It's Throw Back Thursday!

Hey there family and friends! 

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are still here in Canada and will not be leaving for Russia until March.  Just in case of any confusion, the Paralympics take place after the Olympics from March 7^th to 16th.  Same place, same venues, different athletes, different sports.  We are the after party, after the big party. 

Here are a few facts about the Paralympics!

They consist of six events:  Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Wheelchair Curling and Sledge Hockey.  All games are amazing with incredible athletes!  Only three of these events are at the coastal cluster while the other three are at the mountain cluster.  The sledge hockey games will take place at the Shayba Arena, with Wheelchair Curling taking place at the Ice Cube Curling Centre-all are within the coastal cluster.  All other events take place at the mountain cluster which is just a short train ride away.  We hope to take in all the events while we are there.  The mountains look beautiful on television and I cannot wait to get up there.  The schedule for sledge hockey is online but I will break it down for you here. 

Canada plays their first game Saturday, March 8^th against Sweden at 1:00 pm Sochi time which is pretty early if you want to get up and watch it live here in Canada (nine hours difference).  The next game is Sunday, March 9^th against Norway at 1:00 p.m., no sleeping in on Sunday either.  The last game of preliminary play will be Tuesday, March 11^th at 8:00 p.m. Sochi time, that’s a little better timing for Canadian fans, not so early. 

I think I mentioned before that March 11 is Tyler’s 20^th birthday, don’t forget to show your Canadian spirit and support that day! I wish Tyler could be home to see the support he is receiving from Forest.  It’s crazy!  

Huge Support from TD Bank

Hometown Proud-Skeeter Barlows

After the preliminary round I’m not sure when Canada will play again, but I do know that 30 days from today, one of those eight teams will be going home with a gold medal!  Go Canada!  Tyler and the rest of the team are still here in Canada training hard every day.  Sunday they head to Calgary for one last week of training before they head to Sochi on February 27^th.  Good Luck Team Canada!   

In this house we are huge fans of the winter Olympics and with the CBC’s amazing coverage of the games, Dean and I have turned into serious couch potatoes.  I am so proud of all of our athletes, but here are my three favourites so far; Alex Bilodeau, Mark McMorris and Gilmore Junio.  Love these guys!  Our Canadian women’s hockey team are rocking the Olympics going undefeated so far with the Canadian men’s hockey team having their first game and a big win today.  Woohoo, Go Canada! 

I was a little disappointed with the coverage of the Paralympics in 2010 but I’m hoping CBC will come through this time. 

Before Vancouver 2010, I had no idea what sledge hockey was, and I would have never dreamt at the time that Tyler would be playing four years later.  I do remember watching a story about a young man that was supposed to be playing sledge hockey at the 2010 games, like Tyler, he had bone cancer and had his leg amputated, but his cancer had returned and he never made it to the games.  His name was Matt Cook and he died April 4^th, 2010, another dream, another life taken too soon by the monster as we know it, cancer.

Stories like this and any other negative stories (as I called them at the time), I blocked out.  We had to stay positive, we had to focus on winning this battle, and anything negative lead me down a path that was really very scary.  When the doctors told us that there was an 80% chance of survival for childhood cancers, we had to focus on the 80%, you couldn’t think about the 20% because that was just the unthinkable.  I met so many families that didn’t have that same ratio; theirs was a 20% chance of survival, a 35% chance of survival, some worse, some better.  How do you stay positive with numbers like that?   I don’t know; you just have to!  The best thing to do in our case was to throw the 20% out the window and focus only on making that 80 into 100% survival…so far so good!  We have met so many kids along this journey and have made some lifelong friendships.  We all, unfortunately, share the same bond.  For our special Monday PMDU crew, we love you and miss you but don’t ever wish you back there.  

We shared some really fun times together and some really sad times, never to be forgotten.  Tyler’s fellow warriors that didn’t make it, he carries with him on his shoulder.  His friends, Sarah, Savannah and Sebastian are travelling the world with him and they’ll be right there on his shoulder when he’s playing in Sochi.  He’ll be playing for Gold!  He’s playing for all kids that have ever faced the monster, past, present or future.  Go for the Gold Ty! 

Thanks to everyone that has helped us along this journey.  We couldn’t have made it without the support of friends and family, the hockey community, Tyler’s school, the town of Forest, all the doctors, nurses and staff at London’s Children’s Hospital, and so many other people and organizations, too many to mention.  Tyler did not get here alone!

It’s Throw Back Thursday and I will leave you with a few pictures of some pretty special times for Tyler while he was going through treatments. 

Tyler's team at the Huron Perth Lakers Minor Midget AAA- Awesome organization-Awesome Team-Awesome Families!!

Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer 2011

A very special night with Drew Doughty's parents, his jersey and his Gold Medal!

Benefit Game For Tyler- his last able-bodied game with his friends vs. his Dad and the Forest Muffers Oldtimers Team

An amazing night with the London Jr. Knights and the Elgin Middlesex Chiefs