Monday, November 9th update

Well.......We might have been getting a little to comfortable with Tanner's "outpatient" status and was looking forward to some good news today; possibly Tanner going home for a few days before his next chemo treatment. We received a huge reminder that we are not in control of Tanner's cancer and/or his conditions.

Today, there were scheduled appointments and we were hopeful for a PET scan date to let us know the status of Tanner's cancer and future treatments. That was not the case!

Last evening, Tanner's temperature was unstable. This is one of the signs that keeps us on notice if there is something wrong.  This morning, his temperature was higher than usual and a call into St. Jude ended up with Tanner going in earlier than scheduled appointments. He definitely had a fever. His ANC number was down to 100 ( neutropenia status) and his blood pressure dropped pretty low (95/33). Tanner was coherent, but in a blink of an eye, in came two head oncologist on Tanner's team, the head of ICU, and a group of nurses. This caught us off guard.  His blood pressure had everyone pretty alarmed so he was admitted into ICU for obvious precautionary reasons. The "Team" decided he needed to be monitored and fluids were administered to aide in getting his BP up. We are still waiting on the results from the blood tests, but a nasal swipe showed that he does have a virus. Tanner is NPO which means no food or drink until further notice. Not a happy camper.

His BP was stabilized by late afternoon. I will post as soon as we get an update on when he can be released from the ICU. We know he is in the best hands at St. Jude and we have constant prayers being said.

We were so disappointed and worried today (more than usual), but grateful for the instant care at St. Jude and God's loving hands.



 

Saturday, Nov 7th update

Quick update

Tanner has been "outpatient" status since the last update. This is great news!! This past week he had appointments pretty much every day. He has been receiving the "G" shots every evening since Tuesday and his numbers are rising which means he has a little more energy.

Today,  Tanner went in for his labs and his hgb was at 7.0 so this required a blood transfusion. This went well.  We don't have any complaints with Tanner's status as of today, and are very grateful for how well he is responding to the chemo.  Next week, we will find out when Tanner's PET scans will be scheduled. We are looking forward to this because his "Team" will let us know where Tanner stands in getting future treatments at St. Jude, and his current status with the cancer. Tanner has endured so much during his chemo treatments and we can't say enough how brave this 14 year old has been through it all.

Thank you for the support and many prayers!

Saturday - Oct 31st update

Hello!


I apologize for the lapse in updates for Tanner. Its been a busy schedule.


Tanner had a great time going back home and seeing his family and friends, especially the friends :).
He was able to talk to young students about the impact of cancer and what chemo does. We are amazing about his perspective about this journey and how he has been positive lately and can communicate this to his community. He had a wonderful time back home and really, really pumped his spirits up. Thank you!!!


He returned back to St. Jude on Monday, the 26th and started his 4rth session of Chemo. He was "inpatient" for a few days and was released to "outpatient" status on Wed. night. This treatment is not as harsh as the last two, but it's still Chemo and with that being said, Tanner has been experiencing some side effects like mouth ulcers. We always try take a positive from this and since he is "outpatient" right now, he gets to carry a backpack with a CAD pump to dispense one of his drugs over a 24 hour period. He is very happy to be out of the hospital but does have his regular appointments scheduled. His numbers will drop in the next few days and he will feel tired and not have as much energy.


We do have to say that he is looking more like himself and gaining some weight back. We are very grateful that Tanner's body is very susceptible to the Chemo and is going through the treatments a little quicker than expected. We do know a lot of this is attached to the best Dr's and Nurses at St. Jude and the power of prayer. We are so very blessed to see Tanner getting better and have high hopes that he won't be at St. Jude as long as we all expected.


We want to thank everyone for the continued support and prayers. Have a wonderful weekend! I will be posting some photos soon of his trip back home.

Thurs - Oct. 22nd update

Tanner has been experiencing better days lately. Over the last weekend, a group of friends came to see him and we had a nice bbq for everyone. Seeing Tanner interact and hang out with his friends was wonderful. He actually was able to be a normal teenager again.  He had a lot more energy than expected so this made everyone happy.

Since Tanners numbers are on the rise, he was able to get out last Sunday and enjoy the day. The Dr's gave him the green light on eating out so he wanted to go to Buffalo Wild Wings. It was one of the best days to see this boy enjoy a day and get away from St. Jude and the Target House.

This past Monday, Tanner had a follow up appointment with one of his oncologist. His oncologist said everything is progressing as expected and granted Tanner a release to go back home for a few days. We were all pretty surprise, but was so relieved to know that he is doing well enough to travel back home.

Tanner has two more sessions of Chemo. He will start his 4rth session on Monday, Oct 26th. It will not be as hard as the last two sessions. We never know what to expect from the side effects of Chemo, so we take a one day at a time attitude. We are so grateful for these past few days and we know that the all the love, support, and prayers are working.

We thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for the continued support. We will be posting photos soon!

Lymphoma Statistics

 

What are the odds. Tanner's diagnosis Burkitt less than 1%

 

 

#tannerstrong photo

Here is a recent photo of Tanner. We just want to share! Thank you everyone for your constant support for #tannerstrong. Your love, support, and prayers have made a huge difference!!

 

 

 

 

 

Thurs - Oct 15th update

Tanner was released back to "outpatient" last evening.  He is feeling better than he has over the last few days. Right now, Tanner is in Neutropenia status due to the Chemo treatment. This is when his ANC ( numbers) counts are down.  Hopefully, his numbers will climb back up by the end of the weekend. After his follow up appointment today, we found out that Tanner's isolation status has been lifted!!! Yeah!!!

Tanner had classes today at St. Jude and is whizzing through his math. He is back at the Target House.  Overall, he's having a better day and we are grateful for this!!

We want to post a photo of the meds that Tanner takes with him when he goes to "outpatient" status just to give people an idea of what is required. When he is in the rooms of the hospital this is normally administered through an I.V. Tanner's Mom has become an expert on medication and when to administer them! Most of the meds are given every day, but depending on Tanner's pain or what he might be experiencing at a certain hour, some of the meds may be only administered during that time.