Friends of Tyler Ryan

Mono-skiing

2009-02-15T22:45:00.003-05:00

Mono-skiing at Belleayre Mtn. Feb 13, 2009.

2009-02-03T22:10:00.002-05:00

Here is a News story that was on Cable Vision News back in December of 2008 about Tyler's Able Flight Scholarship. Thank to Cable Vision and Fred Robbins for the video.

Disney Marathon 2009 Pictures.

2009-01-14T18:19:00.003-05:00

Tyler competed in the Disney Marathon this past Sunday and Finished strong. His time was 2:44:30. He finished 3rd in his class and 13th overall. Thank you all so much for the donations and support. Without you this marathon would not have been possible. Here are some pictures from the race.

Disney Marathon 2009

2008-11-24T10:14:00.002-05:00

Tyler is doing the Disney marathon and needs your help!
Tyler is competing in the Disney Marathon in January 2009 and is raising money to keep him going to therapy and also for Push To Walk. Tyler will be doing the full marathon on January 11th. He will be competing on a hand cycle from Helen Hayes Hospital If you would like to donate to the cause and sponsor Tyler in this event please send a donation to
Maureen Ryan
72 Sherman Ave.
Walden, NY 12586

Make checks out to Push To Walk.
Thank you for the support and motivation to keep pushing.

More Pics....

2008-06-02T23:11:00.003-04:00

Rob, Sean(owner of the plane) and I

Rob my flight Instructor

Some New pictures

2008-06-02T22:42:00.007-04:00

Here are some pictures from Valley Forge on Sunday

My First Solo!

2008-06-02T10:47:00.001-04:00

Biking at Valley Forge

2008-05-28T23:54:00.005-04:00

Here are some more pictures of biking at Valley Forge National Park. On a dirt bike trail in the woods.

Beautiful Philly by air!!!

2008-05-24T16:19:00.003-04:00

Well I got up today and actually flew the plane. It was really awesome. Such a different feeling from a normal airliner. I took a few pictures from the cockpit while we were flying. Hopefully I will get back up tonight and fly some more. If the wind dies down it is a possibility. Id like to see Philly from the sky at night.

Finally got in the air!!

2008-05-22T19:36:00.009-04:00

Well I finally got in the air yesterday for the first time. It was a real short flight, but at least I got up. Today it was beautiful out, but really windy so we didn't go up. I took my bike to Valley Forge National Park and took some pics. It was a really nice park

The Bike trails were great here and the view was even better.

New posts. . .

2008-05-19T14:59:00.006-04:00

Sorry that the blog has not been updated in a while, I will fill you in what has been going on. We have been out to California one more time since the trip in January. The trip was great and Tyler was able to lock out his knees better than before. In the mean time he has been going to Push To Walk in NJ 2-3 times a week. There, his trainer Mark and him have been working on sitting balance, standing, riding the bike, Crawling, and a lot of other stuff. His core balance and strength has been greatly improved.

Tyler got a hand bike to get into shape with in April. It is a off road hand bike made by hand by One Off Titanium Inc. He rides it as much as possible and loves it. Here is a video of the bike he got.

There is also a video on youtube. Here is the link
http://youtube.com/watch?v=K4VyeUlLYQQ

Tyler is now in Philly for the next 4-5 weeks. He is learning to fly a airplane with hand controls. He won a scholarship from this non for profit company called Able flight. You can check out there website at www.ableflight.org They are paying for all of Tyler's training and hotel while he is in Philly. When he is done in June, he will have his sport pilots license and will be able to fly whenever he wants. He is learning to fly on a sport light airplane called a Sky Arrow. Here is a pic of the plane he will be flying.

2008-01-19T14:52:00.000-05:00

Project walk day 2

2008-01-11T02:15:00.000-05:00

2008-01-09T10:20:00.000-05:00

A Video from project walk...?/

get free... Skiing Video\Slideshow

2008-01-02T23:42:00.000-05:00

Skiing

2007-12-19T23:00:00.001-05:00

Tyler Tried Adaptive Skiing for the first time today. It was a lot of fun. He can not wait to get back onto the slope

Able Flight Scholarship

2007-12-19T22:45:00.000-05:00

Well Tyler received some good news. He will be learning how to fly in may. Check out this website about the scholarship.

www.Ableflight.org

Final day

2007-08-17T19:46:00.000-04:00

Today was the final day of therapy. Bri really tired me out. We worked on core stuff in the morning and then went straight to the walker. It was really cool. I took a lot of steps and Bri said I had really good pull through. After that I did some more crawling before going into the gait trainer for the last half hour. I am sad that its over but miss home. Tonight we are planning on going to the pier in Oceanside and getting dinner at Ruby's diner. It will be an amazing view. mMmMm. Cant wait. Be home tomorrow night.

Tyler

4 days down

2007-08-17T01:02:00.000-04:00

After a long and tiring day 4, we are finally coming to a rest and getting ready for bed. Today was a really fun day. Today at therapy I (yes this is Tyler now)I worked my core. I did some back extensions and lots of sit ups and crunches. I crawled again this time a lot better then the first. Bri had some new ideas for me and we tried them. After working out I was pretty tired. We decided to go to Torrey Pines and do a little para-gliding. Para-gliding is basically hang-gliding but with a parachute like glider. Basically you just run and jump off this cliff and catch the updrafts from the ocean. It was amazing. Tammie and I soared high above the beach. I could not believe how high you go. After a very smooth ride\takeoff\and landing from the Torrey Pines flight crew we went to the beach in Encinitas. It was beautiful. We borrowed a beach chair from the lifeguards and Tammie and I went into the ocean. It was like bath water. Now we are pretty tired so were off to bed. More updates tomorrow after day 5.

Thanks all for reading
Tyler

project walk day 3

2007-08-16T02:12:00.000-04:00

Today was day 3 at Project Walk. It was a good day. Tyler did a lot of standing exercises and worked on the Total Gym. He went on the Gait Trainer (For those who don't know, the gait trainer is a harness device used to hold a person over a walker or an elliptical machine. This mimics walking and the stride over and over has proven to improve connection to the legs from the brain.) and took some steps on the tread mill. He also used a new machine that mimicked crawling but vertical. After Therapy Tyler went on the FES bike( Bike that uses electrical stimulation to help to pedal the bike.) He was pretty tired. After therapy Tyler, Tammie and Aunt Maureen went to the San Diego Wild Life Reserve. We saw animals up close from a Guided Safari tour. It was amazing. We saw Rinos and Giraffs up close. After that we went to the beach to see the sunset. More to come tomorrow.

Project walk day 2

2007-08-14T19:01:00.001-04:00

Today was Tyler's second day at Project Walk. Today He took some assisted steps in the walker. His trainer Bree said they were better then the previous ones he took in May. He also got his butt kicked kneeling doing floor exercizes. He went on the gait trainer for a half hour and got some walking repetitions in. After workout, he went into the pool and hot tub to relax for a while. more to come tomorrow

Tyler Back at Project Walk

2007-08-14T02:00:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone Tyler is back at project walk. He arrived in California Saturday morning. Yesterday he went to Disney Land And had a blast. He went on all the rides and got to cut the lines. Tyler is here with his Aunt Maureen (Who Bought him the trip for his graduation present) and his girlfriend Tammie. Today was his first day of therapy. His Trainer Bree had him crawling across the floor. She said she would like to have him crawling by himself by the end of the week. He also worked on lots of machines and went into the gait trainer. That is all for now. more updates to come.

project walk pics

2007-05-26T23:24:00.000-04:00

if the video does not open, copy and paste this link below

http://youtube.com/watch?v=guxZsa6VuBQ

Tyler at Project Walk Day 3

2007-05-24T00:48:00.000-04:00

Tyler had another good workout at Project Walk today. This is the third day and he had yet to do the same exercise or use the same piece of equipment twice. He was supposed to use the Gait Trainer again today but he was so busy that time ran out. Maybe tomorrow.
After the work out we went to an aquarium closer to San Diego. It was small but had a lot of nice displays. Then we explored the local beaches between San Diego and Carlsbad. We found a Sail
Gider park near Torrey Pines beach and watched them take off and land for a while. They fly up and down the beaches. Tyler and Tammie wanted to try it so we talked to the owners about it. They said that they had many disabled people fly and it was not a problem. They were going to go up in tandem with a pilot but the winds had died down. They said we should try again tomorrow. The sun was out today and if it stays out again tomorrow they will try to fly.
The beaches are very nice here so we found one that had a trail out so Tyler could get out near the water. He got out of his chair (very gracefully( and sat in the sand for a while.

Tomorrow should be an adventure if the weather holds and Tyler and Tammie get to fly.

Thats all for now.

Two days of therapy left.

Tyler is at Project Walk this week

2007-05-22T13:56:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone

Tyler is at Project Walk in Carlsbad California this week (May 21-25). He will be spending 2 hours per day in therapy. The first day he was evaluated to see what he could do and how strong he is. He got to use a device called the power plate, which is a vibrating platform. It vibrates to help energize muscles and to help minimize bone density loss. Push to Walk in NJ just got one and Tyler is looking forward to using it when he gets back.
Tuesday, Tyler's trainer, Bree, said she would get him in a gait trainer. It is a harness that hangs from a beam over a treadmill like device. We can wait to see Tyler in this device. We are taking a lot of pictures and videos and hope to get them up this week. The Project Walk facility is amazing with tons of equipment and a lot of trainers and patients.
The Carlsbad area is very nice as well. It is on the ocean, about 35 miles north of San Diego. The weather has not been great yet, due to what the locals call the "May Gray". It is low clouds that hang over the coast and keep it from getting sunny. It is supposed to lift in the next day or so.

We also visited the San Diego Zoo on Sunday. It was very big and hilly. Pushing Tyler around was a bit of work. We got to see the famous Pandas and had a great day!

Thats all for today. More to come

Tyler at Push To Walk

2007-05-22T13:27:00.000-04:00

Update for February 19, 2007

2007-02-19T16:38:00.000-05:00

Tyler has now been going to Push to Walk for 3 weeks.

His progress has been very encouraging.

His routine consists of stretching on the therapy platform, using a stationary bike, using the standing frame, using the floor mats and boxes and using the ballet bar for standing. This past Saturday he rode the stationary bike and was able to pedal by himself!. He is able to use his hips and his hamstring muscles to simulate the pedal motion. He also reports a lot more sensation in his legs. He has gone to 6 sessions in the last 2 weeks and he says that he has a lot of sore muscles from all the hard work.

Tyler’s Trainer, Eric, told him that his diagnosis as a complete paraplegic must be wrong because of all the muscle movement and sensations he has. A complete means no movement or feeling. Tyler has an appointment at Helen Hayes this month and they will be surprised to see his progress. Maybe they will change his diagnosis!

Tyler has a standing frame on order and can’t wait to get it. The frame will allow him to stand and do exercises with his legs. When he stands it helps his body regulate blood pressure and takes the pressure off his lower back from sitting all the time. As he gets stronger, we hope he will be able to stand up by himself!. We have been videoing a lot of the sessions so maybe we can get some of them up on this site so you can see what Tyler is doing. The staff at Push to Walk work him hard for 2 hours at a time and he is pretty tired by the end of the session. That’s all for now, but if you read this, please leave a message and give Tyler some extra encouragement.

Love Tyler, Keegan, Justin, Lori and Jay

Tyler pics on You Tube

2007-02-13T08:46:00.000-05:00

Below is a video submission Tyler made of his work at Push to Walk...

Click on the play button in the middle of the screen (you may have to do it twice)

If that doesn't work...click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSZlD7yLOck

Saturday January 27

2007-01-31T08:35:00.000-05:00

Tyler visited a Physical Therapy office in Bloomingdale NJ today.

This office opened just 2 weeks ago and uses the same procedures that Project Walk does. Eric, the trainer, has been to California working with Project Walk and is certified.

He worked with Tyler for about an hour and a half, doing various exercises. He made Tyler kneel and balance himself against a box to work on his core muscles. The theory is to make his core muscles work to regain balance and help him move his body around. At one point Tyler is told to push against the trainer’s resistance. Eric said at a certain point in the extension of Tyler’s Left leg he can feel Tyler pushing against him. Tyler also said that he could feel the muscles in his left thigh working!!!. This is a big step and it means that Tyler is continuing to recover. Eric also told us that Thoracic back injury patients typically regain feeling and motion form the waist down. Cervical injury patients typically recover form toes up. That explains why Tyler has reported feeling throbbing and feeling in thighs but not his toes. In all it was a very promising visit and Tyler is already scheduled to go back on Tuesday 1/30 for another workout.

That’s all for now.
Thank you all for your help!

LoveTyler, Keegan, Justin , Lori and Jay

Update for January 17

2007-01-18T09:27:00.000-05:00

Wednesday - Tyler has been back at school this week. He has classes from 9:30- to 12:30 every day. He has use of the elevator at school so he can go up to the second floor if he has a class to get to.

Tyler has been looking at some of the different Physical Therapy options available and is interested in a facility called Project Walk. They are based in California and Portland and have a great website; ProjectWalk-portland.org.

We just found out today that there is an facility opening in North Jersey that is run by Project Walk trained specialists. We are planning on visiting them soon. The Project Walk philosophy is to work all the parts of your body to keep in shape, but also to make your body think that your legs/lower body are still working. This will reduce the muscle and bone density loss that SCI patients sometimes experience. Check out the website for more information.

Thats all for now and as always thank you to everyone for your continued support.

LoveTyler, Keegan Justin, Lori and Jay

Update for January 14,2007

2007-01-18T09:25:00.000-05:00

We just returned from Orlando last night after a weeks vacation.

We flew on Jet Blue from Stewart and stayed at Orange Lake resort just a few miles away from Disney World. The weather was great and everyone had a lot of fun. We celebrated Lori's parents 50th anniversary while we were down there.

Tyler did great in Disney. He went on all the rides including Test Track, Space Mountain, Run away Train, Everest, Mission Space, Finding Nemo, Dinosaurs, Soaring and the safari ride. The rockin roller coaster and splash mountain were closed. He didn't want to try Tower of Terror because of the quick drop and stopping. Because of the wheelchair, we were able to get a special pass to get on the rides through a special entrance. We never had to wait more than 15 minutes for any ride and we passed by all the people in the regular lines. We also got to go at least twice on most rides because of the time it takes to transfer. We spent three days in Disney: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and MGM studios.

Everybody was pretty tired by the end of the third day.

The resort we stayed in had about 9 pools so we had lots to do at the resort as well.

Tyler went swimming, hot tubbing and played lots of mini golf. It was a very full week and everyone had lots of fun.

Now it is back to the real world: School and work.

Thats all for now and we hope to see you at the Dinner next weekend

LoveTyler, Keegan, Justin, Lori and Jay

Tyler in the News

2007-01-03T18:20:00.000-05:00

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612280365

Update for Wednesday Jan 3,2007

2007-01-03T18:19:00.000-05:00

The updates have been a little slow lately because of the holidays, but we sincerely hope that everyone had a merry Christmas and safe New Years.

Tyler had plenty of things to keep him busy over the last week of so: visits from friends, getting his school work caught up with his Tutor (Mrs Halick),visits from the Nurse and the Physical Therapist, going to VC to talk to the teachers, going to the Winter Concert at VC, watching VC girls beat Wallkill in the holiday tournament, going to the triple overtime NY Knicks game at MSG, getting the hand controls for his car installed, visiting with family, eating big holiday meals and sleeping.The next big event will be going to Orlando this weekend. The airplane will be challanging but Tyler has seen first hand what wheelchair bound kids have to deal with. He helps with the Irish American Youth team that goes to Dublin every year for an Olympics style competition. They have 10+ wheelchair atheletes to get on the plane and take care of.We might not have internet access in the condo we are staying at next week so the updates may be delayed as we find a place to update from.
Till next time...Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at the Dinner on Jan 20th.
Tyler, Keegan, Justin, Lori,and Jay

New Years Update

2007-01-03T18:15:00.000-05:00

We hope everyone had a safe New Years and had lots of fun at whatever party you went to. Tyler stayed home and watched the ball drop with Tammie. New years day was also a quiet day spent watching some movies and football.

This week Tyler will be going to School to talk to the Teachers and Guidance about his work. He is mostly caught up with this Tutor and needs to hand in his work to get more.The hand controls will be installed in the car this week so Tyler will finally be able to drive his car. He has been a passenger many times but is eager to drive the car.

Our trip to Florida is coming up quick. We will be leaving friday from Stewart and returning on Sat 1/13. We are all looking forward to the trip, All of Lori's family will be there to celebrate her parents 50th anniversary. We hope that everyone has had a wonderful Holiday season and will have a great New Year in 2007. The next big event will be the Dinner Dance on the 20th of January.

We look forward to seeing everyone there.
Thank you for everything
Tyler, Keegan , Justin, Lori and Jay

Updates...Get your Updates...

2007-01-02T09:12:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lag in posting...someday, I'll get those Ryans to get the hang of this blogger...Tyler, hope to see you in Disney next week! I'll be there too! :)

Update for Wed-Friday 12/20-22
Tyler has been pretty busy this week at home.
He had visits from lots of freinds and went to see the Christmas concert at Valley Central High School. He also had visits from his Tutor, Physical Therapist and Nurse. And he has gone Christmas Shopping in between all of these visits!Those of you have been reading this blog since the begining have seen daily jokes being posted by Christina Farone. This has been a really nice thing and we know how much effort it takes to keep something like this going for this long. Tyler would like to thank Christina for all her work. There have been 6500 visitors to this blog as well who get a chuckle out of her jokes every day. Thank you Christina and Merry Christmas to you and your family.As we get closer to Christmas it will be hard for most to check this blog. so we want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We have The best present of all; Tyler home and healthy, and many thanks go out to all of you for your generosity, kind thoughts and Prayers in making this happen.We hope you all enjoy the holidays with your families and please be safe if your are traveling this year.
Thank you and God Bless all of you
Tyler, Keegan, Justin Lori and Jay

Christmas Day 12/25/06
We would like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.There have been so many people doing so many good things for Tyler that is seems impossible to say thank you to everyone. We know that you have had thank you letters sent to you but we want you all to know that we have been told of all your generous donations and want to add our personal thanks as well.Tyler has come a long way since October 9, and has a long way to go. It is comforting to know of all the love and support we have received from everyone, and that so many are offering to do more.All your help and Tyler healthy and home makes this a very special Christmas.
Thank you
Love
Tyler, Keegan, Justin, Lori and Jay

Update for Wednesday-Thursday Dec 27-28
Tyler had an opportunity to go to the Knicks game on Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. He was asked to the game by Peter Schuyler, who plays for the Rollin Knicks Wheelchair Basketball team. They played at half time of the Knicks-Piston game. It was very interesting to see the Rollin Knicks play and the whole Garden was cheering like crazy for them. The Knick-Piston game went into 3 overtimes before the Knicks finally won. It was a great game and a big thank you goes to Peter and his family for the invitation.On thursday Tyler had an appointment to get measured for the seat back on his new wheelchair at Helen Hayes. While he was there we discovered that Tyler was on the front page of the Rockland Herald Newspaper! We will try to get a link to the article for everyone to read. While at HH he saw a few of his Therapists and they all came over to say hi and to see how he was doing. He changed to a new loaner chair until his comes in.The new loaner is lighter and rolls better than the one he was using. It will be easier when we go to Disney next week. All of Lori's family will be going down to celebrate her Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary!.Thats all for now...until the next update
Thank you
Tyler, Keegan Justin Lori and Jay

Update for Monday and Tuesday 12-18,19

2006-12-21T14:39:00.000-05:00

Tyler is working on adjusting to being at home and getting around a smaller environment. He has to work hard to get into and out of bed and the corners are tighter than at HH.He has gone Christmas Shopping twice with Justin and Emily and is almost done!

Tammy comes home from college on Wednesday and wil be home through January, so he will have some time to visit,not just the few days they saw each other at the hospitals.

He has met with his visiting nurse and will see a physical therapist late this week. So far he has got most of his workouts pushing his wheelchair in the malls and getting in and out of the car.

Next week Tyler may go to Golds Gym to see how he can work out there.
Thats all for now
Thank you again
Tyler, Keegan, Justin Lori and Jay

Weekend Update Dec 16-17

2006-12-18T09:26:00.000-05:00

Tyler came home on Saturday.

We moved the last of his stuff from his room at HH. It was kind of sad leaving all the great people there but it is even better being home. The staff had a small party for Tyler on Friday to say goodbye. They are going to miss him alot.

On Saturday night, some of Tyler's friends came over to welcome him back. They played the guitar and joked around for hours. They also shaved 1/2 of Johnny Murray's beard off just for fun. It seesm things are getting back to normal pretty quick!

On Sunday, Tyler went to the NY Giants Football game. It was an interesting experience being among a very large and noisy crowd, but we made it through ok. There is a special wheelchair section in the end zone at the top of the field level seats. It is tucked up under the next level so it is protected from the weather and the view was great. The Giants didn't play well but the game was exciting to the end.

Monday will be the first time he doesn't have the HH routine to wake up to, so it should be a new challenge. There is plenty of homework to keep him occupied and he will have a therapist coming to the house a few times this week.

Thank you for all your help through this.

Tyler, Keegan Justin, Lori and Jay

Last 2 days at Helen Hayes Dec 14-15

2006-12-15T17:24:00.000-05:00

Tyler has spent his last 2 days continuing his therapy and saying goodbye to the staff.

He did his swimming routine on Thursday, and Friday was a normal 4 hours of physical, Occupational, and Recreational therapy.

He got his loaner wheelchair on Thursday and it needed some adjustments so Jeanine took care of it.

Tyler was giving out some Christmas Decorations that Mrs Kastberg made for him. They are Little Angels and the Staff loved them. A big THANK YOU to Mrs Kastberg for her wonderful Angels.

The next update will be when Tyler is home so keep those comments coming and we will see everybody at home.

Thank you for all you have done

Tyler Keegan Justin Lori and Jay

Update for Wednesday 12-13

2006-12-14T08:53:00.000-05:00

Tyler had a lot of things to do today.

Besides his usual therapy sessions, he went out on a community evaluation with Dave the Recreation Therapist. They take him out to a store or restaurant and get him used to obstacles he will come upon. This time he had a nice lunch with Dave.

Tyler also was part of a news story that the Rockland News was doing about Helen Hayes Hospital. The newspaper people were interviewing and taking pictures of some of the patients, including Tyler. So we will have to look for the story in the paper.

The big news of the day is that Tyler will be discharged from Rehab this Saturday.

It will be great having him home for good. He will work on his school work and a therapist will come in to keep his muscles strong.

This is the best Christmas present we could ask for.

Thanks again for all your thoughts prayers and your generosity.

Tyler, Keegan Justin Lori and Jay

Update for Tuesday Dec 12

2006-12-13T18:04:00.000-05:00

Tyler took another driving lesson today and is now officially qualified to drive a modified car. He will have to go to the DMV and get his license changed to reflect this. He is excited to have this done.

Next is getting him a car and modifying it with hand controls.

He has one picked out and it should be taken care of soon.

There is a company in Montgomery that specializes in this type of modification.

He is getting very close to being released from HH and if all goes well he will be home for good this weekend.

Then he will work with a tutor to get caught up in school and do some therapy here at home.

Thats all for now

Thank you
Tyler, Justin Keegan Lori and Jay

Arctic Cat Snowmobile Auction.

2006-12-11T11:56:00.000-05:00

Auction delayed on account of E-bay hackers...check back here for new information!

2003 Arctic Cat Snopro Factory race sled.

This sled was donated by Doug Mowery Home Builders for auction to benefit "The Friends of Tyler Ryan". There is no title, but winning bidder will receive a full bill of sale. All proceeds will be donated to the family to help defer costs of home revisions and medical bills.

Some details on the sled...

Full 800cc factory race motor. Twin pipes, "V force reeds, Fox suspension. Engine is fresh and sled is in excellent condition. Engine runs on VP C-12 race fuel. Track is studded, and is also in excellent condition. Sled was raced by Matt Boron while he was a member of the Arctic Cat factory team. Matt and Jason Boron have both been to the X Games in both Snocross and Hillcross.

Winning bidder will be responsible for all shipping costs and arrangements. Please feel free to attach any questions to this post. We will do our best to answer them all.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2003-Arctic-Cat-800cc-Factory-Race-Sled_W0QQitemZ140062032563QQihZ004QQcategoryZ42596QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Auction Scheduled to end: December 13, 2006 @ 6PM

Update for the Weekend of Dec 9-10

2006-12-11T08:42:00.000-05:00

The weekend marks the 2 month point since Tyler's accident (October 9). It also will be the last weekend he has to stay at Helen Hayes if all goes well this week. The original release date was Dec 23. After 2-3 weeks at HH the date was changed to the 13th. It has been unclear if the 13th is the final day but we are planning for this to be the last week.

Tyler spent Saturday out of the hospital looking at a "new" car and afterwards he came home for a few hours. Murph, Trumpet Dan and Tim came by to hang out. Dan showed off his trombone "skills" for us and he promised to keep working on them.
Later on we went to Sweeneys for a late dinner and it was back to HH for the 9:00 curfew. We were 20 minutes late but nobody saw us come in , so we avoided the mean nurse.

On Sunday Tyler had visitors from the Irish American team. Tyler has travelled to Ireland with them over the last 4-5 summers. They brought him some Irish Candy (Curley Whirleys) and bought him a nice lunch. He spent the rest of the day watching the NY Jets look like they forgot how to play football against the Buffalo Bills. Of course, the family from Rochester enjoyed seeing the Bills whip the Jets, and we will hear from them soon about it!

Monday Tyler should get another chance to drive a car, this time on the Palisades Parkway!

Thats all for now...

Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers and support.

Love

Tyler, Keergan, Justin , Lori and Jay

Update for Friday 12-8

2006-12-11T08:36:00.000-05:00

Tyler had a fun day today because he got to drive a specially modified car today. He drove out of Helen Hayes into the local neighborhood. He said it was a little touchy getting used to the controls but he got the hang of it pretty quick. He only had one scare going around a corner too fast. The Therapist had to tell him to slow it down a little. On Monday he gets to go on the Palisades parkway. Hopefully he doesn't have a "need for speed " moment on the parkway.

He also had to "practice" falling out of his wheelchair today. He fell out and then had to work on getting back in the chair. This is in case it happens when no one is around to help him. He was able to do it but it is a lot of work.

Tomorrow Tyler should be home around noon and then will have to go back by 7:30.

Justin went back to work at Johnstons today for the first time since his accident. He is feeling no pain in his shoulder anymore.

Thats all for now.. Hopefully only a week left at HH!!!

Thanks again

Tyler, Keegan Justin Lori and Jay

Update for Monday Dec 4 to Wednesday Dec 6

2006-12-07T13:57:00.000-05:00

Tyler has settled into a routine at Helen Hayes that keeps him pretty busy all day. That is why there is not a lot of news things to report about. He has been in the therapy pool (Tuesday) and has been lifting weight in the wellness center all week.

His muscules are pretty sore this week.

The other thing that takes up his time is the pile of homework he is slowly getting through. He works on it as much as he can after therapy. He is usually tired so it is tough to do but he is getting through it.

Tyler will be driving in a special car on friday. It has hand controls instead of foot controls. It should not be a problem, but then he has to modify his license to relect the change.

Thats all for now. Tyler will be home this weekend to visit and if all goes well next week he will be released by the end of week.

Thank you again for all you have done and we look forward to having Tyler home for good soon

Love

Tyler Justin Keegan Lori and Jay

Update for Saturday 12/2/06

2006-12-04T08:46:00.000-05:00

Tyler went to the benefit concert at the Walden Firehouse today. It was a great success. So many of Tyler's freinds turned out to see him and the bands were great. A very special thank you goes to Joyce and Vera for putting this all together. They worked very hard and it showed as everything went so smooth. All the bands sounded awesome and the people there had a lot of fun. There were raffles all afternoon from local merchants and a lot of people went home with some nice prizes: microwave, guitar, free food certificates, autographed stuff from OC Choppers...etc.
The ladies at the firehouse ran the food concession and did a wonderful job serving hot dogs, Pizza, and drinks.

The highlight of the night had to be when Tyler's band, Skawiian Punch made a surprise appearance. Tyler did not know they were going to play, they surprised him with his guitar and brought him up on stage for 2 songs. Later on they played 3 more songs after Matt Negron got there from work. He had a great time and everyone gave him a big hand afterwards. Tyler has a really nice group of friends in the music community. When he got back to HH he said he had a great day, even though he was very sore from sitting up all day and playing the guitar so much. He said it was worth the pain to be with his friends and play music and can't wait to get back home to practice with the band soon.

There were a lot of pictures taken and we hope to get some of them up here soon!!

Thnak you again to everyone that made this such a big success. You are all truly great friends.

Tyler, Keegan, Justin, Lori And Jay

Update for Friday 12/1/06

2006-12-04T08:45:00.000-05:00

Tyler had to work extra hard today. He had to lay down of the floor and climb back up on to the therapy bed by himself. It takes alot of strength and energy to pull your body up about 2 feet onto the platform. Later on he had a dip contest with Jeanine, his Physical therapist. He had to use his arms to lower himself and come back up again with a 10 pound weight on his lap. He did 25 dips, but Jeanine did 30, without any extra weight. They considered it a dead heat. Next time he says he is going to beat her.
He can't wait to go to the concert tomorrow at the firehouse. It should be a lot of fun and Mrs Sawyer has worked really hard so we know it is going to be great. We wil see you all there

Thank you for everything

Tyler, Justin Keegan Lori and Jay

Update for Thursday 11/30

2006-11-30T22:46:00.000-05:00

Tyler finally went swimming today! He spent about 25 minutes in the water floating around. He will be doing pool therapy every tuesday and Thursday now. He will be doing exercises in the water during the next sessions. He said the water was nice and warm and he enjoyed it.

He spent most of the evening coming up with something witty to put in his yearbook quote. You will all have to wait for the yearbook to come out to find out how he did.

The count down is now 13 days

Don't forget your tickets for the show on saturday. Tyler is looking forward to it. The Sawyers have worked really hard on this and it looks like its going to be a great time for everybody.

Thank you for all you have done

Tyler, Lori Justin Keegan and Jay

Fun things happening for Tyler...

2006-11-30T08:40:00.000-05:00

Today, November 30, students at Most Precious Blood School are wearing Jeans for Tyler! Each student paid $5 to go to the "Friends of Tyler Ryan" fund for the right to wear denim! Tyler can tell you how special that is!

Tomorrow, the Faculty and Staff of the Valley Central School District will be doing the same thing.

Thank you to both groups for your support.

Don't forget the big concert this weekend at the Walden Firehouse.

Tyler is planning to be there, and some of the bands scheduled to be in attendance...

FASCID
LEAPS & BOUNDS
LEMONADE GRENADE
NAKED CITIZENS
THE GRADUAL CAUSE
BENNY & FRIENDS

Tomorrow is the last day to buy your tickets in school.

If you need tickets, and are not a VC student, please call Joyce Sawyer at 778-1926

They will not be sold at the door.

Update for Monday-Wednesday 11/27-29

2006-11-30T08:38:00.000-05:00

Tyler has been working hard this week, getting his arm strength up and working on his transfers. He also tried out some new wheelchairs this week, trying to find one that will work for him when he leaves rehab. He is getting fond of the carbon fiber/titanium models that are quick, are easy to steer and responsive!!!

Rumors are he may be going in the pool thursday so stay tuned for that news.

Tyler is looking forward to the concert this weekend at the firehouse. He is hoping that everyone gets tickets at school because they will not be sold at the door.

It has been harder to update Tyler's condition as he is settled into a routine of therapy from 10 to 4 every day. As his therapy winds down we hope to have more news to write about.

Keep stopping by and leave a comment on the right because Tyler enjoys reading all of them. We are trying to get some pictures up of him doing rehab, and maybe some pictures from the concert!!

Till the next update thank you for al your help and we are counting the days until

Tyler comes home 14 left!!

Love

Tyler, Lori Justin Keegan and Jay

Update for Thanksgiving Weekend

2006-11-27T09:04:00.000-05:00

Tyler came home for Thanksgiving. It was great to have him there. This is the first dinner we have had as a family since Oct 9 and it was special. We were able to share it with Mary from Ireland, who has never been to a Thanksgiving celebration before. So it was twice as special. She got to see how crazy our family can get. She also got to eat some of the best food around prepared by Grandma Ryan!!!!

On Friday Tyler had to get back to work. No rest for him.. 3 1/2 hours of therapy back at HH.

Saturday he got to come home again for the day. He hung around watching videos with Tammy and got to relax. Whie it was warm he got to take a stroll down the road. It was good to get some fresh air. It won't be long before the weather gets cold and snowy so these days are welcome!!!

Tyler is planning to be at the concert at the Walden Firehouse next week so tell eveybody you know to get thier tickets in advance. They are being sold at VC.

Here are some interesting facts:
*This blog has had over 5000 visitors with nearly 200 comments left.
*Tyler also has had about 800 messages sent to his myspace site.

If you add up all the cards and visitors, it is a pretty awesonme number. Thank you all.

Till the next update...

Thank you all

Tyler, Lori Justin Keegan and Jay

Thanksgiving 2006

2006-11-22T13:44:00.000-05:00

This Thanksgiving is a very special day for our family.

We are truly thankful to have Tyler home and healthy, and Justin is ready to go back to work.

We have all of the people who have touched Tyler’s life in some way to be thankful for: The Rescue squad, Helicopter crew, Emergency room Doctors and Nurses, Trauma ICU Doctors and Nurses, Pediatric Doctors and Nurses, The Staff at Helen Hayes, all the visitors to the hospitals, all the visitors to the Blog, all our friends at MPB and their families, all the people in the Trinity Lutheran Community, all the friends at VC, Wallkill, Pine Bush, BOCES, OCPSAL, everyone in our immediate family, friends from Ireland, and anyone else that we forgot to include.

We are blessed to have such a large, loving , caring group around us. We know that all your prayers and support for Tyler and Justin have helped to make them stronger and healthier. We cannot say thank you enough for all you have done for us.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and God bless you all.

Love,

Jay Lori Justin Tyler and Keegan

Benefit Concert December 2, 2006

2006-11-22T08:38:00.000-05:00

We received this message from Joyce Sawyer regarding this concert. As soon as we can get a list of bands playing, we will list them here.

We are having a fund raiser for the Tyler and his family on December 2nd from 2pm to 7pm at the Walden fire house.

There will be several local bands playing.

We are selling tickets to get in for $5.00 per person. Tickets must be purchased ahead of time.

We will be having numerous raffles. We have had such a great turn out from the community giving us items to raffle off, we will also be selling food and beverages. all proceeds will go to the Ryan family. We are very excited about this.

Tyler is scheduled to come to the event.

Tickets are limited so we want to get the word out its coming up quick. You can buy your tickets at Valley Central High School. Contact names are listed all over school. Or you can call 778-1926.

Late Late Update for the weekend 11/18-20

2006-11-21T09:22:00.000-05:00

This is the third attempt at posting this update.

I was sure I did it on Sunday night, but when I went back to check it was gone. Today I typed it all in and then the blog went crazy and I lost all my comment! Not frustrating at all!.

The weekend was the best one ever because Tyler got to come home on Saturday (for the day). Marley (our dog) was so excited to see Tyler that she jumped up on his lap and gave him a bunch of we sloppy dog smooches! Even thought they smelled like cat food, I'm sure that Tyler enjoyed them. He spent most of the day relaxing downstairs near the fire with friends. Later in the day he stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Ryans for a quick visit before going back to HH. He had a curfew of 9:00 and made it just in time (8:45). The next trip will be home for Thanksgiving at Grandmas. We will have a lot to be thankful for that day!

On Sunday, Tyler, Tammy and Katie spent the afternoon working on a 3D puzzle of the Chicago Tower. It finally got finished around 6pm and is proudly in display in Tylers room. It even glows in the dark. Krista and her family brought down some videos and brownies, and Micheal, Eric and Adele Aggazzi stopped by for a vist as well. Thanks guys.

On Monday, Tyler got a new wheelchair. It is smaller and lighter (titanium) and rolls real easy. Tyler reports that it pops bigger wheelies due to the position of the wheels.

This Wednesday, Tyler will go with his Occupational Therapist (Alex) to the mall for lunch. This will allow Alex to show him how to get around the obstacles in the mall and in the resturants. He is looking forward to being out again, as well as a better lunch.

Sorry again for the late post, I got a little lazy here. I will try to not drop the ball again.

Thanks again for all you help and comments to Tyler. He looks forward to reading them and they really cheer him up.

Love

Tyler, Keegan, Justin, Lori and Jay

Thursday 11/16 Update

2006-11-17T13:32:00.000-05:00

Tyler had a ggod day: working hard to improve his strength and eating pizza, wings and garlic knots to give him the energy to work hard. Justin Murphy and Connor Miller came by and had dinner with Tyler. All the food tasted good and the Irish dancing by Connor had everybody smiling. The maintenance guys plunging the sink and making some really gross noises didn't even bother us.

Tyler also had a visit from Jeff Cool. He is a fireman from Rescue 3 in the Bronx. He and is fellow fireman were forced to jumop from a burning building because of the flames. He suffered severe injurys and did his rehab at HH. Jeff told Tyler that he also had no feeling or movement in his legs until he started rehab in the pool. He walked out of HH!. Needless to say, we can't wait to get into the pool. It is kept a 97 degreees and will allow Tyler to move his lower body with less resistanace because he will be floating.

Tyler also wants to thank his cousins from upstate, Madeline and Emmy for the nice cards thay made and sent. The cards and pictures that Garrett, Abby, Austin, Michalya, Jenny, Alyissa, Aodhan and Keely made are great too!!

The biggest news of the day is we learned (and got certified on) how to transfer from wheelchair to car today. This means that Tyler can get a day pass to come home for a while. We plan to come home in saturday after 11:00 and stay until Tyler feels he wants to go back. So don;t go to HH to see him on saturday!!! He won't be there...

My apologies for messing up Pete Sklar's name I called him Paul and the spelling on his name is Schyler. Sorry Pete. Thanks for the visit and the cookies.

Thats all for now.. As always a big thanks to everyone and we hope to see everyone soon

Love
Tyler, Justin, Keegan Lori and Jay

Update for Monday-Wednesday 11/13-15

2006-11-15T18:40:00.000-05:00

Hello eveyone. Tyler has been working hard these last 3 days in his therapy classes. The highlight of the last 3 days is his ability to move from bed to chair without the transfer board. This means his upper arm strength allows him to move his lower body without needing much assistance.

Lori spent Tuesday with Tyler learning the proper way to move him from chair to bed and chair to car. Once the Therapists think that Tyler can move from his chair confidently with our help, he can get a day pass to leave the Hospital. That means he can come home for the day!!! We are hoping that this weekend works out for a day trip back home. He will be at Grandma Ryans for Thanksgiving for sure.

He also got to try out a new wheelchair but decided it didn't give his back the support he needed so he switched back.

Tyler also is able to move from the chair to the therapy table, and then balance with one hand while taking the chair apart with the other. It is really hard but he got it done.

His freind at HHH, Pete, is going to be released this weekend. He had a road bike accident back in August in Poughkeepsie. Tyler will miss his company as he is one of the younger guys there (23). We wish him the best of luck in his recovery. He has a strong positive attitude and should do well. Last week we got to see him do 25 pushups, clapping between each. It was quite impressive. Good Luck Pete!!

Thats all for now. Thank you again to everyone for all the help you have given our family. We truly appreciate it!!

Tyler, Justin, Keegan, Lori and Jay

Tyler's Weekend Nov 11/12

2006-11-13T08:38:00.000-05:00

The weekend was quiet, spent mostly relaxing and resting up the muscles for next week. Tyler had a few visitors and was able to get some good rest. He watched the Jets win on Sunday but fell asleep before seeing the Giants stink up the stadium.
Saturday was nice enough to go outside and shoot some baskets. Kristin and Katie were visting and gor to see his basketball skills in action. Matt, Steven and Dan also came to visit and helped Tyler polish off some of his large stash of cookies and candy.

Tyler is looking forward to another week of getting stronger and working with the nice Therapists at HH. Maybe this week he will also tackle some of his homework!

Thank you to everyone all your help from food to donations to prayers for Tyler. We appreciate everything you have done, you are the best.

Love

Tyler, Lori Justin Keegan and Jay

Update for Thursday and Friday 11/9-10

2006-11-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

Tyler had 2 days of some really hard therapy. He has been working hard on moving from bed to wheelchair and back again. He no longer uses the lift to move: he must do it himself and is doing a great job.

On Thursday, Tyler had a visit from Paul Skylar from Walden. Paul is presently in a wheelchair and plays for the rolling Knicks; a wheelchair basketball team. They have won numerous championships and have played in the Nets arena just to name a few. He was able to go outside and shoot a few baskets with Paul but he said it was very difficult and only made one basket. Shooting without using his lower body was very hard. Tyler also met Paul's coach; Joe Bravo who was also a very dynamic individual who intends on visiting Tyler again to talk to him about everything wheelchair related.

On Friday, a group of Physical Therapist students from Stony Brook University visited HHH. Tyler was one of the patients used to demonstrate PT techniques. It was interesting to note that Jeanine told the students that Tyler was one of the more advanced patients even though he was only at HHH for less than 2 weeks. He had to get in and out of bed for different groups and even got to show off his awesome wheelie skills for the students. On friday he had a very special visitor; Marley (our dog). She jumped up and gave him a bunch of wet kisses.

Tyler is looking forward to the weekend so he can rest up for next week. As he gets better with his transfers, he gets closer to being able to get out of the hospital for at least a few hours.

Thank you all for keeping Tyler in your prayers and expect to see him home for some quick visits soon.

We would like to express our sorrow to the Parasino family for the loss of their son, Jeffrey, earlier this week. Joanne and Jeff have helped us though our situation and we thank them for continuing to think of us even in midst of thier time of mourning. They are in our prayers and we ask everyone to pray for Jeffrey as well. Godspeed Jeffrey.

Love

Tyler, Lori Justin Keegan and Jay

Events for the Weekend 11/11 & 11/12/2006

2006-11-10T09:27:00.000-05:00

Many thnaks to Paul Bello and the editorial staff at the Wallkill Valley Times for another great article on Tyler. We are truly blessed.

On Saturday night at 7PM (11/11/06), Wallkill Masonic Lodge #627, located on Main Street in Walden will be holding a coffeehouse featuring the talents of local musicians such as Donna and the gang of COC Music store, Kevin and Sue Walker and Alec and Beth Scott of St. Andrew's Church as well as other area performers.

Admission is $15 per couple, and $10 per person and includes light snacks, beverages and door prizes all evening. ALL proceeds of this event will be donated to the Ryan Family.

For more information, call Dennis Zingarelli @ 629-8311.

Apologies to Jessica Winum for the obvious plagarism...thank you for putting this in your column.

Zulu warriors are better than hospital food.....

2006-11-08T21:58:00.000-05:00

Update for Wednesday Oct 8

Tyler had his first evaluation day by the Therapists and the Doctors. They said he is doing great and the best news of the day is he will be finished therapy on Dec 23 (8 weeks). So we have a date to look forward to.

He was working on his wheelchair skills today and claims to have done some sweet wheelies. They took the bars off the chair so he can get the front wheels up high to get over curbs. He learned alot of those skills in Ireland with the team.

Friday we get to work with Tyler on his transfer skills. When they think that everything is good, they will be able to give him a day pass to leave the hospital for a few hours at a time. Maybe next weekend (Nov 18) he can come home for a few hours to see everybody. We will keep you posted.

Cecilia email me at James.ryan@tbsny.toshiba.com. I can't believe you work at WMC.

Thats all for now.

Thank you for everything and can't wait to see everybody.

Love Tyler, Jay Lori Justin and Keeg
8:04 PM

Well... not everything...as promised...the incredible potato zulu warrior...

Update for Monday and Tuesday Nov 6-7

2006-11-07T15:46:00.000-05:00

This is a combined update for the first 2 days this week.

Tyler had a crummy day on Monday because his medications made him feel sick. He wasn't himself most all day and went to sleep around 7:30. Tuesday was a much better day. He felt good enough to dress himself without any help. He did his morning therapy and went to the cafeteria for Lunch. Today's therapy involved having him STAND in a special device. The device holds his body up straight and supports most of his weight for him. He stood for about 10 minutes and said it felt good.

Tonight he is excited to see Aunt Maureen because she is bringing him a "zulu sword" from her trip to South Africa. He has been waiting "patiently" for it to arrive. We can only hope it as cool as his zulu warrior sculpture made out of his potatoes last Sunday.

He took a picture of the sculpture with his cell phone and is trying to get it up on the website today.

He also changed to a lighter wheelchair on Monday and it seems to roll better abd steer easier.

It won't be long before he asks to have the wheelie bars removed so he can do some "sweet" tricks.

Thank you everybody and keep those comments coming....anybody got the goose joke figured out yet??

Tyler, Lori Jay Justin and Keegy

Dinner Dance for Tyler

2006-11-06T11:04:00.000-05:00

FRIENDS OF TYLER RYAN

Dinner Dance/Silent Auction
to be held at the Walden Firehouse
Saturday, January 20, 2007
6:00 PM – 10:30 PM
Doors open at 5:30
$50 per ticket - $400 per table of 8

Tickets sponsored by Walden Savings Bank

Send Payment and Ticket Requests to:

Most Precious Blood Athletic Department

Friends of Tyler Ryan

180 Ulster Avenue

Walden, NY 12586

If you would like a reserved table of 8, all checks for that table must be sent in together.

Ticket Sales are limited to 300, so all tickets will be sold on a first come, first serve basis.

Wear a wristband for Tyler

2006-11-06T09:23:00.000-05:00

Be the first on your block to sport our new jazzy wristbands in support of Tyler.

Bands are $5 each, and are available by contacting the following individuals....

Valley Central High School - Maggie Olley and Chelsea Michella

Most Precious Blood - Mrs. Torres

Wallkill High School - Nicole Wendel and Sarah Rossi

Pine Bush High School - Alicia Humphrey

John S. Burke Catholic - Christina Faraone

Orange County Community College - Kate Olley

Don't go to any of these schools?

You can get your band by e-mailing Rich Wendel at rw32561@aol.com (put phone number or return e-mail in the note) or by stopping by the offices of Tom & Kelley Olley, 152 Orange Avenue, Walden.

Update from the Weekend Nov 4-5

2006-11-06T09:08:00.000-05:00

Tyler had a busy weekend; lots of visitors and concerts to attend.

There were 3 concerts at HHH this weekend; Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Tyler went to Friday and Saturday's concerts. He even brought the robot (Robbie) to the concert on Saturday and made him dance. He had some surprise therapy on Sunday and missed the big band swing machine.

He was able to get our of his room alot this weekend with his visitors and even went outside and played his guitar with Tammy.

Sunday's dinner featured potato gnuocci (sp?) that Tyler was not crazy about. So he made a zulu warrior sculpture out of it using the raisins from his carrot salad and tinfoil. He has some pictures from his cell phone to prove it. His nurse got a good laugh over it when he showed her!

On Saturday there was a shoot a thon, a Varsity Boys and JV boys Basketball tournament and a bake sale at MPB school. There was also a JV girls tournament at St Stevens in Warwick. There was a great turnout for all the events. Thank you to all the particpants and the people who worked so hard to make the day a lot of fun and a great sucess.

The MPB varsity boys won thier tournament on Saturday and they took the winners plaque (sp?) to Tyler on Sunday. They dedicated the win to him. He was very happy to see the boys even though he was feeling a little under the weather.

On Monday he starts his first full week of therapy and is told he will be getting a different chair and a new Doctor by Wednesday.

Till the next update... Has anyone figured out the joke sent by Aodhan: Why does a goose cross the cement (hint the cement is wet)?

We are looking for help with this so give us your answers

LoveTyler, Jay Lori Justin and Keegan

Friday Nov 3 - Tyler Update

2006-11-06T09:03:00.000-05:00

UpdateTyler had a god day today.

He sat in his wheelchair from 10:30 to almost 7:30. There was a concert in the lobby of the hospital tonite. The singer/guitar player sang some folk songs, some Eagles, Don Mclean, and even played some banjo. It was very entertaining.

Tyler got a full workout today; both OT Occupational Therapy) and PT (Physical Therapy) The PT girl was from Walden and her cousin is Mike Northrip! (small world, huh!) In just one day, Tyler's strength has increased and he was more energy!

It must be the solid food he ate today (except for the soggy broccoli and cold pasta).

The weekend will be a little easier because he will not have such an intense therapy schedule.

Visitors can come into the hospital after 11:00am and stay through 9:00pm. There will be times when his nurses may ask visitors to leave the room , but only for 10-15 minutes.

Tomorrow there is another concert in the lobby: more of a rock and roll type band and sunday there is a big band swing concert. So the weekend should be very entertaining!

Thats all for now. Tyler was getting sleepy around 9:00 and hopefully will sleep good tonite.Thank you all for all you have done and good luck to all in the shoot a thon and the MPB basketball tournament. GO Crusaders!

A special thank you to the staff at Toshiba! Tom Becker and all the people at TBSNY are the best to work with and are truly great friends. Your prayers and support mean alot to Tyler and our family.

Tyler, Jay Lori Justin and Tyler

Update for Thursday Nov 2

2006-11-03T08:41:00.000-05:00

"Day 3 at boot camp"

Tyler spent more time in the wheelchair today: about 3 hours. He spent about 2 hours looking out the window (overlooking the Hudson river) where he almost got to see a guy in a wheelchair go down some stairs. Luckily the guy stopped in time!

He did about 3 hours of therapy today: working alot on his arm strength.

The visitor highlight of the day goes to Lori, who went out the doors to the basketball court and got locked out. She had to go around to the entrance to get back in. We thought it was pretty funny!

The best time to come and visit is after 4pm.

He is in room 11 in wing 2A.

Visitng hours end at 9PM.

Friday at 6pm there is a concert in the atrium if you want to stop by and catch some sweet tunes.

Can't wait to see everyone!

Thanks again...

Tyler, Lori, Justin, Jay, Keegan

Update for Tyler November 1

2006-11-01T21:33:00.000-05:00

First full day at HHH (Helen Hayes Hospital).

Tyler was able to sit up and move to a wheelchair where he did some easy arm exercises and took a small tour of the hospital. He met his Ocupational therapist, Physical therapist, Recreational therapist, and his local drug dealer. He had a small problem wih the medications this morning so he was not feeling himself most of the day. He was able to sit for over an hour in the wheelchair. Tomorrow he will get his daily schedule which will keep him busy from 10am to 3:30 pm monday through friday. His therapists said he did very well and should be able to improve and get stronger pretty quick.

Visiting hours are till 9PM each day, but he will not be up to visitors until the end of the week.

We will let you know when he can have visitors.

Thanks again...
Tyler, Lori, Jay, Justin and Keegan

Tyler on the Move!

2006-10-31T12:09:00.000-05:00

Don't go to Westchester tonight and expect to see Tyler...he's not there!

11:00 this morning, Tyler was transported to Helen Hayes Rehabilitation Center!

Tyler is just getting settled, so we will post here when Tyler is ready for Visitors

Directions to Helen Hayes:
Take the NYS Thruway South to exit 16. After the toll booth, take exit ramp following signs for Route 6. Make a left onto Route 32. Follow Route 32 briefly and at traffic light make a left onto Route 6 East. Follow Route 6( at the top of the mountain the road forks) and at the traffic circle, exit onto Palisades Interstate Parkway South. Continue on Palisades to exit 14. Turn left onto Willow Grove Road. Continue straight (road becomes Filors Lane) to Route 9W. Turn right onto Route 9W and hospital entrance is 1/8 mile on right.

Visiting Hours are 11am TO 9pm

How to get home:
When you leave the lot make a right. GO to stop sign, make a left. Next stop sign you will see a sign that says Railroad Avenue /Central Highway. Make a right toward Central Highway go to stop light(elementary school on left) make a right on to Central Highway. Go to next light, make a left onto Filors Lane. Go approx 2.1 miles to Pallisades PArkway north.

Record Article 10/31/2006

2006-10-31T08:49:00.000-05:00

Many thanks to Kevin Gleason of the The Times Herald Record for his wonderful article on Tyler.

For those of you out of the area who would like to read it, here is the link...I don't know if you will have to register as a recordonline user first, but if you do, it's free!
http://recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061031/SPORTS/610310325

Don't forget our upcoming events to benefit Tyler and his family...

11/04/2006 - Shoot-a-thon at Most Precious Blood (Open to the Public)

11/04 &11/05/2006 - Kick off Tournament - MPBS Basketball Program

11/15/2006 - Benefit Concert at Valley Central High School (more info to follow)

01/20/2007 - Dinner Dance to Benefit Tyler
Walden Firehouse, Orange Avenue, Walden
Tickets limited to 300 Guests
More information to Follow

Update for Monday Oct 30th

2006-10-30T21:36:00.000-05:00

Tyler's accident happened 3 weeks ago today.

This has been the longest 3 weeks of our lives, but the support, prayers and love that we have received from everybody has been wonderful. Without all of your help, I wonder if we would have been at this point so soon.

Today is a great news day.

Tyler had the left chest tube removed earlier today and is just waiting for clearance fron Dr Bacay to move to Helen Hayes! So everyone say an extra prayer for Tyler tonight! He no longer has any tubes or IV's, and is just on oral medication.

He had a Tutor come in today so he worked on some school work and is ready to get back to catch up on what he missed.

Thats all for now, except for a special thank you to Mr Larry Hermance. Your kind gift is a reminder of how generous and wonderful the people in our community are. We will say a prayer in Scotts memory and when everything settles down , we would like to thank you in person.

Tyler, Jay Lori Justin and Keegan

Benefit Concert for Tyler 11/15/06

2006-10-29T07:52:00.000-05:00

Webmaster's Note: I don't know who posted this, but I as soon as I get more information, I will pass it on.

November 15th there will be a benefit concert held at Valley Central High School, rt. 17k, Montgomery for Tyler Ryan......

It features Tyler's bandmates, SKAWAIIAN and BEHIND THE SILENCE (Campbell Decker from SHC) and many other great bands from the Hudson Valley region!

(Recently, these bands appeared at Club Crannell in Poughkeepsie and had a great response! They all have myspaces, too......)

Update on Tyler for thursday and Friday Oct 26/27

2006-10-27T19:43:00.000-04:00

This is a double update today because of the lack of time to send along the info.

Tyler had the right chest tube removed on Thursday morning and all is well. The left chest tube is now off suction and is using just gravity to drain any remaining fluid. If nothing much comes out in the next 24 hours, the Pulmonary Doc will remove this tube as well.

This is a big step towards getting to Helen Hayes!!!.

Tyler will stay at Westchester through the weekend and then if all goes well. move to rehab early next week.

At home, Justin had started back at college and hopes to get back to Johnstons very soon. It all depends on how his shoulder feels and how strong his arm will be. He has to use his big strong muscles when he works, so he need to be 100%.

Keegan is doing fine and is eating very well due to Mrs Sheehans crew of Cooks. Every thing has been delicious and I know because I have been home a few nights this week and got to eat the great dinners. Keegan has been a great help here at the house; taking care of the animals and keeping the house in order, without missing much school!

One last thing... there is a new tradition that Tyler's vistors must follow when they leave his room. Dan Cocks and Andre have created the "Dance for Tyler" tradition. When you leave and go through the Childrens Hospital lobby, there is a stage that you must dance on so Tyler can see you on the TV. There is a camera on the ceiling over the doors that he can watch you on. The crazier the dance the better. I believe that Justin Murphy and Conor may have participated in this too.So if you visit... don't forget to dance away.

Thats all for now, remember to keep Tyler in your prayers, they ARE working to make him stronger, and we all thank you for your help!

Tyler, Lori, Jay, Justin, Keegan

Ronald McDonald House Fund Raiser

2006-10-26T08:41:00.000-04:00

Last night I received a call from our friend Sarah Fowler from McDonalds in Montgomery.

Wednesday night's shindig raised $348.28 for the Ronald McDonald House, for a grand total of $519.63 for the two events.

Thank you to everyone who came out to support the Ronald McDonald House.

The banners you all signed are on their way to Tyler.

Update on Tyler for Tuesday Oct 24

2006-10-26T08:37:00.000-04:00

My apologies to Tyler for not moving this up sooner...I'm still in mourning over this whole Mets thing...

Sorry there was no update last night (Monday). I was home with Justin and Keegan and after Mrs Grahams AWESOME Lasanga dinner, we just crashed on the coach and watched TV.

Lori stayed with Tyler last night. He was moved from PICU to the Pedictric "Theatre" Neighborhood late last night. His new room number is 3212. They do not have regular hospital wards here. They have "neighborhoods" that have a theme. Tyler has been in the Literature and Theatre neighborhoods. There arealso sailing and sports neighborhoods for younger kids. They are very nice and quiet.

Today (tuesday) Tyler had physical therapy again and had to sit up and balance himself on the bed (with his legs hanging over) He did great according to the Therapist. Tomorrow she wants to get him to try to slide himself off the bed to a chair.His right chest tube may be removed tomorrow if all goes well. The left will stay until at least friday. That means he will be here at Westchester until the end of this week. Helen Hayes is just around the corner!!!!

YeahAunt Maureen is off to South Africa in 2 more days, so Tyler will be doing everything he can to make her happy when she gets back. That means working hard at rehab so he can give her an awesome birthday present ... maybe some wiggling toes!!

Happy birthday Aunt Maureen... we love you and we hope you have a great trip!

Thats all for now.

Tyler would also like to thank everyone for the prayer service held tonight. Mrs Boffa and Mrs Nutt did a great job. He can't wait to see the video.

Thank you all and Tyler sends a big long distance hug to everyone.

Tyler, Jay and Lori

Ronald McDonald House Fund Raiser

2006-10-23T14:02:00.000-04:00

The coupon is available in PDF format for the Ronald McDonald House Fund Raiser to be held on Wednesday.

http://eteamz.active.com/mpbsummer/files/rmcccoupon.pdf

There are eight coupons to a page, so share them with your friends!

Hope to see you there :)

Update for Sunday Oct 22

2006-10-23T10:49:00.000-04:00

.Tyler had a good day today. His fever has gone mostly away and he is in just a little pain from yesterday's surgery.Today he had the stiches removed from the back operation (9 days ago today!).The Doctor says the incision looks good.

He stayed in Pediatric ICU today and will stay tonight also. The Doctor wants to watch his progress from the ICU. His X-ray this morning looked very good compared to the last few days.

He will not have the same room when he leaves PICU this time. He is like a gypsy: moving all his cards, balloons, and other stuff you all have sent him from room to room. It is quite a job ( I know because I have had to do all the moving).

Tomorrow will be the 2 week mark since the accident. Thanks to all your prayers and good thoughts, Tyler is doing remarkably well and will continue to improve with all your help. Keep him in your prayers so he can get out of Westchester and move to Helen Hayes as soon as possible.

Thank you again for all you have done

Tyler, Jay Justin ,Keegan and Lori

Tyler Update...Saturday October 21st

2006-10-21T19:05:00.000-04:00

God bless Mrs Olley for her great work with this site. If she could only help with my horrible spelling!

This morning Tyler went into surgery to clean out some of the junk that has been causing his right lung to have problems.

The Doctor just came out and showed us a picture of the inside of his lung where they did the operation.

It had a lot of black junk and gross stuff that they cut out and sucked out with a tube. The Doctors said everything went very well. I just saw him and he is awake but groggy from the drugs.

He will be in Pediatric ICU for today and if all goes well he will be back in his room 3244 tomorrow.

By late today he should be able to eat and hopefully see the first game of the World Series tonight.

God bless everyone and we hope to see you all soon and give you a big thank you hug

Tyler, Lori and Jay

Tyler Update for Friday, October 20th!

2006-10-20T14:25:00.000-04:00

Don't Worry Mr. Ryan - I'm having trouble too. Guess the site is overwhelmed with all the well wishers for Tyler. I <3> watching the blog counter! Maybe a special recognition for our 1000th hit :)

Sorry for not posting an update yesterday, but the website would not allow me to update Thursday afternoon. It kept kicking me off the site after I typed all the info. It was very frustrating!!!.

So it is now Friday and Tyler is feeling good. He is having some problems getting his lungs to clear up. This is going to keep him at Westchester until at least Tuesday of next week. Then the big move to Helen Hayes.

Tyler had pleanty of visitors the last 2-3 days including Mr Tighe. There is few people who can light up a room like Tom Tighe and it helps Tyler to laugh at his jokes and "antics". Thank you Tom.

The Mets disappointed Tyler but they had a good season and the World Series should be s good one. At least he gets to watch the games on his cool TV. He also gets to see the Price is right every day which helps him work on his "Math" skills.

Keep Tyler in your prayers and expect to see him up and around soon

Thank you
Tyler, Jay and Lori

Ronald McDonald House Fund Raiser

2006-10-19T10:58:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday, (10/15), Friends of Tyler Ryan raised $172 for the Ronald McDonald House at Westchester Medical Center.

The Ryan family has been very blessed to have this house available to them. During Tyler's stay at Westchester, Jay and Lori have been just one floor above Tyler, and able to be with him any time, day or night.

As a way to say thank you to the Ronald McDonald House, we will be doing another fund raiser to benefit them.

Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Time: 5:30 PM until 7:30 PM
Where: McDonalds of Montgomery, Route 208, Montgomery.

How it works:
Take the coupon available by download here, (check back for coupon), and present it at the counter at McDonalds when placing your order. The store will then send 25% of your food purchase total to Ronald McDonald House at Westchester Medical Center.

It's that easy!

Coupons can be photocopied and sent to your friends!

Prayer Service for Tyler

2006-10-19T09:42:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, October 24th, St. Mary's Catholic Church in Montgomery will be holding a non-denominational prayer service to pray for Tyler and the entire Ryan Family.

Thank you to Fr. Dan, Mrs. Boffa and Mrs. Nutt for your hard work in putting this all together.

The service will begin at 7PM, and will be an evening of prayer, praise and song, thanking God for all His blessings, and prayer to bring healing to Tyler.

For more information - contact Mary Nutt (845) 457-3768

Shot-A-Thon for Tyler

2006-10-19T09:33:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, November 4th 8AM until 10:30AM, Most Precious Blood School Athletic Department will be sponsoring a Shot-a-Thon to benefit Tyler.

The shot-a-thon is open to all basketball players of all ages. You Don't have to be an MPB student to attend!

Sponsor sheets are available in PDF format by clicking here:
http://eteamz.active.com/mpbsummer/handouts/

Get sponsors - make shots! How simple can it be! :)

Flat sponsorships are the best!

All checks should be made payable to Most Precious Blood Athletic Department - put Friends of Tyler Ryan in the Memo!

Please bring all money raised with you when you come!

Tyler Update - Part Three!

2006-10-18T19:22:00.000-04:00

Don't Worry Mr. Ryan...none of this is any trouble! Hey Tyler - You gotta believe! :)

On Wednesday, Tyler moved out of the TICU to the Pediatric floor: Room 3244. He is resting comfortably and had some visitors today.

Ask Matt Negron about his "trip" when you see him.

The remainder of his time here will be spent waiting for his chest tubes to come out and then it is on to rehab. The move to the pediatric wing means he gets out of the noisy ICU wing and gets a big flat screen TV in his room.

He hopes that he gets to see at least 2 Mets games on the new TV!

Tyler can't wait to get back to see everybody and says thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers.

Tyler Update - Part Two!

2006-10-17T15:30:00.000-04:00

Moving this up to the front page for all to easily see....Lets go Mets!

It has been 1 week and 1 day since the accident and Tyler has made tremendous progress. He is no longer on any IV's and is resting more comfortably. He has some fluid in his left lung that wil need a tube to drain, and he will get that done later today.

If all goes well, he will be out of ICU and into a regular room for the rest of his stay here at Westchester.

The new chest tube will need a few days to drain the fluid and if nothing else comes up he will move to rehab.

Tyler wants to thanks everyone for thier suport and for visiting him here. When he gets to rehab, he expects to be able to see more people in a more relaxed setting.

He has asked for his saxaphone and guitar so he can practice again.

We expect to watch the Mets beat the Cards tonight so they can come back to NY tomorrow to finish them off.

Thanks again (we can never say that enought to everyone) and we love you all

Tyler, Lori and Jay (the author of this in case of spelling errors)
3:22 PM

Update from the Ryan Family

2006-10-17T08:37:00.000-04:00

This was posted by the Ryan family last night. Maybe as soon as we get Mr. Ryan all squared with logging in, we can get his posts at the top of the page. We'll keep working on it.

Hi everyoneTyler had a better late afternoon sunday and and evenb better day monday. He felt well enough to watch the Mets beats the feathers out of the Cardinals sunday night and is hoping for a repeat tonight.

He is starting to eat better and sit up in bed without as much pain.

He feels well enough today to have visitors if anyone wants to come dowm. The visiting hours are til 6:30 and then 8-9pm tonight.

He did some physical therapy today and is working hard to clear his lungs by doing deep breathing exercises and taking treatments.He had a lot of fun today with his new nurse who is tougher than the other nurses and sometimes not as gentle. Go Mets tonight as Tyler will be watching from his room.Thank you all again for all that you are doing and Tyler can't wait for the day he can see you all in person and thank you for being such good friends.

Another Fund Raiser! Win a Yamaha Motorbike!

2006-10-14T21:15:00.000-04:00

Thanks to a GENEROUS donation by the Yamaha Motorcycle Company, Dutchess Recreational Vehicles and Pro Action Suspension, Ace Motocross is raffling off a Yamaha TTR50 motorbike. (actual bike may vary)

Tickets are $10 each, and are available at Ace Motocross in Modena, or by calling Steve Murphy at 845-895-2578.

Drawing will be held October 29, 2006 at AceMotocross, you need not be present to win.

All proceeds will benefit the Ryan Family!

Send A Message to Tyler!!!

2006-10-14T20:20:00.000-04:00

Comment here to send a personal message to Tyler!

You don't have to be a Blogger member to post!

We will print them out Daily, and bring them to Tyler!

Don't forget to sign your comments :)

Update on Tyler

2006-10-14T19:30:00.000-04:00

Here is an update on Tyler.

Today he is very sore and has been very sleepy. The big news today is the Trama ICU got new state of the art beds and Tyler was moved to one today. Now when he moves up and down is will not hurt as much! He ate some food today. but skipped the ugly brown soup that the hospital provided. He said it looked bad but tasted worse. He will never complain about school food after this.
Thank you again for all the help you have given and offered and keep praying as we get set to move to Helen Hayes next week. As soon as Tyler feels a little better and his chest tube comes out, we are out of here...
We love you all

Tyler, Jay and Lori

A message from the Ryan Family

2006-10-14T07:43:00.000-04:00

I pulled this out of the comments section. It's worth its own post! Please visit the link for RMHC on the right.

The Fundraiser is to benefit the Ronald McDonald House at Westchester Medical Center. They provide a place for the family to stay and be close to their child during the stay. It has been a blessing as we have been able to check on Tyler throughout the night. The money raised will be used to support the facility here at Westchester. This is a nice way for Tyler to say thank you to the great people here. We hope you will be supportive.

Thanks Jay, Lori,and Tyler

McDonalds Fundraiser

2006-10-13T17:27:00.000-04:00

THIS SUNDAY - MCDONALD'S Route 208 - Montgomery

Come and Eat at McDonalds in Montgomery This Sunday (10/15/2006) between 10AM and 12 Noon.

A portion of the proceeds of all food sold will benefit Tyler through Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Tell EVERYONE you know!!! Put in in Your Xanga, on your MySpace and in your IM buddy info!

Tyler needs everyone's support!

Surgery Update (10/13/2006)

2006-10-13T13:59:00.000-04:00

Tyler came out of surgery around noon. The surgery went well. Tyler is in recovery, and it will still be quite a while until they fully know the extent of his injuries. The doctors expect to have him sitting up in a chair by the end of the day. Hopefully he will be moving to the Helen Hayes Rehabilitation Center within a week. The family requests that everyone keep Tyler in their prayers. The family also requests that there be no visitors until they see it posted here. Thank You.

About the Accident

2006-10-13T09:19:00.000-04:00

On Monday, October 9th, Tyler, his brother Justin and some friends were riding at Ace Motocross.

Justin had an accident, and was taken to Vassar Hospital with a broken collar bone.

While his parents were at Vassar with Justin, his parents received a call that Tyler had been in an accident, and was being airlifted to Westchester Medical Center. He suffered a severe spinal injury, and the complete extent of his injuries is not yet known.

He is undergoing surgery today, and we will keep you informed of his progress.

Most Precious Blood School Athletic Department is coordinating fund raising activities to benefit Tyler and the Ryan family.

You can check here or at eteamz.com/mpbsummer for more details