AVONDALE, Ariz. — Tyler Reddick says that the prognosis “looks promising” for 5-month-old son Rookie, who is home after having surgery due to a tumor.
Rookie had surgery last month to remove a kidney. His mother, Alexa, posted on Instagram last month that Rookie had “a tumor that’s “choking” the renal vein & renal artery. Telling the heart ‘hey I’m not getting enough blood… pump harder.’ Causing the enlarged heart. He will need the entire kidney removed as it is not believed to be functioning any longer.”
Reddick provided an update Saturday at Phoenix Raceway on his son.
“For the most part, he’s a lot healthier, which is good,” Reddick said of the youngest of the two sons he and wife Alexa have. “Still have some things to sort out in regards to some of the things that he’s been fighting. But the for the most part, it looks promising.”
Reddick said he doesn’t anticipate any additional surgeries for Rookie in the coming months.
“I don’t think there will be any need for any more surgeries, depending on if the tumor grows back, some other things happen,” Reddick said. “There might be some more treatments that come up, but largely it seems like the crazier days are behind us. But we have some little things to sort out.”
Reddick’s wife, Alexa, took Rookie to Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, in late September. Reddick said he considered missing the race that weekend at Kansas but competed. Reddick said missing any of the remaining races of the season was possible, depending on his son’s condition.
Reddick has run all the races and will compete in Sunday’s season finale (3 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock).
“My focus was not on racing at all,” Reddick said of some past weeks. “But, I feel like we were still able to go out and perform well. I was able to, in a very condensed way, look back at my notes, Only a couple of times through the process was I able to do some preparation, which again, wasn’t a high priority.
“Things just fell in the right place where I was able to race. In a lot of ways, it was hard to say how it affected my performance because racing was the last thing on my mind for a long period of time.”
Reddick said Rookie returned home last week. One challenge for his son was to sleep at home after an extended stay in the hospital.
“He had just gotten so attuned to being in a hospital and all the noises that come with it and we’re laying in bed and he’s trying to fall asleep, but he’s fussing real bad,” Reddick said. “I’m just like in my head, I’m thinking … “Everything is good. It doesn’t seem like he’s in pain. He’s just like uncomfortable.’ It struck me that our room is too quiet.”
