Tanner's Journey

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

TANNER FINISHED ALGEBRA! THIS MEANS HE IS THROUGH WITH HIGH SCHOOL!!

He came into work with me this morning and by 3:00 p.m., he had algebra finished. Now I just have to mail in this last packet and wait on his High School Diploma!!

We are really going to have to celebrate. I am more than proud of him.

Cancer, chemo, stem cell transplant, maintenance, high school graduate...

Way to go Tanner!!

3 comments:

Granny JaneWednesday, February 10, 2010
Tannerboy, I just cannot find the words to express how proud of you we are and so very happy for you. We have seen the struggles, the pain, the long dreary days you have had to endure, the ups and downs, the unknown, the anxieties, but most of all we saw you - your courage, your good attitude, your determination, your faith, your never ending love ---- God certainly sent us an angel when he sent us you. We love you so much and you are such an inspiration to us all. May God bless you now and always. We love you.
Granny and Pop
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Cary FlemingThursday, February 11, 2010
Way to go Tanner!

Cary
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CathyThursday, February 11, 2010
Congratulations Tanner! It’s hard to image anyone including yourself could be more excited than your mom is about you getting your high school diploma. She is so proud of you and has very good reason to be. You definitely have accomplished a lot this past year and have plenty of reason to celebrate. I know God works in ways we don’t always understand but it looks like a lot of good is happening from all of this. I know you had to grow up fast in the last few months and experience things that most people will hopefully never have to experience. I just hope if I do or anyone I know has to they can do it with the same strength and courage you had. Remember God loves and watches over you always. Love, Cathy
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Recap

One summer day in 2009 my 17 year old son, Tanner Walker, decided to go swimming at a friend's house. While walking across the yard, his left leg collapsed and his tibia snapped completely in two.

Of course we were upset and worried that afternoon when I rushed him to the Emergency Room but I have to admit that the thought of cancer never entered our minds until the doctor came back into the room and told us "There's no easy was to say this other than just say it. There is a tumor in the bone".

They put Tanner in a splint and sent us home and over the next two weeks he saw several doctors who told us it "might be cancer - or it might be nothing" and eventually surgery was performed to repair the break and a biopsy was taken.

After the procedure, the surgeon came out and told us that the good news was that it wasn't cancer - but the bad news was that they didn't know what it was.

Two weeks later, my cell phone rang and it was the doctor wanting to speak to me and explain that they had found a Pathologist who had, finally, diagnosed the lesion as Multiple Myeloma. Can you imagine? I was at work and at that very moment my world, my son's world, our family's world - were all forever changed.

After a full body scan was performed Tanner was found to have hundreds - "innumerable"- lesions in the bones throughout his body and the Oncologist told me (privately) that at the stage he was at, he most likely only had two years to live.

Luckily, we were referred to the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy at UAMS in Little Rock Arkansas where Tanner underwent some of the most aggressive treatment available including chemotherapy and two stem cell transplants. Now, over three years later, he remains in full remission.

He receives maintenance treatment here locally and is back to living the life of a young man... A young man with Multiple Myeloma.

Tanner's Journey

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

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