Happy Summer Team Tyler. A little update on the state of this union.

• Ty has been out of the hospital and walking the walk of healing every day. His latest CT scan has shown significant improvements in the pneumonia. The cavitation has shrunk to about half its original size and the active infection is showing only in small amounts. The doctors estimate that 4 more weeks on double duty antibiotics should do the trick…speaking of antibiotics…
• The most recent IV antibiotic that Tyler has been carrying around 24/7 in a ‘Freedom Pump’ man-satchel has just shown signs of an adverse immune reaction (just like the last one he was on). It causes an immune response that suppresses bone marrow production, which then causes white blood cells to drop – potentially leading to fevers and a debilitated immune system (the cause of Ty’s last hospital stay). Not what you want when you are fighting an infection. Good thing Ty was on top of his cell counts and caught this reaction before he ended up in the hospital again.
• Ty is still suffering from tinnitus from a reaction to 1 or more of the antibiotics he has been on. This side effect had the potential to cause permanent hearing loss, but docs think it was caught in time and should heal eventually.
• A new IV antibiotic will start tomorrow, this one should not cause bone marrow suppression but is not ideal because it didn’t do as well in in-vitro sensitivity. Hopefully there isn’t much infection left and it will do the trick!
• The GREAT news is that Tyler has been getting back to a pretty normal life routine. He can go on long hikes, gained 11 pounds, has lots of hair, itching to get back on the bike, enjoyed a great time with cousins from Sac-town, about to enjoy a great time with college buddies. Plus, its Tour de France time. Besides the major medical issues – can’t complain too much!

4th of July (not in the hospital- yesss!)