A Big Thank You to Everyone

Tyson’s surgery has been set for July 25.

I hope he can make it.

We meet with the surgeon Wednesday and I might push them to move it up. He’s getting worse. Fluid is building in his lungs and it is very hard for him to breathe. The high-calorie formula they have him on is really upsetting his stomach and he throws up a lot and is in constant pain.

We just aren’t skilled enough to know if this is heart failure or just some other struggle. What I do know is he is worse off than he’s been since he came home.

This whole thing has me severely depressed.  

That’s not somewhere I want to be for very long.

My wife and I are blessed. We remind each other of that often. Mom, dad, daughter, son. Perfect family.

We have jobs that pay us well. We have a roof over our head and food on our table. Rarely do we have to say no if we want something.

Our life is good.

But we have really realized our blessings over the past few months as family and friends have rallied to our side. The love and support that has circled us has been amazing.

So we would like to say thank you. We can’t name everyone, but please know that all of you are captured in this post in some way.

Our families have been awesome. My brother, Rich, has made it financially possible for my mother to quit work and be down here when needed. She has probably been down here half of Tyson’s short life. Any time we need her, she hops in her car. She’s always been my rock.

Brooke’s mom and dad came for the birth and her mom took extra time off work to stay through his initial hospital stay and help us. They also are caring for our more rambunctious dog, Murphy. It is wonderful to have their support.

My sister, Brooke’s brother, our cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and more have called, written, sent gifts and cards in support of Tyson. We love you all.  

Friends have stepped up, too. Libby Hilton has been simply amazing, becoming our emergency babysitter whenever we need it. We don’t have family in this area, so, whenever an emergency arises – such as a trip to the emergency room -- we wonder whom to turn to. Libby is always quick to answer the call.

Amber Dockery, our child care provider, has been extremely flexible with Sydney and helped feed us when we were too tired to cook. She even rallied some of the other good-hearted parents to our aid with a wonderful gift basket. One parent, Shannon Grote, made us enough chicken tortilla soup for a week!

My friend Fred Reeder, who united Brooke and I in holy matrimony, has continuously offered assistance, and his wife, Jennie, made us a couple great meals that helped us through a trying week. These two have always been a tremendous support to us and are good at getting our minds off of things for awhile.

Nina McEwan, one of my wife’s good friends, has been a shoulder for Brooke to lean on and has signed us up for some sort of food exchange. I don’t really understand it, but apparently we’re getting free meals. I like meals and I like free.

We’ve had friends from Children’s Hospital – Tanya Leach, Jim Feuer, Tim Bonfield – reach out with offers to educate us on doctors and procedures, as well as make our time there more pleasant.

Some have helped without even knowing. Amanda Schwieterman, Paul Fresty, Vicky Snyder, Dan Criss, Meredith Bollini – they’ve all walked in our shoes and their children are thriving. Those examples keep our spirits up.  Brooke’s friend Kim Roeller even had her friend, Lee Larson, an adult who was born with heart defects, reach out to us and his words were encouraging.

Countless other people have made offers to help, especially to care for Sydney. The girl would have 100 new friends if we ever took them up on their offers. I can’t name all of you here, but know we really appreciate your kind hearts.

Hundreds – and I mean hundreds – of others have offered support through prayers, positive thoughts, gifts, cards, phone calls, Facebook posts and other forms. Again, I can’t name them all, but I have no doubt Tyson is doing as well as he is because of all the positive energy being sent his way.

We still have a long way to go, but we feel like we have an army behind us.

Thank you.