His Diagnosis

In the early days of January, Tyler was admitted to the emergency room. He had lost mobility on his left side. After tests, scans, labs, and a week in the hospital at UCSF he was sent home to await diagnosis. He has a midline diffused glioma DIPG/DMG, an inoperable, malignant, and aggressive form of cancer.

His Treatment

He completes six weeks of radiation on March 8th, paired with chemotherapy. UCSF has provided a great and supportive team of doctors who have ensured that he gets the care that he needs. With such aggressive treatments Tyler did struggle with fatigue, but he still kept up with swimming, school, and having fun.

His day to day

Treatment was followed by rest, family time, and an activity. If you know Tyler, you know that he loves the water and is a skilled swimmer. When he wasn’t completing his online school work, he is in the water, with a dog or just chilling with his siblings. He even skied on his family trip in February 2023. He and his dad made that dream (goal) happen.

His intentions

Tyler has and always will want to give to others. When he was little he would sell baked goods to donate to I Stand With My Pack [ISWMP]. He has made many strives in his childhood to donate to nonprofits, and in his new journey with cancer. He has partnered with ISWMP and is selling shirts and hats to help rescue animals.

Tyler’s participation in his case study helped move the ball forward, and in August of 2025 the drug he was on, ONC201, passed the FDA. As his family we knew his efforts amounted something as tremendous as his willingness to try, and is fight against cancer.

Tyler’s HOPE

Tyler hoped that his participation and donation of his brain biopsy, would ultimately get to a cure for DIPG and DMG. This goal was not achieved before he left us on February 13, 2024.

Tyler made the ultimate donation at the end of his life. He chose to donate his brain, brain tumor and spine to science. His cells now live on in labs all over the world that are searching for the cure to this cruel and terminal disease. Our goal now is to do fundraising, advocacy work, and support families experiencing what our family did. We feel grateful for the access to a case study within a driving distance from our home, that Tyler was diagnosed at almost 14, as most cases are discovered at the ages of 3 years old to 9 years old with a life expectancy of 9 months. We got SO much time and made teh best memories before and after his diagnosis.

Tyler loved swim, his Coach Sam was a true influence and genuine mentor to him. After diagnosis the Aqua Knights renamed their time trials to “Team Tyler Time Trials”. In 2023 Tyler and his Kitty were talking about how much swim meant to him, and how he wanted kids to “keep swimming”. So Tyler created a scholarship, The Tyler Rodden AK Scholarship, to encourage kids to keep swimming. The first year he had the honor of giving the award to a special individual chosen by the coaches, she was small, but mighty. Now we fund raise to continue the monetary donation to help with swim registration cost, and this past year, (2025) we gave a scholarship for the cost of the swimmers registration and club dues for the season.

Tyler loved his swim community, and did they show up for him, our family, and continue to do so.