not always happy with what Tyler eats, at least he is eating and enjoying it. Tyler will have scans done sometime in June after a second round of the VP-16 to see how it is working.
We are so happy to be out enjoying the beautiful spring weather. I believe a little flower shopping is in order for the week!

Please continue to pray for little Rachel Hansen in Minnesota. She is on a ventilator and is still fighting hard! Pray also for her parents Jodi and Mark to be granted wisdom, grace, and peace with their decisions about Rachel's care.

Blessings to all,
Connie

Sunday, April 17, 2005 8:23 PM CDT
UPDATE: 4/18/05 3PM

Please join us NOW and pray for a little girl named Rachel Hansen who lives in Minnesota. She too has relapsed Ewing Sarcoma and is in great need of prayer for her, her parents and her brothers. Her caring bridge site is like Tyler's only /mn/rachelhansen. Please pray for God to grant wisdom and mercy to each of them and perhaps leave a note of encouragement and love!
Connie

I just realized that it has been a week since I updated! What can I say? Quiet? Boring? Normal? Well... never really any of those, but it has been quite nice and as quiet, normal, and boring as we get here. It's been one of those weeks when it has been easy to give thanks in everything and easy to say that God is good, all the time. We have had so many days when it is not so easy, though we continue to do it anyway.

The week went smoothly as we did all the normal things we do (the kids do, we drive!)- scouts, gymnastics, dance, youth groups, sleepovers, movies, etc... I could get used to that! Kirk and Sara have their CRCT testing this week and it has been a real 'test' for me to get them in bed early! It just hasn't happened yet!

Tyler started back to school and made it through the whole week. He came home a bit early on Friday feeling a little out of sorts but was ok. Thank you everyone for encouraging and supporting him in this. He has continued to go to Student Venture on Monday nights (a HHS christian youth group) over the past several months and I am so thankful that he has the group to be a part.

Tyler has an appointment Tuesday morning for blood work, a visit with Dr. George, and to get his port flushed. I can't believe that it has been over a month since he had it accessed! Seeing all the energy that he has had over the past few days, I am certain that his counts are decent. So we should be back in time for him to get a bit of school in.

Please remember our friends that are fighting this battle too there are so many!

Connie

Monday, April 11, 2005 1:45 pm
What a great time we all had in Florida with the Lighthouse Family Retreat! We met lots of new wonderful families and also met up with a few families that we already know. It was an experience that left us all relaxed and renewed. Every day we had special activities lined up- beach olympics, a luau, a beach party, parent's night out, and a talent show on the last night. It was so much fun watching each child shine on the stage! And if you can believe this- for all of you who know Kirk and his discomfort being in front of people- he got up all by himself and sang a song! Not just any song- Back in Black (by AC/DC...duh!) I think we have a rocker on our hands! The whole week was amazing. The people, Melinda, Robin, and all of the family volunteers who were there to minister to each of our families are such caring and compassionate people. We love them all. I'm ready to go back anytime!

Sunday, April 3rd, we drove to Montgomery, AL and visited with some Air Force friends Mark and Angela Polomsky and their three girls. Sara had a ball with them. Thank you Mark and Angela for the fabulous ribs! We stayed at Maxwell AFB for the night and then headed to the beach the next morning.

Tyler started his etopiside (Chemo in pill form) Sunday night and seems to be doing ok with it so far. I make sure he gets his Kytril (antinausea) every 12 hours too though! He had his labs done today by the home health nurse and will see Dr. George next week. As always we pray that tumors will shrink and side effects will be minimal. Tyler started back to school on a part time basis today. He will go for two classes in the afternoon and will be there for lunch. Great social time for him. Please send up prayers for healthy kids at school and that his spirit will be lifted by an enjoyable school experience. I'll have Tyler post new pictures in the next few days!

Love,

Connie

Monday, March 28, 2005 7:24 PM CST
I was planning on updating yesterday but we so enjoyed doing absolutely nothing after church that I just never got the will to go to the computer to type.
I love this time of the year. Saturday was just so beautiful- I could hardly wait to get out in the yard and enjoy the warm sun (after an early morning shopping trip)! Todd had great plans for me when I got home- spreading 50 bails of pinestraw throughout the yard! Oh to relax outside....NOT! But it had to be done and is felt good to be able to get back out in the yard and get my hands in the dirt. Good therapy! We decided to quit while we were ahead and leave the bathing of the dogs for another day. Easter morning at church proved to be just what I needed- uplifted, renewed, and reminded that my hope only lies in our savior Jesus. The events of the past few days along with the anxiety and worry had certainly worn me down.

I will start with what most of you are wondering- Tyler's lungs continue to look better on the scans and we praise God for that blessing in his life. Since January Tyler has had four rounds of chemotherapy consisting of cytoxan and topotecan. It has continued to make a difference in the masses in Tyler's lungs and I guess other spots that have been questionable. These two drugs and the dosages don't always make one too sick- but they have really worn out Tyler's sensitive stomach. He has said all along that he does not want to live feeling so sick all the time. Who would? So we (Tyler, Todd, and myself) have made the decision along with Dr. George to switch to an oral type of chemotherapy, VP-16, that he will take for 21 days then off for 7 to give his marrow a rest. This very infrequently makes people sick because it is a small dose. Just like the cytoxan/topotecan, this drug is not a cure. It is meant to slow progression and thus, help with pain that some of the masses will cause. Many of you know that Tyler's prognosis is quite dim. Even with the prospects of a stem cell transplant the odds are quite unfavorable and the risks are big. Tyler has thought much about how he wants to LIVE. And that does not include being so sick that he is only existing to extend his life here on earth. We have talked at length about this and have come to be at peace with his wishes. This does not by any means that we have 'given up' hope for him. Our hope has never been or ever will be in the things of this earth because our hope is in Jesus. We will continue look to Him for guidance in Tyler's care, and we will continue to look for options and pray about what is best for Tyler. We are so grateful for each and every prayer that has been lifted up for Tyler and ask you that you continue those prayers. God is certainly at work all of us. I sent a note to a friend last week and thought I would also share it's verse here.

When you are the neediest,
He is the most sufficient.
When you are completely helpless,
He is most helpful.
When you feel totally dependent,
He is absolutely dependable.
When you are the weakest,
He is the most able.
When you are the most alone,
He is intimately present.
When you feel you are the least,
He is the greatest.
When you feel the most useless,
He is preparing you.
When it is the darkest,
He is the only Light you need.
When you feel the least secure,
He is your Rock and Fortress.
When you are the most humble,
He is most gracious.

Blessings to all,
Connie

Wednesday, March 23, 2005 7:32 AM CST
After a rotten week of feeling bad Tyler has seemed to bounce back with some decent energy yesterday. His counts are down a bit but not terrible (yet). Hoping they won't fall any lower so that we won't have to make a trip to the clinic for blood or platelets.

Good Friday is going to be a doozy of a day! Tyler's CT of the lungs is scheduled for 11am- then a follow up appt. with Dr. George afterwards. Then it's off to the second floor to see orthopedics with Kirk at 1:30pm. Hopefully we will have a bit of time to stroll the mall before checking in to MRI at 5:30 for a look at Tyler's knee. Somehow we always get Friday appointments for scans which means that we will be waiting through the weekend for results. I hate that! I guess we won't be making it back in time for Good Friday services either!

Thank you, thank you to David and Rebecca McCoy who brought us a wonderful meal last night! David deserves double kudos for grilling the chicken out in the terrible rain/storms we had yesterday! We loved it, and we really enjoyed the visit! Thanks to Nathan and Earl for spending some time Tyler. It really broke up the monotony of just sitting around the house with us!

Please continue to pray for Tyler (no infections, good counts, no Nausea/vomiting, comfort and peace) and his friends who continue to fight the battles of cancer- there are so many- you can't even imagine!

Friday, March 18, 2005 5:08 PM CST
It's been a tough week. Tyler had chemo and has been vomiting off and on all week. We saw Dr. George today, and Tyler will have scans next week sometime. Unfortunately Tyler isn't feeling well enough to go to the St. Baldrick's Parade tomorrow, so we will be hangin' out at home. We'll post the time of the scans when we find out.

Love to all,
Connie

Friday, March 11, 2005 5:59 PM CST
I have talked with Todd and Tyler just about every day, and they are having a great time. They have seen three games; Wednesday's game was rained out. Today after seeing the Braves/Astros at the Disney Sports Complex they were hustling back to my mom and dad's house in Titusville to see an Atlas rocket launch this evening. Pretty cool. I was so excited to have some time to myself and have made the most of it, but I certainly do miss them and can't wait for them to come home.

We were invited a few weeks ago to ride in the St. Baldrick's Parade here in Atlanta. St. Baldrick's is an organization that supports childhood cancer research by teams raising money and then shaving their heads for the cause. I just recently found out that the AFLAC Cancer Center where Tyler is treated has a team. They are currently raising funds and a few have signed on to have their heads shaved! This supports pediatric cancer research with the money raised going to The National Childhood Cancer Foundation. Please go to St Baldrick's website at www.stbaldricks.org and donate to the AFLAC Cancer Center team here in Atlanta! They are the absolute best!!! This is all happening next weekend, so please pray that Tyler's side effects from chemo next week are minimal and he can really enjoy the festivities!

Blessings,
Connie

Monday, March 7, 2005 12:39 AM CST
Tyler had a good time at camp this weekend, but was exhausted when he got home. He went straight to bed and rested until early evening. Then he decided that he needed to get new shoes for Florida because the old ones hurt his feet all weekend! So it was off to the store while we waited for Kirk to finish his confirmation class at church.
This morning we arrived at the clinic to check his counts. They were borderline- hemeglobin 9.1 and platelets 34000. Tyler decided that he felt fine and had no time or need for topping off his tank so... we headed off to meet Todd so they could get on the road to Florida! (I'll just insert here that I think he should have stuck around for at least 1 unit of blood since he complained about headaches all weekend and has bruises up and down his legs! But, what do I know? I'm only the MOM! And how often do teenagers really listen to their moms?!) Oh, excuse me, was I beginning to rant and rave? I wouldn't know because there is NOBODY here in the house with me to tell me if I am or not!!! Woohooo! They should arrive at mom and dad's by early evening. Perhaps Tyler will update on his adventures from Florida via dad's computer.

Well It's time for the 'big yella' to drop off Sara here in a minute so I better get moving! Mondays are sooo busy here!

Connie

Saturday, March 5, 2005 10:14 AM CST
Tyler's count's were 'good enough' on Thursday so we didn't spend the day at the clinic before I took him to the Camp house downtown at 5pm. He does have a continuous headache though so we are hoping that this doesn't totally ruin his time at Camp Sunshine this weekend. He wouldn't miss it for anything anyway. It is the best thing in the world for him and the other kids. Hopefully he will come home 'renewed' and with an uplifted spirit. I'm sure that he will be exhausted, so a day of rest on Sunday will be a good thing.

I am going to take him to the clinic Mon. am for his bloodwork in case he needs trasfusion before his big trip with Todd to Florida. They plan on leaving as soon as he's done there. I'm kind of hoping that they give him some just so he'll feel good for the trip, and Todd won't have to worry about finding a hospital to take him to if he starts feeling bad.

So, for the weekend we are just hanging out with Kirk and Sara and their friends running around the neighborhood! (Except Todd had to go to Drill today!)

Connie

Wednsday, March 2, 2005 4:21 PM EST
Hey everyone. Its Tyler.

Well this week i have been pretty tired and inactive. I haven't gotten out much, but I am watching my new TV. On Sunday we got the cable/tv stand/tv where it needed to be so that the television would be completely visible from my bed. So now instead of laying on our couch and watching a 20 year old 20" which works perfect i am watching a 30 inch widescreen Tv in my bed. The couch was okay but when you feel sick and tired the bed is a lot more comfy. Monday, was not a good day for my stomach. I could not stop throwing up and going to the bathroom. I think it might be from either my pain medicine lortab or maybe its just my lack of food. But whatever it is it hurts. Me and mom got out to the library/kroger/pharmacy in Brookstone (which is the country club around here...big community also) i threw up in the library but mom was getting her hair done across the street so i just sucked it up and waited for her to come. then we went to eckard. only to find out (actually we knew but forgot) that eckard was closed for lunch break @ 230pm...So we went home. I layed down on my bed and played my new games. Today I woke up to my mom telling me it snowed...even though i am not in school i took it like any other teen would take it..."More sleep time" i woke up at about 11 or so..i started to look around and i asked mom where kirk and sara were. she said they went to school. I was confused because we had snow...even though by the time i got up the only traces of it was on trees and roofs. You have to understand Metro Atlanta schools to know what i talking about. They will cancel school when there is a chance of snow. Half the time it doesnt snow. Well it snowed and there was school...that isnt right...well anyway we went to the chiropractor long over due...i hadnt seen her since the 1st or so of feb. so a whole month..and i am used to going 2-3 times a week...i hadnt been there in so long becuase of chemo...then colorado,then my port surgery, followed by more chemo...Then we went to blockbuster and i got a movie pass...for 10 bucks i can get any movie i want to for a month. Most people with these take there time with the movies. not me i get 30 days and i will see 30 plus movies HAHA blockbuster def. isnt making money of me...plus with the new no late policy i get to keep my last movie for an extra week if i want which will be good since we are probably going to destin for the lighthouse retreat for spring break. On friday i am going to the Teen Retreat out in Rutledge GA with camp sunshine. That will hopefully be fun. Then i get home sunday and me and my dad are going to Florida for spring traing baseball. We will go to 5-6 games in 7 days then maybe pick up my grandma and bring her back with us the Atlanta. If anybody wants to hang out after the 19th they can i would love it...

Sign the guestbook please (i read them all),

Tyler

Sunday, February 27, 2005 3:25 PM CST
It's been a rainy cold day here in Georgia. Todd managed to get out for church, and I almost got there- Tyler and Kirk were feeling under the weather this am, so we all stayed home to rest and recuperate for the week ahead. Tyler has been better this weekend thanks to Erika calling in a Kytril prescription on Friday. The zofran just wasn't cutting it on keeping the nausea and vomiting away. He has managed to keep some food down and drink some too. I'm sure he is sick of hearing me tell him to get a glass of water and drink it! His counts are on the way down, so we will be praying for them to not fall too low so that he has to go in for transfusions this week.

Todd and our neighbor Bill are running the cable to Tyler's room as I type, so Tyler will be hangin' out a lot now in his room I guess- especially with two new PS2 games to occupy his time. Anyone who wants to come over for a match up in MVP baseball 2005 or NBA Street 3 is welcome to stop by- as long as you're healthy!

Connie

Wednesday, February 23, 2005 5:47 PM CST
I tried updating yesterday evening but our computer kept giving me fits! So here we go again. Tyler is getting his chemo this week Mon- Thurs. and seems to be doing ok so far. He has had a few puky moments but all in all seems good. On our way out today he was 'squeaking', and I kept saying that he was just fooling me with his sprite can. But as it turns out, the needle in his port was actually scratching against the back metal part of the port when he was walking and moving around! It sounds terrible! Just like nails on a chalkboard! Thank goodness he will be de-accessed tomorrow after his chemo.

Monday night some kids were over to visit from school (kids on 'the wall' which is the student council) along with Mrs Andrews. They brought him a cookie cake and visited for a while. It was great! Thank you all for stopping by. It really does mean so much to Tyler to have other kids to hang out with. So you all are welcome to come by anytime- that goes for others too- just call ahead to see if we're home! Then last night Gene showed up again! Only this time he had brought a 30" television that the student council bought for Tyler with donations they raised at school over the past few weeks!!! What a thrill for Tyler! He was so excited last night as he worked to get his PS2 hooked up and playing! Harrison HS has some pretty amazing young adults to take the time and effort to do something so wonderful for another student. Thank you so much for your care and compassion. We put the tv in his room so that when he is not feeling well he can ly in his bed where he is most comfortable and have something to do.

We wouldn't be making it through the weeks without our wonderful friends who always pick up the slack at a moments notice to help. Thank you Marybeth for taking Sara when she had a fever and for getting her off the bus so many days! (And for letting her 'live' with you so much on the weekends!) Thanks you Sherry for Picking Kirk up from school early and for being our most favorite day surgery nurse ever! Our wonderful friends in our Sunday school class have been bringing us dinners for a long time! They are so yummy! It is a blessing to have something hot to eat for all of us when we get home from clinic. Thank you Sandy for organizing this ministry for our family. Many thanks go to our friends in Todd's squadron for the flexibility they allow Todd to have in his duties. I have never been more proud of being associated with such a group. I know Todd is so blessed to have such good friends to support him there. And of course thank you all who read this site, pray for us and for Tyler's healing, and leave messages of encouragement. God certainly has his hand on us for His glory.

Blessings,
Connie

Friday, February 18, 2005 8:20 PM CST
Tyler did great today! We arrived on time, had some counts done to ensure that his bloody nose this am wasn't from low platelets (counts are great), and went back to surgery early. Dr. Bussey (surgeon) and Dr. Davis (anethesia) were so wonderful! Tyler said that today was the easiest surgery he thinks he ever had! No thumping head while going to sleep and no puking while waking up! We were home by 2pm and Tyler was eating all afternoon. He is having a bit of pain this evening but managed to go out with Todd to see Todd's buddy Bobby before he leaves for Wisconsin for good! :-( Hopefully he will not be as sore in the next few days and will be feeling ok by Monday when he goes to clinic for a 4 day chemo treatment. For now we will be relaxing all weekend. Todd did tell me that he is waiting on me to get my tax stuff together though! Arghhh!! I am really looking forward to sleeping in!

Connie

Thursday, February 17, 2005 4:31 PM CST
Tyler has been feeling pretty good for the past few days, except for his line hurting occassionally. Here's the plan for now. Check in to day surgery at 8:30 am for Dr. Bussey to remove the central line and replace it with a port (this is central line access but is under the skin- nothing hangs out). Tyler is happy that after this he will be able to get a shower, not just a bath, and go swimming. Then on Monday he will start his third round of chemo; Erika said that they could do it in 4 days rather than 5, so we will be done for the week on Thursday. One less day to drive in town and sit for 5 hours is fine with me!! Please pray for successful and easy removal of the CVL and placement of the port, for no side effects from anesthesia (Tyler tends to puke a lot!) and for fast relief of pain with the procedure. Please also continue to pray for our friends that facing their own battles, Will, Blake, Ethan, Leigh, Martin, and for the families of Carter Martin and Stephanie Phillips. Though we know that God is carrying them through these sad times, it is so difficult to learn how live in this world without their children.

Connie

Monday, February 14, 2005 10:01 PM EST
Update 2/15/05 715pm EST

Hey everyone. Scratch the chemo plans. We went into the clinic today and began the routine when it came to get blood they couldnt get any. The Doctor came and looked at me and i told him my central line had been hurting for at least 2 weeks. He ordered a chest x-ray with dye to see if it was postioned right. Well there is a crack in the central line part underneathe my skin between my collarbone and my top rib. No wonder it hurt so back when they put stuff thru it. So i can't have chemo until I get it fixed which will hopefully be Friday. I will probably get it removed and then get a port put in. That's the plan for now!

Hey Everyone!

Friday and Saturday were awesome. Saturday we went skiing. The first time i wiped out about 10 times on the first hill but that was because we had to go help Kirk and he was on a hard slope. After that I didnt fall anymore times except for when a lady cut me off when i was going up a hill and my skis got caught in the snow and i thought i had broken my knee caps and both pelvis'. I wanted to tell the lady what she did but then after a few minutes I realized that somebody had cut her off starting a chain reaction. She helped me until mom got there. After the skiing we went back to the hotel. Lucky for us there just happened to be a guy in the town we were in that hit a major power line and knocked out power for the whole county. First thing we did was go to the grocery store across the street to get food and flashlights. At first the reports were that it would be 24 hours. As soon as we got back to the hotel the power came back on. A whole 70 min. which is a long time in cold colorado with no heat...So saturday we went to this snowmobiling place. Thanks to my dad's best friends Bill lush, Erick Logan and Chris Hartman we went and had a great time. I got to ride with the tour guide since i wasnt quite old enough to drive on trails. That was crazy. After that we went to this huge field and i drove the snowmobile. So after that we went tubing. It was fun but i was miserable there. Saturday night we went to my cousins house. We hung out and played Sims2 a reality computer game. Then Sunday we went to go see Hitch. The movie iss great. go see it if ya got a chance. I loved the flights. I just love flying.

This next week 15th-18th i have chemo. YUCK!

Tyler

Thursday, February 10, 2005 5:32 PM MST
Hey Its Tyler...i had a wonderful birthday. Went to the Air Force Academy. I like the school campus alot...4000 Cadets: 18,000 acres. Its amazing, Right in the mtns. So during the tour we saw the famous Air Force Chapel/Synagouge/Mosque...we saw them march to lunch and also saw alot of the acreage...i went to the gift shop and talk to this nice guy. His name was George Melendez for any of you Air Force grads. He claims that the is the Mouth Of the Campus. He said he is 61 and even though he is retired now...the airf force academy lets him live on the property...even though he was a civilain. This guy is amazing. He says he is pretty much waited on hand and foot by the cadets and people respect him as if he was the boss on campus. He sits in the library/vistors center half the day then walks around campus and does stuff with cadets. I am thinkin if i get another wish that i might be a Cadet for a day and maybe fly with someone. That would be cool. So then we walked around some more then went to Wal*Mart and Best Buy. I was lookin for TV's to get for when i get home. I think i am gonna get a 30 inch widescreen Philips tv/dvd/vhs/hdtv type. then i am gonna use my super bowl money winnings and the yensers gift to get a big thing to hold it up. my dresser would do i guess. And i am going skiing tommorrow (11th/12th) for my bday then off to my cousins. Thanks to Logan,Bill, and Hartman (Grandpa haha)for buying me a day on the snowmobile!!! i will get to go by myself since i am 16!!!I went by myself when i was just 13 exactly 2 years ago!!! I also got some cool Air Force stuff. Talk to you guys later!!!By the way that was the exact time 16 years ago i was born!!!

Tyler Copley

Tuesday, February 8, 2005 8:43 AM CST
We had a long day at the clinic yesterday- arriving at 9am and leaving at 6:15pm. Whew! Tyler had a CT of his lungs, x rays of his knees, and 2 units of blood and a unit of platelets! We were joined by Ali and Kay Jackson the last half of the day though so that made is much more fun! It was Ali’s last day of Pentamidine!! I believe she has a few more days of pills, but this is like the last day of clinic ‘treatment’! Hooray for Ali!!! We are so proud of you!

Tyler was full of energy most of the day, greeting others and entertaining us with his wit and silliness- always full of life even when he has very little blood! He had some ‘get the bucket!’ time though soon after the platelets started. So they stopped them for a bit for a zofran break; that did help some. We also noticed a welt on his arm, similar to the one he had the last two times he received contrast with the CT. Darn!! I guess his body has decided that it has had enough of that stuff and doesn’t like it anymore! Tyler never did! So from now on he will have to take benadryl before any contrast, something he hates due to the ‘woozy’ feeling it gives him.

Tyler did try to get to Student Venture but was soon calling home for us to come get him. It is really no fun to be at someone else’s house and start in with the nausea and vomiting. I gotta give him credit for trying to make it though. He always tries so hard to do the things he really loves; it’s very frustrating to not be able to get out and feel good doing those things.

The really important news of the day is the results of his x rays and scans. Dr. George came back to give us the news that there is nothing that they can see going on with Tyler’s knee. Hooray!! AND his scans of his lungs look better!!! Thank you all for your faithful prayers for Tyler and Thank God for the answers to those prayers. So now Tyler is ready to go romp in the snow without the worry of masses growing where they should not be growing.

Our very sad news of the day is that Tyler’s friend Stephanie Phillips passed away this morning around 6 am. He loves her so much; she has been such an inspiration and good friend to him. We will all miss her but through our sadness know that she is dancing and playing ball with our Father and all of those that are there to greet her with love. She is free from this thing we call cancer and all of the pain and suffering that comes with it.

There are so many highs and lows, and they can all come at the same time like today. Only through faith in our Lord, knowing that He is in control, and through the support of our friends and family can we survive this journey.

Connie

Saturday, February 5, 2005 8:11 AM CST
UPDATE SAT. 7:30PM

My concern got the best of me and so I talked to the doc today about Tyler's swollen knee- which has gone down considerably but still hurts. They will add on a CT of his right knee area this Monday when we are there for his lung scans. Until then, we are doing the lortab/motrin combo as needed and ice and a good Nikken wrap to keep things in check. So, Tyler went off to dinner and the dance at the Camp house for a great evening! Things seem strangely quiet around here!!! :-)

Counts were low SO OFF WE GO! (TO THE CLINIC Friday)
Tyler felt better so he went to a b-ball game Thurs. (small crowd) and then to HHS last night for Harrisons last game. He feels better now that he has some red blood cells to provide oxygen!! We're excited about the trip coming up and getting ready for it. We may have a glich here though as Tyler came home from the game last night complaining that his knee was hurting really bad. It is a bit swollen and required Lortab AND Motrin before bed to get comfortable. He has complained about it some but thinks he may have twisted it earlier in the evening bringing on more pain. The question is- since it is Saturday am and the clinic is closed- do we wait for Mon am when we go in for a CT to talk to Dr. George about it, or do we call the doc on call now to see if there is something going on there?! Well, I think I will wait to see how he feels when he gets up and if it is still swollen. This could be a major kink in the plan to go to the mountains to ski, sled, or ice skate for his birthday! Please pray about this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He WILL be at the Camp Sunshine Dance tonight though!
Gotta go- I am thrilled that I got this far without the computer erasing my whole message for a third time!!!!

Love to all,
Connie

Tuesday, February 1, 2005 5:40 AM CST
Tyler was right- no need for a trip to the clinic for a transfusion yet. Yea!! We will check again Thursday. He is also going to see the Dr. on Monday the 7th before we head to Denver on Wednesday for his Birthday! Since the boys birthdays are all together (10, 16 and 20th) we decided it would be a great present to all of them to get away for a few days. We can't wait to get into some real wintertime activities!

Please remember all of our friends that struggle with cancer and all of it's ups and downs. The highs and lows are so extreme and it really weighs on one's body and soul. Please pray for Stephanie and her family as she nears the end of life here on earth. This is so heartbreaking to see yet another good friend and family go through this. You can't imagine the depths of sorrow that this brings to the other kids who face cancer too. Please keep them in your thoughts today and in the next few days to find peace, hope, and strength to face each new day.

Blessings to all,
Connie

Sunday, January 30, 2005 10:11 AM CST
No need for transfusion yet! My counts are:

Hemeglobin 8.9
White blood Count: 2.3
Platelts: 42
ANC: 2190

Tyler is doing ok today, still a little nauseated and tired, but he is eating a bit better and sleeping better. Hopefully his counts won't drop too low; he may have to go in sometime this week for a transfusion. That's ok though, because he always feels better afterwards. We just have to pray that he doesn't get a fever which would land him in the hospital. Yuck!!!!!
It has been a winter wonderland here in Atlanta the past two days! On Friday Todd stopped to stock up on the basics before he got home, and Tyler and I made it home fine after his last day of chemo and an acupunture appt. Ice coated everything and we have enjoyed being inside just hanging out with a warm fire. The electricity flickered a few times but we never lost power, and now the temps are rising so the ice is starting to melt. Things should be all clear by tomorrow. We have also really enjoyed watching the dogs slip up and down the steps since this is the first time they have experienced ice. It's funny to watch them try to pick up a toy that has been frozen to the porch floor! We really do love our dogs! They make good pillows!
Thank you all who leave messages for Tyler here on his website. They are great encouragement, and Tyler reads them all!!

Connie

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 11:07 AM CST
Todd took Tyler to the clinic for his chemo, so I have a few hours to myself to straighten up around here. Sara will be home in a few minutes though as it is early release!
I sat down with Dr. George yesterday to compare Tyler's scans from Dec. 15 and Jan. 24. I am sad to say that they are not what we had hoped for. The spots are actually bigger than before, not much, but bigger. We do not know for certain though that the chemo isn't working. It could be that the spots grew during the 19 day delay between the first scan and the first day of chemo (he had to have the central line and g-tube put in along with healing time for the g-tube). The chemo could be working, it just may take some more time and chemo for them to shrink even more. That is definitely what we will be praying for. Obviously we are disappointed and nervous about the results, but we still have so much hope that the chemo will work for Tyler; Dr. George also has some other options up his sleeve besides the current treatment that Tyler is receiving now.
So for now we will continue to pray for better results next time and march forward with the hope in Jesus that can NEVER be taken from us.
Tyler is feeling a bit crappy today but got up without complaint to go to the clinic at 7:30. We will try for a later time tomorrow so he can sleep in! Leigh Elliot has been up in the clinic all this week too getting her chemo, so Tyler has had some company there this week. You can check out her site by following the link at the bottom of Tyler's page. She is a great young lady and is a real fighter too. Please continue to pray for Tyler and all of his friends that are facing this monster.

Connie

Friday, January 21, 2005 9:50 PM EST
Sorry about the delay in updates! We have been at Egleston three times this week and are now glad that it is Friday!!! After two more doses of neupogen to up Tyler's white cells The CD34 doubled.... to 4. They like 20 but will start the harvest at 10. So he got one more dose of neupogen last night, had the achiness, and got a lower white cell count than Thursday! Go figure. They didn't even do a CD34 test. So where does that put us you ask? After talking with the docs and talking together we have decided to continue the chemo cycle that he got Jan 3-7. He will go every three weeks as counts allow. Tyler did pretty well with it before (except for the stomach bug he got afterwards!), and by getting his chemo outpatient, he can sleep at home and do other stuff rather than sit in the hospital and be bored!

Tyler has his CT scan Monday morning to check on his lungs and then will go over to outpatient for his next round of chemo (Mon-Fri). Obviously we are praying for disappearing lung masses and no more growth anywhere else. Thank you everyone for all of your continued prayers for Tyler and all of us. Also, I have forgotten to thank you Sandy, Gail, Letha, and Elsa for the fabulous meals that you brought over the past few weeks. They are appreciated so much and were so delicious!

On a really happy note, Tyler and I went to the Harrison/McEachern basketball game tonight, and the Harrison boys won!!! Way to go Hoyas! It was quite nice to get out and do something normal for a change.

Love to all,
Connie

Tuesday, January 18, 2005 6:15 PM CST
Hi everyone!

Well the day wasn't as long as we expected! They did blood work at 9 am. Tyler's white count was great- but when a CD34 test was done to determine if Tyler had enough stem cells in the bloodstream it didn't come back high enough! So, they weren't able to even try to obtain stem cells today. We will continue with Neupogen Tues and Weds evening and try again on Thurs. am. So now his CT scan will be rescheduled too! We left at 11:30 and met with Tenise at Longhorn's for lunch! Yum! Thanks for all your prayers today! Going to the barber tommorrow to get his head shaved. The hair started to fall out last night.

Love to all,
Connie

Sunday, January 16, 2005 10:58 PM EST
Hello Everybody,

Well we got to come home from the hospital at about 7 pm on saturday...
Anyhow...when we got home I felt great because i wasn't woozy or anything from blood counts!!! The only thing weird though was that it seemed like my blood counts were to high...my eye sight was acting up...almost felt like i was pushing on my eyes. I am still having problems looking at bright objects like the sun, and lights and bright colors on the TV. Today my homeroom teacher Sra. Brown came over and chatted with me for about 2 hours...that was really nice to talk to somebody...it looks like some people from my homeroom are gonna come over tommorrow (monday) and hang out with me...who knows we might go somewhere to get out...if they can't come tommorrow they have gotten permission from the school to miss school to hang out with me... somehow i feel like they would rather come over thurs. HAHAHA! Thanks to the Cutcliff's who drove all the way to Egleston to bring me stuff. Somehow there was a mix up and Hannah thought i was in the hospital for transplant when in fact i was sitting a mile from there house...It turns out the misunderstanding was Hannah thought Jan. 3rd was the day i started chemo for transplant ( it was but it was at Scottish Rite and outpatient). Then i think it confused her more when i asked her to come visit over the weekend sometime and told her on friday that i was in the hospital...Sorry Hannah!

As for Tuesday and Wends. It looks like i will be spending my time on those days at Egelston to get my Stem cells harvested. I think that i am gonna take my laptop and if not i will take a portable DVD player. Don't really know what to expect so i am just gonna go with the flow.

Tyler

Saturday, January 15, 2005 1:45 PM CST
Hi everyone,
I am writng this from the family business room at Scottish Rite since we are still here!!! The internet on the computer in the family room on 3North isn't working. :-( Tyler has had an eventful week as you can see. Since we arrived Thursday am, Tyler has had a fluid bolus, blood cultures, antibiotics, and even a CT of his sinuses to check out his continued congestion. He has been taking claritin D but it hasn't seemed to get it to go away yet. Tyler manages to pass the time by sitting at the nurse's station and talking.... What's new? At one point they put him to work! Yea! He has been without a fever for a day and his counts are on the rise so after he get 2 units of blood (low hemoglobin) we will be free to go home. That probably won't be until 7pm though. Thanks everyone who called to check on us and help Todd out with things on the homefront. And, thanks to my family who so lovingly helps us out with a housekeeper twice a month! She came by yesterday and so we get to go home to a clean house and empty laundry baskets!!!
Since Tyler's counts are on the rise he will be going to Egleston Tuesday for the stem cell harvest. That is expected to be an all day affair, and if they don't get enough, we will return Weds to try to get more. We're hoping for a one day event only. His CT of the lungs should be sometime within a week or so- whenever they can get it scheduled. From there we don't really know what will be going on- we like to take it one day at a time anyway!

Sunday, January 9, 2005 8:11 AM EST
Update Thursday 9 am
Tyler started in with a fever so we ended up here in the ED at Scottish Rite. Called the dr at 4:15, left at 5:10 am and will be sitting in the ER for the next couple of hours since they are full and we have to wait for a discharge before he gets a room! (We volunteered to go home but they said NO.) They took blood cultures and started him on iv antibiotics. It's wierd to be in the ER as many times as we have been here. Tyler never ran a fever the last go around so we never had an unscheduled admit. Well I guess there is a first time for everything! They gave him the clearance to eat so he's sitting here eating Froot Loops and watching what else but espn. I need a nap today!

Connie

Tyler made it through the last day of chemo with a laughter fix/visit from Morris. Those of you that have ever been to Scottish Rite will know him- the most caring, and hilarious guy that works there. We met Morris the day Tyler went in for his first port placement Jan. 2002. Tyler has gotten through many rough times by hangin with him and causing general mischief around the hospital! God has certainly used this wonderful man to bless so many of us.
Tyler isn't feeling great but is up and moving around. He is eating some but again, nothing taste the same anymore, so we are back to trying all kinds of things to get him to eat. We started the neupogen last night which will bring on the bone pain. This time he gets a bigger dose to stimulate more stem cells to move out into the bloodstream, so we are asking you all to pray for minimal pain in this process. At least this time they gave us iv meds instead of the nightly shots he used to get!
We're not real sure about a schedule for the admit date yet but the next few weeks should go a bit like this: Mon. appt. for the g-tube to be shortened and spa night at Camp Sunshine house, blood work on MWF, a CT scan of the lungs sometime next week (to see if the masses that showed up sometime in Nov/Dec are responding to the chemo), and hopefully harvesting the stem cells at Egleston sometime the week of Jan 17. I am only guessing at the rest, but if all goes as planned, Tyler may be admitted in the week or so after that for transplant.
So here are my requests: our friends the Olsons have shared their over the door shoe holder as a sort of 'advent' calendar to use while we are in the hospital. (We think that this is an excellent idea and could send us the good fortune that Will had in getting out of transplant in record time!) I would like for you all to send Tyler mail- notes of encouragement, jokes, silly things, pictures, whatever you desire so that each day he is there he will have something to open, read or do to remember that there are many, many people out there who are thinking about him and praying for his cure! You can send the mail to our house and we will fill it up before we head to the hospital. Thank you all in advance for this!
As always please pray for:
diminshed pain from the neupogen
no more nausea
increased appetite
increased energy level
disappearing masses in the lungs
uplifted spirit
a cure forever more for Tyler and all of his friends!

Connie

Thursday, January 6, 2005 6:38 PM CST
Hey everyone,

Tyler has made it through three more days of chemo and has one to go! He has progressively been feeling a little worse each day but is still eating and drinking a bit and sleeping fairly well. Monday and Wednesday they didn't give him the one big dose of zofran so I had to give him two doses at home those nights- 6:30pm and 2:30 am! I made sure they gave him the 24 hour dose today and will tomorrow!
Today was quite busy at the clinic! That was a good thing for us though since we got to see some friends that we have made along the way. We even got to meet a few other younger boys that I had checked on before through the caringbridge sites but had never actually met. So sweet! All the kids that I see there and talk with- it's so unbelievable what they have to do and go through. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that raising a child could involve this nightmare. Sorry to be a bit depressing- it's just very overwhelming to be in this position- again- and see others' fear as they come in for routine checkups. Most of the families I know do not live in fear, but with a great hope and faith that sustains them. But fear is a sneaky thing; it can seep in through the tiniest cracks. So please remember them all in your prayers for continued confidence, peace, and strength.
Our friends the Phillips and their daughter Stephanie need your prayers now! You can check her site at the bottom of this page Please leave them a message of encouragement and love!

Love to all,
Connie

ps. I have not yet succeeded in getting Tyler to change the background so that WE can read the text better! He loves those sox!
Also, a some of you have mentioned visiting, hangin out etc... The next two weeks will be the time to do it since He may be headed to transplant late Jan/early Feb! So call anytime and we can all have some fun! And you don't have to be afraid of the big old yard dawgs; they won't bite, but they may lick you to death!!

Monday, January 3, 2005 6:14 PM CST
Hi everyone!

Tyler made it through his first day of chemo very well! We started a little later than we were supposed to because they couldn't get a blood return from his central line, so they finally used TPA to get it moving. Of course the whole time the nurse is trying to get the blood, I'm thinking "oh great, what if I did the flushes wrong! This thing hasn't even been used yet!!" It all worked out fine though and we were out of the clinic by 3pm. For the first day- this outpatient gig sure beats sitting in the hospital. I am reserving the right to head to the 'big house' as Dr George put it if Tyler starts in with some major nausea and vomiting (that way the paid nurses can deal with 24 hour iv fluids/meds and not just me!) Dr G says that he should tolerate these two drlugs quite well, but we give him Zofran/decadron every 8 hours anyway!! We will continue to give him supplemental feedings through the night to boost his calorie intake too.

I didn't get a chance to properly thank many of the folks who shared such wonderful treats with us for the holidays. Thank you so much! We enjoyed everything! Also, thank you all who have called, written or left messages on the site to encourage us all. It means so much to hear a friendly voice or read a thoughtful note. We certainly will need the love and strength for the road ahead.

We'll update as the week goes by!
Connie

p.s. thanks to phil hennessy for helping us out with the site...

Saturday, January 1, 2005 3:03 PM CST
update 1/1/05 1045pm:hey sry bout the short update. I am really tired and anxious about monday. I also went to my second acupuncture appt. on thurs. and it seems to help very little. I am gonna try 2 more then prolly start massages or something that makes my pain better. The whole acupuncture thing is a waste if it doesnt help and cost alot of money. So if it doesnt help i am not gonna do it. I really enjoy the massage nights at the Camp house and they always seem to help so, and those are just quick ones. So if i get a longer massage maybe it will hlep even more. I am tired and can't get my stupid (even though i like it) satellite radio to work. Now i know why you always see those DirectTV/comcast commercials that show people having to adjust there dish. HAHAHA! It seems like it just has to be moved at different times of days. I wish i could put it somewhere near my window and it would just work 24/7. HAHAHA that wont happen!!!

3pm: hey everybody its tyler. We had a normal New Years. We watched the ball drop and shot off some fire crackers. We got new neighbors from Long Island NY. I HAVE been feeling pretty crappy lately. A home health nurse came out last night to give me a feeding pump to feed me slowly. I slept til 1pm and not even the temptation of football could get me out of bed. I go for chemo on monday.

Tyler

Please sign the guestbook!!!!

Monday, December 27, 2004 8:16 PM CST
I really thought I would sit down on Christmas day and update everyone on how Tyler was doing. We were enjoying the day at home all together so much that I didn't even think about it. For once we were not awakened before dawn by the kids! Tyler was sleeping away with the help of a bit of medicine but jumped up pretty quickly (although dizzy) when I told him that I was going to let Kirk and Sara go in to open some presents. We had a wonderful breakfast thanks to our friends Billy and Kandy Mullis. What a treat! The rest of the day was spent eating and playing and sitting!

We received the news today that Tyler's bone marrow biopsies were clear! Yea!!! Tyler will try his first round of chemo at the outpatient clinic starting Jan. 3rd. He should stay pretty occupied with his new satelite radio, movies, and talking with other folks around the clinic.

Tues. 10 am update

I got busy last night and forgot to finish the entry! All is well here as Tyler continues to recover.

prayer requests:

Praise for clear bone marrow
continued healing of g-tube and line placement
decreasing pain in back and neck areas
increased appetite and energy
prayers for all of Tyler's other friends that are dealing with cancer too- Will, Stephanie, Leigh, Ethan, Mark, Ali, Daniel, Blake- these are just a few!

Love to all,

Connie

Wednesday, December 23, 2004 8:27 PM EST
12/23/04: Today I had my first acupuncture appt. it went okay...Tyler

12/22:
Hey everyone,

Tyler and I got home tonight about 4:30 from the hospital. Tyler did great; Dr. Parker put in his central line and his g-tube without any problems. The line hangs down about 6 inches and the tube is about 10 inches with a clamp at the end. In two weeks we will take him to the GI lab and they will pull it tight, cut it flush to the skin and put a small cap on the end. That will be much better than the long tube. The g-tube had been placed to protect Tyler's stomach surgery (X3) and to give us the ability to supplement his nutrition after the transplant. But after talking with Dr. P, Brenda (his NP) and the nutritionist we will start right away on small feeds and work up to a bit more. Tyler is about 12 pounds lighter than the low norm for his age and height, so we will try to build up some weight and muscle mass (protein) over the next few weeks to prepare him for the long haul. On top of those procedures, Ty has two bone marrow biopsy sites on his lower back/hip area. Ouch! Tyler slept well at the hospital amazingly (I didn't though between the many nurses, techs, med students, and my rotten cold symptoms). We had the same nurses that we had last year during his two stomach surgeries. They were great!

Now that we're home Tyler is getting around better and eating what he wants. I'm just ready to go to bed. I have forgotten what it was like to sleep on that yucky blue bed.

Good night!

Connie

Monday, December 20, 2004 7:56 PM CST
I spoke with Dr Parker today at 3:30. Tyler is on the schedule for 12:25 pm tomorrow! I didn't really expect them to tell me one day ahead of time, but I guess it is better than waiting until Thursday to get this surgery done. We want him to feel like eating and having fun on Christmas morning! So, we have to pack a bag for one overnight since they will give him iv antibiotics afterwards. We should be home by the afternoon on Wednesday. Just enough time for us to finish getting things ready for Christmas. The food is bought already thank goodness. (At least I HOPE I have everything!) :-0 Ham and pumpkin rolls- what else do you need?!

Tyler went out shopping with a few buddies from choir today and had a good time. Thanks Kerry for arranging this! You so totally rock!!! Tyler loves you bunches (and so do we)!

I'll try to update from the hospital if I can do that at Egleston; I'm not sure if I will have access there. Todd can at least update from home later on though.

Prayers for Dr. Parker, smooth line and g-tube placement, clean bone marrow, and for NO nausea/vomiting would be greatly appreciated.

Connie

Saturday, December 18, 2004 2:46 PM CST
I tried to update earlier today but got distracted (so unusual in our house! HA!). By the time I got back to the page I hit one letter and it disappeared! Oh well, I'll try again.

Tyler had his scans this week. The CT only went fair as he had to drink yucky stuff over an two hour window before he got on the table. He got 3/4 of it down and then a bit of it came back up; there was not going to be a way to get the rest in. So they thankfully said he had enough and put him on the table for the scan. He did a great job holding the rest in while they injected the other iv contrast (ususally makes him sick). That night he started in with blurred vision and then a great headache. Hadn't thought it was from the contrast before but this could be a pattern for him. The bone scan was uneventful the next day. The emotional rollercoaster that this has put us all on is really getting to all of us a bit- what to do, what not to do, on and on and on. We have tried so desperately to make the best decision that we can and let God take it from there. This has proved to be a very hard thing for our family to do at this time. Thank you Laura, Bridgett, and Missi for taking time to talk with us on Friday. And thank you all for your continued prayers for us.

We don't know when Tyler will have his biopsy etc... next week. but we do know that Dr George said we can do it all at once over at Egleston since that is where Dr Parker is at (Tyler's great GI doc). He will have the bone marrow biopsy, a central line put in, and a g-tube placed. Most kids don't have a g tube put in, but with Tyler's history of stomach herniation and reflux issues, and his general gaggy, pucky tendencies, I knew that this would be something that could help him through this process. Since Dr Parker agreed, it's a go.

Today has been just wonderful. We have nothing to do!! It is such a blessing to have quiet days like these to relax and recharge for the next go around. Todd went to Fla Thurs-Sat to pick up some canoes that the boyscouts bought. He got to visit with the Harbins in Valdosta too. Now he is out splitting more wood!! If you have seen our wood piles you would be asking "why in the world is he still splitting wood?" Why not he says! Tyler is busy playing his new NCAA football game. Ohio state and Michigan everytime I look to see what he's doing. Kirk has begged us constantly to take him to the music store so he can look at the guitars. We went last night and they closed 10 minutes later, so Todd took him there today for a while. Sara is her sweet self, helping me make cookies, and practicing her back handsprings and back tucks out on the trampoline. Wow, it sounds like a normal family on a normal day doesn't it? Thank God is all I can say!! We need as many of these as we can get. So before Sara falls over from waiting for her turn on the computer, I will close and perhaps go mix up some more pumpkin rolls to bake tomorrow after church.

Blessing to everyone,

Connie

Saturday, December 13, 2004 10:05 PM EST
12/13: Hey guys it’s Tyler. Today was a great day. I woke up at about 10am. I knew I was going on a motorcycle ride but didn’t know it was going to be as long as it was. Allen, Rusty, Sherry, and David came and got me at 11am. We were going to go to Dahlonaga, Georgia, which is about 120 miles from my house, just to eat lunch. We got to the place and it was closed. So we decided to go to another family eatery type place. The food was great and so was riding. Thanks Guys!!! After riding I found out that sitting inbetween Allen, who is very muscular, and the backrest of the back seat, was very uncomfortable. I tried out David’s bike when we stopped for gas. That was before the hills and wavy roads. I quickly realized that i would much rather suffer the back pain and sit close to Allen, that sit behind David and have lots of air inbetween us. It was fun on both bikes. Then when i got home at about for i could hardly walk. I was ready to go to Camp Sunshine's spa night and have a massage after a long ride. The spa thing was great. I got a chair massage and reflexology. After all this, i am worn out. Thanks again to everybody today!

Tyler

12/11: The rest of this week has been pretty uneventful and we thank God for that. Tyler was able to get to his afternoon classes most of the time and seems to have plenty of energy. Except for the skin issues at his radiation site and some intermittent nausea he feels ok.

The next phase of this journey will be a long and hard one. It seemed oh so very hard just to decide what path to take for him and I still have so many questions that it makes it even scarier to think about. Tyler and Todd and I have decided to go forward with the stem cell transplant. These will be harvested from his own bone marrow after a round or so of chemo and stored for the time of the actual transplant. I don't have a specific site or book for those interested to read at the moment, but as with everything else you can go googling on the web for the basics. The book they gave us is called Autologous Stem Cell Transplants: A Handbook for Patients by Susan Stewart. I don't think it is one that will just jump out at you at the local book store though! And be forwarned, this type of reading is not for the faint at heart- you can go weak in the knees learning about this grueling process and it's risks. That being said, I am expecting more peace from above as God leads the way with this decision.

The next steps will be scans for restaging (and we pray for clear scans knowing that there may be disease lurking in the shadows), a bone marrow biopsy (pray for a clean marrow), and line and g-tube placement. This will happen all before Christmas. We were granted a reprieve on chemo before Christmas, but if all goes as planned he will be admitted on the 27th for chemo- 4-5 days. Todd and I will celebrate our 18th anniversary there at the hospital with Tyler and Kirk and Sara. What better way for us to do this as we are all together and working to save Tyler's life here on earth.

So many have asked what you can do to help and I don't have always have a direct answer at the time so I will post a few things now while I am thinking about it.

Pray - because we know that all strength, peace, and healing come from God. Specifics later.

Send a note of encouragement or one for laughs to Tyler and Kirk and Sara.

If you're local, stop in for a visit (call first to find out where we are!). Distraction is a key ingredient in managing pain and nausea- and general misery in this long process.

These are just a few things I can think of for now. I will update as we get the schedule from the clinic as to when all of these things will happen.

Connie

Tuesday, December 7, 2004 5:30 AM CST
YEA!!! Tyler's done with radiation today! Although we will miss the wonderful people there, we are so thankful to be done driving 75 miles a day to Emory. I believe that Tyler will be spending a little time with an old pal of his from the clinic after radiation this am which will give me some time to tackle the stores for a little Christmas shopping (much more fun than going home to finish the mountain of laundry piled in the basement.) Really it's just a hill now since Tyler helped me out a bit yesterday! Thanks buddy!

I will be calling Ericka today to schedule an appt with Dr George hopefully sometime this week. Once we sit down with him and talk a bit more we let you know what's around the bend for Tyler and all of us. For today we will celebrate that radiation is done be thankful for that. God is so good - all the time.

Blessings to all,
Connie

Thursday, December 2, 2004 5:11 AM CST
Yesterday was not a good day. We got two miles from home and had to pull over for a 20 minute pit stop. I just took Tyler home where he proceeded to make trips to the bathroom every 5-10 minutes for the next four and a half hours! His stomach hurt so bad that he thought he busted his past surgery for reflux. The zofran and lomotil finally kicked in and he rested for the remainder of the afternoon on the couch. I do think that his stomach is ok though. Dr. Parker would be so upset and sad if Tyler's fundo was messed up! After all, he has fixed Tyler's three times! So we skipped radiation for the day and will go this am- only a few left. His skin had been holding up well until the past couple of days, and now he is showing some signs of irritation and redness/ darkening where they are radiating him. It is quite a sensitive spot so please pray for quick healing. Gotta go for now since it is school time for Sara (Our computer shows the time in central standard time so don't think that I am torturing her by getting her up at 5:30! 6:30 is bad enough for a third grader isn't it!?)

Hope every one has a blessed day!
Connie

Sunday, November 28, 2004 7:37 PM CST
Ok, I had a whole page written and it just disappeared!!!!!!!! So this will be quick. We headed to Fla for the weekend and had a ball. Disney, Fairfield timeshare, and a quick visit to mom and dad's for the night. Tyler and all of us had a nice relaxing time and Ty's energy was pretty good. We all loved lounging around the pool and hottub. It was GREAT to do nothing for a while. We were able to get home early this afternoon to get prepared for the week.

We had a meeting with Dr Chang from Egleston Transplant team last Tues. It was a long and really intense information session. We decided to just relax over the weekend, digest the information we got and will start making some decisions soon. This is a scary and terrible position to be put in. Please pray for our family as we talk about this together and listen to others that have been through this process. They did give us a book to read so I have gotten through most of it and have a huge list of questions for Dr. Chang. I'm sure that I will have to ask them quite a few times to really get it.

Well, Tyler has 6 more treatments to go at Emory. We have been treated so well by the team of folks over there and are so thankful for their abilities and caring attitudes. Even the valet guys are great. Hopefully this week I will be able to get a bit more organized and update on a more frequent basis. I'm not going to count on it though! :-) Organization was never my forte!

Love to you all,

Connie

Monday, November 22, 2004 5:05 AM CST
Ok, Who came to my house and took all my time????? I can't believe that it's already Thanksgiving week! Well, we're still trudging back and forth to emory Mon thru Fri. I have even lost count of the number of treatments left- 8 or 9. Tyler continues to look really well but is feeling some effects of the radiation; he doesn't have lots of energy so is resting quite a bit in front of the tv (happy to watch every football game there is showing)! I have double up some of the things he is on and am anxiously awaiting the newest technology that Nikken has developed. It's called the Body Energizer! Who cares about fancy names, we just want the effects!! We were in last week to talk with Dr George about stem cell transplant. We will talk with Dr Chang at Egleston Tuesday in detail about the process. Tyler's friend Will has just gone through this process as is doing quite well, although I'm sure Will would tell you he'd like to feel tons better still!! Hang in there buddy! I said before that we wouldn't be using the chemo route for Tyler's cure a while ago, and this involves lots and lots of chemo. But it is the one go for the cure option that Tyler and Todd and I will consider. We don't know the total details but it would be a grueling 6-7 month process for Tyler. The protocol here at Egleston for Ewing's patients is a tandem transplant, meaning he would get two transplants. We'll just have to wait until Tues for the details. The important part is that Tyler is now ready to condsider the process and feels better about it. No doubt we will be negotiating what complimentary processes we can continue with Tyler and what we cannot!
So, we have our good days and our bad; somtimes I feel energized and ready to go and some (lots) days I just want to scream my head off about this whole road we are forced to travel. I have done my fair share of faithful complaining on my knees (and in the car, in the kitchen, outside in the yard... you get the picture). Even so, I know that we are not alone and God will get us through this season.

Hope- it's never lost when you have Jesus.

Love to all,
Connie

Friday, November 12, 2004 9:25PM EST
Hey guys its Tyler... today i had my 14th radiation treatment(half way there). The machine was down so I had to wait to get my treatment at the other machine that does mainly prostate and breast cancer and brain tumors. It took a while because the brain tumor people and etc. have molds that have to be fitted to the skin and it takes about 5 min to put them on and 5 min. to take off the thing that holds the molds. That is why they have all the people with radiation molds on one machine, so they dont have to always undo the mold holder everytime. So i was back there for a while and i made a brain tumor mask/mold while i was waiting. What you do is take mesh type plastic and put it in hot water wait a couple minutes then strech it over your face so it fits it perfectly. They have brain tumor molds so they dont have to make sharpie marks on your face and neck and hair. So after that I went to school. I played pickle-ball in Team Sports. Pickle-ball is like badmitton, except the net touches the ground and you play with a paddle not a racket. Also you play with a wiffle ball and not a birdie. After that I went to lunch where alot of people said they liked my hair. Then I went to Current Issues to learn why we were celebrating a top terrorist's death...which is because the media only sees him as a Nobel Peace Prize winner (by the way it was only for a handshake... and admitting that there was a such thing as an Israeli). After that i came home and watched TV and played the card game Spades with my grandparents. I beat them by alot. On Saturday i am going to fly in a L-39 fighter jet with one of the guys in the Air Force. I even have my own "bag"(the olive flightsuits of the Air force). Harrison High basketball starts soon so i am excited.

Tyler

Friday, November 5, 2004 6:53 AM CST
Just a 'short' update to let you all know that Tyler is doing pretty well. Today he'll receive his ninth radiation treatment (28 total). The pain seems to be subsiding some as he only takes pain meds usually at night. The nausea/vomiting has subsided also, only every now and then. I'm am sure that it was due to the fentanyl patch, so once we got him off of that and got some major b vitamins in him to settle his nervous system down his appetite has picked up. For now we have chosen not to use chemotherapy as an avenue for cure. The statistics show that it can get it under control but it doesn't seem to do the trick at long term (forever) keeping the cancer away. It does have some nasty side effects though and that is something Tyler isn't ready for. So, we have searched far and wide for other answers. None of the roads we have been given a choice to follow is easy. Changing a huge portion of our lives with diet, supplements, and other training will be very hard. But, it is very doable and I know that the Lord will see us through as we persevere.
On another note, I spoke with Dr. George yesterday and he is looking into a trial at Penn State involving tumor vaccines. They are working with neuroblastomas and Ewing's. We aren't sure if it is something Tyler can be a part of this but we will at least look at it!
So, here are the specific prayer requests for now:

-for complete pain relief
-for no nausea/ vomiting
-for the appetite (and attitude) to eat the food that he needs and is offered
-for the perseverence in taking the many supplements that he needs
-for an uplifted spirit and increased energy
-for the cancer cells to be destroyed completely and never come back!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sure there are many more but my mind and body need some breakfast -Tyler too!!!

Love to all,
Connie

Monday, November 1, 2004 3:53 PM EST
Hey everyone its Tyler writing this update...

Ok everyone is asking me how the game was. It was awesome and so was flying that little plane. We got to Boston on a Saturday night and then we ordered pizza and watched game one of the world series on TV. We actually had landed just before the fighters that flew over during the national anthem. We stayed on a "retired" air force base. They Sox won the first game 11-9. Then on Saturday morning me and dad went to downtown Boston to do some sightseeing. We saw Quincy Market,the U.S.S Constitution, Copley Square, Boston Common, and lots of other famous places like Paul Reverse's house and the North Church where they hung the lanterns to let the people know the Brits were coming. After all that we jumped on the subway called the T and went to Fenway. It was a huge party all around the stadium. People were coming down there just to get there WS stuff and the going home. We got the at about 3:30 and gates did not open until 6:10. So we had awhile. We sat at a McDonald's for quite some time then we went to the gift shops. The game its self was amazing. They won 6-4. We got back to the hotel around 12:30am and were worn out. We got up sunday morning and flew back to ATL. The trip was amazing.

The weekend of halloween i went to Camp Sunshine. It is a camp for kids with cancer and is phenominal. Even though it was only about 40 hours long I had a blast. We had a costume party and a bonfire.

The radiation has been making me tired so i am going to quit typing now...

TYLER

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 9:17 PM CDT
Todd and Tyler made it back from Boston and had a great time. Thank you everyone in our Air Force family and to all the others who made this possible for Tyler. It is something that Todd and Tyler will never forget!!!

Today Tyler went to Emory for his first radiation appt, and it went very smoothly. Several of the folks who worked there before are still there and of course they remember Tyler! He had his first lesson on how to pop a wheely (is that a real word?!) by one of the technicians! At least we have a very pleasant place to go to for his treatment. What another great blessing! We got to stop up to see Will Olson at Eggleston- actually Will was sleeping, so we visited with Nancy outside the room so Will could rest and also so we wouldn't take in any germs. We also got to visit with Tyler's friend Stephanie who was in the clinic for transfusions. We continue to pray for them and ask that you all continue to pray for them and send them messages of encouragement on their sites that are linked at the bottom of the page.

Hopefully we will get the pictures of Boston on the site in the next few days!

Love to all,
Connie

Sunday, October 24, 2004 8:10 PM CDT
Hi everyone,
I wanted to update to let you all know that Todd and Tyler got up to Boston ok yesterday. They were enjoying the first game in the hotel room with Al (friend who flew them up there in his own plane). They saw some sights today and got to the stadium early to bask in all the hoopla of the ballgame. Todd said that Tyler hadn't had much nausea/vomiting, and the lortab and motrin seemed to be helping his pain. They are sitting somewhere down the first base line up under the cover. Todd said that's a great thing as it is cold and it is a bit misty. God had the perfect seats picked out for them didn't he?! I imagine that they will be home sometime tomorrow late afternoon. Can't wait to see them and hear all about their great adventure!

Also, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE find some time to donate platelets and blood. It would be best to donate platelets first. There haa been a CRITICAL shortage here in Georgia. Tyler's friend Will Olson who is going through the stem cell transplant process only got one bag the other night even though he needed two because there was only one left in the entire state!!! Go to his site for the local information on where to call and go to donate - www.caringbridge.org/ga/williamolson

Please continue to pray for Tyler's complete recovery as we use many, many avenues in the fight to bring him back to perfect health. Believe me- we are using people all over the nation to help us in this fight.

Connie

Friday, October 22, 2004 7:34 AM CDT
UPDATE: fri. 5pm
BIG change in plans as of about an hour ago! It's a long funny story but the important part of it is this. The guys Todd works with got Todd and Tyler two tickets to the worlds series game at Fenway Park on Sunday night!!!! We're not sure of all of the plans but I think one of the guys in the squadron is flying them up there (his own plane) tomorrow sometime and they will stay up there for 2-3 days. This is a dream come true for Tyler!!! He is so excited. So, I tried to get ahold of the radiation clinic to postpone Tyler's start day to about Weds. but they had already left. The lady there told me it was ok- I could call them Mon. am after 7 am. Let's see...... World Series or radiation..... I think the radiation can wait a couple more days! Please pray now more than ever for his nausea to subside so that he can have some wonderful memories of the game and stadium (not just the bathrooms- hee, hee). We'll try to keep you updated on the big event as it unfolds.

We met with Dr. Marcus yesterday and decided to go with the round of radiation on Tyler's pelvis to kill these cancer cells and relieve pain! We will start on Monday at noon and then go every day Monday through Friday for about 5-6 weeks. Hopefully we will get a decent morning time so that we won't have to fight traffic and we can be home in time for Sara and Kirk when they get off the bus. So, continue to pray for pain relief, NO nausea/vomiting, more energy, and a 10-10:30 radiation time slot!
Just another quick note about Kirk and Sara. We had conferences this week and they are doing great. Sara had a perfect report card (Es and Os for excellent and outstanding!) and so did Kirk- an A in every subject! We are so proud of them for their hard work while keeping up with their other activities- boyscouts and band for Kirk and dance and gymnastics for Sara. Please keep them in your prayers too as Tyler's health can really takes it's toll on them too.

Have a blessed day,
Connie

Thursday, October 21, 2004 6:02 AM EST
Wow!!!!!! The Red sox are going to the World Series)!!! Anybody with tickets?!! HA! Tyler has been up every night watching and cheering to the very end. So that means there have been some late nights here- I just go to bed and then somehow wake up as he is getting to bed! Last night it was not such a pleasant awakening- reminded me of the chemo days with Tyler 'prayin' to the porcelain king(throwing up). Man I hate these meds that make Tyler feel so nauseated!
That leads us to some of our plans for now. This am we will see Dr. Markus in radiation oncology at Emory. Hopefully a course of radiation will kill every ewing's cell in his hip and give him some relief so that he can get off of the pain meds and thus the anti nausea meds, etc... AND start doing what a 15 year old is supposed to do- school, hang out with friends, shoot hoops, and general mischief. Also, we will be meeting someone for nutrition counseling in SC next Thursday and a friend of mine, Dr. Tom, on Monday who is a wealth of information on water, nutrition, energy medicine, and probably a lot more that I don't even know about. I feel so blessed to have these people in our lives. I am sure that God has put them there for this reason- to assist Tyler in his complete recovery!
I'll try to update in the afternoon after our meeting with radiation.

Connie

Friday, October 15, 2004 6:38 PM CDT
Todd finally figured out how to get the new pictures on the site but he couldn't figure out how to change the size! Oh well!
Todd and Tyler and I sat with Dr. George this morning to discuss the many, many different forms of treatment that would be viable options for us at this time. You see, there is no standard protocol for relapse in Ewings cases. It's a very scary position to be put in, but we have put our trust in the Lord to guide us to the best option for Tyler. Amazingly, I seem to have a sense of peace for now. I pray that it stays with me and radiates to the others around me. We are trying hard to keep the positive energy flowing around here! Attitude is everything!
Tyler is really enjoying the messages everyone is sending; we all draw so much strength from them and know that there are so many of you praying for his recovery!

Connie

Thursday, October 14, 2004 8:37 AM CDT
Todd and Tyler and I spoke with Dr. George by phone yesterday afternoon. They found tumor cells in Tyler's left pelvis. He told us about several options to help Tyler. There will be some very important decisions for us to make in the near future so please pray for God's guidance and wisdom as we make these decisions. Also, please pray for peace about the road that we choose to follow - that it is the right one for us. Thank you all for your continued support and love, we will update soon after we get more information from several other sources.

Isaiah 55: 9-12
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you and the trees of the field will clap their hands."

Connie

Tuesday, October 12, 2004 4:07 PM CDT
I spoke with Ericka, Dr. George's nurse, about an hour ago. First, she told me that the results were not back, and at the earliest they would be back tomorrow sometime. I guess bone tissue takes longer. :-( But she was able to call in a scrip for some Zofran which hopefully will completely take away his nausea and vomiting episodes. Tyler just informed me that he has to go to school tomorrow to take the PSAT, so I sure hope the Zofran does the trick for him! We'll update as soon as we know something. Thank you all for your prayers and messages of hope and encouragement.
Tyler and I went to Camp Sunshine House last night for a wonderful treat. Spa Sydel came and pampered several families with massages, foot reflexology, manicures, etc... It was simply wonderful. Hopefully, the reflexologist wasn't annoyed by my continuous questions (these integrative treatments are very interesting to me). I was especially glad to see a few friends that were able to 'get a hall pass' from the hospital and de-stress for a few hours. (Hang in there Nancy!) Well, I gotta get out and play a little bunko with a few friends so I'll update when the tests come back.

Connie

Sunday, October 10, 2004 4:59 PM CDT
Tyler made through the biopsy quite well. He negotiated with the anesthesiologist to only have iv anesthesia as opposed to inhalation type. Boy did he do so much better afterwards! No nausea or pukiness, and the fentanyl patch must have done the trick for his pain. He had some lortab later on but didn't complain about pain at all in the hospital. The only really bad part of the day was finding out that we wouldn't hear from the Dr. that did the biopsy, and since it was Friday we probably wouldn't have any results until Mon. or Tues. We have gotten used to waiting at this point- not that it is any easier though.
Tyler has continued to have intermittent nausea throughout the day. This is concerning since he has very little appetite and has lost a few pounds. It really puts a damper on his (and ours) activities. We did manage to go to the underclassmen play at Harrison last night. The kids did a great job and it was quite entertaining! Tyler and I both had a good time.
I will update as soon as we know what the results of the biopsy are. Please continue to pray for Tyler and his friend Will who is undergoing stem cell transplant, and for Stephanie who is really struggling with this Ewing's beast! They have discovered new tumors on her spine. I can't even begin to tell you how frightening these situations are!

Connie

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 2:16 PM CDT
They have scheduled Tyler's biopsy at noon on Friday. The fentanyl patch has helped reduce Tyler's pain, but he still takes lortab sometimes too for breakthrough pain. The bad part of these meds is that he is sleepy a lot and has a real hard time getting up in the am. He says, "ok I'm up and then turns over and falls back to sleep, then does the same thing on the couch and then in the chair. Not too much different from any other teenager is it! He got his whellchair and was excited about that...

Please pray for calm spirits, little pain, and a big heap of faith and trust in the Lord's ways.

Connie

Thursday, September 30, 2004 5:42 AM CDT
Tyler is still dealing with some hip pain this week. We were able to get it somewhat under control by alternating different meds but decided it would be wise to go to the clinic for a visit. Tyler, Dr George, and I were able to sit and discuss options on what to do. So, Tyler came home with stronger type pain med that took about 24 hours to reach it's peak. We will change this patch every 3 days and hope it works enough to let Tyler do what he wants to do. It seems to have helped so that he doesn't always have to use crutches (he hates them). We decided to go ahead with the CT guided biopsy sometime next week. We aren't sure that it will be very informative, but it beats waiting and wondering...... That's just the way Ewings tumors are- sneaky little rats!!
Tyler has missed some school (even missing one or two days of assignments can be rotten in high school!); if it's not from the pain, it's from the loopiness from the meds. Hopefully he will adjust to that. I don't think it's going to be too hard to get caught up though. He likes all of his classes and is doing pretty well in all of them.
Tomorrow we are headed to Pigeon Forge to relax and visit with mom and dad. They are meeting us there from Ohio. I imagine we'll get in a show or two and some mini golf and perhaps some water fights in bumper boats! Should be a great time!
Please remember Will Olson in your prayers this week. He is headed into his stem cell transplant process this next week. Also, there are so many others; I can't begin to name them all.

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire you shall not be burned. Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord you God, the Holy One of Isreal, Your Savior... Fear not for I am with you." Isaiah 43: 1-3,5

Connie

Wednesday, September 22, 2004 6;04 PM EDT
Hello to all,

Its been a tough week here at the house. Tyler is having intense pain in his pelvis and also had fluid in his ear which made his ear hurt a lot. Here is an update of our past week:

Last Thursday, Tyler went to school. As you Atlanta folk know, we got pounded by Hurricane Ivan. There wasn't any major damage to our property but alot of trees came down around us. The kids' favorite tree on our lake came down. It was a big tree that had a tire swing that swung out over the lake. There is a 100 year flood plan behind us, so alot of the rain went through our back yard. At one point we had so much rain that our fire pit created a waterfall.

On Friday the kids were out of school. Todd's cousin and his son came into town from the Memphis area. Todd and Mike(his cousin) went to a Van Halen concert with a few friends. Back at the house Tyler kind of hung out waiting to watch his favorite show Big Brother. He was very tired after that.

On Saturday, Tyler went bowling in his league. He did very well posting a score of 128,134, and 131 in 3 games. After that he came home and hung out to watch college football. Tyler, Todd, and Mike went to see the infamous train mueseaum The General. They had a great time. Tyler was very happy when Ohio State beat NC State.

On Sunday, Tyler once again watched the football for most of the day. Mike and Westie left at about 2pm.

Monday and Tuesday, Tyler began to have some pain in his pelvis again. It seemed to get worse every hour. By Tuesday night, the pain was unbearable. He had taken all the pain medicine he could.

He went to school today, just because it was early release and he had missed 2 days last week. The pain was still bothering him alot when he got home. Right now, he is trying to rest and take his mind off of it.

LIVESTRONG,

The Copley's

P.s. Ron Williams, a counselor from Camp Sunshine just won a Silver medal in cycling at the Paralympics. Congratulations Ron!

Wednesday, September 15, 2004 9:06 PM CDT
Today Tyler and I attended a celebration of the life of a dear sweet child, Carter Martin. What an honor it was to be there with hundreds of others, remembering him and STILL learning life lessons from this family. What a legacy he has left for us to all learn from. Carter said it the best, "Cancer can't touch love."

Much love to all,

Connie

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 9:27 PM CDT
I'm sorry it has taken a bit to update. We hosted a few of my wonderful relatives from Titusville, FL over the weekend. They were all safe from the hurricane and we believe that for the most part their homes are ok too. Praise God!

We talked with Dr. George today after thinking about what to do with Tyler's 'spot' on his pelvis. They could definitely see the site on CT and could do a guided biopsy if we wanted to do that now. But the radiologists feel that this is probably not tumor growth and that it is just a sort of bone degradation. So we as a family decided that we would not put Tyler through the pain of being anesthetized, and scarred up again on such a sensitive site. We will wait until mid November to recheck with CT or MRI at the time he would normally have the usual scans and go from there. Tyler may be seeing the ortho again or Dr. Meacham in the survivor clinic to discuss what we can do to prevent any further damage to his bones. In the mean time we will continue our prevention approach and continue to use other complimentary methods of staying healthy.

I am confident in the Lord's leading and in the people that He has put into our lives to give us the ability keep Tyler healthy. Thank you all for so much love and support.

Connie

Thursday, August 26, 2004 8:38 PM CDT
Everyone please pray for our friends the Martins- Scott, Leigh Ann, Candler, and Carter. Carter's pain has just been too great for his precious little body to handle, and so they are now at home with hospice care. Pray for peace, strength, and comfort for them all. You may send a message of encouragement and love by accessing his website that is linked at the bottom of this page.
Also, Tyler's friend Stephanie is in the hospital with some pain issues. Please lift up her family in prayer.
God does work miracles- everyday and everywhere- we just have to open up our eyes and see them. Remember to thank God for the miracles in your life tonight.

Blessings to you all,
Connie

Monday, August 23, 2004 6:29 PM CDT
We finally got a date for a CT scan of Tyler's pelvis. He'll go in on Friday, Sept. 3rd. The good thing is that CTs don't usually take very long so he should be able to get back to school for his favorite class, Current Events.
Thanks for keeping us all in your prayers- and the many others who are fighting this battle.

Connie

Monday, August 16, 2004 8:55 AM CDT
Well we off on our second week of school and it seems to be going very well for all of us. We still have a little tweaking to do on the schedules for extra-curricular activities, but That NEVER changes! Mondays will be a real zinger, but that will allow us more family time the rest of the week.
I spoke with Dr George on Friday and it looks like we have two choices. We can either wait another 8-10 weeks and rescan (as long as Tyler continues to feel ok), or we can have a CT guided biopsy done. First we are going to see if they can even see the area on a CT scan, then we will make our decision as to whether to just wait or go ahead with another biopsy. So, that doesn't really clear the air for now does it!? I think that the CT will be sometime this week; I put a request in for a late afternoon time so Tyler won't have to miss any classes. If they are able to comply with that request then we will know that we are really special! HA

Please continue to keep all of the other kids we have mentioned before in prayer. You will want to read Carter Martin's website (even if you don't know him) today. You will receive a huge blessing in reading what our God has done for them over the weekend and last week. Look around you and see all of the blessings that God has given us- our family, friends, teachers, nature, health, and solid minds. Even our trials are meant to be blessings because we know that in those trials, we draw closer to Him and grow in a way that will make us more like Him. So- even though it may be hard- thank God today for that 'issue' you're having, and remember that He never said it would be easy, He only said we'd never go alone. (That's a line from one of my favorite songs!)

Love to all,
Connie

Wednesday, August 11, 2004 9:53 AM CDT
Ericka from the clinic just called to tell us that Dr. George had read the report but would call us later after he has a chance to go down and actually look at the MRI of Tyler's pelvis and leg. The report says that the abnormal area in his pelvis is unchanged and the inflamation in the marrow is decreased!!!!!!!Thank God!!! His LDH (lab that may be increased with tumor) is within normal limits!! We will update after I get a chance to talk to Dr. George. For now- gotta go live life and praise HIM for everything He has given us.

Keep praying! Connie

Tuesday, August 10, 2004 7:10 PM CDT
Tyler and I were up at 5:30 this morning to get a jump on the Atlanta traffic and get to Scottish Rite on time. His scan ended up being 2 1/2 hours long. They scanned his pelvis and lower leg too. We went for labs and to see Dr. George, and then went up to visit our friends Will and his mom Nancy. We decided that he had already been counted absent, so we might as well check up on him. Dr. G. still has not called tonight so we should hear from him sometime in the morning. Tyler did decide to rush back and go to his current issues class. He was wiped out though by the time he got home. He doesn't feel too well (Neither do I from the early alarm!) so he's been hanging out in front of the tv in his Nikken pjs for the evening. It will be an early night at our house for sure! We'll update as soon as we get the results.

Connie

Thursday, August 5, 2004 8:12 PM CDT
Hi everyone!

We have been enjoying our last week before school starts! It has been a rather normal week for us as we have headed off to school (three this year-elementary, middle and high!) for orientation, class assignments, schedule pick-ups, and of course socialization. Tyler, Kirk, and Sara all seem to be happy with their teachers and classes. We have also tried to fit in as much pool time as possible, and even with my slopping sunscreen all over the kids, they all look like little brown berries.
Tyler continues to have some hip pain and doesn't always sleep well, but he goes about his business as usual, horsing around, swimming and bowling... As I wrote before, Tyler will have his next MRI on the 10th at 8 am with an appt. with Dr. George at 9:30. We are praying that all will go smoothly and he will be able to just go back to school an enjoy being with his classmates again.
Please continue to pray for him and his friends, Stephanie, Carter, Daniel, Ali, and for the family of Jeremy. I received the sad news tonight of Jeremy's passing today. It gets harder and harder each time to hear this kind of news.

Tuesday, July 27, 2004 1:04 PM CDT
Hi everyone!
I'm sorry that it has taken me a while to sit down and update the site. We returned home Saturday night from our trip to visit family and friends in Ohio with a side trip on the way home to Pigeon Forge TN. We all had a great time. I believe the best part of the trip to Ohio was boating/tubing at Buckeye Lake and swimming at the newly improved Heath pool. Tyler and Kirk loved going super fast and crossing the wakes. Sara finally got brave enough to venture onto the tube without me beside her! It took a $2 bribe from Todd though! And who needs a $30 water park when you can go to the local pool complete with five pools, a lazy river, four slides, two diving boards, and a huge jungle gym play pool?! We didn't get to go to the "Night of Thunder" at NTR, but mom and dad Copley sprung for a night at the outdoor theater Tecumseh. It was action-packed and very loud--fantastic. Thanks MOrgan and Norma.
I am not sure where Todd and I would be if it weren't for the longtime friendships we have with the 'kids' we grew up with; Erick, Bill, Jackie, Julie, and LInda. We were able to visit with them and their families and sort of recharge our batteries in a way that only old friends can do. J,J, and L, I treasure every single minute of time that we get to spend together and please know that your love is weaved into the very fabric of my soul. Thank you for your love and guidance.
On Weds. we headed for TN. We spent Thursday at Dollywood thanks to Morgan and Norma and loved the shows. The kids loved the old time rides like the scrambler, tilt-a-whirl and the swingamajig- things you don't always see at the big parks. We spent the next days playing minigolf, bumper boats, racecars...you get the picture. We took the long way home and stopped at Clingman's Dome, the highest point East of the Rockies. We came home to two dogs-very happy to see us- and a clean house!!! Thanks to mom and dad and to Susan who arranged for her housekeeper to come over.
Tyler did very well on the trip. He still has discomfort in his hip and uses his crutches while we are out. We did the wheelchair thing while at Dollywood and Tyler stayed at
foot of the walkway up to the view of Clingman's Dome. Dr George arranged for us to have an MRI on Aug. 10 at 8am and then an appt. with him at 9:30 afterward. I am anxious to see if this 'thing' has progressed or what could be going on. We have been going about our usual summertime thing trying not to be anxious about this situation. It can be hard when we see so many others suffering from this disease too. Please remember them all in your prayers-Carter, Stephanie, William, Jeremy, Daniel, Ali, these are just a few.
love to all,
Connie

Friday, July 16, 2004 7:15 AM CDT
Hi everyone,
We talked with Ericka (Tyler's nurse) on Weds. and she told us that the MRI report said things were "stable", so we went ahead and packed up the van to visit friends and family in Ohio. Dr. George called as we were traveling yesterday to discuss the results and give us a plan of action. He did say that there seemed to be no changes from the May scan- that's a good thing!!! But we will be doing scans again in mid August to reevaluate Tyler's hip issues. We are now in wait and see mode. We will continue to monitor Tyler's level of hip pain and go in for a check up if it gets significantly worse. Until then, Dr George says to go have fun, but don't run any races (or do any heavy duty jumping etc...). So, we have a few things planned here in Ohio- today will be boat riding and tubing. Tomorrow will be a big night at National Trail Raceway's, "NIGHT OF THUNDER!!!!" watching all kinds of wild vehicles race at 250+ mph. Woohooo!!! "Pass the Testerone will ya." Our trip back to ATL will include 3-days in Gatlinburg, TN. We'll talk to you in a week.

Monday, July 12, 2004 1:39 PM CDT
We got a call with a time for Tyler's MRI. They got him in tomorrow at 3 pm at Scottish Rite. Hopefully we will get some news on how it looks early Weds. am. We are hoping to get to go back to Ohio for a week or so on Thursday. We'll just have to wait and see I guess. We'll update as soon as we know anything!

Connie

Thursday, July 8, 2004 7:19 PM CDT
Boy has it been a long day; it wasn't supposed to be. Tyler's MRI couldn't be completed due to some symptoms he was having during the test. He has had several of these tests and has never had any problems. Today as soon as they started the scan Tyler began complaining of a burning pain in his right leg every time they set the scanner in motion. They tried several positions and checked to make sure that there wasn't anything in the scanner but it continued to "burn like fire" everytime the scanner started. They even brought down the physicist to check it out. Nothing helped. So they didn't complete the scan, and we are again without answers. Somehow we have to find out what is happening near his original tumor site. We were able to get over to the clinic before it closed to talk to the nurse. She called Dr. Rapkin to let him know that the scan didn't get done. Hopefully he will have an alternative test. Now is the time to storm the gates of heaven for a way for us to know just what is going on. It's getting harder and harder to wait for a definite answer.

I remembered this verse below, while driving home. Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in the whys and the whens. But we know that God's timing is perfect and he is always faithful to bring us through the valleys.

"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:3

Love to all, Connie

Wednesday, July 7, 2004 10:01 PM EST
We have heard some news on Tyler's tests over the past few days. The infectious disease drs. have decided that there is not an infection, so Tyler won't have to be receiving iv antibiotics. The biopsy results came back showing NO EVIDENCE of ewings tumor cells!!! That is truly a blessing! But we are not out of the woods yet. Dr. Rapkin said that the biopsy is only about 1f the area in the pelvis that they are concerned about, so they may have just missed any of the actual ewing's cells. Today Tyler had a CT of the lungs and that came back all clear! He also had a bone scan. It showed that there may be more involvement in the left pelvis than just the ischium. That would not be good. Also, there is a 'hot spot' at his original tumor site in the left tibia. What Dr. Rapkin is looking for is other spots of concern that he may biopsy. Tyler will have an MRI of the left leg tomorrow afternoon. If there is evidence of tumor anywhere else, they will probably biopsy that site. Otherwise we may be playing the waiting game. He said that we may have to wait another two to four weeks and do more scans to compare them to this week's scans. If he in fact has relapsed, there will be more evidence on those scans too. So, please continue to lift us up in prayer while we wait for answers. Also, Dr. Rapkin told Tyler to bear no weight on his left leg to protect it from fracture if in fact there is a tumor in his pelvis. Tyler didn't seem to mind using his crutches until he was told he HAD to use them. Now it's just a pain!

Tyler got to see his good friend Morris (his partner in general mischief) today at the hospital. He is an amazing man that everyone loves there. He gives so much to all the kids and is always there to make us laugh. Thanks Morris!

Please remember to keep all of the docs, nurses, techs, volunteers, etc... in your prayers too. They give so much to all of these kids and their families. It is truly a labor of love and takes a lot to be with these kids day in and day out seeing them go through so much suffering sometimes. We will update tomorrow evening if we hear from Dr Rapkin about the MRI. Until then, remember that God is and continues to be good- all the time!

Connie

Tuesday, July 6, 2004 1:36 PM CDT
Hi everyone,

Well, this has been a very trying day, and I'm sorry to say that we have not heard about the pathology reports back yet. I called the clinic and talked to the nurse who in turn spoke with Dr. Rapkin. He said that he should hear back by the end of the day, hopefully. I will update when we hear something back. In the mean time, we have been out to the stores and walking the mall a bit. It seems to have helped some.

Tyler's scans are set for all day tomorrow and the afternoon on Thursday. We should know those results pretty quickly (in a day). Please pray for Tyler's comfort while he lies for an hour or more at a time on the tables tomorrow with each scan. Thanks for checking up and for all the prayers that are being lifted up on our behalf.

Connie

Friday, July 2, 2004 4:38 PM CDT
Hey everyone,
Sorry it has taken so long to update. Tyler went back for his biopsy this morning about 11:30 and returned to the room about 2pm. He seemed to handle the pain quite well but was nauseated and gaggy for a while. We were able to leave at 4:15 and made it home without much trouble. He is now sucking on sprite and icees. Thanks to our good friends Sherry in day surgery and Laura, our favorite child life specialist, for ensuring that we had a smooth day.
As of now, we are NOT sure what we are dealing with. Dr. Schrader took a few biopsy specimens back to pathology and some cultures too. We will have to wait for them to process and review them, and that takes 48 hours. AND, since it is a holiday weekend we may not know anything until Tuesday!!! Dr. Rapkin did say he would try to find out on Monday though. They are going to go ahead and do a work up next week which involves a bone scan, MRI of the Left leg, and CT of the lungs. While that is getting scheduled, Dr. Rapkin is consulting with infectious disease, to see if they think he should have a round of IV antibiotics just in case it is only infection in his pelvis. Waiting is the absolute hardest part! But we know that we are all in God's hands. Until then, we will concentrate on having a great holiday weekend and will be participating in a few shinanigans with some of those 'sparkling things' that so many love to see over Independence Day!!

Connie

Wednesday, June 30, 2004 9:33 PM CDT
Well we got news- don't know if it's bad or not. There is definitely something going on in Ty's hip- no soft tissue masses that they can detect as of yet- but edema and areas that are 'concerning'. Dr George is on vacation so dr Rapkin called and will talk to ortho and Dr Munson tonight and get back with us in the am on a plan. We will go in some time this week for a physical and labs etc... and to sit and discuss the MRI and see it. Dr. Rapkin is pushing for a biopsy on Friday 6/2/04. We'll let you know the
plan when we know. For now, just praying that it is an infection or something like that. Talk to you soon, Connie

Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:05 PM EST
Hey whats up guys. Today i went to school and had a headache but was okay other than that. I applied for the Geography team and pretty sure i will make it since i had a 97 in world geo. last semester.

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