14 Year-old Faces Brain Surgery

Fourteen-year-old Preston Tyler is like many young men—he likes hunting and sports and the great outdoors.

But he is unique in more than one way. Preston has a love of animals. Not just one kind of animal, but virtually every living thing. In his bedroom, Preston has a bug collection (not required for the school, just for fun), a “taxidermy wall” where he displays feathers from a duck he killed, a bird skull, and more. Also in his room he has an incubator with eggs almost ready to hatch, and a Gecko.

And, that’s just in his bedroom. That doesn’t count the chicks and duck in the den, the aquarium with a turtle, brim and crappie in the dining room, or the tadpoles, parakeets, and other critters elsewhere in the house. Then you head outside.

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Did I mention an incubator? He has two…one indoors and one outdoors, and he has duck eggs that should have hatched several days ago, and pheasants that are due to hatch today or nearabout.

Although reticent to talk to me at first, once he started showing me his menagerie, all shyness left, and he was thankful for a captive audience.

Preston was probably hesitant to talk to me because he likely knew the reason for my visit was not to learn about his menagerie, but to learn about another unique part of the young man.

Preston will be having brain surgery in the near future. He doesn’t like to talk about it, but he does occasionally refer to “when I get fixed.”

See, Preston suffers from seizures. He has had more than 60 seizures in the last 15 months, and they have increased in intensity. Medicines designed to control the seizures are not working, and young Preston is a candidate for brain surgery, according to his doctors in Augusta. The surgery is scheduled for May 16, the Tylers learned this week.

Although medical insurance covers some of the expenses, the family has co-pays and deductibles, and they are continually incurring expenses for travel to and from Augusta, and food and lodging while in Augusta. In addition, Preston is currently on medication for seizures which he will have to remain on for about a year after the surgery. Doctors anticipate Preston’s hospitalization at the time of surgery to be about a week, with another month or so of limited activity at home.

Students at Piedmont Academy, where Preston is a student, are donating money for Preston, and other fund raisers are anticipated.

Friends of the family and several others in the community got together and decided to try to help them with the added expenses required, leaving them the headache of dealing with a son having brain surgery.

Donation jars have been put at numerous businesses around town, and a major fund raiser is planned, likely in May. Accounts have been set up at both the Bank of Monticello and Hamilton State Bank to assist the family.

The committee working on the fund raisers is interested in forming a group that stays viable, raising funds for others in the community facing difficult health issues such as Preston is.

Currently, Preston is not attending school because of the seizures, but is being served by the homebound program. Piedmont Headmaster Tony Tanner visited last week to help Preston with his math.

Preston’s mom, Jacki, makes sure he stays on track with his studies, adjusting his school work schedule according to his health needs. She said that although he doesn’t remember having a seizure, it will make him tired.

And, there are the seemingly endless visits to the doctor for tests and scans and all the preparation necessary for the upcoming surgery.

I asked how Mom feels about it, she tells of the reassurances she has found since entrusting Preston’s care to Dr. Yong Park in Augusta. She told of the unusual circumstances that led her to the neurologist, and other signs since meeting him. Her faith in God is affirmed as she sees the way He has worked to bring them to where they are now, and although she is concerned about the surgery; she is also confident and hopeful that her son can live a full life and this episode become a distant memory.

As for Preston, he stays busy with his schoolwork and his animals. In addition to his pets in the house, when you venture outside with Preston, you see he has rabbits and chickens and ducks, then there’s his goat, Daisy, and don’t forget Blossom the Possum.

The family tries to keep things as normal as possible, said Jacki, as they were planning to attend Preston’s older brother, Malcom’s baseball game Friday. Jacki said she wants to go to all she can, because she knows when Preston has surgery, she and husband, Donald, will both be with him in Augusta, unable to support Malcom and his interests for a time. Malcom has no problem with that, though, he just wants to see his brother get well.

And, Malcom will likely be called upon to tend to the animals while the rest of the family is in Augusta, and that is no small task.

In addition to Preston’s pets, the family also has hunting dogs, house dogs, and a cat. And, they have taken in “Lucky,” a Beagle they found half-starved at the end of their driveway.

It’s a safe bet that any animal Preston comes in contact with is going to be loved and treated well.