Brenda Frese, Terrapins women’s basketball coach, said ever since her son Tyler began undergoing leukemia treatment more than two years ago, she’s realized “there’s a bigger game called life besides basketball.”
Since Tyler Thomas was 2 years old, he has undergone chemotherapy treatments for leukemia at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg Children’s Center. But after more than three years of therapy, Tuesday’s visit to the hospital was different from his routine trips.
Instead, the 5-year-old son of Terrapins women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese and the rest of his family went to the center in Baltimore to celebrate the end of his chemotherapy treatment.
“It is with great happiness that we can celebrate the end of Tyler’s treatments,” Frese said in a release. “This marks the end of three years and three months of daily anti-cancer medicines hidden in applesauce.”
Tyler’s twin brother, Markus, also attended Tuesday’s celebration, marking his first visit to the hospital.
Tyler received what Frese hopes is his last dose of chemotherapy medicine last week, she said. On Jan. 8, Tyler will have surgery to remove a port in his chest that was used to draw blood and insert chemotherapy drugs. He will next undergo a year-and-a-half of blood check to see if the leukemia comes back. If it doesn’t, Johns Hopkins doctors will deem Tyler cured and he will only return for annual checkups.
“We can’t thank the amazing people at Hopkins enough,” Frese said in the release. “They are simply all unbelievable.”
After Tyler’s diagnosis, former Terps Marissa Coleman, Shay Doron, Laura Harper and Kristi Toliver — all a part of the team’s 2006 national championship — formed the Team Tyler Foundation. The Terps have had three annual Team Tyler games since then, receiving donations from fans and other basketball programs, including Purdue, Loyola, UMBC, Duke and Georgia Tech.
“We also want to thank our family, friends, and our Maryland family for the support and love over these last few years as we reach this milestone on our journey,” Frese said in the release.
