Survivor who beat cancer twice remains upbeat over challenges

February 6, 2005 (Press Release) -- JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Tyler Kessler is a survivor.

The 14-year-old Saucon Valley Middle School seventh-grader has survived a kidney transplant and two bouts with cancer, the treatment of which killed the kidney. He is awaiting a second effort at a new kidney.

And as the boy prepares to see his second Super Bowl in two years today, the challenges continue.

"He's on dialysis every night for 10 hours," his father, Bob, said Friday from Orlando, Fla., as the family prepared for the two-hour trip to this Super Bowl city while Tyler was finishing that day's treatment. To each new city, they must carry three bags of medical supplies and a portable dialysis machine.

That would be daunting for some people, but Bob Kessler said it's no longer a big concern for this family of experienced travelers from Lower Saucon Township.

"I've been feeling good," Tyler said as the family drove toward Jacksonville on Friday night. Having survived one kidney transplant and twice beaten cancer, "I'm just hoping to get my kidney transplant. Without the transplant, I'm sad, because I just want to be normal. I'm really, really hoping to get my kidney transplant so I can do normal stuff like I used to do."

Tyler's medical journey started with a success.

Tyler had a kidney transplant at Hershey Medical Center when he was 5, and the donor was his grandmother, Eleanor O'Toole, formerly of Bethlehem, said Tyler's mother, Colleen.

"All went well until he was 10. He got PTDL -- post transplant lymphomic disorder -- a cancer in his chest and abdomen. We had to pull the immunal suppression," which is a few different medications he took to prevent transplant rejection.

''We lost the kidney. It was very difficult. We knew we had to do that to fight the cancer," Colleen said.

While his kidney ailment is rare, to have full-blown lymphoma develop is apparently three times as rare, Bob Kessler said.

Over the next 27 months, Tyler's cancer disappeared when the immunal suppression was stopped. Later it recurred, leading to nine months of chemotherapy.

When it was unclear how to deal with the pain he was experiencing, he changed hospitals from Duke University to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, his mother said. At Children's Hospital, Dr. Nancy Bunnin offered a more aggressive form of treatment, dealing first with the pain then with the cancer, Colleen Kessler said.

He's two years cancer free now, his parents said, and they're setting their hopes on another kidney transplant.

"Things are going in the right direction for us," his mother said. "I carry a beeper. We have cell phones. We're hoping to get a phone call. We have family members being tested to see if they're compatible."

Colleen Kessler was a star athlete at Bethlehem Catholic High School. She and her future husband met there and both graduated in 1984. When their son Cameron was 3, he needed a kidney transplant, too. The ailment is rare and hereditary, a lesson the Kesslers learned only after all three of their children were born. Their 12-year-old daughter, Caitlin, has shown no signs of the disorder. When Cameron needed a kidney, his mom was a match.

"I was able to give him one of mine," she said of the operation that took place at Duke. Now 6, Cameron is doing very well, his parents said.

Bob Kessler went to be tested to see if he could give one of his kidneys to Tyler, but he has a slight problem with his heart, which disqualifies him. Bob Kessler's sisters are now being tested.

"They won't do a living donor until after flu season," Colleen Kessler said, meaning a transplant may not be possible until spring. "If a cadaver comes up, they will take (Tyler) right away."

Until then, Tyler must endure daily dialysis.

"We've had our challenges, we've had our obstacles," said Bob Kessler, noting the family was sad to leave Raleigh, N.C., where they'd live for several years.

But they knew they needed to be near Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where Tyler's kidney and cancer doctors are, and they wanted to draw strength from family members in the Lehigh Valley. Bob Kessler was raised in Fountain Hill, Colleen Kessler in Bethlehem, near East Hills Middle School.

Tyler's doctors, Kevin Myers for the kidneys and Bunnin for the cancer, couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

"We're extremely grateful for what people at CHOP have done for us," Bob Kessler said.

Colleen Kessler said the transplant brings with it another chance of cancer, but the transplant is necessary.

"If anything happens, we got two years with him that we weren't supposed to have," she said. "Every day is a blessing." Tony Rhodin is an assistant managing editor for The Express-Times. He can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at arhodin@express-times.com.


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