Team Tanner
Donation protected
UPDATE:::
October 17, 2020
Journal entry by Angela Young — 1 hour ago
Yesterday was a long day for Tanner. He started at 7am with surgery to have his port needed for chemo placed in his chest and had a baseline audiogram to check his hearing. Both went very well. He has been having some issues with hearing mild echoing and ringing in his right ear but hopefully once we get treatment started that will be one of those things that are resolved. We met with his neurooncologist afterwards to go over all of his test results from this past week and to get everything solidified on the schedule for chemo. They have decided to move his chemo from Monday to Wednesday and do it at Children's as an inpatient as opposed to an outpatient. They would like to be able to more closely monitor him following the treatment and even though it will be hard for him to be in the hospital for 3 days where only one of us at a time can visit, we are glad that he will be so closely watched. He will be receiving 4-6 cycles of chemo taking place approximately 21 days apart and they will decide after his first treatment whether he will need to do all of his treatments as an inpatient or only the first one. His doctor also discussed our options for radiation following the chemo treatments and they have decided to go ahead and refer him to the mayo to receive the photon radiation that is done only there. I was worried about our insurance company as I had already contacted them regarding the mayo and know that it is out of network for us but Tanner's doctor assured us that they will advocate for him and negotiate with our insurance company to get him where he needs to be to receive the best treatment with the least financial strain on us as possible. Please pray that his first round of chemo goes well and that it helps to alleviate some of his discomfort.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Here’s an update on Tanners status from his mom on 10/9/2020:
We met with Tanner's neuro oncologist, Dr. Skrypek, to discuss Tanner's next steps and treatment options. We will have a busy couple weeks ahead of us. Next week will focus on getting everything Tanner needs to start chemo therapy. Beginning Monday and through the week he will be getting another lumbar puncture, a full MRI of his brain and spine, putting in a central line for chemo and discussing options as far as preserving sperm in a bank for the time in the future where he may want to start a family of his own. We have begun exploring the idea of a benefit as the cryobank is a huge expense but one that we feel is very important.
Once all of his tests are completed, he will start 4-6 cycles of chemotherapy, with the first treatment most likely happening Monday October 19th. We are anxious to get treatment started due to the fact that his symptoms seem to be getting worse at an incredibly fast rate. What started as a sore elbow has now become weakness and numbness on his entire right side, the inability to hold a pencil and write, as well as some difficulty with walking.
When his chemo has been successfully completed and his body has healed a little bit, he will begin radiation therapy. It was confirmed that the treatments will cause him to lose the hair he loves so much and instead of waiting to watch it fall out he took the leap himself and had his head shaved by a lifelong friend of mine. I've been requesting a real haircut for years now but this wasn't exactly how I pictured it happening. He has been assured that once treatment is over it will grow back fast and better than ever but in the meantime he has taken to wearing a skull cap or a hoodie to cover it up. We will keep everyone informed as treatment progresses as well as any plans in the future of a benefit to help with medical or cryobank bills. Thank you for all of your support through this process.
Please keep praying while keeping tanner in your thoughts Thank you for all of the support!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This is Tanners journey:
About a week ago Tanner was diagnosed with a tumor on his brain stem. Tanner is a senior at Anoka High School.
The mass on Tanner's brain is too dangerous of a location to simply remove or even for them to comfortably biopsy. He is currently at Abbott Northwestern hospital for the week. Covid rules will make it incredibly difficult for him to have any visitors as only one person is allowed to be with him each day.
September 24th from Tanner's mom, Angie: Every day seems to come with a few small pieces of information but also new mysteries and challenges as far as Tanner's case is concerned. Yesterday's tests included a CT scan to look for other types of cancer in the body that may have spread to the brain, another MRI, a plasma transfusion to begin treatment for all autoimmune disorders and another lumbar puncture to test for Lymphoma. With those tests they were able to rule out MS and even though they are telling us it is a very small chance, they have decided to test for other types of autoimmune disorders. The CT and MRI of the trunk region showed no other tumors and spots of cancer which means it is completely localized to the brain stem only.
Once the test for lymphoma comes back, hopefully Monday, we will have a much clearer picture of our path moving forward. Lymphoma would mean a non surgical cancer treatment while a negative lymphoma test brings us back to the option of a biopsy that even the neurosurgeons seem reluctant to perform.
Todd and I have begun researching the Mayo clinic as a possible option for a second opinion as "inoperable brain tumor" is not something any of us are willing to accept easily or without a fight. We want to say a huge thank you to everyone that has reached out and added tanner to their prayers.
Our family is absolutely humbled by the love and support we have been shown by our friends, family and entire community. Tanner has read every comment, get well wish and prayer and says thank you to everyone. He seems to be in good spirits but is not a fan of being poked, prodded and stuck inside a hospital. Hopefully he will be home soon.
Please keep Tanner in your thoughts and prayers as we begin navigating this unexpected journey.
October 17, 2020
Journal entry by Angela Young — 1 hour ago
Yesterday was a long day for Tanner. He started at 7am with surgery to have his port needed for chemo placed in his chest and had a baseline audiogram to check his hearing. Both went very well. He has been having some issues with hearing mild echoing and ringing in his right ear but hopefully once we get treatment started that will be one of those things that are resolved. We met with his neurooncologist afterwards to go over all of his test results from this past week and to get everything solidified on the schedule for chemo. They have decided to move his chemo from Monday to Wednesday and do it at Children's as an inpatient as opposed to an outpatient. They would like to be able to more closely monitor him following the treatment and even though it will be hard for him to be in the hospital for 3 days where only one of us at a time can visit, we are glad that he will be so closely watched. He will be receiving 4-6 cycles of chemo taking place approximately 21 days apart and they will decide after his first treatment whether he will need to do all of his treatments as an inpatient or only the first one. His doctor also discussed our options for radiation following the chemo treatments and they have decided to go ahead and refer him to the mayo to receive the photon radiation that is done only there. I was worried about our insurance company as I had already contacted them regarding the mayo and know that it is out of network for us but Tanner's doctor assured us that they will advocate for him and negotiate with our insurance company to get him where he needs to be to receive the best treatment with the least financial strain on us as possible. Please pray that his first round of chemo goes well and that it helps to alleviate some of his discomfort.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Here’s an update on Tanners status from his mom on 10/9/2020:
We met with Tanner's neuro oncologist, Dr. Skrypek, to discuss Tanner's next steps and treatment options. We will have a busy couple weeks ahead of us. Next week will focus on getting everything Tanner needs to start chemo therapy. Beginning Monday and through the week he will be getting another lumbar puncture, a full MRI of his brain and spine, putting in a central line for chemo and discussing options as far as preserving sperm in a bank for the time in the future where he may want to start a family of his own. We have begun exploring the idea of a benefit as the cryobank is a huge expense but one that we feel is very important.
Once all of his tests are completed, he will start 4-6 cycles of chemotherapy, with the first treatment most likely happening Monday October 19th. We are anxious to get treatment started due to the fact that his symptoms seem to be getting worse at an incredibly fast rate. What started as a sore elbow has now become weakness and numbness on his entire right side, the inability to hold a pencil and write, as well as some difficulty with walking.
When his chemo has been successfully completed and his body has healed a little bit, he will begin radiation therapy. It was confirmed that the treatments will cause him to lose the hair he loves so much and instead of waiting to watch it fall out he took the leap himself and had his head shaved by a lifelong friend of mine. I've been requesting a real haircut for years now but this wasn't exactly how I pictured it happening. He has been assured that once treatment is over it will grow back fast and better than ever but in the meantime he has taken to wearing a skull cap or a hoodie to cover it up. We will keep everyone informed as treatment progresses as well as any plans in the future of a benefit to help with medical or cryobank bills. Thank you for all of your support through this process.
Please keep praying while keeping tanner in your thoughts Thank you for all of the support!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This is Tanners journey:
About a week ago Tanner was diagnosed with a tumor on his brain stem. Tanner is a senior at Anoka High School.
The mass on Tanner's brain is too dangerous of a location to simply remove or even for them to comfortably biopsy. He is currently at Abbott Northwestern hospital for the week. Covid rules will make it incredibly difficult for him to have any visitors as only one person is allowed to be with him each day.
September 24th from Tanner's mom, Angie: Every day seems to come with a few small pieces of information but also new mysteries and challenges as far as Tanner's case is concerned. Yesterday's tests included a CT scan to look for other types of cancer in the body that may have spread to the brain, another MRI, a plasma transfusion to begin treatment for all autoimmune disorders and another lumbar puncture to test for Lymphoma. With those tests they were able to rule out MS and even though they are telling us it is a very small chance, they have decided to test for other types of autoimmune disorders. The CT and MRI of the trunk region showed no other tumors and spots of cancer which means it is completely localized to the brain stem only.
Once the test for lymphoma comes back, hopefully Monday, we will have a much clearer picture of our path moving forward. Lymphoma would mean a non surgical cancer treatment while a negative lymphoma test brings us back to the option of a biopsy that even the neurosurgeons seem reluctant to perform.
Todd and I have begun researching the Mayo clinic as a possible option for a second opinion as "inoperable brain tumor" is not something any of us are willing to accept easily or without a fight. We want to say a huge thank you to everyone that has reached out and added tanner to their prayers.
Our family is absolutely humbled by the love and support we have been shown by our friends, family and entire community. Tanner has read every comment, get well wish and prayer and says thank you to everyone. He seems to be in good spirits but is not a fan of being poked, prodded and stuck inside a hospital. Hopefully he will be home soon.
Please keep Tanner in your thoughts and prayers as we begin navigating this unexpected journey.
Organizer and beneficiary
Stephanie Colbert-scott
Organizer
Andover, MN
Angie Young
Beneficiary