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An Unexpected Journey

Courtney Day, Campus Editor

(HANNAH MILLER | The Miami Student)

Tyler Sinclair can't remember his 20th birthday, which came and went in a haze Sept. 18. After going into septic shock in his knees, lungs and kidneys, he spent the first 20 days of September on life support in a medically induced coma.

"Everything's really foggy about that," Sinclair said. "It's scary, that's for sure."

Since waking up, Sinclair hasn't been able to feel the toes in his left foot. It's annoying, and he jokes about it, but the last thing Sinclair wants is for people to feel sorry for him. In fact, Sinclair says he is blessed.

July 9, Sinclair was diagnosed with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia. It was the summer after his first year studying political science and black world studies at Miami University. He had just finished a summer internship with House Minority Leader John Boehner in Washington, D.C.

Sinclair had always been relatively healthy, but he had started to have headaches and tire easily. He went to the doctor thinking he might have a caffeine addiction, never imagining it was cancer.

The doctor said 50 to 60 percent of the cells in Sinclair's bone marrow were leukemic. It came as a shock to both Sinclair and his doctor.

After the diagnosis, Sinclair looked up acute nonlymphocytic leukemia on Wikipedia. What he read was not encouraging, so he stopped researching the disease. There are some things he feels he would be better off not knowing.

Willing to share

What he does know, he is completely willing to share. Sinclair has been open about his disease, treatment and condition since the beginning. He started a blog called The Journey in July. Telling his family he had leukemia, Tyler said in a blog post, is one of the hardest things he has had to do.

Dozens of posts and hundreds of comments later, Sinclair thinks the blog has given him an outlet for his thoughts and feelings. Even more, he thinks it helps his friends understand what is going on in his life and feel better about everything.

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Student Body President Heath Ingram was Sinclair's resident assistant (RA) during his first year at Miami. Ingram remembers Sinclair from move-in because he came up to Ingram, looked him in the eye, shook his hand and asked how he could get more involved on campus.

According to Ingram, it's rare for a first-year student to take that kind of initiative.

"It made a lasting impression on me," Ingram said.

Ingram was on his way to work when Sinclair called him with the news of his diagnosis. Ingram said he had to pull over because he was devastated.

"It was like somebody dropped a boulder on my head," he said.

Not only did Ingram feel close to Sinclair as a friend and RA, but he had been looking forward to having Sinclair on the executive cabinet of Associated Student Government (ASG) this year.

Sinclair would have been secretary for academic affairs, and no one in ASG disputes that he would have been great at the job. Ingram said Sinclair respects everyone and is incredibly hardworking and dedicated.

Sophomore Meghan Wadsworth agrees. She describes Sinclair as motivated, poised, scholarly, mature beyond his years and a kid at heart. The two met through ASG as student senators from neighboring residence halls.

"His first month as a senator, he was jumping in on every legislation … he goes for everything he's interested in …  I think people forgot he was a freshman," Wadsworth said.

Sinclair and Wadsworth began hanging out because they had so much in common. They lived near each other, had senate meetings and classes together and were both members of College Republicans.

Wadsworth said Sinclair likes to go out and do "typical college stuff," but the two friends mostly just like to talk together. When they hang out, it usually involves food.

"Tyler and I eat a lot … He's like a bottomless pit," Wadsworth joked. She said as a first-year he would bring a box of junk food to a late night study session and turn it into a party.

Now, Sinclair said he likes to watch food shows to make him want to eat more.

"Chemo completely destroys your appetite," he said.

Nevertheless, Sinclair's attitude is decidedly positive. He said he is learning through this ordeal to be grateful and to rely on others.

Force of wisdom

Wadsworth sees Sinclair as a force of wisdom, always ready to offer advice. She said he has the perspective and drive to accomplish anything, but he is learning to sit back and observe rather than always take a leadership role.

"The little things in life I think are more exciting to him," Wadsworth said, recalling how grateful he was for a Miamiopoly board game he received as a gift from ASG cabinet members at his belated birthday celebration in October.

"The hardest part for him is honestly just not being a part of ASG," Wadsworth said.

She said he has ideas for bills he would like to see written for student senate and he has things he wants to do for Miami. ASG is not just a line on a resume for Sinclair, it's a passion.

Wadsworth said the hardest part for her has been not being able to be there for her friend. They talk on the phone and text message each other regularly, but without a car Wadsworth can't visit him at his home in Middletown or in Dayton Children's Hospital as often as she would like. She likes to send him picture messages so he can be part of whatever is going on. Similarly, Ingram said he tries to keep Sinclair in the loop about everything that goes on in ASG.

"It's just a roadblock in his life," Wadsworth said. "This isn't going to stop him. If anything, it's going to make him stronger."

An epic experience

Sinclair was granted a wish from A Special Wish Foundation in Dayton. As he thought through who he would like to meet, he considered Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Bill O'Reilly and Karl Rove.

Then, he thought, "If this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity, why not shoot for the top?"

Sinclair and his family met former President George W. Bush Oct. 8 in his office in Dallas, Texas.

"Epic is definitely the word to describe that," Sinclair said of the meeting, which was surprisingly casual and lasted two hours.

"It was literally like talking to a professor in office hours," Sinclair said. "It was great."

The former president was informed about and genuinely interested in Sinclair's condition.

"He reads my blog, I'm not even joking!" Sinclair told ASG cabinet members with a huge smile on his face.

Sinclair didn't just ask Bush the same questions everyone else asks, but he asked about things like the Kyoto Protocol and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The former president was impressed.

New focus

Sinclair said his leukemia journey is teaching him never to waste an opportunity. He said of his family, "I think they've learned a lot about patience — we all have."

Tyler's mother, Gina Sinclair, agrees. "Seeing Tyler after he came out of ICU unable to care independently for himself was a teary time for me," she said. "The hardest part as the mother is not being able to make it all better like moms are supposed to do. I can make it as easy as I can and make him as comfortable as I can, but I can't make it go away."

She is grateful for the support the family has gotten from friends. Her faith in God is what has gotten her through, she said.

"We have learned what a church family, community and neighbors, family and friends truly mean during this time," she said. "You can't get through it alone."

She said the disease has changed the family.

"This leukemia has changed all of us — mostly for the better. We don't really bother with the small annoyances that used to bother us. They are no big deal. People and how they react is not our focus anymore," she said.

She said her son is determined and sometimes stubborn, and his strong will is helping him fight through this tough time.

The journey ahead

Tyler is currently at Dayton Children's Hospital where he will stay a minimum of 28 days while he waits for his blood counts to recover from his third round of chemotherapy. Tyler has good days when he can enjoy spending time with visitors and playing Xbox, but other days present more challenges. He wrote on his blog Oct. 23 that he has intense stomach pain from an infection as well as a rash and nosebleeds from the chemotherapy. He received a blood transfusion on the same day.

After his current stay at the hospital, if all goes as planned, Tyler will spend three weeks at home. In the second week of December, he plans to receive a bone marrow transplant and spend 100 days in solitary isolation in a locked, airtight room. Only his mother, one doctor and a nurse will be allowed in the room because he will have no white blood cells and will be very susceptible to infection.

Sinclair said 12 percent of people die through this procedure, but he said he is not really afraid.

"I just want to get it over with," he said.

Sinclair said he is looking forward to coming back to Miami to finish his degree.

"Things could be a lot worse," he said. "I complain and I moan, but I really don't have much to complain about."


Through A Special Wish Foundation, Tyler Sinclair met former President George W. Bush in his office in Dallas.

Tyler Sinclair enjoys Buffalo Wild Wings with his friends Carson Cowles, Thomas Foster and Meghan Wadsworth during his hospital stay.

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