The family has lost track of how many cards were sent and blankets were donated.

"Every day the mailman would deliver three or four crates of mail for him," Ed Palmer said. "We got cards from every state in the nation and from all different countries. There must have been tens of thousands."

Likewise, blankets rolled in.

"We didn't even see them all," Ed Palmer said. "We, ourselves, delivered five truckloads. I wouldn't be surprised if there were 5,000 or more."

The blankets were distributed to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and to St. Vincent De Paul.

Oliver's story even caught the interest of one of his idols. Brandon Flowers, lead singer for the band Killers, flew in to pay Oliver a visit in December. "He held a little private concert right in our living room and brought Oliver some presents," Ed Palmer said.

Oliver had been at the hospice home since Sunday and had been sleeping about 20 hours a day in recent days, but was awake almost all day Wednesday, his dad said.

"His best friend came and read him a book," Ed Palmer said. "And his other good friend read some Valentine's he received."