Knock It Out Foundation, knockitout.org
My Twin Brother’s fight against Leukemia

Tim’s updates

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7-14-2008: Here are some pictures of the weekend. Round 2 was an awesome success. Thanks everyone that was involved.

Round 2 update: Round 2 will be held July 12 @ the Sawmill. Everything is the same. click on the link on the right side of the page for details. For questions please email me: tom (at) knockitout (dot) org.

6-23-2008 - Today is a very sad day for friends and family of Mike Cohee. Mike was one of the best people you could ever meet. Mike was like a brother to a lot of the guys we graduated with as well as many others. Because of this great tragedy, Round 2, will be canceled. I will update the site when I have more information. Here is Mike (on the right) at Round 1:

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6-16 Tim got the official release. he is now able to stay home full time. everything is looking pretty good.

Update…..Tim had a bone biopsy and he is offically 95% George. (God help us all :):) Its like we are triplets. Also, he got his ‘pick line’ removed, this week. Things are going very well. Please check out the link for information about ‘Round 2 - golf outing at The Sawmill’.

GREAT NEWS!! Tim will be going home tomorrow!! Two weeks after the transplant. His white blood cell count is 10,000!!

BIG thanks to Holly and Ann for ‘hounding’ me to keep everyone updated:)

Thought I would share a few pics from my visit with Tim.

Tim and Kristy on ‘crazy shirt’ Friday

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Doing a little ‘jazzercise’

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Tim wasn’t feeling well, he looked very pale

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Hockey playoff time….baby!! Tim with his ‘playoff beard’. Check out the Wings in the background

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We had craft day on Sunday.. Those are some rad Mosaic boxes.

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The nurses had to keep Tim on a short leash. Tim’s partner in crime, Danny was also under close supervision.

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It’s been 10 days after the transplant and Tim is doing great. His blood counts are going a little Haywire but Doc says that is normal. He hasn’t ‘bottomed’ out yet, so we are hoping that he won’t and his counts will start becoming normal again. He has some minor mouth sores which is making it difficult to eat, but he is still trying to get past the pain. He has been doing laps around the floor to keep his strength up. He pushed me around in a wheelchair for a couple of laps, that was until we got into a ‘fender bender’. All in all, Tim is doing VERY well and keeps asking to get released!

George, Tim and Tom right before George left to go back to Colorado. This is Wednesday, 2 days after the transplant.tim3.bmp

Tim getting ready for some of George’s Stem Cells. He has his ‘Transplant’ shirt on. His Transplant song was ‘Milkshake’ by Kelis

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Sandy Silva is such a wonderful cousin. Tim loves her and wants to thank her for all of her support. He also feels badly that I did not mention his/our rad cousin, Kathy.

Kristy has been a pillar of strength for Tim. Although it has been very hard w/o GH, she is hanging in there.

April 15th - Tim had the transplant Monday. Boy, was that anti-climatic! The transplant lasted about 10 minutes and was just a bag hooked to his pickline. We all thought he was in for a wild ride:) Tim is doing fine. George is also doing fine, he is pretty tired and sore but isn’t complaining. The 3 of us are in the hospital hanging out. Geo and I got Tim a new video game and he is playing right now. So, all reports are good. He is a little nauseous but all-in-all things are looking great.

Tim will be going to UofM, to start preparing for the transplant, Tuesday morning. He is scheduled to start chemo and that lasts for 5 days. Next Monday George will be there and the transplant will take place.

I’m sure everyone has a million things to think about and deal with, but if you have a spare second, please send positive thoughts Tim’s way.

Check out the ‘Horizon’s’ link on the right side of this page for ‘Round 1′ updates.

Tim is scheduled to start chemo for the Stem Cell Transplant on April 8th. Sunday night was a huge inspiration for him and he is looking forward to overcome yet another challenge.

Tim will be going in for his 3 round of chemo next week (march 10 - 13). He is also looking at the end of March for the Stem Cell Transplant. (Godspeed Tim).

GREAT NEWS! Older brother, George, is a match!!!! So, when Tim goes in for the Stem Cell Transplant, George will be right next to him.

February update: Tim just went in for bloodwork and his counts went up quite a bit.

2-17-08: I (twin brother Tom) just spent the last week with Tim. All we did is eat and play video games. (I guess things could be worse:) Well we did go to the hospital a lot. Tim got 4 bags of blood during the week. It was a great week, I was glad to get a chance to go back home.

1-31-08 - Tim went in for another round of chemo today. He still has some infection on his knee so, he is having surgery done on Friday.

1-26-08 - Tim isn’t out of the water yet. He has 5 damaged chromosones and probably needs a Stem cell transplant ( A stem cell transplant is a complex procedure to replace unhealthy stem cells with healthy ones). The best case scenario is that one of his brothers (Tom & George) is a match w/ Tim’s HLA (human leukocyte antigens). This is a very serious procedure.

1-23-08 UPDATE - GREAT NEWS!!! Doc called and said that there is only 2% Leukemia cells in Tim’s bone marrow. When he went into the hospital he had 98%.

Tim was diagnosed with Leukemia (AML) on December 20th, 2007. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), also known as acute myelogenous leukemia, is a cancer of the myeloid line of white blood cells, characterized by the rapid proliferation of abnormal cells which accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the produciton of normal blood cells. AML is the most common acute leukemia affecting adults, and its incidence increases with age.

He has undergone Chemotherapy and is actually enjoy his new haircut :) Also, he developed an infection in his knee and had to have surgery. Tim was able to go home Friday January 18th, which means that he was in the hospital for 29 days.

Unfinshed list of bills; 10 blood transfusions, 2 platelet transfusions, chemo, a month in the hospital, getting blood drawn every day and knee surgery. Prescriptions!!

A majority of the bills from the first month in the hospital will not be covered by insurance. The goal is to make, fighting the Leukemia, Tims one and only focus.

Tim has had tremendous support from family and friends. We would like to thank everyone that has helped Tim through the first month of his battle. We know that there are a lot of people that don’t have that kind of support.

Any money raised will go directly to help Tim with any costs associated with fighting Leukemia.