Hello everyone.
It has been 1 year and 3 months since Tylers accident, it has been one year since he came home to the hospital, and decided to wake up and talk. Oh boy the blessings have flown since that day.. He is having a great year in the 8th grade with all of his buddies. He has had a few surgeries on his eyes. One to help his eyelids open better. The other is to bring his eyes to center. He had the one worked on oh about a month or so ago and he gets the other eye worked on tomorrow. This will allow him to use both eyes at one time with some assistance with some special glasses so he does no see double. So I know it has been a long time since an update but he still is relying on God for his ongoing healing, and all the prayers are still being answered everyday.. Take care God Bless

January 20,

Tyler has been very busy the past few weeks. A week ago this past Sunday he got on Premie ( his sister's horse) and road for 45 minutes, and worked on some exercises. He also started school this past week. His favorite part of school was being back with his friends and lunch. It went very well he only ditched his Grandpa once. The teachers found this quite amusing. He went to see to have his hearing tested in Lima today and his hearing is perfect. He also went to Toledo to see his Neuro Opthamologist and his vision is improving. We have some pictures on the horse and of his first day of school. We will try to get them on the blog soon. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support.

Jan 8

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and are having
a great start to the New Year. It has been 6 months since Tyler's accident. He has made such miraculous progress. Tyler had a great Christmas and New Year. He has worked so hard that he is going to go BACK TO SCHOOL ON MONDAY!!! His first day of 7th grade!! Yeah. He is both excited and nervous. He has been working with his walking with his walker more and more. Now remember that he can hear fine, but he can only see out of part of his right eye. So if it is noisy in the halls and you want to talk to him just remember to stand to his right so he can also see that you are talking to him. If he is talking to you and you have trouble understanding him please ask him to slow down and repeat it. He talks well just sometimes he gets in a hurry and is hard to understand. This is a HUGE step in his recovery process and everyones help and understanding at school is important to him, especially in the social aspect of getting back into a routine with his friends. Thanks You So much to all of the local high schools who have continued to support Tyler and his family, with your wonderful, and generous financial gifts, and especially ongoing prayers. He has come a LONG way and we expect and push him daily so he can continue to move forward in his MIRACLULOUS recovery. Thank you and GOD BLESS everyone in this coming year.

http://picasaweb.google.com/amanda.bolenbaugh/Tyler#
Dec 7th
Tyler has had a very busy month. He has continued to work each day in therapy. The above link are some pictures Amanda took while visiting with Ty this past month. He also continues to work on school work in the evenings. He had a good time at Thanksgiving and got to eat all of his favorites. He also enjoyed taking everyone's cell phones who were texting (Thanks Father Mike) for your sermon on texting during family time!! He got to play games with his cousins. He also had a special photoshoot with Parkview Hospital. The Samaratin is publishing a special anniversary calendar with the patients they have flown and who have done well. Tyler is one of the patients chosen to be in the calendar. They took some pictures of him and Kara with a tractor and some pictures with his Ohio State stuff. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. He also has been going to wrestling with his dad and even giving his opinion at times. Anyone who has been around him knows when he starts talking he is going to let you know what he is thinking!!!! Thank you for everyone's ongoing support and prayers.

Day 117..... It has been 4 months , and home for a little over a month, Ty continues to amaze physicians, family, and friends. His therapy continues to progress well. He is walking on the treadmill for three minutes at a time. He is working on throwing a ball over his head. He continues to work on his speech. In the evenings Mr Strickler comes and works with his school work. They are working hard on spelling, vocabulary, science, health, and writing. All of which he continues to show improvement everyweek. All of the therapists and Mr Strickler are doing an awesome job with Ty.!!!! THANKS!!!! In the eve he works on walking some in the house; transferring himself from his chair to the couch, going up and down the steps. He can get in and out of vehicles on his own. He also likes to start his mom's Yukon while he is waiting on her. We have aslo determined this evening that he is better at juggling than his mom but has to have a little more practice in order to be better than Seth. Also when Erica picks on him too much he is very capable of jumping straight up out of his wheel chair (on his own) and getting her in a bear hug!!! Quite amazing actually and Erica was Very Surprised!!!
The trauma surgeon gave an educational talk at Van Wert last evening to the paramedics, and Tyler was the case study. Also his Dr. from Toledo came and talked about his rehab. He was able to meet with both Dr.'s and the nurses for ICU nurses from Parkview came to see him too. He has been able to meet the people on the squad and lifeflight, and talk with them. This week when he was up in Toledo for his Dr. appointment, he was able to go visit the girls from his rehab and talk with them and give them a hard time. He really enjoyed that.
Tyler is doing wonderful, and it has a little bit to do with modern medicine, but it has everything to do with prayers and God healing him. Thanks for the support and prayers that continue to go up for Ty even after he is home.

Day 107..... Tyler is having a good week. He was interviewed by Wayne TV today. The Trauma Surgeon who took care of Tyler at Parkview was giving an educational talk on Farming Accidents, and they asked Kara if they could interview Tyler. He did very well. He has a goal to show his calf at the fair next year and they want us to contact them so they can come over and do a follow up story on him. He continues to work hard on his therapy. He is anxiously awaiting friends to come and visit him. There are a lot of sisters in his house he could use some buddy's to come and hang out with; and tell him everything that is going on at school. Thanks as always for the support and prayers.

Day 103.... Tyler has been doing very well with his therapy this past week. He is walking further with his walker, before his body gets tired. He is talking more and more. This week he showed us how he can move his eyes, side to side and up and down. This is very exciting, because this means the nerve that the Doctors felt was permantly damaged and is getting signals through. This is great stuff. He works hard during the day at therapy and then rests up and has tutoring in the eve, he also works on excercises at night too. Thanks too everyone who participated in collecting pop tabs. This is such a wonderful gesture to help other families in need, to be close to their loved ones who are in the hospita. Thank you for the encouraging words, thoughts and prayers.

TABS 4 TY

During Tyler's time in the hospital, his family was able to stay close to him at the Ronald McDonalds Houses. Tyler's friends in Archbold and Van Wert wanted to help out in anyway they could but besides making meals, gas cards and the never-ending prayers they still wanted to do more. Van Wert was challenged by family friends in Archbold to a TAB WAR! This way, not only did we come together for Tyler's honor, we are paying forward and helping other families.

Well the TAB WAR between Archbold and Van Wert is coming to a close. The final count will be held on Saturday October 25 @ 12:00 at the McDonald's Playplace on Shannon St. Tabs can be collected up until Friday October 24 at the Smelser's house, 421 South Ave. till noon or at each of the schools. Van Wert has really worked hard at collecting and will keep collecting after the war for this great cause.

Ronald McDonald will be there to announce the winner. He will also be available for autographs, pictures and perform some magic! Everyone is welcome!

Day 96.... Tyler is settling in well, to his new routine. He has become quite the talker, which is exciting. He is getting stronger each day. The therapists are pushing him in his therapy, and he comes home and takes about a 2-3 hr nap, then he is good to go for the evening. He will start tutoring this next week, a couple hours in the afternoon. This also is very exciting. He is working on his eye and facial exercises several times a day. We finally found the football game on the radio last night, and he was able to listen to the entire game. He was giving US play by play this time!! He heard the announcement, about the OG students collecting there change and presenting it to his sister Erica, Angela his cousin, and Matt. Again thankyou to all the students, adults, friends, from all of the WBL schools, and surrounding area who have come together to help Ty through his miraculous recovery, which continues each day. HE IS READY FOR FRIENDS TO COME VISIT. HE WOULD LIKE ONE AT A TIME PLEASE PER HIS REQUEST. If you would like to visit just give Kara or Bob a call and they can let you know when is a good time. He will be so excited to see everyone!!! May God continue to heal and Bless Tyler, his family, and everyone involved. Thank You!!!!!

Day 93.... Tyler continues to do well. He had therapy this morning. He then went up to Toledo for his eye evaluation. The dr. said his vision is not much different than prior to the accident. The issue at this time is his eye's ability to move, his pupil's ability to react to light, and his ability to open his eyelid open wide. This dr. was very good with Ty, both Kara and Bob liked him. He is going to review all of Ty's xray's and reports in more detail. Basically he gave Ty some exercises to try to waken up those neuro signals to his eye. Hopefully they will improve like his other areas have. Kara asked if we should angle the tv or move him closer so he can see it. He said no, Kara asked why and he told her because he doesn't open his eyes! So we need to get him to open his eyes moore so work them more.!!!! So we need to continue to pray and focus on theses nerves that are affecting his eyes right now. Thank you for all the ongoing Prayers.

Day 92.... Tyler's first day of outpatient therapy in Van Wert went very well. He got to meet his new therapist. They were able to meet with him and see where he is at with his abilities and what he needs to work on to continue to make improvements. He made a special request yesterday for Buckeyes. So I dropped some off tonight. He smiled real big and said Buckeyes. He dug right in. Tomorrow will be another full day of therapy, and Wednesday will be a long day. He will going to Toledo to see the Neuro Opthamologist to see how his sight his. So that will be a long day for him. Thank you to everyone for everything this past weekend. It was wonderful.

Day 91.... 3 months ago Tyler's life changed forever. But Tyler has fought everyday since July 6th. He has amazed, and blessed us every hour of every day. Yesterday he went to the 7th grade football game, and got his picture taken with the team. That was exciting for everyone. He has had a wonderful first weekend home. He made it to church today, and was even able to take communion. Last night was another wonderful milestone. Kara was up in Archibold with Erica, and Bob needed to tell her something. Bob called her to, tell her that Tyler said "Mom", and about 30 minutes later he said "Dad", and to Bob's delight- Tyler woke him up at midnight, to have a conversation!!!!!!! He has been saying short sentences and words today. What a Wonderful thing to hear him say our name and I love you. He also really enjoyed doing the OH --- IO cheer with his cousins pretty much all day today. He would say OH and the boys would return with IO. He is working on his walking today. He is eating more food, Mt Dew is still his drink of choice. Tomorrow will be a big day for him, he starts his outpatient therapy in Van Wert. So he will be meeting his new therapists, and they will be doing their initial assessment, and starting right in on work. This has been a very blessed Sunday, and we pray God continues to work his miracle with Tyler each day. Thank you for being there to share this miracle with us. It means so much.

Day 90...... Wow what an experience last evening at the football game. That was So Wonderful. Tyler had a great time. We had to take a little break, but was able to return for the finish of the game. He was getting play by play from his cousins. He was there for the touchdown so he was able to honk his horn and play the OSU fight song on Brutus. Thank you to all the kids for giving him some space. Even though he was glad to be there, it also was over whelming. He is signing consistently. So kids you might want to print off the sign language alphabet to work on before you come n see him so you know what he is spelling, and you can talk with him more. He can here you, and understand, just can't talk quite yet. So he is using his sign language to communicate. He is so smart. He was joking around and told his mom he wanted to go to Pizza Hut, but later said he was just kidding, and gave her a great big smile. He has had a little break from his aggressive therapy, but he will be back at it Monday morning. Since he started walking with a walker last week in Toledo, it was decided he could proceed straight to outpatient therapy. So he will start his therapy at Van Wert. He continues to be able to eat soft food; he enjoyed some french fries last night, and of course his mountain dew. His new room is beautifully decorated in an Ohio State theme so he is adjusting to that very well. Thanks to everyone for helping Bob get his house ready, what a wonderful job you did. We can not begin to express how much we appreciate the Love, support and prayers. Not only for Ty but for the entire family. I do have pictures from Ty's benefit tourney, I just haven't had time to figure out how to post them on line. When I figure it out I will post a link.
Thank you and God Bless

Day 88....HE IS HOME!!!! What an exciting, long, and exhausting day. Tyler made it home early this afternoon. Kara and Bob spent the afternoon getting him settled in. His cousins were all there tonight to spend time with him. Anyone who knows he has a total of 12 first cousins, so 8 of them were there plus his sisters of course. So he had a busy evening. He spent the evening signing with them, laughing some, and playing the OSU fight song with his Brutus. I had a talk with him, and he wants me to let everyone know he is excited to be home. At this time he would like a few days to spend with his family, and get used to his new environment, before friends come to call. Today was a BIG change in not only his environment but in his schedule. He, along with Kara, Bob, and the girls need sometime to get adjusted and a bit of a routine established. When he is up for more company we will definitely let everyone know!!!!!!! Please keep praying for him, that he continues to improve everyday. Thank you so much for everything!!

Day 87..... Tomorrow is the big day!!! Ty was working hard today. He walked 14 steps with his walker, (with assistance), and he also walked for about 10 minutes on the treadmill. He is still working on his upper body strength, his eating, and trying to communicate. We are all so excited that he is coming home, but he still has a lot of hard work ahead of him. It will be good to have his family and friends close around him again. Hopefully it will help him to make even more progress. As everyday, We Thank God for this miracle and blessing and pray that he continues to heal Tyler everyday.

Day 85.... God is so wonderful, awesome, and true. Tyler is gearing up for the big move on Thursday. This past weekend he was actually making sound when he was laughing. He was making more sounds today! This is very encouraging. He was drinking out of a straw. He continues to work on his walking and upper body strength. He is using his hands more talk. This is good because it will get us closer to being able to have him evaluated by a neuro opthamologist, this is a doctor that specializes in eye, and the nerves to the eye. Once he is to the point where he can communicate enough, the dr will be able to tell what he sees, how much he can see, and where he might have blind spots, but this is still down the road. We are all anxiously counting down to Thursday. Bobby is getting his house ready, and Kara continues to look for a house. When he comes home, he will continue with therapy at home then progress to outpatient therapy. He has a long way to go but, OH MY what progress he has made since that July 6th evening. We will continue to pray, He will continue to fight and work, and God will continue to heal and answer our prayers. Thank you to everyone for being by Ty and the family through this journey.

Day 82.... Tyler is just amazing as we all know. He is really excited, for the plan is that Ty will be going home this coming Thursday!!!!!! He is working on moving and using his fingers and hands more. He is able to use his call light to contact the nurses, for when he needs something. He continues to work on his eating and walking. When Ty goes home he will continue with outpatient therapy. This miracle that Tyler is experiencing; continues to amaze us everyday. We need to continue to Thank God and pray for is continued, progressive recovery!!!!

Day 80.... Ty has been doing very well this week. His hand and finger movements are getting stronger. He has been using one finger for yes and two fingers for no and anyone who talks about the University of Michigan get a special finger followed by a smile. He continues to work on his walking and eating, he had some of his mom's special pumpkin pie. He might get to go swimming again on Friday if the therapist have enough time in their schedule. Thank you so much for everyone's prayers and support. He is getting closer to coming home.

Day 77.... Tyler was really excited about swimming. They put him in the pool by lifting him in a chair on a hydraulic lift. That made him a little nervous. But once he was in the pool he did really well. He is going to get to go some more this week. Kara tried to feed him some oatmeal, he did ok but didn't like the texture too much, and struggle with a red pop float. He ate his pudding real well today. We are going to keep trying to feed soft foods so his mouth muscles continue to strengthen. Overall he had a real good weekend.

Day 74.... Tyler had his swallowing study today. It went very well. The therapist was VERY pleased, she he was stronger than what she had thought. Very littlo pooling of food in the back of his mouth and throat and no aspirations. This is good so they can start giving him more food, as he moves his tongue and mouth muscles more this will help him in starting to use his vocal chords and forming sounds and eventually hopefully speaking. He gets to go swimming tomorrow!! This should be really fun for him, and to get in the pool should feel really good, for all the tired muscles from therapy. He was working this evening on moving his tongue in and out of his mouth and side to side, and turning his head side to side. We took a nice long walk and evaluated all of the pictures on the first floor of the hospital and we stopped to look at the beautiful sunset out of the big windows. He continues to get stronger and work hard, and with God and all the prayers he moves forward each day. Thanks!!