Tyler was born on 19th September 2004. He was a really good baby & bought so much happiness to our family. He was instantly ‘daddys boy’ & much adored by his big sister Ashleigh. I of course, loved him as much as I thought you could possibly love a child. At the time, we had no idea just how precious this little boy’s life would be & just how much he would have to fight to stay with us.

Tyler was jaundiced for the first 6 weeks of his life & I had to put him on formula as he wasn’t gaining any weight. It’s only when we look at photos of him as a baby that we can see how horribly thin he looked. Once on formula he gained weight & seemed to be fine. He got sick on & off so we took him to doctors, at times hospitals, but were usually told he had a middle ear infection, chest infection etc.

Terry often commented that Tyler had a big belly - I dismissed it as ‘so do most toddlers’. Then he started complaining of the occasional tummy pain. This went on for a few weeks before we found a doctor who was thorough enough to investigate. It was then, through an ultrasound that we discovered Tyler’s main Tumour & once in Sydney Childrens’ Hospital, were given the devastating diagnosis of Neuroblastoma Stage 4 (main tumour in adrenal gland other lesions in the liver). This was 1st September 2006, Tyler was almost 2.

I can’t remember too much about all the symptoms but I do remember that he was a very sweaty boy & I would sometimes have to change his clothes during the night as they would be soaked. He also drooled a lot. Neither of these are considered actual symtoms of neuroblastoma, they are just what I remember.

Creating this new website, 2 1/2 years on from treatment, it all seems so surreal. Having to look at all the photos of when he was sick has been really hard & I had considered that it may be time to stop doing the journal. I then remembered back to when Tyler was first diagnosed & how I searched & searched for good stories, I needed to find survivors so that we could have HOPE. I did find some but there are not enough.

I’ve decided to continue & create this new journal to give others HOPE. Tyler is doing well at the moment & we can only HOPE that he continues to do so. He has been through so much. We were told in June 2007 that he had relapsed, to enjoy our time with him (possibly only 4-6 months), he is still here. Perhaps he is our miracle, perhaps he’ll remain in that 10-20% survival rate forever. Who knows. I just know that he is a wonderful, special, (naughty at times), now 5 year old boy who is about to start Kindy & is loving & living life to the fullest. His strength will never cease to amaze us!