There are HEROs among us
Tyler is a compassionate and studious 12-year-old braving Leukemia. He spends his free time
building model replicas of tanks, planes and cars. He enjoys learning new things and plans to be
a professional Web Game Designer when he grows up.
Jessica, Tyler’s mom, shares, “Although he is fighting and enduring hardships he never
became selfish or asked ‘why me.?’ He takes the bumps in the road with a grain of salt and
will be the first one to try and offer support to a(nother) child that is scared or crying”.
Tyler was first diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when he was 10 years old.
His family travels over 170 miles one way from their home in Michigan to the Children’s
Hospital. The driving back and forth every week caused them financial strain.
Mom admits, “The most challenging part about traveling to treatment is the cost. It is over 300
miles round trip for us to get to treatment. The cost of fuel hits our pockets very hard and has
caused us to make many sacrifices as a family. Tyler hates the drive and usually feels ill on the
drive home.”
During the most intense portions of his treatment, his social worker connected his family with
Compass to Care. Jessica remembers, “Knowing that we have a fuel card and a caseworker on
our side has taken so much anxiety and fear out of the equation for our entire family. There is
no way possible we could ever repay the beautiful generosity we have received.”
Among the costs and challenges of Tyler’s cancer journey are the preparations for travel days to
the hospital. Jessica carefully covers every possible item to make sure Tyler has a comfortable
and safe ride. She shares a more personal experience of what those difficult rides look like
commuting home after treatment.
“Our family prepares for travel days by marking the day on the calendar. We all watch it to
make sure we are ready to go. A couple days before treatment we all pack a bag for a couple of
days, since we never know how long we will have to stay. Tyler has had many setbacks. We
make sure we have snacks and games for the trip. Tyler takes his favorite
pillow, blanket and stuffed companion. We also make sure that we have extra bags for if he
gets sick coming home. We learned early on that after treatment a change of clothes is
necessary because some trips we have had to stop up to 5 times due to nausea. We take all his
medications, a couple icepacks for headaches and a cooler full of drinks. We also sit down the
night before and discuss what will take place the next day and discuss any fears or questions
Tyler may have”.
Jessica encourages and extends her support to parents whose child was just diagnosed with
cancer to “ Lean on those that want to help because a diagnosis like this will take a village”.
“There really are no words when you hear that your child has been diagnosed with a form of
cancer. A hug is barely sufficient. If I had to choose though, I guess it would be……I know it feels
as though your world is crashing down around you. The fear and anxiety you are feeling is
normal. There will be things you forget and things that you won’t want to remember. That is
completely normal also. The ride is going to be harsh but if you cling to your family and the
amazing support team that is going to surround you can overcome anything. There is amazing
help out there and you are not alone”.
Thank you, Tyler and Jessica, for sharing words of encouragement and wisdom. We are grateful
to be a small part of this journey. Because of the support of our generous donors, Compass to
Care has provided 68 trips to Tyler’s family.