Monday, August 30, 2004 11:16 AM CDT

Day 38

Well we still don't have the results of the bonemarrow biospy done last week. We are hoping and praying he's 90% donor cells. At this point that is where they expect him to be.

As of right now he's on blood pressure meds twice a day to keep his blood pressure regulated. His liver counts are still up from where they would like them to be. His blood sugar is up and they have started him on insulin. His heart rate is lower than they expect. According to Dr Pietryga it's the heart rate a world class althete would kill to have but they don't see to often in these kids. Dr Pietryga thinks that most of these issues are due to the steroids but as a safty measusre he is calling in a specialist to see about his sugar, a cardiologist about his heart, and sending him for a CT scan with die injected to check his liver.

They are hoping that he will be able to be released to the Renucci house by the end of the week or first of next week but alot of that depends on what all the tests and specialist say about the other issues. If he's not able to be released he will at least be able to get passes to go for walks out side with a mask. Go for rides in the car. I asked and I can take him to a movie later too if we go early when they are not busy and he wears a mask.

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers!

Thursday, August 26, 2004 11:30 AM CDT

Day 34

Well according to Dr Peitrgia he can see the door thought a haze!!! They have turned down the TPN and Trav is starting to try and eat more. Tues he ate a half of pudding cup. Wed he ate a half of grilled cheese sandwich. Today so far he's had a yogurt tube and as I'm typing he's eating some boca burger helper (since he's vegatarian he eats hamburger helper with boca burger). They have switched a few of his meds to oral vs IV and he's not having any trouble taking them. He was out walking a bit again yesterday. So all in all it great to see him feeling so well.

We still don't have the results of the bonemarrow bisopy. Hopefully we'll know by tomorrow.

Other than that I really don't have any new news!

Thanks for the good vibes, thoughts, and prayers.

Love,

Jodi

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 11:21 AM CDT

Well last night was the best night we have had in a very long time Travis slept longer and better than he has in a very long time. He was up a few times needing to use the rest room but other than he was great.

Today his legs are a bit sore from all the walking he did yesterday. PT came in again this morning and got him up walking some more to try and stretch his muscles. Rhys the child life specialist is coming in later this afternoon to get him up and about also.

Last night was the first time he's eaten anything in over 4 weeks. He ate about a half of pudding cup but it's a major start. He's been drinking some flavored waters and juices but not eating much of anything. I just fixed him a grilled cheese sandwich and he ate about half of the sandwich.

They are starting him on some of his meds by mouth and lowering the TPN to try and get him out of here.

Thanks for checking and the well wishes and prayers.

Love,

Jodi

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 11:21 AM CDT

Well last night was the best night we have had in a very long time Travis slept longer and better than he has in a very long time. He was up a few times needing to use the rest room but other than he was great.

Today his legs are a bit sore from all the walking he did yesterday. PT came in again this morning and got him up walking some more to try and stretch his muscles. Rhys the child life specialist is coming in later this afternoon to get him up and about also.

Last night was the first time he's eaten anything in over 4 weeks. He ate about a half of pudding cup but it's a major start. He's been drinking some flavored waters and juices but not eating much of anything. I just fixed him a grilled cheese sandwich and he ate about half of the sandwich.

They are starting him on some of his meds by mouth and lowering the TPN to try and get him out of here.

Thanks for checking and the well wishes and prayers.

Love,

Jodi

Tuesday, August 24, 2004 9:54 AM CDT

Day 32

Well Trav had his bone marrow biospy this morning. We won't know the results from it a couple days. We should get news on how the cells look concerning the leukemia. They are hoping that the other results will show him to be 90onor cells. The procedure room is a bit of a walk from Trav's room and we have been encouraging him to walk a bit now that his back pain is gone. Well he decided to try and walk part way to the procedure. Amy the nurse aid followed us with a wheel chair for him as soon as he said he was to tired. Well guess what? He walked the entire way. Karen the sedation nurse said he was the first one she's ever seen who walked into the procedure room at this stage.

The liver function is holding about the same. They are not scheduling a biospy at this point but plan to keep a close eye on it.

Thanks for the well wishes, thoughts, and prayers.

Love,

Jodi

Sunday, August 22, 2004 4:43 PM CDT

Day 30

Today the dr was very happy since Trav's platelets went up on their own without them having to transfuse them. His WBC went up a bit again. On that aspect things seem to be going very well. He is still a bit sick to his stomach. They are planning on doing a bonemarrow biospy sometime toward the middle of the week. If the stomach troubles are not better by then they are going to go down with a scope when they have him under sedation for the bone marrow bio.

He's still having some liver trouble. They did an ultrasound and ct scan yesterday of his liver. If things don't start looking better with the liver soon they are planning on doing a liver biospy. Please say some extra prayers that he does not have permenent liver damage from all the chemo he's underwent for the transplant.

For now that's about all.

Thanks for checking.

Love,

Jodi

Thursday, August 19, 2004 12:51 AM CDT

Day 27

Well Trav was up all night long vomiting. They decided to start steroids today as a treatment for GVHD. They feel the stomach stuff is the GVHD since they have stopped many of the meds that could be causing it. They gave a 125 mg boost and then he'll get 25 mg every 6 hours. I'm hoping and praying that this helps. The poor kids has been so misurable.

Ohter than that I don't have much news today things are still moving along okay if we can get him over the vomiting.

Thanks for checking.

Love,

Jodi

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 11:16 AM CDT

Day 26

Things are pretty much the same as far as Trav is feeling. His counts are good.

WBC 6.15
Hemoglobin 9.5
Platelets 20
ANC 5658

Since his WBC and ANC are doing so well they are stopping the Neupegin that should help the hemoglobin and Platelets come in better on their own.

He's still feeling sick to his stomach and vomiting alot. They are stopping one other med that may be causing it. Thye also did a stool culture. If that does not help they figure it's GVHD and will start him on steroids.

Thanks for the thoughts, and prayers.

Love,

Jodi

Tuesday, August 17, 2004 2:41 PM CDT

Day 25

Well I don't have much new news today. His counts are still climbing slowly but surly. I don't have the exact numbers today. I asked the nurse once but he's in training and I never got a final answer. I do know the WBC are still going us as is the ANC, his liver counts are still going down. They are going to do a culture on his tongue to make sure it's not thrush growing on his tongue.

He's still been pretty sick to his stomach the dr wants to make sure he does not have some stomach bug or it's not the meds before he starts treating it like GVHD.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

Love,

Jodi

Monday, August 16, 2004 1:00 PM CDT

Day 24

Sorry for the missing updates from over the weekend it seems like when I'm working on the weekends I get busy and so tired that I don't always get the updates posted. Just consider that if I don't post on the weekends I'm busy and tired and that no news is good news. If there is anything to report I promise I'll try and get the news posted.

Anyway things are great. He is engraphed which means the marrow is growing in his body. Grow donor cells grow!!! I don't have todays counts yet but yesterday WBC was 3.66 and ANC 3267! His back pain though still there somewhat is much much better. He's able to get up and move around without to much trouble. He's still throwing up alot and they are looking at his meds to try and see if they can find what is causing him to be so sick all the time.

Thanks for all the thoughs and prayers.

Love,

Jodi

Friday, August 13, 2004 3:11 PM CDT

Day 21

Things are still looking like yesterday will be engraphment day. WBC 2.25 and ANC 1900! He was able to get up and walk a bit more today. He made it to the other side of the room to the couch. After that he was sick to his stomach and was vomiting. At this point he's still on the couch sleeping.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers!

Love,

Jodi

Thursday, August 12, 2004 11:28 AM CDT

Day 20


ANC 934!!! Whoo hooo Trav is coming along great. His WBC is 1.42 he's getting platelets today but other than that things are really good. His liver counts are coming down. His jaundice is getting much better. On the whole things are great. The downfall is now that he's engraphing we need to prepare for GVHD. Lets all hope and pray it's a mild case.

Thanks for all the love, support, and prayers.

Love,

Jodi

Wednesday, August 11, 2004 11:27 AM CDT

Day 19

We are almost there! His ANC is 405 today with a WBC of .88 so with everything moving like it is we are hoping his ANC is 500 tomorrow and he'll be engraphed by this weekend. Even after he's engraphed he'll be inpatient for a couple more weeks. Since his donor was not a perfect match they are expecting some GVHD which won't show up until he's engraphed so that's something they will be watching for now that it looks like he's engraphing.

Thanks for all the support, thoughts, good vibes, and prayers sent this way.

Love,

Jodi

Tuesday, August 10, 2004 12:38 AM CDT

Day 18

Well there is still no official word on if he's engraphing yet but things are looking good. His WBC is .52 we are still waiting on his ANC what the dr told me today is once the ANC is 500 for 3 days in a row they consider him engraphed from the first day it's 500.

Basically he's still jaundice. Not any better but also not any worse. They did take him off a few of the meds that hard on the liver to try and help him clear that up. Plus from what I'm understanding once his WBC start coming in that will help heal his body also so maybe in the next few days we'll see that clearing up.

The back pain is still there as is the leg pain but to me it seems much better. Both yesterday and today he was up and walked to the chair. Not far but it's a start. I'm telling him one day at a time.

Thanks for all the support, prayers, and good vibes!

Love,

Jodi


WHOOO-HOOOOO WE HAVE AN ANC!!!!! ANC 348 SO WE ARE STARTING SO SHOW SIGNS THAT HE MAY BE ENGRAPHING:-)

Monday, August 9, 2004 11:17 AM CDT

Day 17

Well the back pain is still there. He's hurting quite a bit but it seems to me that he's able to move a bit better. It hurts to move but he's just able to grit his teeth and get it over with somewhat better.

His WBC is .20 today so it seems to be moving up slowly but surely. The drs won't go so far as to say he's engraphing yet but all in all it's a good sign.

His liver seems to be holding as is also. His janudice is getting somewhat better. The counts are coming down. The x-ray of the liver shows a bit of an enlargement but they could feel that. All in all at this point they are not worried about it. They just did another ultra sound of his kidneys.

Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts.

Love,

Jodi

Sunday, August 8, 2004 3:19 PM CDT

Day 16

Whoo Hooo his wbc is starting to climb. The dr said they could still drop back again tomorrow but hopefully this is a sign that the marrow is starting to engraph! Grow donor cells grow! As for the liver they x-rayed it yesterday and it's showing some sludge in it. They are starting meds to clear that up and will get rid of the jaundice. The downside is they are lowering the diluaded he's on for his pain. The diluaded is something that can damage the liver so rather than damage the liver anymore they are decreasing it. Lets all hope the back pain stays undercontrol with the lower doses.

Other than that no real new news!

Thanks for all the love, support, and prayers!

Love,

Jodi

Friday, August 6, 2004 2:50 PM CDT

Hi everyone. Well I don't have any real news again today. The counts are still bottomed out, his back is still hurting, and they are still watching his liver.

The PT did come in and get him up and laying on the couch. They are trying to get him off the bed more often.
Well like I said not much news to report. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

Love,

Jodi

Thursday, August 5, 2004 11:23 AM CDT

Day 13

Well so far the liver functions are still staying the same. So as long as things don't change they don't plan on doing anything. When the dr was pushing on his stomach he wasn't real tender and he said the liver didn't feel enlarged.

The mouth is not looking to bad. They are stopping the study mouth rinse. Trav has been throwing up after using it and convinced that is why is he's sick so the dr is stopping it. Let's hope this stops the vomiting.

Other than that no real new news. Just waiting for the counts to start coming up. It's still a bit early but lets all pray the donor cells start growing!!!

Love,

Jodi

Wednesday, August 4, 2004 2:17 PM CDT

Well I don't have any new new to report today. Trav is still having back pain and PT has already been in to work with him. He claims the pain isn't any better but he seems to be moving a bit better than he was before.

As for counts and liver function counts I don't have them yet today. The dr has not been in yet to give me the reports.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

Love,

Jodi

Tuesday, August 3, 2004 9:23 AM CDT

Well today isn't much different than things have been lately! His mouth is still a bit sore but looking as good as can be expected. He is getting platlets today and will need red blood cells in a couple days. This is totally expected. His back still has them baffeled. His liver counts are still hanging in there about the same. This is a good sign since it's not jumping up. He'll need his last low dose of chemo today, which is to help the GVHD. This may mess with the liver counts for tomorrow though. Lets all hope and pray things don't change much in his liver function!

Thanks for checking in!

Love,

Jodi

Monday, August 2, 2004 12:30 AM CDT

Day 10

I'm sorry for the delay in updating yesterday! Bad mom, bad mom. First I worked all day and then my cousing Teena and I had tickets for the Prince concert. So I had to hurry from work to get ready for the concert. All in all we didn't care for the show to much I guess that's what we get! LOL

Okay well the back pain still isn't undercontrol. They brought in the electronic impluse thing to try and help but he said it made it feel worse. I'm not convinced he gave it a fair shot. We'll see later when the PT comes back in what she thinks.

The mouth sores are still better than they expect. He's some going but nothing to major. The main thing there is his bottom lip. It has one nasty looking sore when he was doing his mouth care earlier he had it bleeding. Poor guy it looks pretty painful.

They are also watching his liver right now. He's jaundice. He's looking tan and the whites of his eyes are pretty yellow. This is something they also expect but are watching pretty careful.

We should start to see signs of engraphment by day 18-21 so we still have a while there. Other than that there is really no new news! Thanks for checking on Trav and send out some prayers not only for Travis but anyone who is ill!

Love,

Jodi

Saturday, July 31, 2004 3:19 PM CDT

I don't have any new news today. He's still hanging in there transplant wise. A few mouth sores but other than that things are good.

The main issue is still his back pain. He got up today and sat in the chair for a while. They are still planning on trying to get the tins unit to try and help the pain!

Friday, July 30, 2004 12:59 AM CDT

Day 6
Well transplant wise he's still doing great! His mouth is still a bit sore but he's really keeping up with his mouth care without giving us to much greif! They have started the meds to prevent GVHD. He's not feeling sick to his stomach or having any other symptoms like those.

His back pain is still there, so he's not moving around much! I can't wait to see him up and playing his guitar. Then I'll know he's feeling better. The PT came in yesterday and had him up some. Other than that things are about the same.

Thanks for the good wishes and prayers.

Thursday, July 29, 2004 10:20 AM CDT

Transplant wise Trav is still doing great. He still has some mouth sores but nothing to major. His main complaint is that everything tastes bad due to the muscus in his mouth.

His still in alot of pain in his back. Just moving any hurts him. We really needed to get a weight on him today and it hurt him a great deal to move himself to stand up to get weighed. We are hoping to get him to sit up a bit each day and get those muscles stretched. I just wish we could get this pain undercontrol. Not moving in the long run could cause him a whole new set of problems.

I was a bit concerned last night his nose was sounding stuffy and he was coughing. Today he's not sounding to bad but the dr is ordering a chest x-ray just to be sure we don't have anything going on in his lungs. The last thing he needs right now is that.

That's about all the news I have for now!

Love,

Jodi

Wednesday, July 28, 2004 9:53 AM CDT

Day 5
Well transplant wise Trav is doing great. He's still having some mouth sores but according to all the drs and nurses his mouth looks great. We knew mouth sores were to be expected so I guess with his like it is we are pretty lucky. All of his other issues are great.

We got the results this morning from the ct scan and it's not showing to much. There are some inflamed muscles but other than that it's not showing much. He still in a great deal of pain but seems to be moving a bit better so hopefully that's a start!

That's about all the news I have for now.

Love,

Jodi

Tuesday, July 27, 2004 9:36 AM CDT

Day 4
Trav's back pain is still really bothering him. He can't get out of bed to so much as stand up. The drs came in this morning and they feel he's a bit better but if he's not a whole lot better by tomorrow they are sending him down for a ct scan. They are not making this descision lightly since they really don't want to take him out of this room if they can avoid it at all. I just wish they could figure it out here and get him out of pain. He's wanting to play his guitar so bad but can't sit up to play. Other than the back pain he's doing very well transplant wise. His mouth sores are there but they are not to bad. He is in a study for mouth care where 50f the patients get this new drug and 50et the placibo Trav's dr feels he's getting the drug since his mouth looks so good. He's still flirting with a fever but nothing to high. It seems like each night lately after 11:00 pm he starts running something. Last night he did but it never even hit the mark where they needed to draw cultures.

We did have a specialist come last night and desensitize (sp???) Trav to penicillin. They way they did it he will be able to take any drug in the penicillin family. This won't cure his allergy to the drug for the long term but it will for as long as they keep him on it at this point. So for now as long as they don't stop the drug he will be able to take it,which is a good thing since it opens up many doors for them in treating any infection he may get.

Love,

Jodi

P.S. Well later this afternoon they did decide to take him down for the ct scan. It was kind of scary to watch them bring him out of this room, since they have always talked of how much they need to keep him protected from all the germs. Just an FYI on how much pain his back is causing, when we got down for the scan the sedation team was there waiting. The dr put him under sedation before moving him to the ct table. We basically used his bed sheet to move him off his bed onto the table. While he was totally asleep, undersecation he was crying out in pain from us moving him. When we put him back onto his bed he did the same thing. Later back in his room we asked him if he remembered it and he said no. We were all very happy since we could all see just how much pain it's causing him. Lets all hope and pray they figure out what is causing this.

Monday, July 26, 2004 9:28 AM CDT

Day 3
Trav's back pain is still unbearable. He can't sit up, or more at all with out major pain. They are still not sure what is causing it. They have done both w-rays and ultrasounds are not finding anything there. They want to do a MRI but to do that they will have to take him out of this room which is not something they will do without some serious thought. If they do take him out they have some sort of filtered helmet he'll have to wear since he has no immune system at all. I just wish they would find something to help him.

He's also still flirting with a fever. Yesterday on and off it was running up in the 101's then going back to normal last night it was up to 103.6 then back to normal. Now it's up a bit but not to high. This is concerning them since he's allergic to so many meds they will need to use to treat infections. They are calling in a specialist to try and see if they can desensitize him to some antibotics. They did this last summer and he did okay on it for a bit and then started reacting to it all over again.

Please say some prayers that the back pain and fever go away. Thanks!

Jodi

Sunday, July 25, 2004 5:52 PM CDT

Day 2

Trav's back is hurting him more than ever now. It's causing so much pain he hasn't been able to get out of bed at all.

This morning he was running a low grade fever and they called in the infectious diease specialist in just to be sure, but the fever is gone now.

They did start him on the TPN last night because they felt he wasn't eating enough. The dr said something to him about not eating any meat. Trav is a vegaterian so he never eats meat. They put him a low dose so they can stop it at any time.

Saturday, July 24, 2004 8:16 PM CDT

Day 1!

Sorry this post is getting here so late! I worked today after having 2 weeks off. Getting up at 4am was almost a culture shock! LOL

Anyway Trav is still doing well today. His back and down his leg is still hurting him quite a bit. They took more
x-rays of his legs and are still thinking it's a sore muscle. They think that earlier in the week he pulled a muscle and didn't get up and work enough it out so it just got worse. They talked about giving him a muscle relaxer but with all his other meds they can't. Right now it's hurting him just to hic-cup! We are hoping the can PT in there tomorrow to help him work it out.

Friday, July 23, 2004 7:34 AM CDT

Day 0

Post #1
Well the transplant was due to take place this morning at 7 am but he needed an iv antibotic to run before transplant. That is running right now as soon as that is done they run the marrow. They are thinking it will be around 9:15 this morning.

Other than that things are still okay. He still has a sore mouth and his back is also still hurting. The back pain is muscle pain and basically he needs to get up and move around to work it out. He's not to willing to do that at this point. We are having a hard time convincing him that is what's best.

I'll post more later as things happen.

Post #2
All the marrow is in! They didn't get it started until about 10 am or so but it didn't take long at all for it to fet in. Now it's just the waiting game. They are watching his vitals very close for the next few hours. Then it'll be just waiting for the marrow to engraph!

The Drs are still amazed right now that he's still eating. They keep offering TPN but Trav hates TPN and is going to try and keep eating and his hope is to avoid the TPN. From my understanding it's pretty rare if they do but he's going to give it his best shot! Wish him luck.

Post #3
Things are still going okay! Right now he's sleeping. All his vitals have stayed right on track. No blood pressure troubles, no fever, no rash! So far so good!

Post #4
Everything is still good. What a great to get a new start on life! No troubles at all with the new marrow. So far Trav has been up walking with the girl from PT. He just spent about a half hour playing his new guitar. Now he's laying on the heating pad for his sore back. For him getting a new start on life it sure is just a regular day!

Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers. Trav is doing great!

Post #5
What a great day it is today. Trav has been in higher spirts than I've seen him in a long time. I guess it's like a new lease on life!

His back is still hurting him ALOT but other than that he's doing great. Still amazing the drs by eating like he is. He's now reading a comic I got him the other day. It's so great to see him like this!

Thursday, July 22, 2004 10:29 AM CDT

Things today are about the same as yesterday. His mouth is still pretty sore although he did seem to get quite a bit of the coating off it yesterday. They are going to up the diluaded pump some so when he pushes his button he'll get more of a boost. This should help the pain when he has to do his mouth care! They came in and did an ultra sound on his kidneys to make sure that's not what is causing the back pain. They are going to do an x-ray there too.

The dr also asked how Trav was eating. So far he's eaten something each day. Yesterday he ate a bunch of icecream plus he vegitarian hamburger helper. He's eating pretty much as much as he ever did. They asked if he wanted to be put on TPN and he said no. Which is a good sign he want's to keep eating.

On another note will you all please say an extra prayer today for our donor. I'm guessing she is in surgery as I'm posting this to donate her marrow. It takes a very special angel in my book to save someone like she is doing!

Wednesday, July 21, 2004 12:06 AM CDT

Well the mucositis has set in. Trav has a horrible coating on his tongue and in his mouth. He's spitting alot of thick yucky mucus. They are going to start him on the diluadid infusion where it goes at a low rate continous plus he'll have a button to push when he needs a boost. He's also has to use the swabs to try and get the coating off a bit more. Other than that here isn't much to report. He's sleeping quite a bit. He's doing physical thearpy at least once a day to try and get him out of bed some and going. They feel his total recovery will be better and faster for him if he's up and active a bit more.

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 12:24 AM CDT

Well today Trav is showing a irregular heart beat. He's had a few of these before so at first I wasn't to worried but it seems like they are watching him pretty close right now which has me a bit concerned. I'm sure it's just a precaution but it's still a bit scary. A cardiologist was called in and will be coming in to check him out soon and they will be doing an EKG sometime today also. Lets all hope and pray it's nothing and things can stay calm for him. The EKG came back okay and the cardiologist just came in and says EKG is fine and he can hear a heart murmer (which is what I've been told before) but it's more noticiable now due to the fact that his hemoglobin is low. It's 8.4 and he always feels much better if his is around 10.

Physical thearpy came in today and made him get out of bed and walk a bit and do some excercise which is good in my eyes. I have tried to get him up and going and all I seem to manage is to get him mad at me. This way he can get mad at them and not me:-)

The transplant will be on Fri morining for sure now. The marrow won't get here until late Thurs so they are waiting until early Fri am to infuse him with it. He's got a bit of a sore mouth but nothing to bad yet.

Monday, July 19, 2004 3:37 PM CDT

Well today isn't much different than yesterday. He's still getting chemo and still a bit grouchy. He's drinking alot and getting alot of iv fluids which is making him use the rest room ALOT which don't make him happy. Then the dr felt he was intaking more than he was putting out so they gave him some meds to make him pee more which didn't set well with him. So for now he's trying to sleep and hopefully he'll feel better when he wakes up. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

Sunday, July 18, 2004 7:55 AM CDT

Well so far Trav is doing okay with the chemo. They started the ARC last night and today & tomorrow he'll get both the ARC and cytoxin, and on Tues just the ARC again. Wed he gets a break and Thurs is the big day. They are guessing he'll get the bonemarrow late around 11 or midnight. As for his spirts they are okay but he's a bit grouchy, but I can totally understand that. What teenager would be happy being locked in the hospital for the next several weeks? Especially since he spent his entire summer there last year and will again this year. He's already been inpatient 42 days this year and has many, many more to go.

Thursday, July 15, 2004 6:42 PM CDT

Well today was most the most trying days we have had so far! He was susposed to go for day 4 of radiation and flat out refused to go. We ended up in the clinic all day without him making a choice to go ahead or not. Without finishing what we have started he does not have any chance of surival. We came home around 3 without any descisions being made as of then. Just in the last few minutes he decided to go ahead. They were able to get his scheduled for his radiation tomorrow and keep everything on track. He will go at 6 am and again at noons and from there he'll be admitted to the hospital. He starts chemo on Sat night. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers that the next two radiation treatments go smooth for him.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 6:09 PM CDT

Day 3 of radiation is now behind us. It's starting to take it's toll on him though. He made it through his am treatment without to much trouble but his noon treatment took a bit longer. He was in the bathroom getting sick between the front and back sessions. He pretty much been sleeping most of the day since we got home around 2 this afternoon. If all goes well he'll just sleep all night since he's not been able to sleep lately. Six treatments down 3 to go!

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 7:32 PM CDT

Day 2 of radiation went okay. Trav hasn't been able to sleep much but the drs said we could give him some adivan before bed to help him out some. He was up most of last night and then had radiation at 6am he was feeling a bit sick. We got home around 8am. He laid down but was still unable to sleep much. We had to be back for more radiation at 1pm. From there we had to go to the clinic which is about 45 minutes from the radiation center. He was awake the entire ride and then he got his antibotics and needed 2 units of blood. He will be at the hospital until around 10-10:30 have a half hour ride home and then back to radiation at 6am. He was feeling sick to his stomach all day. Lets hope and pray he makes it through the next few days without to much trouble.

Monday, July 12, 2004 6:00 PM CDT

Radiation started today and all went well. He didn't feel sick from any of it at this point. Tomorrow he goes back for his second treatment and then he has an appointment at the clinic for his antibotics. They are planning on checking his platelets at that time. He went in Sunday expecting to have to get platelets but they had went up on their own we are hoping they are still okay and he won't need them.

Friday, July 9, 2004 4:16 PM CDT

I'm very sorry for the delay in updating this page but it's been a fairly stressful week. On Tues we had our appointment with Dr. Mageed the transplant Dr.

After he gave us the ins and outs of transplant and how it could personally affect Travis, Trav was thinking maybe he didn't want to go through with it. They think some of the infections he's bound to get will be hard to treat due to the fact he's allergic to so many antibotics. Since he's had so many skin infections and rashs that he's at a higher risk of getting some of the tough skin things that goes along with GVHD. Since this is his second remission and not his first he only has a 50/50 chance of not relapsing again. He was thinking that since the odds were not huge he may not want to deal with all he's going to have to go through.

I talked to him this morning before he headed to the clinic with his dad and he was still unsure. The consents had to be signed today since he's due to start radiation on Monday. On the way to clinic he just looked at his dad and said "I wanna do it"

It's going to be a rough road but we're ready to face it.

Monday, July 5, 2004 6:48 PM CDT

Not much new to report. Trav is still home and doing well. Tomorrow we meet with the drs about the transplant. He starts radiation next Monday. He's enjoying his time home. All is good right now!

Saturday, July 3, 2004 4:38 PM CDT

Trav is happy to be home. He's not having any trouble with the home iv antibotics, although today a nurse had to be called to help with his flush since it seemed clogged but she was able to get it going without to much trouble. Last night he was able to spend some quality time with Janelle, and the rest of his friends. Lets all hope and pray he's able to stay home the rest of his time!

Friday, July 2, 2004 3:40 PM CDT

Home sweet home! We are finally home. Trav had his procedures this morning. They did a bonemarrow and a spinal tap and after he was awake he was able to come home. We'll have to wait to see if he's going to be able to keep his broviac on Tues when he has a clinic appointment. So far it's looking pretty good. If we are able to keep it it will be better in the long run.

So even after this whole ordeal transplant is still on schedule. He'll start radiation on July 12, admitted for chemo July 16, and transplant July 22.

Thursday, July 1, 2004 11:40 AM CDT

They are still not sure about the broviac having to come out but the plan is to wait until Tues and see how it is then. Right now it's still red and sore but it's looking better than it did. His counts are coming up so he's going to be able to fight the infection on his own more than before.

He's scheduled for a bonemarrow and spinal tap tomorrow and then he'll get to go home! YIPEE! The only downfall is we will have to give him iv antibotics at home. I guess that we can handle that if it gives him some quality time at home before transplant! The smile he gave Dr Mitchell when she gave him the news was the biggest smile I have seen on his face in a very long time. He spent last year July 4 here so for him to be home is a blessing!

His counts are looking good. WBC 1.23 up from .47 yesterday, Hemoglobin 12.7 up from 8.1 (but he did get two units of blood yesterday), platelets 25 down from 35 yesterday. So in a while they are going to give him platelets. His ANC is over 1000! With his ANC so high they are thinking maybe he'll be able to fight the infection in his line some on his own now too!

Later today they are going to give him his Ambisome after his platelets since he needs the same premeds for both that way they only have to premed him once!
Keep him in your thoughts and prayers that his stay at home lasts until he's ready for transplant! He really needs this!

Wednesday, June 30, 2004 5:43 PM CDT

Gee this journal entry would have been here much earlier except mom crashed the computer somehow. We had to get Rhys here to try and fix it! When he couldn't he went to find Trav a new one to use until that one is fixed! Thank goodness for those child life specialists. Rhys is great!

Anyway on to the news. First of all transplant is still on schedule. According to the Dr's and Amy everything is still on schedule which is good news. They are still not sure if they will have to remove this broviac yet or not. If they do they most likely do that next week Tues and at the same time do his bonemarrow bio and spinal tap. Then they will have put a new line in on Friday right before he starts his radaition.

His counts are kind of hanging. He's getting blood today and I'm guessing maybe platelets tomorrow. His ANC is 285 today so it's still moving up. Slowly but surly.

Other than that no new news. Just hanging in here and waiting to hopefully get some time home before transplant!

Tuesday, June 29, 2004 10:48 AM CDT

Well they are still keeping Trav's broviac line in but they are not totally sure they will be able to save it or not. They are going to give it a few more days to see what happens. If it has to come out they will have to put a new line of some sort back in before transplant. They don't think that this should delay transplant for now. We are hoping that he may get to go home sometime this weekend which would give him a week at home before radation starts.

He's been fever free now for a couple days which is a good thing. They are still running tests on the strep infection he has to make sure he's on the right antibotics to fight that. His ANC is finally coming up it's 250 today which is a very good sign. His wbc is looking good and today is the first day in three days that he didn't need to get platelets they are holding their own. So on that front things are looking better.

Lets all please hope and pray that the line can either start feeling much better soon so he's not in so much pain all the time or they can remove it and find something new to use ASAP.

Monday, June 28, 2004 4:17 PM CDT

Well he's had no fever for while but there didn't do his bone marrow, spinal tap, or remove the broviac. They got results back from his blood cultures from Friday and it's showing staph infection. So due to that they didn't want to do the bone marrow and spinal tap, they figured if they were not putting him to sleep for those they would watch the broviac a bit longer. They felt it didn't look as red today as it did.

They also took him down for the second time to do some lung testing he needs done before the transplant and durning it he got sick to his stomach and started throwing up so they had to quit and try again later. I think this is the only thing he needs to have done now before he starts the radation before Transplant.

Lets all keep him in your thoughts and prayers that he gets a few quality days home before transplant and they don't have to postphone it again.

Sunday, June 27, 2004 1:21 PM CDT

Wow what an amazing turn out they had for the benefit for Travis yesterday. There were 114 people for the poker run. This is the third year they held this benefit each year it's for someone different. This year was the highest turn out yet. They had a whole bunch of stuff they sold raffle tickets for, plus they had more they auctioned off. There was a Bud Lite outside chair one of those that goes in a carry bag. It sold for $120.00. People amaze me at times like these.

As for Travis poor kid, counts are still almost bottomed out. His ANC is at 38. They are planning on doing a bone marrow biospy tommorrow plus they are going to remove his new broviac. It's infected again. The drs are going to call the makers of the line to see if there has been any trouble with patients rejecting them like Trav is doing. They are talking about putting in another type of line. One would be in his chest like the broviac only higher and with that one he won't be able to go home. The other is a line in his arm. The drs are going to talk it over and decide what line they should use. So for now it's all still pretty much up in the air.

Friday, June 25, 2004 8:51 PM CDT

Well the counts are still not coming up very fast at all. His ANC made it to 4 today, that's up from 2 yesterday but a far cry from where they need it to be to let him come home for a bit before transplant. He started running a low grade fever again today. This is getting so frustrating for him. His site is very sore and red again. It's starting to look like it may be infected. Lets all hope that is not the case. If they have to remove the broviac now so close to transplant I'm not sure it'll be healed enough. Poor kid it's one thing after another and he's just wanted to get it done and over with.

Thursday, June 24, 2004 3:30 PM CDT

Counts are still down today. ANC made it to 2 hopefully this is sign that things are starting to turn around! His site is still sore and they are still not sure if it's infected or not. We are hoping that it's just sore from him pulling on it in his sleep. He did say it was feeling better today so we are all hoping that means no infection.

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 10:52 AM CDT

Wow it's been a year! It was a year ago today that we first found out that Travis had leukemia. I got the phone call at work that morning that we need to get him to the childrens hospital as soon as we could. That was the day that changed all of our lives. Now we are looking at transplant due to the relapse but things are looking good and WE WILL GET THERE!!!

Today the fever has been gone for 24 hours now and his blood cultures are not growing anything which is good news. Although, it's looking like we are at a two week delay for transplant. There are things we need to get done before transplant like a bone marrow bio and getting the braces off but we can't do either of those things until his ANC is up. It's still 0 today. So for now the radation has been scheduled for July 12 until July 16 when he'll be admitted to the hospital for chemo. The new transplant date is July 22. That is the only news I have for now so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers that there are no more delays and the ANC comes up so we can go as planned.

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 4:27 PM CDT

Things were looking good he had no fever all night but this morning he was again running a low grade fever. It's gone now so that's good. Still no news on if we have to move the transplant date but my guess is it will be at least a week, lets all hope this don't mess with any plans for the donor. Before transplant he still needs to get his braces off and have a bone marrow bio done. If his counts come up quick we may still be on schedule. They really didn't expect his counts to drop like they did so they can't guess as to when they will come up. We are all hoping and praying it will be soon.

Monday, June 21, 2004 2:17 PM CDT

Well the fever is finally gone but ANC still 0. They are planning on keeping him in the hospital until ANC is back up. It's looking like the transplant will be on hold for about a week since the ANC is down they are not able to get some of the procedures done this week that he needs have to done before the radation starts. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers that this is done soon.

Sunday, June 20, 2004 7:36 PM CDT

Well it's been a long night. Yesterday Trav spent most of the day in the hospital getting platelets and blood transfusions. He was finally able to leave there at 10:00 pm only to have to make a return at 4:00 am. Since his ANC was 0 as soon as he started running a fever he had to make the return trip asap. They started an antibotics as soon as he was admitted. They are not sure what's causing the fever at this point but we are hoping it's under control soon. It's never hit a high grade fever it's been between 100-101 so nothing to big. He was scheduled for a ct scan today which they were finally able to do. He's scheduled for a bone marrow bio tomorrow so we'll see what happens with that. Lets all hope and pray this don't delay the transplant.

Thursday, June 17, 2004 8:30 PM CDT

Everything went okay at the clinic today Trav got his antibotic and his counts were low and he needed platelets. He'll have to in Sat to get the platelets checked and he may have to go in either Sat or Sun to get more. By Mon he'll need blood also. His ANC is 0 which scares me. They didn't make him stay and for that matter gave him permission to go to the movie tomorrow as long as he goes in the morning or afternoon when they won't be so busy. This worries me but I guess that's the mom in me. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers this weekend and lets hope he don't spike any fevers and have to get admitted. He really needs this time with his friends before transplant.

Wednesday, June 16, 2004 12:49 AM CDT

Things are still going alright with Trav home. His ANC is dropping but he's still feeling good. Monday he was in clinic, yesterday an appointment with the radologists and some x rays so they can make plates to cover his lungs, liver, and things for radation. Today we went to Holland for him to be measured for the radation. Other than that nothing big to report.

Sunday, June 13, 2004 7:44 PM CDT

He's home! Whoo hooo! Trav was able to leave the hospital last night around 8:30 when his chemo ended. He's hopefully home until July 2. He has appointments everyday this week but Friday. Monday Clinic, Tues with radiology, Wed to be measured for radation, Thurs Clinic. Not much more to report at this point.

Friday, June 11, 2004 3:19 PM CDT

Things are rolling now we have a schedule full of appointments for next week. Monday clinic, Tues we meet with the radiologists, Wed he goes to Holland to be measured for the radation, Thurs the clinic again. It looks like we may need to make an appointment with the orthodonist and get his braces taken off. They are afraid with all the mouth sores transplant patients tend to get it may be best to have them off. Other than that not alot is happening. We are still set to go home Saturday night and be readmitted on July 2 after his last radation treatment, although we need to watch him durning this time home and take his temp twice a day just to be sure.

Thursday, June 10, 2004 11:32 AM CDT

Things are still heading toward July 8, 2004 transplant date. Last night he was running a low grade fever and is pretty sick to his stomach from this bout of chemo. He hasn't eaten very much durning the last few days. I did get his meds down him this morning but that's about it. He's still sleeping and I don't plan on waking him. We were up alot last night between his feeling like vomiting and his fever sleep wasn't happening much. He was shaking and having major chills even though his fever didn't spike high. They drew blood cultures this morning just to make sure it's nothing. They are wondering if it's the new broviac line that went in Tues causing this since the last one had that major staph infection. Let's all hope and pray not. He needs the line to be in and healed before transplant. Lets all hope and pray no more fevers either because if he does it will delay his Saturday homecoming and he really needs some time at home before transplant when he won't be home for a very long time. Other that no new news. I'm hoping to hear from Amy about the donor's testing Tues sometime today but haven't heard yet. I'll keep you all posted.

Thursday, June 10, 2004 11:32 AM CDT

Things are still heading toward July 8, 2004 transplant date. Last night he was running a low grade fever and is pretty sick to his stomach from this bout of chemo. He hasn't eaten very much durning the last few days. I did get his meds down him this morning but that's about it. He's still sleeping and I don't plan on waking him. We were up alot last night between his feeling like vomiting and his fever sleep wasn't happening much. He was shaking and having major chills even though his fever didn't spike high. They drew blood cultures this morning just to make sure it's nothing. They are wondering if it's the new broviac line that went in Tues causing this since the last one had that major staph infection. Let's all hope and pray not. He needs the line to be in and healed before transplant. Lets all hope and pray no more fevers either because if he does it will delay his Saturday homecoming and he really needs some time at home before transplant when he won't be home for a very long time. Other that no new news. I'm hoping to hear from Amy about the donor's testing Tues sometime today but haven't heard yet. I'll keep you all posted.

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 11:02 AM CDT

It looks like things are moving now. The donor went in for a physical yesterday and Amy (or transplant coordinator) says she should hear more by tomorrow but it's looking like the transplant will take place on July 8. We are set to get his radation treatments the week of June 28. He will not have to be in the hospital for those. We will go at 6 am have the treatment at 6 then another treatment at noon. He will then get to go home until the next morning. This will happen Mon thru Thurs then on Fri when he's done with his 6 am treatment he will be admitted to the hospital for the pretreatment chemo to start. Durning this time he will also have to keep his clinic appointments on Mon and Thurs for his Ambosone (sp??) and blood transfusions.

In some ways things are happening so fast and in other it seems like it's taking forever. I'm happy that this happening and giving him a chance at the rest of his life and in other ways it scares me to death. I guess as a parent it's a feeling we get! Trav seems to be handling things much better than I expected. His only gripe is that when he's out he will have to wear a mask on his face for a few months when he's out in public. He says no he won't do it but deep down he knows he has no choice.

Also on another note my best friend Sandy called me telling me her moms sisters best friend was called in this week for testing to be a donor and guess what she's part Indian. Wouldn't that be something if she was Trav's donor? Small world stranger things have happened!

Well more later as I get more answers! Things are rolling now.

Tuesday, June 8, 2004 3:16 PM CDT

Sorry again for the delay in updates. Travis was readmitted yesterday. Once we got a room they brought Trav a computer but something was wrong with the power cord and we couldn't get online until now.

They started the chemo last night and if all goes well we will get to go home late Sat night as long as Trav is feeling well. He got a new broviac put in at 2:30 this afternoon. Lets all hope and pray he gets no more infections. Trav was really hoping to not get one in until they did the transplant but the Dr Axtell explained why he wanted it in and w/o going into long details it sounded like a wise plan to me.

Still no new news on what's up with the donor but according to Dr Axtell this morning if all goes well there we are looking at sometime between July 8 and 16.

Friday, June 4, 2004 5:46 PM CDT

Finally we have some answers on what may happen in the near future. With things such as these anyone who's been in the shoes knows ya never know when plans will change. As for now Travis goes back into the hospital Monday for six days of chemo. The donor will be going in for tests next week. According to the dr the soonest he will recieve his transplant will be July 8. The drs are afraid that if he don't get this round of chemo they will not be able to keep him in remission.

So as of now that's all the answers I have.

Thursday, June 3, 2004 3:31 PM CDT

Well I don't have any real new news today. We went to our clinic appointment and I spoke with Amy our transplant cordinator and she's still waiting on news of when the donors appointments are. She will call as soon as she finds out any new news. As for now we are expecting maybe three weeks from now if all goes well. Otherwise it may be four or five weeks away. If it takes the longer period we have to get some more chemo to keep the remission in place.

Tuesday, June 1, 2004 7:00 PM CDT

Sorry all for the long delays. First of all Trav was able to come home Friday. He was very happy and went to a concert of his friends band that night.

Saturday night he went to the movies and to hang out with some friends at his girlfriend Janelles house. By Sunday he was to tired to do much but lay around and rest and relax.

Monday was back to the hospital for his ambazone (sp? antibotic) treatment. We go back Thurs for another round of that. I'm hoping to find out more when I'm there with him Thurs as to dates etc of that issue.

So all in all for now things are going alright!

Thursday, May 27, 2004 10:57 AM CDT

Things still are looking like we may get to go home tomorrow. We didn't get any counts today since his broviac is out they would have to poke him and they figured since everything was so good yesterday they would save the poke. He will have to get them done tomorrow though.

We went to procedure this morning to get the packing out of the broviac site and he did quite well with that. I was a bit leary since yesterday he was in quite alot of pain from the removal. They had to go in and clean the track from the site which caused him the pain. It took quite a while before he was able to settle down. The dr said while alseep in the procedures he never moved while they did the bone marrow but was reaching and grabbing the broviac site which told him how painful it was to him. I'm just glad that part is over and so is Trav.

Later today we should have more conclusive results on the bone marrow biospy they did yesterday. Lets all hope and pray it shows remission.

At 7:30 am tomorrow we have an appointment down stairs with the radiologist. Trav is not happy about the timing of this appointment. As anyone who knows him if it's before noon it's to early for him. Oh well this way we can get all the junk out of the way and hopefully get home sooner rather than later.

He will have to go to hospital in Muskegon on Sunday for blood draws. They don't want him to go until Tues with out getting his blood checked and figured it was closer to go there since the clinic here isn't open then anyway.

Let's wish him luck that he's gets to go home this weekend and he has a great time with his friends. I'm thinking he won't be spending much time with anyone but Janelle and his friends!

Wednesday, May 26, 2004 11:32 AM CDT

Trav is scheduled to get his broviac line removed at 2:00 today, when he's in there they will do a bone marrow biospy at the same time. Hopefully we will have the results of that by Friday. The infection in his line is a staph infection the cultures came in last night. They are now running tests on the infection to find what type of antibotic to use to clear the infection. As we all know Trav is allergic to most of the antibotics they would choose to use on him which makes it harder to find one that will clear up some of the infections he has had. Lets hope that what they need to use on this is something he can have so he will be able to get home for a bit before transplant.

We have an appointment for a consulation with the radiologist at 7:30 am Friday to find out what we need to know about the radiation he will have to have before transplant.

Right now they are hanging platelets since his are not quite high enough for the procedure he's having at 2:00. Other than that counts are great! ANC 2064, WBC 2.79, hemoglobin 9.5. Things are coming in great!

On another note will you all please say some prayers for a young girl who is here in the hospital with Travis. Her name is Ali. I've talked to her dad quite a bit. Ali has ALL and has relapsed like Travis with his AML. She developed a lung infection and yesterday had to have a part of her lung removed to get the infection. They was a small part they could not remove due to the location. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks,

Jodi

Tuesday, May 25, 2004 10:30 AM CDT

Things are still looking like Trav may get to go home this weekend but it's all going to depend on what the culture shows on the infection in his broviac site. It's looking more like they may have to remove the broviac. It's all red and nasty looking right now and the dr thinks the infection is deep and with his white blood cells coming in it's showing the infection. They were planning on a bone marrow Friday but if they remove the broviac tomorrow they will just do the bone marrow at the same time. Trav is really hoping they do remove it. He doesn't care they will have to put another one in. This one has bothered him from day one where last time it didn't bother him near as much.

Still no answer on the donor yet but we are praying and hoping this one comes through.

ANC 347 what a jump from yesterdays 78. The counts are coming in fast! Yeah for Travis!

Monday, May 24, 2004 11:46 AM CDT

Whoo-Hoooo ANC 78.4 things are starting to look good. From what the dr just tod us if things continue as they are he may get to go home by the end of the week! He will then have to come back next for a bone marrow biospy. Basically until we get the results of that biospy we don't know the next plan of action. It all depends on if he's in a good remission or not and what is happening with the donor.

I am also truly amazed by the kindness of people I got a phone call from someone in IN saying she heard about Travis and she's full blooded Indian and her husband is part Indian and they want to be tested. They are considering driving up here June 1 to be tested. It's a five hour drive. People really pull together in times like this.

Friday, May 21, 2004 4:52 PM CDT

Travis was finally able to eat something today but the drs have put him on a calorie count. The swelling in his throat is still bothering him as is the pain in his lower chest/upper stomach. I did get a peanut butter sandwich and peice of cake in him but that's not much for a 17 year old boy. The peciatric gastroenterologist came in a while ago to check on him and they are planning on going in Monday morning with a scope to see just what's up. This will tell us if it's acid reflux, an ulcer, or some sort of infection.

His counts are still down ANC 0, he got platelets today and I'm guessing he'll get blood tomorrow.

He spent the day with Grandpa today and that was the plan for Monday but with the procedure he'll have to be put under sedation so I will take the day off to be here with him.

Thursday, May 20, 2004 10:52 AM CDT

We got moved to a new room since he needed potassium and with that he needs to be on a heart monitor while he's getting it!

The cat scan showed a thickening in his throat. They feel it's an infection and the antibotics he's on should help it but if it's not gone in a few days they are calling in a ear, nose, and throat specialist to go down with a scope and figure it out then. Hopefully we don't have to go there and it will be cleared up before that.


Amy from the transplant team came in and things are still looking good with the donor but she also said the bm dr is also looking at cord blood donors. So things in that area are still moving forward.

Right now he's running a slight temp lets hope it don't go up to far and he's able to get rid of it quick.

Wednesday, May 19, 2004 10:01 AM CDT

Last night was a pretty rough night. Trav didn't sleep well. He was up quite a bit and very agitated. Right now everything I bothering him.

He feels like he has something blocking his throat. He keeps clearing his throat and trying to get something up but is getting no results. They are going to do a cat scan later to take a look there to find out whats up. His site is still pretty sore and red. No fever for over 48 hours so that is a good thing on that respect. Hopefully he will settle down soon and start feeling better.

They are also going to give him something to help him sleep at night since he's not sleeping well. We are also hoping that we can get him eating soon so they don't have to put him on the TPN.

Tuesday, May 18, 2004 5:55 PM CDT

Hi all thanks for coming to check on Trav. I was fianlly able to get back up here, although I'm wearing a mask just to be safe.

Well his fever is staying down he's a bit upset. His hair was coming out in handfuls so we shaved it! That was a pretty big deal to him since his hair was finally back and looking good.

Right now everything is bugging him. Noice, smells, everything. He's very agitated. He just got some meds and hopefully he will be able to sleep soon. Although, through all this he's kept some of his sence of humor. He needed some klenex and when he blew his nose he said his new band name was gonna be bloody boogers!

Monday, May 17, 2004 4:30 PM CDT

Hi everyone. I'm so sorry for the delay in updates but things have been hetic. Saturday was Trav's birthday! Happy 17 Travis.

First of all my computer at home has been down and I was just able to get it back online. I guess now Trav's hospital computer is giving him trouble also. Travis had a wonderful birthday. Janelle, Ashley, Kevin, Derick, and Jason came up to spent time with him. I got pizzas, pop, and Aunt Jackie make him his favoite Chocolate chip cake. Then Janelle and Ashley brought another cake. We left them all alone there to have some kid time but not with mom giving the lecture this is a hospital so keep that in mind and behave!

Saturday night I started a sore throat so I went to the medi center because I don't want to get Trav sick, so now I'm banned from there for a few days which sucks since he's developed a fever. Last night it was up to 103.8 plus his blood pressure was dropping. He's back on track now. His site is a bit infected and they think the fever may have come from there. Today they started giving him blood and then he developed a rash. He really needs the blood so they gave him some meds and restarted it. Right now he's doing okay with it. So keep your fingers crossed and say some prayers he does okay now!

Thursday, May 13, 2004 12:21 AM CDT

Trav is doing well today his ANC is down to 17 so I'm guessing tomorrow it will drop to 0. So we are just playing the waiting game hoping it comes up quick. Praying he gets no fever or infections while it's down.

I just got a call from Bridget from MTV and the band will be stopping up to see Travis at about 4:00. This news put a smile on his face now he's just worried about what he will talk to them about! Lets hope they all have a good visit.

Wednesday, May 12, 2004 9:18 AM CDT

Well it's a good thing we got out to the movie yesterday because he's got his little green sign on the door this morning! His ANC is down to 90 today. I knew it was going to go fast and that after yesterday we may not get out again. Saturday was 3510, Sunday it was 2629, Monday 1911, yesterday 932 so it was taking huge drops each day and I'm guessing tomorrow it will be 0. So here we are back to the door closed and not leaving the room until after visiting hours and then only with a mask!

Lets just all pray that one of these donors comes in and we have a match and can get him to transplant soon. I know he's not looking forward to that aspect but this is what we need. He has alot of great friends rallying behind him so that helps a great deal.

On a happy note Bridget from MTV has been emailing me and one of Trav's favorite bands From Autum to Ashes is playing here in Grand Rapids tomorrow it's only 5 minutes from the hospital and they are hoping to be in town early enough to come up and visit him before the show. When he heard this it made his day! Keep your fingers crossed that this happens.

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 3:13 PM CDT

So far today's been a pretty good day. I was able to take Travis out for a bit. We went to see the movie Van Helsing. It was an alright movie and Trav was just happy to get out for a bit. I'm thinking after today he's most likely going to be neutapenic and won't be able to leave the room for a while. Yesterday his ANC was 1911 today it's 932 so it's dropping pretty fast. They are starting the Neupagin tonight to try and get back up. I'm also guessing he's going to start needing transfusions and platelets again soon but for now things are good. Lets just keep our fingers crossed and say some prayers that he is able to get through this without and fevers or infections.

Sunday, May 9, 2004 4:20 PM CDT

Well not much news again today. The chemo is done now so at this point we are playing the waiting game. Waiting for his counts to fall, hoping and praying he gets no fevers, and waiting for the count recovery. This should happen by the end of the month. At that point he'll have another bone marrow bio and we'll know more of what's happening then. So for now as far as I'm concerned no news is good news which means we have a boring few weeks. Boring is good though we don't want any return trips upstairs to icu!

Friday, May 7, 2004 4:53 PM CDT

Hi all I don't have much news today other than Trav is hanging in there. He's not hurting quite so much around the Broviac site and he's not feeling as sick from the chemo. Which is all good. He's had not pain meds or anti nausia meds since last night. The chemo will countine to run through Sunday night by then his count will be dropping and we will stay and wait for them to come back up. We should know more about the donors that were being asked for further testing by late next week.

Thursday, May 6, 2004 1:22 PM CDT

Well I don't have much new news today. His counts are still holding as of now. He's feeling a bit sick from the chemo and still sore from the Broviac being put in. They are keeping him pretty medicated for the pain and nausia so he's sleeping most of the time right now. I guess that's a good thing the more he sleeps right now the less he feels the effets of what's happening to him. All in all he's hanging in there. I'll keep everyone posted as I find out more.

Tuesday, May 4, 2004 8:05 AM CDT

Well I didn't get a chance to get on the computer yesterday to update. So far the news is they will replace the broviac this morning at 11:00 she is here right not to do an echo cardiogram. They will start the chemo later today as long as the echo comes back okay. As of right now in the drs words he knows what will happen in the next 30 days from there we are still not sure. Hopefully this round will put him back into remission and we will have match for transplant. If not we will have to look at other options. He feels we really need to go to transplant since the chemo alone didn't keep him in remission. So for now things are still up in the air. My sister is working on holding a drive so keep up the prayers that we find one soon.

Tuesday, May 4, 2004 8:05 AM CDT

Well I didn't get a chance to get on the computer yesterday to update. So far the news is they will replace the broviac this morning at 11:00 she is here right not to do an echo cardiogram. They will start the chemo later today as long as the echo comes back okay. As of right now in the drs words he knows what will happen in the next 30 days from there we are still not sure. Hopefully this round will put him back into remission and we will have match for transplant. If not we will have to look at other options. He feels we really need to go to transplant since the chemo alone didn't keep him in remission. So for now things are still up in the air. My sister is working on holding a drive so keep up the prayers that we find one soon.

Thursday, April 29, 2004 6:23 PM CDT

Hi all sorry for the delay in updates but things were going so great. Today we went for our monthly check up and got the news we all parents of leukemia patients dread to hear and hope and pray like crazy they won't. Travis relapsed. He'll be admitted to the hospital on Monday for a bonemarrow biospy. They will put the broviac back in Tues and start Chemo on either Tues or Wed. Trav is so upset. He was susposed to take his girlfriend to prom next week Friday and now he's going to miss that. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I'll let you all know more Monday when I get more news. Right now we are all still in shock!

Sunday, March 7, 2004 5:41 PM CST

Hi everyone! Thanks for checking up again on Trav. He's doing great! We went for his monthly check up on Thurs and the entire thing went good. All his counts are right where they should be the WBC is back up where it belongs and the physical went good as well. He's scheduled for a bone marrow bio in June other than that it's once a month for the breathing antibotics and check up.

Thursday, February 5, 2004 4:48 PM CST

Hi everyone! Sorry the updates are not coming as often as before but hey things are good right now. Travis is back in school and doing the things any other 16 year old boy should be doing.

We just came back from Grand Rapids and saw the dr there. All is well there. His WBC was a bit low but they are not worried about it right now. They said with the WBC it could be low today and up again tomorrow. I guess that one can do a rollar coaster thing. If it's low again next month they may do a bone marrow biospy eariler than May just to make sure the chemo didn't mess him up some!

So for now all in all he's doing great! Thank you all for the support that you have all given us during this time. Lets keep him in everyones prayers that we make it through this next 2 1/2 years w/o relapse. Also keep any child going through an illness like this in your prayers! No child deserves to go through what Travis is!

Thursday, January 22, 2004 4:40 PM CST

Whoo Hoo Trav went back to school Tues. Things are going great! He was very happy to be back in school. He was able to get his vocational class which was a good thing for him. It was the only class he really cared to have!

On Sunday he recieved his computer from Make a Wish. What a great progam they have. Granting wishes to these kids.

Today was a snow day for the kids. The weather is pretty nasty and schools were closed. He gets back for two days then gets a day off! Oh well he's playing on his new computer now so he's pretty happy!

Thursday, January 8, 2004 6:15 PM CST

Well all is still good in Trav's world. We went today and saw his dr in Grand Rapids and things still look good. He will have to see him once a month for the next 17 months and then once every 3 months for a year. They will do another bone marrow in May just to make sure. He told us today that his highest chance of relapse is durning this next 17 months but he won't be considered cured until the following year is up.

Right now all his counts look great and he's doing good in all areas of his check up. He will be going back to school later this month!

Friday, January 2, 2004 5:14 PM CST

Hi everyone sorry for the delay in entries but hey no news is good news right? Right now things are looking pretty good for Travis. He had a great holiday. He got a drum set for Christmas! So now he's not only playing his guitar he's playing the drums. I'm sure this summer the neighbors will love him!

He has an appointment with the dr in Grand Rapids next Thurs so we'll know more then but at this point things are great. He's planning on going back to school when the semester changes later this month. He's so ready to be in school. I never thought I would see the day that he wanted to go to school but it's here now!

I'll post more next week after the dr appointment!

Monday, December 8, 2003 6:35 PM CST

Well the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter all the time. Today Trav went for his last IV antibotic treatment and his last chemo spinal tap. After they did the spinal tap they removed his broviac. Getting the broviac out is a major step. He's so happy to finally have it hanging out of his chest. Lets all pray that things keep on the pace they are and his remission holds! He needs to live like a normal teenager!

Saturday, November 29, 2003 4:23 PM CST

Well last night was the big concert. Trav, Kevin, Jason, and Casey went to the Thrice concert in Grand Rapids. According to Trav they had a great time. I talked to Nick the band manager a couple time before the show on his cell phone. He arranged for the boys to go on the tour bus with the band after the show. Trav was in 7th heaven! All in all at this point he's doing great!

Monday, November 17, 2003 6:10 PM CST

Trav has been home 5 days now and he's enjoying every bit of his time. His site is still a bit sore and red so we have to keep up the dressing changes twice a day for now. His counts have really come up. Marv took him to the clinic today for his antibotics and all the counts are doing great, his ANC is over 1400. So for now all news is good news.

Thursday, November 13, 2003 9:53 AM CST

Good news!!! After a total of 144 days 112 of them being in the hospital he's being set free! He's finished the worst of the treatment and is on the road to becoming a normal teenager. He'll have to come to the clinic for his antibotic treatments for a while yet but compared to what he's been through it's not a big deal!

His ANC is 613 today so all we need done now is get those antibotics in him and he's home!

He's also gets to meet his favorite band Thrice at their concert here in Grand Rapids on the 28 of Nov. I bought 2 tickets for him and a friend, then I talked to the band manager on the phone last night and he's getting him 2 more tickets and a pass to meet and greet the band. He so deserves to have these good things happen for him after all he's been through.

Wednesday, November 12, 2003 4:36 PM CST

Well today was a bit of a bummer. He didn't get to go home like he had hoped the ANC fell to 204 but the are still thinking he'll get to go home tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer that he's home soon he's going crazy now on day 112!

On a happier note. Remember pushy mom from earlier this summer who emailed the band Trav liked. Thrice? They sent him some shirts, a autorgraphed CD, and a program? Well his goal this round was to be out of the hosptial to in time to go to their concert. The show is Nov 28. He should be out by then no problem. I got two tickets for him and Kevin to go to the show. Then I emailed thier manager and posted on their message board. Guess what? I got an email back from the manager, and from Dustins (one of the members) mom and they both told me that Trav would be able to meet the band! How awsome is that?

So even though he had to stay here tonight he's happy about the concert.

Tuesday, November 11, 2003 10:45 AM CST

Well today is day 111 of Trav's hospital stay but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter. His ANC is 231 today up from 118 yesterday. The dr said this morning that it looks like he'll get to go home tomorrow or Thurs. He wants the ANC to be at least 500. Things are going good with all his counts everything is coming up on thier own with out the Nupegen they have used in the past to bring up the counts. The mouth sores are still there but getting better also. So lets all hope and pray thing continue on this path and he's home soon.

Sunday, November 9, 2003 1:56 PM CST

Things are looking up. Trav's mouth is feeling a bit better and he's able to eat now without to much pain. His ANC is starting to show up too. It was 5 on Friday 0 again yesterday but jumped to 74 today. The dr told him this morning that hopefully he should be able to go home in a few days!

Thursday, November 6, 2003 10:09 AM CST

Well the counts are still down. As of right now he's still needing blood transfusions and platlets. We are hoping by the first of the week those counts will start going up along with the ANC. At this point his mouth is really sore. He has sores inside and on his lips. Poor guy can't even eat. They are putting him on calorie counts because he's not eating but he's not eating because it hurts so much. I went and got him some yougert and puddings hopefully he can eat those and not get put back on the TPN! Other than that things are looking good. He's feeling fairly well too. Spending most of his time playing on the computer.

The people from Make a Wish were here the other night and filled out all the paper work for his wish. He want's a laptop computer. Gee here I was thinking he could take mom on a tropical vacation. Not really the poor guy deserves to get what he wants after all he's been through.

Monday, November 3, 2003 3:49 PM CST

Well so far this hospital stay has been an incident free one. No fever or sicknesses. I'm liking this stay waiting for the counts to recover from chemo much better than some in the past. I would much rather have boaring stay than have one full of fevers etc.... The dr is thinking his ANC should start coming up in about a week or so. I hope this means he'll be home by the following weekend.

Tuesday, October 28, 2003 9:32 AM CST

Well so far so good. Trav finished his chemo on Saturday and he's doing well. He was feeling a bit sick yesterday but nothing to bad. His ANC is falling yesterday it went from 589 to 172. I don't have todays yet but I'm sure if it's not 0 it's close. So now we are just playing the waiting game for it to come back up. Hopefully it will go fast. Right now all he's caring about is he's done with chemo so when will his hair start coming back. He was going to ask the dr if he used Rogane if it would help it come in faster. At least he's still able to make jokes about everything. All in all he's doing well. I'm just hoping we stay healthy and make no return trips to ICU with this last round.

Saturday, October 25, 2003 3:27 PM CDT

Well as of now the chemo is over! Yeah for Travis. We are now just playing the waiting game for his blood counts to drop then recover and he will be done with his inpatient stay. Lets all hope for his sake it all goes well and the counts recover fast. He's getting a blood transfusion today because his hemoglobin is low. The ANC is still holding but will drop soon. This kid has been through so much durning the last few months he deserves a break. Right now he's feeling pretty good. Yesterday he was running the halls using his iv pole as a scooter. How can anyone even get mad at his. He's spent 94 days out of the last 3 1/2 months in the hospital.

Thursday, October 23, 2003 6:04 PM CDT

Well Trav was admitted back into the hospital today for his last round of chemo. He will be here for about 3 weeks first to finish his chemo then he has to stay and wait for his counts to recover again. They are guessing it will take about 3 weeks. Hopefully this will be his last extended hosptial stay. Once he's out of here he will come to clinic twice a week for his antibotic treatments for a few weeks. Plus he'll get 3 spinal taps where they will inject chemo into his spinal fluid. They will do a bone marrow biospy at one of these times. They won't do another one until he's at the 6 month mark witch will be aboutn a year from his orginal diagonosis! At this point they things are looking good lets all hope and pray it stays that way.

Friday, October 17, 2003 1:04 PM CDT

Things are still looking good today. He's doing well with the chemo so far this round. He'll get to go home tomorrow evening. Back Mon for his antibotic treatment, admitted Thurs and he'll be here for that stay for about 3 weeks. The dr said today that it usually takes 4 weeks from the start of the chemo for the counts to come back. He started treatment yesterday so about 4 weeks from then will be around Nov 13.

Thursday, October 16, 2003 4:39 PM CDT

Well we were readmitted today for the next round of chemo. It looks like he'll get to go home again some time Sat afternoon. He will get a chemo shot at 11 am Sat then they have to watch him for 90 for any reactions and he'll get to go home shortly after that as long as he gets no reactions. He'll then be readmitted again on next Thurs. This visit will bring his counts back down so we'll be here a while that round. After that he'll be done with chemo:-) The bone marrow bio they did last week shows no leukemia! Things are finally looking up for him! Wish him well this time and lets all hope he don't get to sick.

Thursday, October 2, 2003 10:48 AM CDT

Things are looking really good today! His ANC is up to over 3000! If he stays fever free today and his blood cultures come back good he may get to go home tomorrow. I'm not sure how long yet that stay will be since he needs to come back for more chemo but we are still seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Keep your fingers crossed, say some prayers, send him some good vibes that he gets to go home tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 1, 2003 3:18 PM CDT

Well things are looking good right now for Trav. Last night he started running a fever but today it's only running about 99 so that's a good thing. His ANC is already coming up. Yesterday it was 0 today it's 200! This don't mean it won't be down tomorrow but jumping to 200 is a good sign. So we are hoping this won't be a long hospital stay!

Sunday, September 28, 2003 7:14 PM CDT

Well Trav was readmitted to the hosptial yesterday morning. We had tickets to take him to the Tommy Chong comdey show at the resturant I work at. The drs let him out on a pass to attend the show but he had to go right back to the hospital after the show. He'll be in until his counts come back up. So lets all hope for that happen fast. All in all he's in pretty good spirts.

Tuesday, September 23, 2003 4:13 PM CDT

Hi everyone. Well he made it home again last night. They finished the chemo and he was able to leave the hospital for a while again. He goes back Thurs for antibotic treatment and counts, Sat for counts, Mon for antibotic and counts and as soon as his ANC falls below 1000 he'll be readmitted. Lets hope he holds out for at least Monday. We are having Tommy Chong at our comedy club at work on Saturday night and he's wanted to go everysince he heard he was gonna be there and I really hope I'm able to take him.

Friday, September 19, 2003 10:49 AM CDT

They started chemo last night about 9 or so. Since it got started so late I'm not expecting him to be released on Monday I think they will wait until Tues am. Then he'll be back for antibotics and blood counts Thurs.

He went for his spinal tap this morning and did well although he's not wanting to wake up from it.

All in all things are going good right now. He's not sick yet from the chemo so lets all hope he keeps feeling good.

Thursday, September 18, 2003 3:01 PM CDT

Well here we are back in the hospital but he's feeling great at this point. There has been a change in plans. His dr talked to drs at John Hopkins University and a few other major children's hospitals and between our team of drs, the bone marrow drs here, and the others the talked to they decided with Travis they are not going to do a transplant at this point. We are not able to find a match that matches close enough for them to be comfortable with the risks he would face. They told me there is about a 30% chance of relaspe and if that happens then we will have no choice but to do the transplant. The plan for now is he'll get 4 days of chemo. Go home until his counts drop, then be admitted until the counts come back up. Go home a bit then be readmitted for 2 1/2 days of chemo, go home for 5 days return for 2 1/2 days of chemo and remain until the counts come back up. He'll then have to come to the clinic for med treatments and blood counts have a bone marrow bio at 6 and 12 months.

This is pretty much the orginal plan we had but when it took so long to get him to remission they were afraid w/o the transplant he wouldn't stay in remission. Now his marrow is down to less than 1/2 percent so they feel the risks of relapse are lower than the risks involved with the transplant.

Thanks for all the good vibes, prayers, etc.....

Sunday, September 14, 2003 4:29 PM CDT

So far so good at home. Travis is loving being home. He's been to school two days, Friday night went to the football game, and got to practice with his band. He had friends spend the night with him both Friday and Saturday night. All in all he's having a great time and able to be a normal teenager and do normal teenage things. School, football games, go to the mall. Things most of us take for granted he's able to really enjoy right now! He has an appt tomorrow for an antibotic treatment and the plan is to restart chemo again Thurs.

I talked to Amy from the transplant team and things are still up in the air. The one donor they were looking at was a mismatch in a place they can't have a mismatch. So for now they are still looking!

Thursday, September 11, 2003 6:24 PM CDT

Well we got the best news of all today. We went to the hospital for his antibotic treatment and we got the results of his biospy they did on Tues! WHOOO-HOOOO he's finally in remission. They will still do the next round of chemo next Thurs so they can keep him in remssion until we get a donor for transplant. I plan on calling Amy from the transplant team tomorrow to find out where we are standing on that.

School went well yesterday. He was happy to be there and see all his friends. He had friends over Tues and Wed night and he's got friends hanging out again today. It's great to finally see him feeling so happy! Then to get the news he got today made things even better.

Now lets all pray for the donor to be found soon and things to go smooth there for him.

Tuesday, September 9, 2003 7:53 PM CDT

Well we made it home today. Trav was very excited. The first stop after home was to school to get that all set and get him a parking permit. Then we were off to the Sec of State to get him a new drivers licence since durning all the mess of the last few months his wallet got lost so he didn't have his licence. After that he was off to pick up some friends for some quality time. I cooked tacos for them all and they hung out for a while. Right now Trav is taking them home. Tomorrow he plans on going to school. Thurs we are at the hospital for 6 hours for an antibotic treatment. Mon the same thing. Then Thurs he's readmitted for chemo. We don't have the results until Thurs of todays biospy but either way it's chemo just not sure what one yet. If there are not leukemia cells it'll be the same chemo he's been getting. If there are they are going to use a stronger chemo. They have a couple donors being further tested for a transplant but they are not ready so even if he's in remission they have to wait for the transplant so that's why they will do more chemo even if there are no leukemia cells. Lets all hope he stays well until time to be readmitted and we have to make any more return trips to the hospital.

Monday, September 8, 2003 6:03 PM CDT

Today is a happy day!!!! We're packing up stuff to take home. He has his bone marrow biospy sometime between 9 and 11 am and he'll get to go home after that. He's playing his guitar as I'm typing. We have to come back on Thurs for his antibotic treatment and we'll be here for 6 hours for that and I think we'll have to come for one the first of next week, then he'll be readmitted next week Thurs. We just had a couple of the nurses in asking him how excited he was and what he had planned. Wish him luck this trip home that he gets his whole stay there!

Saturday, September 6, 2003 3:00 PM CDT

Things are looking good again today. They totally took Trav off the TPN and they are slowly taking some of the antibotics. His counts are up and as long things keep up like they are he'll be home Tues. The plan is to let him out Tues, he'll have to come back in for a few hours Thurs for an antibotic treatment through his broviac. He'll do that a few more times and then he'll be readmitted on the following Thurs. Keep up the prayers, good vibes, etc.....he really needs this trip home. On another happy note Uncle Brian is coming to spend the night with Trav again! He's pretty happy about that they'll play vidio games, talk comic books & X-Men, and eat pizza!

Friday, September 5, 2003 11:34 AM CDT

Things are still looking good today! His ANC is 19908 and the rest of his counts look good too. The bone marrow biospy is still on for next Tues. They are going to start taking him off the TPN (feeding protiens etc....) and some of the antibotics. Lets hope for no new fevers so he can get home for a bit of a break. Today is day 73 in the hospital for him and he really needs a break. After they see the results of the bio Tues they will decided on the next course of action. He may have to come back for more chemo or be ready for transplant now we just need a donor. The girl for the donor dept came and talked to me today. She don't have any results from the retests she sent out yet so we are hoping by the first of the week. She also requested that someone from the National Marrow Donor Program be added to aid in the search. He really is in need of a match right now. So lets all send him some good vibes, say some prayers, and find something for him. After all he's been through he needs a break!

Thursday, September 4, 2003 2:10 PM CDT

Well if things keep looking good like they are right now hopefully he'll get out of here for a bit next week. His primary dr is on this week and this morning when we saw him he told us he's planning on doing a bone marrow bio next Tues. and as long as he stays healthy between now and then he should get out for a while after that. He's still counting on finding a donor for the bone marrow. He told me today that is Trav's best hope. After how long it's taking to get him into remission tells him that Trav's leukemia is stubborn and will have a much higher chance of relapse w/o the transplant. So now we're just hoping we can find a donor soon so that if he is in remission we won't have to wait to long for the transplant to take place.

Wednesday, September 3, 2003 7:17 PM CDT

Well so far so good since coming out of ICU. He's kept his temp down and the pain is getting much better! His ANC is now 4007 whoo-hoooo! They are hoping he'll get to go home for a bit sometime next week. So right now I don't have a lot of news but the news I have is looking good!

Sunday, August 31, 2003 9:21 PM CDT

Well we finally made it out of ICU today. This makes Trav a very happy camper other than the fact he's getting some bad pain in his legs. They think it's from the Nuepigen (not sure how to spell it.) it's a med they use to increase his counts especially the almighty ANC. They had increased it in ICU to try and boost him to get him over whatever it was that had him down. Now they are decreasing it. The pain he had tonight was one of the worst I have seen for him. He's been the strongest kid through this whole ordeal and what he was feeling brought him to tears. They finally gave him Adavan (they usually give it to him when he's restless and we need to get him settled down.) First they gave him his regular dose and then she came in and said she was giving him a happy dose. Well it worked it settled him down. He was getting silly then slept for a bit. When he woke up he was still pretty silly. Still said his legs hurt but not to bad. When he was hurting so bad he was a bit grumpy and yelled at most of us. Now he's feeling pretty guilty. We told him don't worry if anyone deserves to yell it's you! Lets hope for a better day tomorrow. Pain free and out of ICU he deserves it!!!

Friday, August 29, 2003 7:14 PM CDT

Well things are looking a bit better. Trav's temp is down and his bp is up and stable. They are going to move him back to his room out of ICU some time tomorrow.

They decided to not do the second four days of chemo. They feel they need to get his counts up and get him healthy before going further with anything else. They will do a bone marrow bio sometime when his counts come up some and make the decision on what to do next from there. If he's in remission which they are hoping for they will just some out patient chemo until we can find a donor. If he's not in remission they will decide what course of action to use then. The main goal is to find a donor and have him healthy for the transplant. So for now I really don't know what comes next until later. The dr feels he will be in the hospital for about 2 more weeks waiting for the counts.

Thursday, August 28, 2003 7:49 PM CDT

Sorry for the delay in updates but things were going really well Trav was feeling good and we were just enjoying the time with him when he was doing so good.

Last night his dad called on his was up and asked if there was anything Trav wanted. Pizza Hut was his answer. At around 6:20 he said when the pizza gonna get here. I reminded him it takes his dad a 1/2 to get here plus the time to stop for the pizza and he was picking up a movie. Well before dad arrived he spiked a fever of 103. I stayed in the room all night with him because he was feeling so bad. Poor guy had a fever going up and down and on top of that started vomiting. Then this morning his fever spiked to 105.8 and his blood pressure was dropping again along with his pluse rate raising quick, this brought in a whole bunch of drs. In only a matter of a few minutes he was taken back upstairs to ICU. He's been there all day, earlier his fever broke and his bp was doing great. Then around 6 tonight the fever jumped up again. At 8 it was 106. He's feeling horrible right now he's got terrible headaches and they feel it's due to the fever. As of right now they he's been given tynol and we are putting cold compresses on his head to try and bring the fever down. Marv just said to me how sad the poor kid is in ICU and they do the same thing to bring down the fever that we would do at home. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. He's pretty scared right now.

Monday, August 25, 2003 10:33 AM CDT

Well today will be the last day they give Trav a pass out before chemo restarts Thurs. His ANC is down to 295 already. The plan was to let him go out today, Tues, and Wed. but with his counts that low already they just can't let him go. We get to go today for a while and then have to be back by 6 tonight. When we go today he can't go to the mall like planned he can only go home where he won't be exposed to to many people. He's a bit bummed but happy he at least got the time he did away.

You should see the talent this kid has in drawing. He's been learing to draw comic characters and is doing a great job. Last night he sat and drew Wolverine from the X-Men and it's awsome.

He's still talking about when Uncle Brian came to stay with him. Last night he was grinning from ear to ear talking about how cool it was. He think Uncle Brian is so cool because he can ask any question about X-Men and Uncle Brian can answer it. He can't wait for him to come stay again! I just like hearing the positive attutide he's got going right now!

I did get a room in the hospitality house and last night was the first night alone he's had here. He was a bit leary of letting me go. He had the number right next to the bed but never needed to call me. I think now he'll feel more comfortable letting me sleep there. He's now realized just how close I am so that helps.

Saturday, August 23, 2003 8:24 PM CDT

Well today was a good day for Travis. First of all he was able to leave last night for 2 hours. That brought him up alot. Then today he was out from 1pm until 8pm. He came home went to pick up his friends and went to a movie. He was so happy to be out. When he got home he looked pretty whipped but the fun he had was worth it. He felt a bit sick on the ride back to the hospital but he's always been one to get car sick. So the 1/2 drive back when he wasn't feeling good didn't help. He's back and feeling pretty good now! They are going to let him out from about 10am until 8 pm Sun, Mon, Tues, and Wed. So at least it gives him a bit more time before the next round that will drop his counts and he'll be back in the room again.

Friday, August 22, 2003 12:13 AM CDT

Well Trav will finish up the chemo at around 5 pm today and restart it Thurs sometime. He's scheduled for a spinal tap and bone marrow bio Thurs am and the chemo will follow that. At first they talked about letting him go home between now and Thurs but with all the complications he's had they don't want him leaving that long. They are working on cycling him off the protiens so he will be able to get passes out of the hospital for periods of time then though. He'll to leave for a few hours tomorrow, longer Sun and so through Thurs. After Thurs he will again have his counts drop until they are 0 so after Thurs he will be stuck in the room due to no immunity and wait for the dreaded ANC to return to a safe number for him to leave.

I also just talked to the girl from the transplant team and the one donor they had found that was a possible match they can't locate. It seems he has moved and is not able to be found. She has a few more requests for further testing being sent out today for other possible donors we'll know more on that about a week from Monday.

Thursday, August 21, 2003 11:53 AM CDT

Well Trav isn't in very high spirts today. The dr just told us he wouldn't be able to go home for the 6 days between treatments. I've been trying to prepare him for this all week but he didn't want to hear it. Now that the dr told him he's feeling pretty bummed. She did say that we would be able to get daily passes to take him out as long as he does not get a fever. I keep trying to tell him it's for his own good but it really don't matter to him right now he's just wanting to go home.

Wednesday, August 20, 2003 8:41 AM CDT

Hi all well everything is still going well. Yesterday I played the mean mom role yet again. The night before he had trouble sleeping but he's always awake late at night and sleeps alot durning the day. I've always said he'll need a 3rd shift job when he's an adult. Well for now I need to sleep at night so I'm working on turning that clock around. I made him get up at 10 am and he wasn't very happy. Then after I fixed him breakfast, I made him shower, then we went for a walk. I just pretty much kept him motivated all day. All in all he did pretty well and we had a great day.

Tuesday, August 19, 2003 9:33 AM CDT

Well I moved all the past entries from the last page to here if there is anything anyone wants to look back on! The second round of chemo started again today. He will do 4 days on 6 days off and then another 4 days on. They are not planning on doing another bone marrow until after it's all done so I'll know more then. Also I'm hoping to hear about the donor they were checking into. Keep saying your prayers.

Tuesday, August 19, 2003 9:25 AM CDT

I copied and pasted all the jorunal entries from the tlcontact page also here they are!

1 June 25, 2003 at 08:13 AM EDT
We were told Travis had leukemia just this week after having tests done all weekend. He was admitted to the hospital on Monday and given tests both Monday and Tues. Tues night the dr informed us that he has ANLL a form of leukemia. They are starting chemothearpy today and he will be given 4 days of intense thearpy, 6 days off, 4 more days on. This is going to pretty much kill his imune system. He will be in the hospital this stay for about 5 weeks. He will then get to go home for a week and then go back in for about 5 more weeks for another round of treatment. If this does not work they will look into a bone marrow transplant. Cory has already been tested to see if if he is a match. We won't get those results for about 2 weeks.



2 June 26, 2003 at 01:15 PM EDT
Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts. Travis is hanging in there. He started the chemo last night and is doing alright. He did get a bit of an upset stomach this morning but other than that is doing great. He had his friends visit last night and that was a big spirt booster. Thanks guys if you read this. He's really missing you all. Then one of his friends told him that when he looses his hair they are all going to shave their heads. Now hows that for good friends? Gotta love them all! I'll keep everyone posted as things go! Teena did post the address if anyone wants to send Travis a card but I'll put it here when it won't get burried so fast!

De Vos Childrens Hospital
Att: Travis Lind Room # 7273
100 Michigan Street NE
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503

Thanks again I'll keep everyone posted.



3 June 27, 2003 at 11:36 AM EDT
Well today Travis is still feeling a bit sick to his stomach but still hanging in there. The chemo is making him sick but they are giving him meds to counter act the chemo. He's a pretty tough guy. They gave him a computer to use in his room which makes him happy now he can keep in touch with his friends. I'll post more later as I know more.



4 June 27, 2003 at 09:12 PM EDT
Well today was kind of a rough day. Travis isn't feeling to well and he had a reaction to one of the meds they gave him for the upset stomach. He's not feeling to happy right now. Marv just did his first dressing change on the Broviac catheter and did a great job.

On a happier note ya know teenagers are great kids! Sometimes they get a bad rap but all in all they are great! Cory and his friends are planning a carwash to raise money for Travis! Thanks guys.



5 June 29, 2003 at 07:14 PM EDT
Hi everyone well it's Sunday night the last night of the first 4 day chemo treatment. Travis seems to be doing better today. He was up and walking both last night and today although he hates wearing the mask he has to have on in the hallway. When the dr came in this morning he said his blood work looked good they didn't see any leukemia cells today which is a good sign. He's also been up playing his guitar some which seems to cheer him up also.

On another note Cory and friends held their carwash today. The started at 10 and planned on going until 2 but were so busy they stayed later. All in all they took in $1327. Not to bad for some teenagers pulling this together on short notice. They are all pretty proud and we are too! I'll post some pictures of them as soon as I get them.

Way to go guys. We love you!

6 June 30, 2003 at 08:17 PM EDT
Well it's not Monday we have been here a week. Travis is doing pretty well today. He spent most of the day with Grandma while I was able to go get some of the running I needed to get done. His counts are still looking good although his red blood count is down as they expected it to be so right now he's reciving a transfusion. He seems to be tolerating it quite well except I had to take a blanket to cover the lines because it's grossing him out to look at it! He got up and showered today so he's feeling a bit better in that respect also.



7 July 01, 2003 at 01:52 PM EDT
I don't have the updates on Trav's blood work yet but after the transfusion he has alot more color to him. He's been feeling pretty down and just wanting to sleep. I had a long talk with him last night and told him he can't get down. He needs to fight this thing and letting himself get down in the dumps won't help him do that. So today we started a new day. First I made sure he ate some breakfast, then we watched the movie The Waterboy, after that I made him play his guitar for me, then I got him online to chat with his friends for a bit, now we are gonna watch another movie. So I'm working on keeping his spirts up!



8 July 03, 2003 at 09:05 AM EDT
Sorry I didn't give any updates yesterday but all was well. He's doing great on this 6 day break from chemo. He's really board and wanting to go home. I'm trying to keep him motivated with his games, the computer, and playing his guitar! I truly think letting him have his guitar here is the best thing for him. That is the thing in his life that means the most to him at this point. Music is his life! On another note ya know the pushy mom that I am. Well Travis LOVES The Ramones. Well I got on their website and posted something about him to see if maybe someone would email him to give him a boast to cheer him up. Well dummy I am I didn't realize they were a band from my time! DUH well it turns out that Joey Ramone died from a type of cancer which they thought was leukemia when he was first sick. Well his brother Mickey called here at the hospital yesterday! Travis was in the shower and missed the call. He did give me a number for Travis to call back. Trav is so excited I had not even told him I made the post until the call came in. He's to scared to call so I'm hoping that Mickey calls him back! I think it's great how so many people pull together to help in a time like this! I love you all and thanks from all of us for all the support!



9 July 04, 2003 at 07:26 PM EDT
Travis is still doing well today. He will be able to watch the fireworks tonight. They have a private room that he can go in to watch them from the window since they are still trying to keep him away from people for the most part. On a happier note he got another call from Mickey, Joey Ramones brother and that put a HUGE smile on his face. He starts the second phase of chemo tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed that he does well with that one.



10 July 07, 2003 at 09:14 AM EDT
Okay here I am! I know I'm bad since I went both Saturday and Sunday w/o posting an update. He did well both days yesterday he was up playing on here most of the day. They started the second phase of chemo Saturday and he's doing great with it. The doctors are very happy with how he's doing. Today his blood counts and platelets are down so they are giving him a blood transfusion right now and will give him platelets later this morning. Other than that he's doing great!



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11 July 08, 2003 at 04:02 PM EDT
Hi everyone. Travis is doing okay today. They are giving him platelets again because that count is still a bit low and they are doing another spinal tap and bone marrow biospy tomorrow and they don't want his platelet count to be to low. He's on his last bag of chemo for this round. So now it'll be wait for his counts to go up so he can go home for a week or so before starting the next round. I do have a bit of bad news though. From the looks of the tests it don't look like Cory is going to be a match for the bone marrow transplant. All the results are not in yet from what they have so far it don't look good. So now according to the dr we need to see how his leukemia responds to the chemo. If we can get him into remission with that we'll stick there if not then we need to look into an unrelated donor then weigh the pros and cons of that before deciding what to do. So now it's a waiting game again. I'll keep everyone posted as I know what's happening. Thanks for all the good wishes.



12 July 09, 2003 at 04:17 PM EDT
Well we just got back from the bone marrow biospy and spinal tap. I don't have the results back yet but hopefully soon. He finished the second chemo w/o any major problems although his hair seems to be coming out much more now. Right now he's just tired and trying to nap.



13 July 10, 2003 at 10:52 AM EDT
Hi everyone! Thanks again for the support. We all appreciate it. I really don't have any new news yet today other than Trav is still hanging in there. He is losing more hair and not liking that part to much. He's playing his guitar alot and enjoying the new acustic one Cory brought up to him that the kids bought him with some of the money they made at the car wash. It's kind of cool people come in from the halls to hear him play! Well we picked a date for the spagatti supper fundraiser they are putting on at Nino's for him. It's going to be Aug 10 at 1:00. There are several people getting stuff donated so they can also have an auction. I think my dad is gonna be the auctioneer. Vicky (my boss) told me that I was not working that day that I needed the day off so I could get ready and spend my time down there:-) They have been so awsome at work I couldn't ask for a better boss or co-workers. Without them it would be impossible for me to spend this time with Travis. I'll keep you posted on what's happening. Thanks again!



14 July 12, 2003 at 11:43 AM EDT
Well the last couple days haven't been the greatest news. It's almost definite that Cory, Marv, or I are not compatable donors for the BMT. They were also hoping that the chemo he's had so far would put him into remission and it didn't. They are in the process of doing a national search for a bone marrow donor, but a transplant can't even take place until they get him into remission. Right now his blood counts are so low he has no immunity at all. He's also running a fever which they expected that is why he's being kept in the hospital so they can watch that and jump on it asap. Last night his fever was 103-104 right now it's down to 99.7 so things are looking better. They are considering changing his antibotic if these don't help. The thing keeping then on what they have now is Travis is allgeric to penecillin (sp?) and what they need to give him is in that family. So if what they are using don't work they will go to that tomorrow and just watch him very close.

On another note I have had many people asking about being checked to see if they are compatable to be a donor. I asked about the testing and was told that for people in our area they would have to go to the Grand Valley Blood Bank. There is about a $60.00 charge for the service. I guess all they do is draw a tube of blood and do the tissue typing.

On a happier note Travis got a care package from the Creative Director of the Ramones. In the package was a T-Shirt, some postcards, some buttons, and an autographed picture of the Ramones. These people are great. They sure know how to bring up a kids spirts.



15 July 14, 2003 at 05:18 PM EDT
Well some good news he's had no fever for 24 hours now. Yesterday when he took his shower most of his hair came out and that had him a bit bummed. With his blood counts so low he doesn't have much engery and has been sleeping alot. He looks pretty pale to me also so I'm hoping after the transfusion they are giving him now he'll have a bit more color to him. They have another bone marrow test scheduled for Wed so hopfully that will show that the leukemia cells are still dropping.


16 July 16, 2003 at 09:09 PM EDT
Travis had another bone marrow bio today. When the dr came and talked to us the news looked better than it did last week when they did the test. He said there were alot less leukemia cells than there were last week. He also told me that Travis not only has the ANLL or AML which are the same type of leukemia he also has T-Cell ALL. When you have the two types together it's called biphenotypic leukemia. I guess it's a pretty rare type of leukemia. They have also searched the world wide base to find a bone marrow match and there is not one. Travis has an unusual genetic makeup which is making it hard to find a donor. When he asked where our families are from and I told him that my dad was part Indian he said that's most likely where it's coming from. He said that American Indians are the hardest people to find a match for. He is sending the Transplant team in to talk to us to set up a testing drive in Trav's name to hopefully find a donor.



17 July 17, 2003 at 01:52 PM EDT
Well today Trav is running a very low grade fever but all in all doing pretty well considering. The drs are pretty happy with how he's up and playing his games and things. They said many teenagers just want to sleep through the whole hospital stay and sometimes act pretty depressed. I'm doing all I can to keep his spirts up. We'll know more about the bone marrow test later this afternoon but they are still saying things look good. I just got off the phone with someone from GVSU and we are going to set up a drive to try and find a bone marrow donor match for Travis. From what she's telling me they can only test people from the ages of 18-60. Anyone who is American Indian, or any other minority will be tested for free and those who are not there is a $90.00 charge. She told me that the cost for the testing they do would cost $300.00-$400.00 in a regular dr office.



18 July 19, 2003 at 04:26 PM EDT
Well we into running a bit of a fever again! It's 101 now. We got the results of the new bone marrow test. I'll try to explain this the best way I know how. Last week when they did the draw he was 100% full of bone marrow of that marrow he had 70% plus leukemic cells. This weeks draw showed he was 15% - 20% full of marrow and in there there were 50% leukemic cells. So all in all he has a great deal less leukemia cells but there is still enough there to say he's not in remission. They are very happy though with how things seem to be going. Depending on how he looks at the next draw they may change his chemo for the next round. The dr also told Marv today that since we are dealing with two types of leukemia this could be the reason he still has so many leukemia cells. She said we will get him to remission it may just take a while longer than it would if it were one type.



19 July 20, 2003 at 07:27 PM EDT
Well guess what I finally have some good news to share. Well we all know that Trav gets his visit home when his anc counts come up. They have finally reached above 0. He's been 0 for 12 days now. Well last night they reached 6.4 today they are down to 5.6 which they say isn't all to uncommon to drop. The nurse explained to me they tend to sometimes go up and down, but hey at least he's not 0 anymore. He needs to reach 500 before he can come home but at least he's on the way! Other than that I have no news today. Thanks again for all the support!



20 July 21, 2003 at 04:24 PM EDT
Well the goods news is gone! The ANC is back to 0 and he's running a temp of 101.8. He's pretty bummed right now feeling like he's never going to get to go home. They are also doing a cat scan tonight at 10 pm to find out why his glands are so swollen. He also is covered in a rash that he got from one of his antibotics. They stared a breathing treatment to help keep his lungs clean.

21 July 21, 2003 at 11:02 PM EDT
Well we just got back from the cat scan. We don't have any results yet but they have him scheduled for a biospy of his glands in the morning or early afternoon tomorrow. The dr was just here and she's also starting him on a new antibotic to help with the fever he's been running. Travis was a bit upset they had to put an iv in to do the cat scan and couldn't use the broviac he has in his chest but the tech explained why it can't go in there and I think he understood a little. He was pretty upset that the dr doing the biospy said he wasn't going to put him to sleep for the procedure either and when he just told his dr she said hmmmm we'll see about that. She's going to make sure they put him to sleep so he won't have to worry about that aspect of it. On another note both Brian and Jami came up and got tested for the bone marrow match today but it will be a few days before we find any info on that. I'll let everyone know what we find out tomorrow from these tests.



22 July 22, 2003 at 10:56 AM EDT
I still don't have the results of the cat scan but they are waiting to do the bio of the glands until Thurs am. Trav's dr wants a full bio and they need to take him right into the operation room to do this. The dr that was going to do it this am was only going to do a needle bio in the room. So the news on that will come later in the week. The good news of this morning is his ANC is 7.2! Yipee. He so down yesterday when the count went back to 0. He's feeling pretty down and frustrated thinking he's never going to get out of here. He just wants to go home. He's on day 30 of looking at these same walls and only going out on rare occasions for testing and such and then he has to wear a mask. Thanks for keeping him in your prayers and good thoughts.



23 July 23, 2003 at 08:45 PM EDT
Today isn't such a good day again. The ANC is back to 0 and he's wanting to go home. He feels like it's never gonna happen. They canceled the bio in the am because the swelling is gone. I'll post more tomorrow.



24 July 24, 2003 at 12:39 PM EDT
Well first of all just a bit more back ground. Travis has 6 doctors in the unit. They rotate and are in the clinic 5 weeks and in the inpatient unit 1 week. Today we met dr # 6. So far I have liked them all and I think I'll like this new one too. The dr that admitted him from the clinic when we first came in is the only female dr and she was just on the inpatient unit this last week. They are trying to get Travis to eat more (suprise, suprise) Well she asked him what he liked and he said chocolate shakes from Steak and Shake. Guess what she just brought him 2!

On another note his ANC is up to 4 today and they don't have to do the bio on his gland. The swelling is almost totally gone! Yipee. Hopefully the counts continue going up. They are planning on doing another bone marrow next week to see where the leukemia counts are at.



25 July 24, 2003 at 03:25 PM EDT
Hi all this isn't an update but something I found and wanted to share!

"What Cancer Cannot Do"

Cancer is so limited:
It cannot cripple love,
It cannot shatter hope,
It cannot corrode faith,
It cannot destroy peace,
It cannot kill friendship,
It cannot suppress memories,
It cannot silence courage,
It cannot invade the soul,
It cannot steal eternal life,
It cannot conquer the spirit.
Author Unknown

I just thought it was cool and wanted to share it with everyone!


26 July 25, 2003 at 12:10 PM EDT
Well today is a somewhat happy day for Travis. Right at this moment he's at home taking a nap with Chance (his dog). We are out of the hospital on a 3 hour pass. The dr felt that maybe getting out for a while would help with his aggitation. He's not happy he has to go back but hopefully seeing home and being away from those four walls will help him feel a bit better. As for the ANC it's back to 0 again today. Some of the other counts are up and the rest are holding it's only the ANC that's not today. So hopefully that's a start.



27 July 27, 2003 at 06:45 PM EDT
Well things are starting to look better! Yesterday Trav's ANC went from 0 to 32. Today it went to 39 so keep your fingers crossed that it keeps going up! I got him up playing his guitar yesterday and when I just came in now he's playing his ps2 and telling me how great the game is that I got him on Friday:-) So for now things are starting to look good!



28 July 28, 2003 at 09:09 AM EDT
It's time to celebrate!! His ANC is 95 YIPEE. His hemogolbin is down to 8.5 and he seems to feel better when he's about 10 so the nurse and I talked and we are guessing they will transfuse him today so that should bring that up and he'll be feeling much better! He gets to spend the day with grandpa today. So it's guys day to hang out.



29 July 29, 2003 at 09:01 AM EDT
Well things went good with Grandpa. Trav said to me "gee mom grandpa can watch me play my games and not even get dizzy" Well anyone wanna hear the counts for today? It's good news. No I'd better say it's awsome news! His ANC is 270!!! His hemoglobin is 10.3 and his wbc and platlets are up too. So all in all it's turning out to be a good day so far. He's scheduled for a bone marrow bio this afternoon at 1:00 so lets say some prayers, keep our fingers crossed, send good vibes etc. that those counts are down! I'll let you all know what I find out later.



30 July 30, 2003 at 05:14 PM EDT
How's this for an update? ANC 603!!! They are saying he can't go home until Fri or Sat now. They did a ct scan today to check him over and things look good there. His biospy yesterday showed 20% leukemia cells which is down from 75% two weeks ago. They want him off the antibotic for 24 hours before going home and also want him walking around more! So hopefully he'll go Friday. He says he don't care he's going Fri! They said ANC needed to be 500 it's over 500 so I should be able to go now!


31 July 31, 2003 at 01:25 PM EDT
Well the news is good today. His ANC is now 918:-) So the plan is now for him to go home tomorrow! This put a major smile on his face. He'll get to go home sometime early afternoon. He'll have to come back on Monday for a bone marrow. He'll be readmitted on Friday for 4 days of intensive chemo again, but for the 6 days off of chemo he'll be able to go home. He'll then come back again for the 4 days of chemo and then he'll need to stay in the hospital to recover the ANC and other blood counts again.

The lady from the bone marrow transplant team came in to talk to me this morning and told me Brian and Jami are not a match for Travis but if either one of them ever needs bone marrow they match each other. They did find someone who is a close match to Travis. Whoever this person is, is just one match out of 8 off from Trav. She said the 1 place they don't match is the place that is best not to match. They drew more blood from Trav and had it sent to Milwaukee. They are calling in the donor to have them further checked also. Once this is done they will let me know what the chances are of this person donating to Travis. They still can't do a transplant until the get him into remission so lets all hope this next turn of chemo gets him there, so we can make the choices that need to made for the future treatment!



32 August 01, 2003 at 03:20 PM EDT
Hi all! Well he's home or I should say he was home now he's off to Kevin's house:-) He was here for a minute and left to go see Kevin and friends! We are here until next Friday. He goes in Monday at 9:30 am for a bone marrow, and gets readmitted Friday for Chemo. Tonight he has Kevin, Mike, and Jason spending the night! So all in all it's a happy day for Travis!



33 August 02, 2003 at 03:47 PM EDT
Well the first day at home went well. He was off and running. I just got done helping him with his shot, and doing his flush and dressing change. He's back off again! He just told me a while ago yesterday was the happiest day of his life!



34 August 03, 2003 at 08:20 PM EDT
Well yesterday he was a very happy camper. His band played at the band stand in town and he played with them! He was very excited. Today he's not quite as happy. We just returned from a visit to the ER. He broke out in a horrible rash. It's a reaction to one of the meds he's on. He's broke out all over his body even his face. They gave us something for him to take to conteract it but said it will take a few days to go away. He's home now in his room just happy to be home!



35 August 04, 2003 at 05:31 PM EDT
I don't have time to post much of an update but just wanted to let everyone know we are on the way back to the hospital they are readmitting Travis. He's running a fever and the rash is worse! I'll try and keep everyone posted.


36 August 05, 2003 at 12:09 PM EDT
Travis was taken to ICU early this am, for his fever(104), his Blood Pressure and heart rate were real low too. His fever is down and his pulse is better the Dr's are trying to get his BP up. He will be going for a CT scan today and an Electocardiogram (for a murmer that the dr's have heard). He still has a rash but at least it has not gotten any worse. He had a real rough night but they gave him medicine and he is sleeping alot right now. The Spagetti dinner will be held at Nino's restaurant this Sunday at 1pm and the Auction will start at 3pm. Nino's is located on Sherman Blvd in Muskegon. Everything will be held below the restaurant in the banquet room.



37 August 06, 2003 at 10:55 AM EDT
Hi everyone! First of all Travis is still in ICU. His bp is getting undercontrol but they still are not sure what's causing the fever. It keeps going down and spiking up. The blood cultures came back okay so there is no bacteria in his blood which is a good thing other than the fact it don't help them know what is causing the fevers. So for now it's still a wait and see thing. I'm not sure when they will move him out of icu but believe me it's not going to be soon enough for him. He's going crazy with all the wires he has hooked up to him. His rash doesn't seem to be spreading more but he's getting a darker red which we were told to expect. Right now his face is so swollen he can hardly open his eyes. The poor guys is not feeling to hot righ now.

Also thanks to Teena for posting my update for me yesterday. I'll keep everyone posted as much as possible!



38 August 07, 2003 at 11:28 AM EDT
Well as of right now we are still in ICU we are hoping that he'll be moved back the the oncology floor later today. We still have not found the cause of the fever. The swelling in his face was bad again this morning. They are saying it's because the vessles are so weak that the fluids are leaking out. They are giving him proteins to help build them back up plus it makes him pee more so he'll get rid of the extra fluids. They did a skin biospy to see if the rash is a fungus or not yesterday but we don't get the results of that for a couple days. He's swollen and very ichy right now. All in all he's feeling pretty miserable right now! On a happy note remember the email I sent to The Ramones. Well I sent them to a few of the bands Trav likes and yesterday he got a pacakge for Thrice. Inside was thier brand new CD and it was autographed by the entire band plus 2 t-shirts! Thanks for the good wishes, prayers, thoughts!



39 August 08, 2003 at 10:02 AM EDT
We are still in ICU. Today they are giving him an antibotic they think he may have had a reaction to before but the found a fungus in his urine so they need to get on top of it asap. The meds they will have to give him if he can't take this could damage his kidneys so they are giving him an eight hour dose over a long period to desensitize (sp?) him. Hopefully after that we will get out of ICU. He has been w/o a fever for 24 hours now and his bp is looking good also!

I'm also going to copy and paste an email I got from Sandy. She got some info from the bone marrow testing center and everyone keeps asking me about it so it'll just be much easier to do it this way.

Hello,

I have a question about donating bone marrow. I know someone in DeVos
childrens hospital (Travis Lind) that is in need of a transplant and if no match is found the they are going to be setting up a testing drive in his name. I was told by his mother that they really need minority donors because he has some Indian blood in him. And that anyone with a minority blood in them does not have to pay the $90 fee for testing. I was not sure if this is just at the drive in his name or if anyone can go to you and do this if they are a minority. Also I have Indian blood in me but I do not look like it. Do you have to have papers to prove it?

Thanks for your time.

Sandy Long


SANDY-

Thank you for your interest in the marrow program. I have spoken with
Travis's mom and if need be, we will be doing a marrow drive, not only
to hopefully benefit Travis, but any patient in need of a transplant.

Since Travis is of American Indian heritage, they are trying to focus on the American Indian community. Patients and donors match best if within the same ethnic background but it is possible to match a patient and donor from different ethnic backgrounds as well.

Due to the need for more ethnic minority donors to be represented on the marrow registry, there is a grant available to cover the cost of ethnic minority donors. You do not need to show "proof" of your ethnic background.

Caucasian donors will be tested at $90 per person. We are hoping to be able to raise the money so every donor that is interested may be tested.

Because you are of American Indian background, you may be tested free of charge at any time. We can arrange for you to be tested at Michigan Community Blood Centers or at a location convenient to you. We are having marrow testing at the blood center tomorrow between the hours of 8:00AM and 8:00 PM. We are located at 1036 Fuller NE in Grand Rapids. Feel free to come in and get tested. If tomorrow doesn't work out for you, let us know a more convenient time.

I hope I answered your questions and feel free to contact us if we can
be of further help. Thanks.

Barbara Hile
Director, Marrow/Stem Cell Program
616-233-8644 or
Kim Barrett at 616-233-8555 or
Tom Nelis at 616-233-8554

If there is anyone insterested in being tested that is of minority background all you have to do is let me know and give me your name and phone number and they testing center will contact you and let you know how to be tested free of charge.

My email is jodi081@aol.com
phone is 616-844-6193
Cell 231-740-7007

Thanks everyone!



40 August 08, 2003 at 09:35 PM EDT
Hi all!! Whoo-Hooo we are out of ICU! He well with the antibotic they gave him today. So now he's in a regular room again in the peds oncology unit! I'm not sure how long we're there or even if he'll get to come home again before starting round 2 of treatment.

The girl from the bone marrow program came to talk to me again today. The guy who was a potential match was tested further with blood they already had he matches 9 out of 10 areas! This is good news. They now have to contact him to see if he's still willing and able. Keep your fingers crossed!


41 August 12, 2003 at 10:17 PM EDT
Sorry for the delay in updates but it's been hetic and we don't have a computer in the room right now so I don't have easy access.

Fisrt of all Trav is doing okay health wise but his spirts are low right now. He's so tired of being in that hospital he can't stand it. Out of the last 51 days he's been in there 49. They did a bone marrow bio and a ct scan today but we don't have any results yet. He's getting a bit of a rash again so they took him off the antibotic. The poor kids is having reactions to so many meds it's frustrating.
Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers!

As for the auction thank you everyone who was there, helped, and donated. It was a huge success and I'll post pics as soon as I can. The grand total was $6802!

I just want to say thanks again and I'll catch up more later but right now I need some sleep so night and like I said more will come later!!!



42 August 15, 2003 at 10:55 AM EDT
Well they were going to restart the chemo today but it's not delayed until Monday. He started running a fever again yesterday so the restarted the antibotics and he had a bad reaction to them so they had to stop them, he then spiked another fever so they needed to find a antibotic he could take. They started some news ones and so far so good. He broke the fever last night and he's doing okay with the antibotics. So the new plan is to start chemo Monday. This poor kid has been through so much lets just hope and pray he can do okay with these antibotics, they get chemo started and he flys through it w/o to much trouble.



43 August 16, 2003 at 08:01 PM EDT
Well it's boys night at the hospital. Uncle Brian is spending the night with Travis tonight! For those that don't know Brian is my brother and when I called my mom stopped up there and said she was leaving they were so involved in their PS2 and talking about X-Men she had no idea what they were talking about:-) He's happier today than he has been in a long while. The plan is to start chemo again Monday.



44 August 17, 2003 at 09:14 PM EDT
Well Trav and Uncle Brian had a great time. They played games, watched movies, and ate Pizza!

Today Trav was feeling a bit sick to his stomach again but they gave him something for it and now he's feeling much better although he did have a bit of a scare. One of his lines pulled out and he was laying in blood. Marv thinks that when he was giving him a back rub he somehow layed on the line and pulled it. He's doing fine now but was a bit scared at first.

Tomorrow chemo starts again.



45 August 19, 2003 at 09:20 AM EDT
Well first of all lets all say thanks to Laurie for posting some of the pictures from th spagatti dinner/auction. Thanks again Laurie!

Second they started Chemo yesterday around 5 pm. So far all is well. He didn't settle down and get to sleep until after 1am this morning and was back up for a few minutes at 2 am. Other than that he's doing alright at this point.

Tuesday, August 19, 2003 9:16 AM CDT

Hi everyone, I think I am going to move Trav's page from the tlcontact page since it looks like there is much more I can do with it here. This place looks like it can do alot more things than I could on the other page.

Click here to go back to the main page.

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