R.I.P. Tristan M. Gilbert - 12:51pm Friday, August 7, 2009 to 9:36pm Wednesday, December 22, 2010. You brought joy to all who met you, a smile to all who saw your picture, and are loved by all who know you. In your 16 1/2 months you touched more lives, fought harder, and accomplished more than most ever will. Tristan will be cremated sometime between December 27th-29th depending on when proper paper work gets cleared. Tristan's memorial service is planned for 11 A.M. on January 8, 2010 and will be held at East Main Street Christian Church in Elwood, IN. There will be a service then dinner. We want it to be a celebration of his life, not a sad time. We think Tristan would rather see a happy event as he looks down from above. Even when on the ventilator towards the end, Tristan still smiled when he heard his love ones voices. **This event is casual, casual attire is fine, if you wish to dress up that is ok as well. Since the Colt's Playoff Game is on the same day, and we always dressed him in Colt's Gear, that everyone with Colt's gear will be wearing it in our family. If you would like to attend please email leanne@tristansstory.org with the subject Interested in Attending. More information will follow right here as plans are set. A headcount will help with dinner plans. **Added a PDF flyer that can be downloaded or printed. Please share this with anyone that might want to attended or even like to know about the site. Also it has come to my attention that the flyer has the original time not the final decided time of 11 am. Please make this change if printing one out. Click Here for the flyer.

Welcome to Tristan's Story!

About this Site | About HLH | Tristan's Status | Flashes of Hope

**Please continue to visit the site and share it with others. With all that is going on, it will take time, but my intentions are to continue building this site not only as a memorial to Tristan, but to help others. I will be updating his story, his fight, and most likely will add a pre-set portal for the site. The portal will allow greater interactivity with the site. I wanted to hand code this whole site when I started creating it, but can only hand code what I have learned in my studies. Please email any suggestions to admin@tristansstory.org.

About this site:

*Important terms on this site are "Emphasized "*

This site was created to share information about our son's blood disorder called Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), information about his life, his symptoms that were easily overlooked, and his progress during his fight. We hope that this information will help doctors and parents learn more, possibly help in getting an earlier diagnosis from normal pediatricians. Also, we hope this site will generate more awareness of HLH by the average person around the world. Click here for Tristan's Backstory and here for a list of Tristan's Symptoms. For FAQ's and more about this site click here. More... Currently Under Construction.

Back to Top

About Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH)

HLH is an extremely rare blood disorder that causes an influx of Histiocyte white blood cells which are overly agressive. To understand this disease we had to first learn about Histiocytes. The Histiocyte's job is to clean dead cells from the blood and send them to the liver and spleen for recycling. Histiocytes live in the bone marrow and attach themselves to organs to help fight infections and perform clean-up. With HLH the histiocytes no longer just clean-up dead cells but also attack the red blood cells and platelets. This causes the person with HLH to have lower amounts of energy and less ability to clot which causes excessive bleeding. To learn more click here. More...

Back to Top

Tristan's Status

Tristan's current status changes day by day. Some changes are significant, while others are miniscule. I will attempt to update at a minimum of any major changes to his status. If possible I will update smaller changes as well. At the time of this last update, Tristan is still in the hospital, post bone marrow transplant, but still not in good enough condition to be released. He was recently admitted to ICU for breathing problems and not for sure how long they expect it to continue. Click here for Status Updates...

Back to Top

Flashes of Hope Pictures

Flashes of Hope is a non-profit organization that takes photo's of cancer patients. Although Tristan is not a cancer patient, the photo program was open to all Hemocology/Oncology patients. To see Tristan's photos (Taken on the day of his Diagnosis) click on Photo Gallery. To visit their web site to learn more about their program, or donate to their cause click on Flashes of Hope.

Back to Top

Contact Info:admin@tristansstory.org

Privacy Policy