TannerBunch

I recently discovered that it has been far too long since I've made any updates or changes to this site. How horrible of me, to let it collect so much cyber dust! So many changes have taken place over the years, and I've decided to do my best to make sure that this site gets updated far more than it has been for the last two or three years. He is, after all, now old enough to understand the concept of the Internet, and he is also very much aware that he has his own web site. That is reason in itself to keep this thing going!

That being said, Tanner recently celebrated his EIGHTH birthday! I know--can you believe that he's 8 already? With his birthday came his annual scan, and we were all very excited to learn that it came back clear. Tanner is still free from cancer. Six years and counting!

I do want to thank everyone who does continue to ask about him and still keeps him in their prayers. Our family has suffered many great losses in the last year or so, and we take comfort in knowing that there are people out there who hold so much love and concern for all of us. God bless all of you!

Thanks to all who have inquired about Tanner. I have not updated for some time, because I was not aware that there was still such an interest. Of course I'd love to talk about him and tell of God's healing power.

Tanner, at 6, has been precocious, funny, loving, sometimes exasperating, and always delightful. He and his brothers fill our lives.

He has had many "firsts" in 2005. His first day of Kindergarten was filled with mixed emotions--joy for a day we thought was not to be...and sadness for me, as our special days together were limited. We spent time exploring his world, and I reveled in his observations. One example is trying to decide the softest thing to land on if you should happen to find yourself falling off of a building. Tanner decided he wanted to land on "1,000 chickens."

His vocabulary amazes us still:

" My hair looks hideous!"
" Mean people are obnoxious!"
" Everyone in this family is deranged except for me."
" Time is of the essence. Whatever that means."

And I sometimes get a resounding, "You got that right, Girlfriend!"

Tanner is very active in his church and continues his walk with the Lord. He talks about God healing him. He says Jesus is the only perfect person, and the Devil is no match. "Actually," he says, "the Devil is pretty pathetic." He plans to be "baptmatized" soon.

At the same time, he does have his moments of naughty boy behavior. He says punishments are an impossibility, but "a man's got to do what a man's got to do."

Tanner is still into superheroes. We see him often as Spiderman, but he embraces whichever is being hyped at the moment. His birthday theme in 2005 was Star Wars. He said the movie "computerization and graphics were awesome, but the toys are a gimmick."

Sports became a big focus. We enjoyed watching him play soccer and baseball. He and his teammates gave us lots to laugh about. He loves to swim and recently tried water skiing.

Shortly before his 6th birthday, Tanner went for his checkup. There were anxious moments, and the scan had to be repeated. The best thing that happened this year was a clean check-up. We give God the glory--and also great news--he now has one year check-ups, instead of every 6 months. Tanner decided, however, that the scan was taking too long and felt like he was in a fax machine. "Can't you just fax me home?" he asked.

The family got their first dog. During treatment, Tanner could not have animals. The dog is a border collie named Blue.

After the Family Circle article, Tanner said he was "world famous" but could not sign autographs because he "can't draw an A." In spite of his handwriting, he graduated from Kindergarten and says "First grade is kind of scary, but bring it on. I'm up to the challenge."

And he always has been.

He is very small, but he is here--and we are blessed. His health is pretty normal. Side effects from treatment have not manifested. There was some concern about his teeth and the possible lack of permanent teeth due to the radiation. He lost his first tooth this past year, and we were elated. Some everyday, normal things do concern us at times. He mentions his ordeal occasionally, and his memories are enough to force an amazed silence throughout the room. He speaks of the many shots he had that made him cry, and the "rocketship" scan they put him in when he was Buzz Lightyear. He knows that cancer can kill people, and he knows that God saved him.

We look at his website book and talk about all the wonderful people who prayed and cared for him. We are grateful to have had all of you share this part of Tanner's life. I hope Tanner's story is an encouragement to all.

Thank you and God bless you,
" Tanner's Grandma"

Happy Easter season to everyone! This Christian holy day is a celebration of new life and new beginnings. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the new life He gives to us. We are all together this year, rejoicing in God's love and mercy. Tanner is now five years old. He recently had a great check-up. We had especially good news in that he does not go back for one year! He grew one inch in three months, and that was also celebratory as side effects from treatment are still of mystery. He is small, but he is here and all boy. He still is in his superhero mode and several costumes hang from pegs next to his bed. We get a different boy each day.

Tanner is very aware of what he has been through. He explains the scars (or "scarfs", as he calls them) he has and tells how Jesus healed him. He knows he has one kidney, while the rest of us have two and has no problem asking people for one. His vocabulary is amazing. On one rare occasion that I refused to let him do something, he said, "Perhaps that decision could be temporary." He was using the word "deranged" and his mom asked what it meant. He said, "It means everyone in this house is deranged 'cept me!" Some days, he is right.

We look at his "website" book now and then. He knows how people everywhere prayed for him. We are forever grateful for each and every one of you. Our new beginning is a future without fear. Tanner starts kindergarten, and it will be hard to let go. But I thank God for a day that seemed impossible during those dark times.

You can read his story, and the part all of you had in Tanner's life, in the June issue of Family Circle magazine. (Available on shelves any day now!!) As always, I thank God daily for you and will never forget your generosity.

May God bless you,
Tanner's Grandmother

Once again it is time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. How quickly the holidays have arrived.

Tanner is just great. He turned four this past February. He remains a living testimony to God's greatness and mercy. His check-ups have been A-OK. His next scan is in January. His doctors are pleased with his progress. His is smaller than most of his friends but that may be more familial than from treatment. His size certainly does not diminish anything he wants to do. He is a whirlwind of energy and holds his own with his older brothers.

This little guy is a typical four-year-old in many ways. He has his times of being cranky, demanding and a real pill. He says he is trying hard to stay off the naughty list with Christmas so near. But for the most part he is still our joy and a happy loving child. His memory is phenomenal, a word he uses quite often. His vocabulary amazes us as does his perception of everything around him. He will discuss at length a variety of subjects from cayenne pepper on scallops to why old people can't remember......a definite dig at me. One day while he and I were washing windows, I thanked him for his help. He told me he did not like doing it "but a man's got to do, what a man's got to do." I think that is his philosophy according to SpongeBob.

Sometimes we look over his website book. He talks about "when I had cancer"........ a word still hard for me to hear. Just last night he asked us if he will always have these scars. But we also have good memories of that time.......like all of you held fast with us and prayed us through our battle. In reflective moments I still am awed by such caring people and think about Bob and his Sunday school class in Atlanta, Jane in Australia, Salem in Israel and so many others whose compassion helped me.

Tanner still very much loves the Lord. His prayers are sometimes very funny. "Thank you, Jesus,for making my skin stay on so my guts won't fall out." I told him to get off a ladder before he fell and cracked his head. He said "Well, if I do and the crack reaches my heart you will get to see Jesus because that's where he is." He is still into super heroes of all kinds and, as you can tell, Tanner is still my superhero.

This has been a hard year for us as a family with many difficulties and sadness. We have lost people precious to us, had other health issues, and the world turmoil in general. But no matter how tough it gets, one look at Tanner and we know life is infinitely better than previous years. God shows us he is still in control.

Recently Tanner was able to take his first vaccines. He needed a flu shot but none was available. His doctors were trying to find some and a generous employee in the clinic offered the shot that was meant for her child. Another prayer answered and another example that there are people out there who still love and care for their fellow man. May you all have a blessed Christmas and New Year!

Greetings everyone. It is Tanner's 4th birthday and how far we have come. Each day of Tanner's life is a celebration for us, but birthdays are special. It will soon be 2 years since his lung surgery to remove the remaining malignant tumor. His recent check up was all we could have hoped for. He gained 2 pounds, grew almost and inch, and he doesn't go back for 6 months. God is so good! Tanner is very much the normal little boy. Barney and Woody and Buzz have been cast aside, and we are now into super heroes. His favorites are Batman, Spiderman, and Power Rangers. He goes to school 2 days a week and likes it very much. He has many friends and says he likes some girls, but he is not "in love". He enjoys his trampoline and playing with his brothers. We are unaware of any side effects from his treatments. He is on the small side but very advanced mentally. His vocabulary and word usage are extraordinary...and he forgets nothing. If someone asks about his scars, he says that he was sick and Jesus made him well. He talks about the shots he had, and how he got in a space ship (CAT scan), and numerous other things we don't even think about. Tanner spends one day a week with his grandpa and me. Of course, we have spoiled him, and he can be a little tyrant. I recently would not let him have his way, and he told me I was "mediocre". I asked what it meant and he said "It actually means you are not great." We get into some deep conversations, usually while sitting in a closet that he calls his "camp". Like most little boys, he is filled with curiosity, and his imagination is endless...which means I end up being some kind of cyborg that has to be eradicated by a good super hero. We have come this far only because of God's merciful answer to many, many prayers. When doctors could not give us much hope, those of you who became prayers warriors gave us the hope we needed. You were there for us. I still daily ask God to bless each of you who blessed us. With so much despair and trials going on in the world today I look into the face of this precious child and know that God is in control and still performing miracles. Tanner is loving and precious and will always be my super hero.

I'd like to begin by apologizing to everyone for the inconvenience of this site being down for so long. I have finally completed the process of getting tannerbunch.com moved to a more stable server...and a company with awesome customer service (a million more thanks to you, Nancy!! You've been an amazing help!!) I'm really optomistic about this being a permanent home for Tanner's little place on the web.

Second, I'd like to thank Ms. Cohen, who is doing an absolutely remarkable thing to help spread Tanner's story to so many more people across the nation. I thank you also for your patience during this "down time" for the site. Hopefully it didn't cause too much trouble!

And to everyone else, please "stay tuned" and keep checking the site. There are updates to come...things many of you who have followed Tanner's story from the beginning (and maybe even those that just found out about him) won't want to miss. ;-)

Again, I'm thrilled about the move this site has made! I do have some minor tweaking to do on some pages...adding pictures, repairing broken links, etc....but at least the site is back in some form! :-D

THANKS AGAIN!

I hope everyone had a great holiday and an even better start to 2003! Actually, I just received some awesome news today. Apparently, our own little cancer survivor is going to be featured in an upcoming magazine article! A freelance writer has expressed an interest in sharing Tanner's story with magazine readers across the nation! It's so wonderful to see that Tanner still has the potential to inspire so many others. Congratulations!

In other news, can you believe he will be FOUR YEARS OLD next month? Yikes! I guess they really do grow up fast! Hopefully I'll be able to get some new pictures to share with you all. Until then, I hope you have a great day/week/month, and thanks for stopping by to check up on the lil' guy!

It has been several months since my last update, but it is true--no news is good news! Tanner continues to thrive and live a normal life as a completely healthy three year old boy. His most recent scans came back clear, and we are confident that his most difficult battles are over. Like most little boys, he holds a fascination for Spiderman and is very active. There's never a dull moment when Tanner is around. ;-)

Well, I do believe that my problems with the company hosting this domain have been resolved, but not before this entire site was wiped out.  Unfortunately, not everything was backed up, which is my fault completely.  But I will work on that.

As for Tanner, he is doing GREAT.  I got to see him last month, and he had me smiling and laughing non-stop.  He's quite a character, and most importantly, a HEALTHY three year old boy.  We are so grateful for all of you that have made him a part of your lives.