Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

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Cledus
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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by Cledus » Wed Aug 12, 2020 7:50 am

blueandgoldblitz wrote:
Wed Aug 12, 2020 2:12 am
I'm just curious if someone knows the answer to this, but how does an adult kidney fit in a baby? And I'd imagine a heart transplant would have to come from another child? I'd have to think an adult heart would be way too big for a child's chest cavity.
You're not crazy. I had the exact same thoughts reading through everything.


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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by blueandgoldblitz » Thu Aug 13, 2020 12:14 am

Cledus wrote:
Wed Aug 12, 2020 7:50 am
blueandgoldblitz wrote:
Wed Aug 12, 2020 2:12 am
I'm just curious if someone knows the answer to this, but how does an adult kidney fit in a baby? And I'd imagine a heart transplant would have to come from another child? I'd have to think an adult heart would be way too big for a child's chest cavity.
You're not crazy. I had the exact same thoughts reading through everything.
I hope for the best, of course. I have 2 kids and I can't imagine having to go through something like this. I'm just too curious for my own good sometimes.



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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by WolfPtCat » Fri Aug 14, 2020 11:11 am

I believe there is enough room for an adult (small woman or adolescent) kidney to go into a baby. It would probably cause a bulge in the back of their lower torso.

The heart does have to be from an infant/toddler. I knew a pediatric transplant nurse, hearts always came from other children.



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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by blueandgoldblitz » Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:16 am

Thanks for the info. That significantly lowers the donor pool...



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MTCowpoke22
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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by MTCowpoke22 » Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:07 pm

There is some great news. Ty and Jyll have word that a hospital in Florida is willing to look at Liam! They think they can stabilize or help his kidneys enough that it will enable him to get on the heart and kidney transplant lists in the future. It's very early in the process, but the fact that someone/anyone is willing to give him a shot is HUGE! They will likely be moving to Gainesville for the next 8-12 months if/when all the details of moving Lyam are figured out.


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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by Cataholic » Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:29 pm

MTCowpoke22 wrote:
Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:07 pm
There is some great news. Ty and Jyll have word that a hospital in Florida is willing to look at Liam! They think they can stabilize or help his kidneys enough that it will enable him to get on the heart and kidney transplant lists in the future. It's very early in the process, but the fact that someone/anyone is willing to give him a shot is HUGE! They will likely be moving to Gainesville for the next 8-12 months if/when all the details of moving Lyam are figured out.
Great news! Thank you for sharing the update!



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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by MTCowpoke22 » Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:28 am

Lyam arrived in Gainsville yesterday. They were hoping to move him Monday, but weren't able to secure an echmo circuit until yesterday. Lyam made the flight in great shape with the flight team. Jyll was able to line up commercial flights and made it before Lyam, and I believe Ty is on the road between Denver and Florida today. Continued prayers and support are greatly appreciated. We are all hoping things start to turn around for this little fighter!!!


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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by ilovethecats » Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:47 am

MTCowpoke22 wrote:
Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:28 am
Lyam arrived in Gainsville yesterday. They were hoping to move him Monday, but weren't able to secure an echmo circuit until yesterday. Lyam made the flight in great shape with the flight team. Jyll was able to line up commercial flights and made it before Lyam, and I believe Ty is on the road between Denver and Florida today. Continued prayers and support are greatly appreciated. We are all hoping things start to turn around for this little fighter!!!
Thanks for this update. Prayers to the family.



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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by MTCowpoke22 » Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:07 am

Update: Things were going ok for Lyam until yesterday. His new doctors have been trying to do some different things and have been amazed at how he's been handling it. Originally, they were pleasantly surprised with how well he was doing upon arrival. They expected him to be in much worse shape. However, yesterday his arterial ECMO cannula slipped out of place. This made him very unstable (basically the ECMO has been keeping him alive), and they had to intubate and paralyze him immediately. He went in for emergency surgery. This included reopening his chest and putting him on bypass. It's very dangerous to do so as the med's he's on have thinned his blood to the point that any bleeding can be extremely detrimental. The doctor's were able to fix the ECMO cannulas. Sounds like they actually were planning on switching over to a different cannula type next week, but ended up doing it yesterday. He made it out of surgery, but was still bleeding a little and retained a lot of fluid. The immediate plan now is to drain off the excess fluid, rehab his lungs from all the fluid and transfusions, and control the bleeding. Things are still touch and go as he recovers. Doesn't sound like this was necessarily a step back, but may delay some of the other procedures planned as he'll have to recover from yesterday's surgery before they can move on to any other procedures. His doctor is amazed at how tough Lyam is! Ty and Jyll continue to thank everyone for all their support and prayers.


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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by ilovethecats » Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:22 am

MTCowpoke22 wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:07 am
Update: Things were going ok for Lyam until yesterday. His new doctors have been trying to do some different things and have been amazed at how he's been handling it. Originally, they were pleasantly surprised with how well he was doing upon arrival. They expected him to be in much worse shape. However, yesterday his arterial ECMO cannula slipped out of place. This made him very unstable (basically the ECMO has been keeping him alive), and they had to intubate and paralyze him immediately. He went in for emergency surgery. This included reopening his chest and putting him on bypass. It's very dangerous to do so as the med's he's on have thinned his blood to the point that any bleeding can be extremely detrimental. The doctor's were able to fix the ECMO cannulas. Sounds like they actually were planning on switching over to a different cannula type next week, but ended up doing it yesterday. He made it out of surgery, but was still bleeding a little and retained a lot of fluid. The immediate plan now is to drain off the excess fluid, rehab his lungs from all the fluid and transfusions, and control the bleeding. Things are still touch and go as he recovers. Doesn't sound like this was necessarily a step back, but may delay some of the other procedures planned as he'll have to recover from yesterday's surgery before they can move on to any other procedures. His doctor is amazed at how tough Lyam is! Ty and Jyll continue to thank everyone for all their support and prayers.
Wow. Heartbreaking but I really appreciate the updates. Hope the little guy just keeps fighting!



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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by MTCowpoke22 » Mon Dec 21, 2020 11:42 pm

Things have been up and down for Lyam over the past several weeks. This little fighter turned 1 on December 5th. He’s had more sugeries and transfusions than most will have in a lifetime. Lately there have been some issues with his tubes leaking into his body. But he’s also had some good days and made some gains as well. However, late this last week they discovered a fungal infection in his incision wound. It is festering and creating pressure. They are going to try to lance it and relieve the pressure. If this does not work, it’s possible Ty and Jyll saying goodbye to Lyam tonight. Ty didn’t say much more in his update, so I don’t have anymore details. We can only hope this works and he can start to recover from yet another setback.


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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by WolfPtCat » Tue Dec 22, 2020 8:24 am

Man, that's a tough update. I'd encourage everyone to take a moment to pray for this family.

I know it is just an add campaign, but St. Jude's Children's hospital hits the mark: "Give thanks for the healthy kids in your life...and give to those that are not"



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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by Joe Bobcat » Tue Dec 22, 2020 9:10 am

WolfPtCat wrote:
Tue Dec 22, 2020 8:24 am
Man, that's a tough update. I'd encourage everyone to take a moment to pray for this family.

I know it is just an add campaign, but St. Jude's Children's hospital hits the mark: "Give thanks for the healthy kids in your life...and give to those that are not"
I’ll admit to crying when reading his latest update and honestly it’s not the first time.


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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by MTCowpoke22 » Tue Dec 22, 2020 3:58 pm

Update from the family is that Lyam is stable, but still critical. Things are somewhere between hour by hour and day to day. They appreciate all the support from everyone!


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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by catbooster » Wed Dec 23, 2020 10:16 pm

I haven't visited this site all fall. I guess I was avoiding football entirely since our beloved Cats aren't playing. I came to the site to see if there was any info about Choate interviewing for the Boise State job.

I hadn't heard about this. I can't imagine how hard this is for the family. They are in our thoughts and prayers.



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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by MTCowpoke22 » Fri Dec 25, 2020 10:50 pm

Lyam’s procedure did work and relieved the pressure the infection caused. He will survive his second Christmas! However, now he has a hemotoma pushing on his stomach. He needs to be able to feed to continue to heal and grow, so tomorrow they will try a MRI and possibly a ultrasound to guide a needle to the hemotoma so they can ease the pressure there. It is very risky as he’s on a heavy dose of blood thinners due to being on ECMO. Any bleeding caused will be very difficult to stop.


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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by MTCowpoke22 » Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:33 pm

So, things have taken another turn in Florida. They did not attempt to drain the hemotoma on the 26th. The doctors were concerned that if it was blood, they would not be able to stop the bleeding if it was punctured to relieve the pressure. And the pediatric surgeon on duty was not willing to intervene to stop the bleeding. So, instead they inserted a feeding tube through his nose, past his stomach to the intestines so that he can be fed. However, yesterday he started puking. E-rays show that the mass on his belly has grown and is pushing on all of his bowels. Due to the fungal infection, he has no skin, fat, or muscle covering a large part of his belly, and the mass is pushing his bowels out through the incision wound. After many discussions with all doctors involved, they decided they have to drain the mass. He could still bleed out, but the current ped surgeon is willing to do whatever he can to stop it. Today, the radiologist was successful in draining over 300ml of fluid out of the mass. He is still fighting the fungal infection, which is very invasive, and seems to still be spreading. They cannot determine where it is or how it is spreading. As of now, he is not a candidate for a heart transplant, and he may possibly never will be due to the infection and the damage done to his digestive tract. At this point, they are giving him a 5% chance of beating this. For now it is day by day and hour by hour.
Needless to say, things have gone from bad to much worse in a hurry. Lyam is still with it mentally, although very sleepy, but his body is not going able to keep fighting for much longer unless this infection gets under control. I will say he has lost a lot of weight and the pictures Ty and Jyll are sharing are very startling compared to what we saw before Christmas. They aren't asking for anything beyond continued prayers.


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Re: Ty McDonald fighting for son's life

Post by iaafan » Wed Dec 30, 2020 4:01 pm

MTCowpoke22 wrote:
Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:33 pm
So, things have taken another turn in Florida. They did not attempt to drain the hemotoma on the 26th. The doctors were concerned that if it was blood, they would not be able to stop the bleeding if it was punctured to relieve the pressure. And the pediatric surgeon on duty was not willing to intervene to stop the bleeding. So, instead they inserted a feeding tube through his nose, past his stomach to the intestines so that he can be fed. However, yesterday he started puking. E-rays show that the mass on his belly has grown and is pushing on all of his bowels. Due to the fungal infection, he has no skin, fat, or muscle covering a large part of his belly, and the mass is pushing his bowels out through the incision wound. After many discussions with all doctors involved, they decided they have to drain the mass. He could still bleed out, but the current ped surgeon is willing to do whatever he can to stop it. Today, the radiologist was successful in draining over 300ml of fluid out of the mass. He is still fighting the fungal infection, which is very invasive, and seems to still be spreading. They cannot determine where it is or how it is spreading. As of now, he is not a candidate for a heart transplant, and he may possibly never will be due to the infection and the damage done to his digestive tract. At this point, they are giving him a 5% chance of beating this. For now it is day by day and hour by hour.
Needless to say, things have gone from bad to much worse in a hurry. Lyam is still with it mentally, although very sleepy, but his body is not going able to keep fighting for much longer unless this infection gets under control. I will say he has lost a lot of weight and the pictures Ty and Jyll are sharing are very startling compared to what we saw before Christmas. They aren't asking for anything beyond continued prayers.
Thanks for sharing. So heartbreaking. But we can never give up hope. I'm sure I can speak for everyone here when I say we're all praying or sending our best positive thoughts for Lyam!



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