History

Thursday, November 26, 2009 8:04 AM CST

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Travis continues to do well :) He is scheduled to return to the clinic for a check up in January 2010. We are hoping at that time they will release him to come back in one year :)

Love,

Enola

Monday, October 20, 2008 11:57 AM CDT

Sorry it has taken me so long to update Travis' site.

Travis had a visit to the clinic in July, where he was examined by Dr. M. (who we hadn't seen in one year) and a Dr. L. He was pronounced healthy.
His weight was 58.2 kg (128.4 lbs) and his height was 5'11 1/2". He was told to come back in three months. His counts on that visit were:

WBC 5.64
NEUT 3.02
HGB 16.7
PLT 199

Fast forward to October 14. Travis was examined by Dr. A. His weight was 62.1 kg (136.6 lbs.) and he has finally grown to 6' :) He was examined
and pronounced healthy :) His counts from this visit are:

WBC 5.41
NEUT 2.60
HGB 17
PLT 223

He was "graduated" from the clinic. He will be attending the new "Long Term Survivor Clinic" that has been started. It is a more comprehensive
checkup, where they are going to be keeping an eye on possible long term effects of the chemo he has had. It will be a more "team" oriented
checkup. He was told he would do this once a year. I will update after that visit. I will not be able to schedule it until mid November. I am shooting
for February 2009.

Please remember to donate blood. Here in Michigan we are experiencing a shortage. You can save three people with one donation.

Enola

Thursday, April 3, 2008 4:21 PM CDT

It has been a while since I last updated. Lots of things have happened in the last three months.

Travis was at the clinic this afternoon for his checkup. He was examined by Dr. J. Everything looks great. His blood work is "normal" according to the doctor. His weight is 57.6 kg, up from last month. His blood counts are as follows:

WBC 4.76
NEUT 2.18
HGB 16.3
PLT 188

He goes back to clinic in July :)

On February 28, Travis was injured at work. He slipped and spilled hot grease on his right arm, causing 1st and 2nd degree burns. He then punched a wall with his left hand and broke his hand. He has had his hand in a cast since. Thankfully, they were able to reset the bone without surgery, and his burns healed well with no problems. He will have his cast removed next week.

On March 22, Travis and Tim celebrated their 19th birthday. Thank you God!!!!

This June 20 will be the five year anniversary of Travis' ALL diagnosis. I really don't even have words to express how I am feeling. Down on my knees thankful to God and the doctors. Thankful for every laugh, every smile, every argument, because I know exactly where we could be today.

I want to urge everyone who is reading this to please consider joining the bone marrow registry. Travis is blessed to have 3 siblings that are 6 point matches. Others aren't so fortunate. You might be the match some child, or adult, is looking for. You could be a potential life saver.

Also, please donate blood. Travis used a hugh amount of blood products during his treatment. I don't know where he would be today if that blood had not been donated.

Thank you for stopping in. Please take a moment to sign the guest book.

God Bless you,

Enola

Sunday, February 10, 2008 7:04 AM CST

Travis went to the clinic for his check up on January 10, 2008. He was examined by Dr. J. His weight was almost the same at 124 1/2 lbs(56.6kg) as it was at his last visit. He has been holding steadily at this weight. His blood work is as follows:

WBC 7.82
NEUT 4.51
HGB 16.9
PLT 238

We got the results of his 2D-Echo. Everything looks normal :) They want him to have another one in one year.

He returns to the clinic in April.

Travis continues to attend a local college and work as a cook at a local diner. We will be celebrating his, and Tim's, 19th birthday next month.

Enola

Friday, October 12, 2007 11:26 AM CDT

Travis had his clinic visit on October 10. He was examined by Dr. J. Everything checked out a-ok. He has finally grown, a whole inch :) He is now 6 ft tall. He weighs 124 lbs., the same thing he weighed last month. His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 6.30
NEUT 3.20
HGB 16.8
PLT 224

He will be going for a 2D Echocardiogram sometime in the next couple of months. Just a routine checkup. He won't be returning to clinic until January 2008 :)

I asked Dr. J the question of when could we breath easier about the fear of the ALL returning. I had originally asked him that question when Travis was at the one year off treatment mark. Back then, he told me "he" would breath easier when Travis had reached the two years off treatment mark. Well, Travis is now at the two year, two month off treatment mark. So I was wondering what our next goal should be. Dr. J said, "Two years off treatment is a significant achievement, and that five years off treatment is our next goal." So, we are looking with eyes forward to that five year off treatment mark, August 2010.

I have a prayer request. A young man, Matthew, just relapsed with Leukemia, for the second time. I know he is headed for a bone marrow transplant. Please pray that he reaches remission rapidly and can quickly get to transplant. My heart is breaking for him and his family.

One other request. Please consider becoming a blood donor, if you arent' one already. The blood bank is perpetually under supplied. You could save three lives with one donation. It could be the best hour you ever spent "relaxing".

Also, please consider joining the National Bone Marrow Registry. You could save a person's live. You could save someone's child. Larry and I are both on the registry and I pray that I can save someone. Contact me if you are interested and I will give you contact information.

God Bless you all.

Enola

Thursday, August 30, 2007 1:54 PM CDT

Two years ago today Travis had his final spinal and bone marrow aspiration, thus ending his treatment. It has been an adjustment, but one we are rapidly getting used to. Right now he is going every three months for blood work/physical checkups. I believe after one year of that, he will move to once every four months.

It is interesting to me that on the anniversary of the ending of treatment, he is starting his college career. He had his first two classes today :)

Also interesting to me is the fact that I think I am the only one who remembered. I love the fact that Travis has moved beyond the cancer. Now I really have to work on that myself.

I am not sure who still stops bye, but thank you if you do. I will periodically update the site when he visits clinic, or if something needs to be shared. If you would, please sign in and let us know you were here :)

Enola

Monday, July 16, 2007 10:38 AM CDT

Travis had his 23 month off treatment clinic visit on July 10, 2007. He was examined by Dr. M. His weight is up a bit to 124.3 lbs.

His blood work was pronounced "normal". His blood counts are as follows:

WBC 6.76
NEUT 3.69
HGB 16.8
PLT 211

He will be scheduling a 3-D Echo (heart test) just before he goes back for his 26 month off treatment checkup in October.

He is doing well, working part-time and getting ready to start classes at Oakland Community this fall :) We are extremely grateful for the normalicy of it all :)

Thank you all who still visit. Thank you for visiting, caring and praying for Travis.

Enola

Monday, June 4, 2007 6:47 AM CDT

I am very happy to announce that on Saturday, June 2, 2007, Travis, along with his twin brother Tim, graduated from Lamphere High School.

We are so very proud of you Travis and Tim. It has been a long, hard road these last four years, for you both. You both handled it with courage. That says a lot about both of you. We love you!!!

Thank you!!

Monday, April 30, 2007 8:31 AM CDT

Travis went to the clinic on April 10, 2007. It was his 20th month off treatment checkup. He was examined by S (med student) and Dr. A. His weight was 56.1 K, or 123.7 lbs. His counts were as follows:

WBC 5.52
HGB 18.2
NEUT 2.66
PLT 210

Dr. A said Travis was doing very well, and gave him the option of starting to come every three months instead of continuing every other month through August. So, Travis doesn’t have to return to clinic until July :)

We are busy with end of the year school stuff. Travis, and Tim, will be graduating from Lamphere High School on June 2.

I want to thank you all for your continued prayers for Travis. He is doing well and enjoying life. Guess it doesn’t get any better than that.

Just a quick reminder. Please make sure you get in and donate blood. Travis used a lot of blood products during his 26 months of chemotherapy. Without generous donors, he might not have had the blood products when he needed them.

Also, please consider signing up to be a potential bone marrow donor. Just yesterday, I learned of another child that has relapsed with leukemia. That child will need a bone marrow transplant. Maybe you could be the one that matches that child.

Enola

Tuesday, February 13, 2007 5:01 PM CST

MARCH 22,2007 UPDATE!!!! Well today Travis turned 18 years old. Four years ago we weren't sure he would ever reach that age. Thank you God for the life of my son.

MARCH 17, 2007 UPDATE!!!! Well today Travis took his road test and passed. We will be heading to the SOS on Monday for the license :) Just one more thing checked off of that "normal" life list :)

Travis went to the clinic today, for his 18th month off treatment checkup. He was examined by Dr. J. Everything looks good. His height is 5'11". His weight was 123.1 lbs. He hasn't grown a centimeter in height since he started treatment. His weight has pretty much remained in the low 120's. His counts are well within normal ranges. They are as follows:

WBC 10.5
NEUT 8.06
HGB 16.5
PLT 254

He goes back in April.

We have been busy here. Travis is doing well in school. This is his senior year :) He is getting ready to go to Walt Disney World in Florida, with the band. They are leaving this Thursday and will be gone a week. This was the trip that he wasn't able to go on in his freshman year, because of his ALL diagnosis. So you all know that this trip holds special significance for him and us.

Life is slowly getting back to normal here, well as normal as it can be with every other monthly clinic visits.

I had a chance to talk with D, one of Travis' nurses at the clinic about his journey and how overwhelmed and scared we were at the beginning. How hard it was to envision ever getting to a point where we felt normal again. Here he is 5 weeks from his 18th birthday. There was a point where we didn't think he would make it to 15. God has truly blessed him and us. We are beginning to envision a life after high school. A life for a young adult. Exciting times here.

As always, I am grateful for all the many prayers said for Travis. Thank you for visiting his site. If you would please take a moment to sign the guestbook and let us know who is visiting, we would be very appreciative.

Also, please take some time and visit a Red Cross Blood Donor Center. You could save as many as three lives with one donation. Please help!!!

Enola

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 7:59 AM CST

Travis went to the clinic yesterday for his 16th month off treatment checkup. He was examined by Dr. S (resident) and Dr. J (oncologist). His weight was 56.2 cm (123.6 lbs). His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 8.00
NEUT 4.79
HGB 17.3
PLT 208

He returns to the clinic in February 2007 for his next checkup.

Travis continues to do well. He is doing well in school and feeling good. Guess we can't ask for more.

I would ask for prayers for Lindsey S. dx with throat cancer. She is the daughter of one of my closest friends. She is only 22 years old.

Also keep Robin K. in your prayers as she recovers from surgery and finishes up her ovarian cancer protocol.

Keep Baby Donovan in your prayers also. He was dx with Infant ALL at five weeks old. He just had his second birthday. He just recently suffered yet another relapse. They are doing everything they can to beat the cancer beast. Pray for his healing.

Please donate blood if you are eligible. You can save up to three lives with one donation. Also consider joining the National Bone Marrow Registry.

Enola

Tuesday, October 14, 2006

PRAYER REQUEST!!! Please keep my good friend, Robin K, in your prayers. She is undergoing surgery today.

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Travis went to the clinic for his checkup on October 2, 2006. He is now on an every other month follow up schedule :) He also had a 2D Echocardiogram (on October 2) to check on his heart function. Unofficially we were told that everything looks good (this was by the technician). The onc told us to call the office on Friday for the official results.

He was examined by Dr. M (res) and we talked with Dr. A. His weight was up to 123.4 lbs, and he is still 5'11 1/2". His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 6.55
Neut 3.96
HGB 16.1
Plts 206

More importantly, he is feeling good. He is doing well in school. He is playing the snare drum in the marching band. He is enjoying his computer (thank you Greg). He continues to amaze me in everything he does. We are getting to the point where we can go several days without thinking about cancer. I pray that Travis continues to do well and that we never have to look back. For those of you who have never had a child with cancer, and I pray that you never do, it is something that forever changes you. I don't think I will ever be the naive woman I once was. I don't think that I will ever be completely free of worry at a cold, or an ache. I want to thank my good friends who allow me to voice my fears, concerns and don't think I am crazy. You all know exactly who you are. I love you.

Michigan is experiencing a blood shortage. Please take an hour of your time and drop by the nearest blood bank. You could save as many as three lives with one donation.

Enola

Monday, August 14, 2006 4:53 PM CDT

UPDATE 9-4-06 It breaks my heart to have to share this information. Cameron Dalene has passed away. Please remember his family as they learn to live without him here. No parent should ever have to lose a child.

PRAYER REQUESTS August 27, 2006: I am asking everyone who reads this to please pray for these children who are in the fight of their lives. Baby Donovan (20 months) has relapsed again. He has been battling this beast since he was one month old. Cameron (15 years) who has been battling his beast since November 2000. Pray that they are healed.

Travis went for his one year off treatment checkup on August 8, 2006. He was examined by Dr. J. His weight was down two pounds (120.7 lbs - 54.8 k). His height is the same at 5'11". We discussed growing at his age. He may yet grow a bit taller, but if not he is a good height. His counts are as follows:

WBC 6.46
Neut 3.83
HGB 17.6
Plt 207

He has to have a 2D Echocardiogram in October. He has reached the lifetime limit of adriamycin, which can effect the heart. This is just a screening. The last one he had last year didn't find anything out of the ordinary. I pray this one doesn't either. He doesn't have to have another oncology checkup until October :) He will be on every other month checkups for a year. As much as we love the doctors and nurses at Rose, we are thrilled not to have to see them until October.

This has been an exciting time here, as Travis' big brother Greg is home from his enlistment in the Marines. He is on terminal leave and will be officially out on September 22, 2006. It has been wonderful having him back home.

We attended a Cancer Survivor's Party on Saturday, 8-12 hosted by the Cancer Center. It was so nice to see people we haven't seen in almost a year. We saw Ryan and his family (he looks wonderful), we saw Alex and his mom (he also looks wonderful), we saw Max and his family (again, he looks wonderful), we say Keegan and his mom (and he looks wonderful), another Greg was there (he is looking wonderful and walking). We saw Lexie and her mom. She is doing well and scheduled to finish her relapse treatment on February 11. She looked so cute in her grass skirt and lei. All in all it was a wonderful day.

Travis, and Tim, are at band camp this week. They leave the house at 8:30 am and return around 9:30 pm. It runs all week, with a half day and performance for parents on Saturday. The school will be starting within the next two weeks. Travis, and Tim, are seniors. They are having their senior pictures taken in a couple of weeks also.

Well I am starting to ramble here. It is really nice to have such ordinary stuff to talk about.

Michigan is experiencing a blood shortage. Please head to a local donor center and help. I am leaving here in just a moment to go donate.

Thanks for the prayers being said for Travis. Thank you also for checking in on him. We appreciate both very much.

Enola

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 12:49 AM CDT

Travis was at the clinic on July 11 for his 11th month off treatment appointment. He was examined by Dr. M (res) and talked to Dr. A (onc). He was given a physical and had blood work. His temp was 36.1 and his weight was 55.8 k (122.7 lbs). His blood results are as follows:

WBC 6.59
Neut 4.34
HGB 16.7
Plt 207

This was just the type of appointment we like. Quickly in and out. He goes back in one month.

Really not much more to say, other than he is feeling well and looking even better :)

Thank you for visiting. If you get a chance, please leave us a note letting us know who was here.

Also, please take some time to donate blood. Travis needed hugh amounts of blood products during his 26 month treatment. He was fortunate enough that every time he needed something, it was available. Some aren't so fortunate.

Till next month :)

Friday, June 9, 2006 4:51 PM CDT

UPDATE 7-6-06 Please keep my friend Robin in your prayers. She is having some medical problems that have landed her in the hospital.

***** UPDATE ***** Please check your local tv guide and find out when PBS is showing a program called "A Lion In The House". This program chronicles the lives of several families with a child with cancer. It will give you an idea of what it does to the child and the family. It is such a frightening, lonely, isolating thing. Please pass this information to everyone you know. A diagnosis of childhood cancer is much more common than we realize. You never know when another friend or relatives child will get that news.

Travis had his 10th month off treatment checkup on June 6, 2006. He was examined by Dr. O (res) and Dr. J (onc). His weight was down a bit from last month (56.1 k, or 123.7 lbs). His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 7.39
Neut 4.24
HGB 16.6
Plt 203

He continues to do well. He will be headed back into the clinic in July.

He is taking finals now and will be out of school on June 13. We are looking forward to a normal summer here this year.

Thank you for all the prayers you have said for Travis. If you get a chance, please donate blood. The Red Cross supply is always low. It takes about an hour and you could save someones life. Also, please consider looking into joining the Bone Marrow Registry. You might have the marrow some child needs to live.

Enola

Sunday, May 28, 2006 8:55 AM CDT

I am sorry it has taken so long to get this update posted. I want to thank those of you who still take the time to visit Travis' site. We want to thank you for caring about our child and family. We know your thoughts and prayers have helped us all.

Travis was at the clinic on Tuesday, May 9, 2006. He was examined by G (med student). We talked with Dr. A. He has gained a little bit more weight. He is up to 125.8 lbs (56.8k). He continues to feel well. His blood counts are below:

WBC 6.50
Neut 3.34
HGB 16.4
Plt 178

It has been very busy here. Travis and Tim just finished their level 2 driving class. Now they are eligible to take a driving test and apply for that license.

The boys will be marching in the Memorial Day Parade. They will be marching snare drums :) I believe that Marching Band practice will start up on Tuesday, May 31. It is hard to believe that it is that time already.

Travis goes back to the clinic the first week in June.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 7:05 AM CDT

Travis went to the clinic yesterday, April 11, 2006, for his 8th month off treatment checkup. He was examined by A (med student) and Dr. J (oncologist). His weight was 55.9 k (123 lbs). He was up almost exactly three pounds, the weight Dr. A said he had to gain this month lol. He has been making an effort to eat. I believe the threat of having to see another doctor made it easier. Also, he is off bactrim now, and that was having an effect on his appetite.

His counts were as follows:

WBC 8.12
Neut 4.92
HGB 16.4
Plt 194

He doesn't have to go back for another month :)

Travis had his 17th birthday on March 22. We had a birthday celebration at Benehana. He was able to try sushi, which he had been wanting to do all through treatment. It was something he has been talking about for over a year.

He has his drivers permit. He is working at getting enough driving time is so that he can get his next permit. He is hoping to get his drivers license before school next year. He wants to be able to drive to school.

He just got his report card and is doing very well. We are very proud of how hard he is working. He missed so much school with his treatment, that he could have easily given up and thrown in the towel. Travis is not a quitter. As he proved during treatment. He is a fighter and will not give up. Keep up the great job Travis. We love you.

Saturday, March 18, 2006 9:03 AM CST

Travis had his 7th off treatment visit with the oncologist on March 14, 2006. He was given a physical by a resident (I didn't write down her name) and Dr. A. His height was 5' 11 1/4" (no change). His weight was 54.7 kg (120 lbs) down from last months 55.8, which was down from the month before. Dr. A has advised Travis that he needs to start upping his physical activity and regaining some of his lost weight. He told Travis he needs to gain at least 20 lbs, three of which he wants to see on the scale at next month's visit.

His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 12.76
NEUT 8.65
HGB 16.8
PLT 154

These counts are higher than last months, but we believe they are because Travis has been fighting a bad cold (headache, sore throat, cough) for a couple of days now. He is starting to feel better each day that passes. Thank you God.

Travis, Tim and I will be celebrating our birthday next Wednesday, March 22. The twins will be 17. If you would be so kind, please leave a birthday note for Travis.

Once again, thank you all for visiting this site. Thank you all for the continued prayers and good thoughts. We truly appreciate them.

Love, Enola

Wednesday, February 15, 2006 9:02 AM CST

UPDATE!!! 3-1-06 Travis took his last dose of bactrim this evening. He officially takes no more drugs!!!!

Travis went for his 6th month off treatment checkup yesterday. He was given a physical examination by Dr. G (a resident) and talked with Dr. J (the oncologist). His height is 71", weight 122.57 lbs. His temp was 36.1C. He was pronounced in great shape and sent off with a "see you in a month". :) He was also told he needs to continue taking the bactrim (preventative antibiotic) for two more weeks. Then he is finished with it!!!!!!! He is happy about that, as he feels kind of yucky as a result of it. We are hoping that will help him with his appetite. His weight is down from last month. He also told Dr. J that he has been feeling tired a lot this last month, but didn't know if it is because he isn't getting enough sleep, or if he is just being lazy lol. I vote for not getting enough sleep - but what do I know, I am only his mom. I am hoping that getting to bed earlier will solve this problem. I will admit being nervous about this, as it is one of the signs we need to watch for. He has been instructed to let us know if it gets worse, or doesn't get any better. For now, we are relieved by the blood work.

His blood counts were as follows:

WBC: 7.8
HGB: 15.6
PLT: 188
NEUT: 4.6

All within the normal range - Thank You God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to have you all remember Ryan W. in your prayers as he has a surgery coming up soon, and they are trying to settle on the best treatment to take care of his rhabdomyosarcoma. He has been through so much, and is such a great kid. Please keep his parents in those prayers too. Also, please keep Alex I. in your prayers. He just finished a tough 3 1/2 year protocol for ALL and we are praying that he is able to move forward and not look back. Also keep Shelby in your prayers. She is a young girl who is getting close to the end of her ALL treatment. I also ask for prayers that she is able to finish and move forward and never have to think about it again. One more request. Please keep Keegan (ALL) in your prayers, as he is in the hospital with a fever. As you all know, a fever in an immune compromised child is very serious. Thank you all for visiting Travis' site. Also, thank you for the many prayers you have said for him and us. We know that they helped him, and that they continue to help.

There is a blood drive scheduled at Lamphere High School for March 8, 2006. If you are eligible to donate blood, please do so. You can save a life. There are several someones that saved Travis' life.

Enola

Saturday, January 21, 2006 10:14 AM CST

UPDATE Please say a prayer for Ryan W. He is having surgery to remove the remains of his tumor on Monday, Jan. 30. Please pray for a successful surgery, a quick recovery and an end to this nightmare.

It has been a while since I last updated Travis' site. A lot has happened since the last update. Most of it has been very good.

We had an early Christmas here, since Travis' older brother is a Marine and couldn't be here for Christmas. We were able to get the whole family together. That is a rare occurence now. It was wonderful to have all my children home.

It is very nice to start a brand new year without chemo. Travis is counting down the days till he can stop taking Bactrim, an antibiotic. He really wants to be finished with it all. He is looking better every day. His hair is coming in, although it is coming in curly. I think he is getting used to it.

He was at the clinic on January 17, 2006. He was examined by Dr. S (resident) and Dr. J (oncologist). We were a bit concerned (heck truthfully, I was scared to death) because he appeared to have a rash on his feet. One that looked, to our eyes, just like the one he had at his original diagnosis. Travis noticed the rash on Monday evening, and we already had an appointment scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. The rash, thank God, was fading as the time passed. It was hardly visible by the time the doctor looked at it. He reviewed with us the things that we need to be concerned with, rash that doesn't fade away, fever, bone pain, etc. His weight is still not back to what it should be, but he is trying to eat well. He weighed 56 kg (123.2 lbs). At 5'11", he is still very thin.

His counts were as follows:

WBC 6.12
Neut 3.23
HGB 16.9
Plt 193

We go back in a month.

I am not sure who is actually reading this, but I will continue to update it monthly as Travis has his checkups. Please take a minute to sign his book, so we know who is checking up on him.

I want to thank everyone who visits and also thank those who are continuing to hold Travis and us in their prayers. They are very much appreciated.

Enola

Sunday, December 18, 2005 7:53 AM CST

January 3, 2006 Update: I have changed the pictures on the site. I added one of Travis shortly after diagnosis, and one of him taken on the beach in Hawaii. It is truly like night and day :)

Also, congratulations to Travis' big brother Greg, who was just promoted to Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.

UPDATE!!!!!! Travis went to the clinic on Tuesday, December 20, 2005 for his monthly (4th one) checkup. He was examined and blood taken. His blood counts were great. His weight was up to 126.9 (57.7) from 124 (56.4) last month :) His counts were: WBC 7.56, Neut 4.97, HGB 15.8, Plt 203. He is looking good and better yet, feeling good. His hair is coming back in curly. He isn't so thrilled about that, but hey it is hair lol. We go back in a month.

MAKE A WISH TRIP

I have been waiting a long time to make this update. Actually, I have been waiting since June 2003, when Travis was told that he was eligible for a wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

It was decided, pretty early on, that Travis would have to wait until after his treatment was over to have his wish granted. His treatment protocol was pretty harsh, so it was like a beacon to help him endure.

Well, that time came, and we just got home from Travis' Make-A-Wish trip to beautiful Hawaii :)

On December 3, 2005, a big black stretch limo pulled up at our front door and whisked up away to Metro Airport, where we boarded a plane that took us to Minneapolis, MN, where we picked up a flight to Honolulu, Hawaii. It was a chilling 14 degrees when we left Detroit, and a wonderful 82 degrees in Honolulu. Upon leaving the airplane (eight and 1/2 hours later), we were met by a representative with beautiful orchid leis, shown to the rental car agency, and escorted to our minivan. Keys were turned over to us and we were on our own in paradise. We drove to our hotel, the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach, where we were shown to our rooms. Two very nice rooms, with an ocean view from the balcony. This hotel is literally right on the beach/ocean. Needless to say, we have never stayed in such a nice hotel. After getting settled in to our rooms, we went out in search of something to eat. We walked around for a while and settled on "Thai" food. It was a night of firsts, as Travis tried calamari lol. He pronounced it "good" lol. Of course, the five hour time difference was doing us in, so after we ate, it was back to the room to sleep.

During the week that we were there, we visited Pearl Harbor where we saw the Arizona Memorial, the Battleship Missouri (where we took an extensive tour deep inside the belly of the ship), and toured the WW II submarine, the Bowfin. We snorkeled, we took a sunset catamaran ride, we learned to surf. We have all agreed that the surfing lesson was the very best thing we did there. The instructors at the "Hawaiian Fire Surfing School" are the very best. They did a great job getting us all up and "surfing" lol. Well, truth be told, all the boys surfed, while I just got up and then proceeded to fall off again lol. But it was just the best fun. We were at a secluded private area, where the water was perfect for beginners. We even got to see a "sea lion" that was sunning itself on the beach not far from where we were. Sun, sea and surf. Perfection. We also parasailed. Travis, Tim and Greg did the "tea bagging" version, where they take you up and drop you down into the ocean. They had a blast. Dad and I did the regular version of parasailing. Where you go up and stay up lol. We drove around the island seeing the multimillion dollar homes and the amazing plant life. Things were beautiful, and this is their winter season, so lots of things weren't blooming. We saw the biggest rainbow we have ever seen. We saw breathtaking scenery. What it must be like to grow up there.

We hiked up to the top of Diamond Head, where there was an absolutely beautiful view of the island. Again another once in a lifetime view. We weren't sure if we would all make it, but we did.

We attended a luau at "Paradise Cove." It was a fun evening, with lots of activities (spear throwing, game playing, lei making, etc.) before they unveiled the "pig" aka dinner lol. They served a great dinner, salad, pork, fried chicken, maui-maui, rice, poi (which we all agreed we could live just fine never having again lol) and delicious deserts. After dinner they put on a great show, with beautiful dancers (both female and male), and costumes. They also had a fire dancer (male) which was Travis' favorite performance. They put us at a great table where Travis had a perfect view of everything. We had a wonderful time.

The men took a driving tour of the North Shore, where the waves are close to 15-20 feet. They actually saw surfers riding these waves. There was a surfing competition going on. They had lunch at a "shrimp farm." Travis pronounced the shrimp excellent lol. I on the other hand, stayed at the hotel for a little "recovery" time. After a rest, I went shopping. The street our hotel was on had store after store after store to browse in. Harry Winston, Louis Viton, etc. As well as an ABC on almost every block. Cousin Jessie (our guide at Paradise Cove) told us that ABC stood for all blocks covered lol. When the boys got back from the North shore, we all went shopping. Picking up those last minute souvenirs we all wanted. Out that evening, the boys got to hold some parrots, we saw lots of street performers (good bad and interesting) lol. Travis and Greg even got henna tattoo's. Travis' said, I came to Hawaii on my make a wish trip and all I got was this lousy cancer, and it showed an astrological sign for cancer (the crab). The boys thought this was the greatest thing. It did get a lot of laughs from people who saw it lol. I believe that Travis' sense of humor went a long way in helping him cope with his treatment. Remember his nickname during treatment was "Leukey."

While we were there, we ate at a revolving restaurant at the top of a skyscraper, where we could see for miles. We ate Korean food and Thai food. We ate breakfast every morning at the hotel restaurant that is open to the beach. We sat at a table a stones throw from the water, every morning. We truly tried to do things we would never be able to do at home. I think we succeeded.

Well, all good things must come to an end, so we had to get up Saturday morning, December 10, 2005, pack up and head to the airport. We left beautiful Hawaii at 2:30 pm (7:30 pm our time), flew to Seattle, changed planes and off to Detroit. Arrived in Detroit at 5:30 am, December 11, 2005, where we were met by our driver Bill, from Absolute Limousines, who whisked us back home.

I want to thank the Make-A-Wish foundation for this absolutely wonderful trip. The trip made the awful things Travis went through fade to the background for a little while. I want to thank everyone who has ever donated to the Make-A-Wish foundation. Please know that every donation helps some child recover from the horrors of treatment.

Friday, November 25, 2005 9:29 AM CST

All I can say is that the month between clinic visits flew by. Travis was at the clinic on Tuesday, November 22. He was given a very thorough physical examination by Dr. J. Blood was taken. Blood counts were great. He was pronounced fit and told to come back in a month :) He weighed 56.4 kg (124 lbs). He is slowly putting weight back on. Which is the way to do it. I have noticed his appetite finally picking up. His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 8.38
Neut 5.66
HGB 15.2
Plt 203
The counts were almost identical to last months.

I must say I had a big sign of relief that this visit was so good. Travis had a period of time, right around State competition, that he was feeling pretty tired and dragged out. We knew it was probably because he was pretty much burning the candle at both ends, with band, drivers ed., etc., but you know..... Unfortunately, we have heard of more than one child/young adult that has had a relapse of their cancers and one death. Hearing this really brings the fear back up to the front of your thoughts. Thank you God for Travis' good health.

Please continue to send up prayers for Travis. Also, if you would add Ed Alston, Sr., to that list. He has just been diagnosed with cancer and could use prayers. Please know that your prayers are very much appreciated.

Also, please consider donating blood. The Red Cross is always in need. Travis wouldn't be here if it weren't for those blood donations.

Thank you so much for checking in on Travis. Please take a minute to say hi in his guest book.

Enola

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 1:51 PM CDT

NOVEMBER 19 UPDATE: Travis had his first haircut today. His hair is coming back in curly. He isn't a happy camper about that either. His hair cut was provided at no charge by our friend Shari. Thank you Shari, we love you girl. I wanted a picture of it curling, but he refused to let me take it lol. His hair texture is so different than it was before treatment. He hair is very soft and curly. The kind you like to touch lol.

November 7 UPDATE: Travis' high school marching band, Lamphere Marching Rams, came in 6th place at State competition at the Pontiac Silverdome on Saturday, November 5. The drum line was awesome. I had tears in my eyes watching my boys!!!!!!

UPDATE: Lamphere High School is having a blood drive on November 10, 2005, from 8am until 2pm. Please consider dropping by and donating a pint :)

Things have been very busy here since our last update. Travis has been busy playing snare drum with the high school marching band. The band, and Travis, have been doing really well. They are definitely going to State competition in early November. They continue to place 1st or 2nd at every competition :) It would be a dream come true if the band finished State competition in 1st or second place.

Travis now has a driver's permit. He is always asking if he can drive somewhere. Between him and Tim, I seem to be on the road constantly.

Travis, and Tim, are both doing very well in school. We had parent-teacher conferences last week and every one of Travis' teachers had wonderful things to say. He is taking his school work seriously and it is showing. Tim is also doing very well and taking things seriously. They are both impressing us. We always knew they had it in them.

On the medical front, Travis was at the clinic yesterday, 10-25-05. He was given a physical by Dr. J. His weight was up slightly from last month (55.6 up from 55.1). He is bothered by a pain in his left lower chest. Heart and lungs checkout, so the doctor believes it is a pulled muscle. We are going to keep an eye on it and if it doesn't improve, we will be talking to him. Travis has taken up weight lifting, so it is a possibility that he did pull a muscle.

His counts were wonderful - normal. They were as follows:

WBC 8.84
Neut 6.50
HGB 15.1
Plts 201

He doesn't have to return to the clinic for a month :)

As always, thank you for the many prayers said for Travis. They are very much appreciated. We would appreciate it if you would keep him in your prayers :)

Please take a minute to sign Travis' guest book. A simple Hi! will do. We know you are visiting because the counter continues to rise.

Also, please consider donating blood. The red cross never seems to have enough. Travis needed so much blood during his treatment that I am sure he wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for the generous people who donated blood. It takes such little effort and yields such rewards. One donation can help as many as three people. Be a hero to someone.

Thank you so much for visiting.

Enola

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 1:29 PM CDT

UPDATE: October 11, 2005 Travis, and his brother Tim, got their driver's permits. Now I am getting no peace, as they want to drive everywhere lol. I love the normalacy of the whole thing.

Enola

Travis went to the clinic yesterday, September 27, for his first off-treatment visit.

He was examined by Dr. B (resident) and visited with Dr. A. He was given a physical. He is in great shape. His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 6.11
Neut 4.27
HGB 14.4
Plt 253

His weight was 121.3 lbs (55.1 kg). Height is 5'11" (180 cm). Temp was 36.6. His hair is starting to come back in dark brown :) Won't be long until he will need his first official off treatment hair cut.

He doesn't have to return until October 25, 2005.

Travis has jumped back into life with both feet. He is attending school, is a member of the Lamphere High School Marching Band (playing snare drum), he is taking drivers training and weight training. He has also auditioned for a bass drum position with NorthCoast Academy.

He is also busy planning his Make A Wish trip to Hawaii :) Looks like we may be swimming with some sharks soon!!!

Thank you so much for checking in on Travis. Thank you so much for the many prayers said for him. They worked!!!!!!!! I have an additional prayer request. Would you please keep Ryan W in your prayers. He is having a hard time right now.

Just a note about Lamphere High's blood drive. It is scheduled for November 10, 2005. Please put a note in your calendar and plan to attend. Email me for directions. You could save a life or two!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, September 7, 2005 12:34 AM CDT

Travis had surgery to remove his mediport on Tuesday, September 6, 2005. He came through the surgery well. He has to refrain from any strenuous activity for two weeks, but then should be able to resume all his previous activities. He is very happy to have it out!!! It did turn out to be a very long day, though. We were at the hospital at 9:05 for an 11:15 surgery, and didn't return home until 3:00pm. Apparently the surgery scheduled before Travis' ran late, because they didn't take him into surgery until 12:40. I believe the actual surgery only took 20 minutes tops lol. I had just gotten settled down in the waiting room when the surgeon came in :) I am really happy that the waiting we did was before the surgery, not during :)

Larry and I met with Dr. M (oncologist) on Saturday, September 3, to discuss what to expect now that treatment is finished. Also, to answer any questions that we might have. It was nice to have the opportunity to have some questions answered, although we really didn't learn anything we didn't already know. Travis has done well up till now, and the doctor really doesn't expect that to change. He will be following up at the clinic once a month for one year, then once every two months for a year, then once every three months for a year, then once every six months for a year and then once a year indefinitely. Guess we won't be forgetting our wonderful clinic friends anytime soon lol.

Travis is quickly moving into teenager phase. He is starting drivers education on September 12, along with his brother Tim. They are both eager to have that driver's license lol. I am not too sure whether or not I will have any hair left, or whether or not I will be totally gray. Having twins learn to drive is going to age me rapidly lol. It does feel good though!!!

I don't envision updating this sight more than once a month now. It will seem so strange to just go to clinic once a month, as we have been going weekly, sometimes daily, for 26 months. Travis is very happy and so are we all!!!!

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for the many prayers, thoughts, cards, gifts, cookies, calls, that you have all sent to us. It has helped sustain us through this long journey to survival. We will never forget any of you. Please take a minute to sign the guest book and let us know who you are. I know you are visiting as the counter continues to move up, so just say HI.

Also, please send out prayers for Ryan W, Alex G, Alex I, Jonathan and Emily T, teens/young adults that are battling their own cancers. Pray that they remain strong for the fight. Please pray for the doctor's that are treating these teens. Also, please pray for Shelby, Keegan, Alec, Gage, Isabel and Zoe, young children that are battling cancer. There are many many more children that I could list. Too many. Please pray that a cure is found soon.

Also, please donate blood!!! Also consider becoming a bone marrow donor!! These activities could save a life or two!!!!!

Thank you so much,

Enola

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 1:41 PM CDT
Updated 9-2-05

UPDATE: Travis has been scheduled for surgery to remove his mediport at 11:15am Tuesday, September 6.

This has been a long time coming. Travis was at the clinic on Tuesday, August 30, 2005. He had a physical performed by Dr. S (intern) and Dr. J. He had blood drawn. His counts will be listed below. After this was completed, he went over to the hospital PICU, where Dr. M. completed his final spinal tap and bone marrow aspiration. We received word in the afternoon that his spinal fluid and bone marrow were "clear."

Travis is now officially off treatment. He is scheduled for surgery to remove his mediport on Tuesday, September 6, 2005.

His counts were:

WBC 3.38
NEUT 1.71
HGB 14.7
PLT 146

Travis will have to continue taking his antibiotic, Bactrim, for six months, until his immune system has had a chance to recover from the treatment.

He will be going back to the clinic in one month.

Travis started 11th grade today. We are praying that this is a good year for him. He has some ground to make up because of his absences, but we are sure he will succeed.

Larry and I want to thank each and every one of you for the many prayers, thoughts and wishes sent for Travis. We know that they helped.

Love, Enola

Thursday, August 25, 2005 11:55 AM CDT

Travis has taken his last dose of chemo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Travis was at the clinic on Monday, August 22, 2005. He was given a physical by Dr. M, and had his blood counts taken. His counts were as follows:

WBC 2.49
NEUT 1.07 (he just made his counts-needed 1.00)
HGB 15.1
Plts 245

He received his dose of ARA-C (66 milligrams) and his dose of 6Thioguine (60 milligrams). He checked into Beaumont Hospital on Monday evening, where he received 5 additional doses of each. He received his final chemo doses at 8:15pm Wednesday evening.

His nurses gave him a cake and a goodie bag filled with games, etc. They wished him well and told him they never wanted to see him again lol. It is funny how things work out. He had Nurse K, for his last dose of chemo. She was the first nurse he had when all this started back in June of 2003. We have to say that all the nurses and doctors that have dealt with Travis have been wonderful. We always felt that he was in good hands at Beaumont.

Travis will go back to the clinic on Tuesday, August 30, where he will have a cbc and then head over to the hospital for his Final Spinal Tap and Bone Marrow Aspiration!!!!!!!!!!!!! I believe they said that anytime after this, we can arrange with the surgeon to have Travis' mediport removed.

It really does feel unreal. In June 2003 when we were told that Travis must have chemotherapy until August 2005, it felt like it was so far down the road it would never get here. Well, it has been a long, hard 26 months, but it has arrived!!!!!! Travis is finished with his chemotherapy!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you God!! Thank you friends and family for all your continued prayers and good wishes. Thank you all for being there when we needed you. We truly couldn't have made it through this without you all.

Now just one more request. Please pray that the cancer doesn't return.

As always, please consider becoming a blood donor. Travis would probably not be here today if not for the wonderful donors who helped save his life. Also, please consider becoming a bone marrow donor. Imagine how it would feel if your child needed a bone marrow transplant and you didn't have a match. How desperate would you be. You could be the match that some family is desperately looking for.

More to follow.

Love, Enola

Wednesday, August 17, 2005 9:22 AM CDT

Just a quick update. Travis is attending Band Camp this week. August 15-20 (9AM-9PM). It is an intense week long camp where they learn the marching drills and perfect the music they have been working on all summer. I have to thank God for the wonderful weather we are having here. I also have to thank God that Travis is feeling so well and able to participate.

He is playing the snare drum this season. He has wanted this for I don't know how long. He has been working really hard. Again I have to thank God. Also have to thank Mr. M (band director) and DS (drum instructor).

Travis will be going back to the clinic on Monday, Aug. 22, 2005. I will say that both Travis and I have enjoyed the time off from the clinic. If this has been any indication, it will be very easy to get used to only going once a month :)

Thank you again for all the positive thoughts, prayers and messages you are sending/leaving for Travis. They are working.

Also, PLEASE call the Red Cross and arrange to donate blood. It can save lives. That number is 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. Also consider joining the bone marrow registry. Just this morning I learned that another child has relapsed with leukemia and will need a bone-marrow transplant. Maybe you can be that "life" saver for someone's child.

Love, Enola

Friday, August 5, 2005 8:53 AM CDT

Friday, August 12, 2005

Just wanted to ask you all to pray for and keep in your thoughts Ryan W. and his parents as they make some difficult decisions regarding his treatment. Also, please do the same for Emily T. as she begins her chemotherapy today. I know that God answers prayers. Thanks, Enola

Travis went to the clinic on Thursday, August 4, for blood work. He was examined by Dr. S (resident). His counts were as follows:

WBC 2.76
NEUT 1.87
HGB 11.3
PLT 284

He was given the good news that he doesn't have to return until August 22, when he will begin his LAST three days of chemo. Needless to say, we are all quite happy about this. I believe that this is the first time in 25 months Travis has not had to go into the clinic weekly. A bit of a teaser in preparation for the once a month blood count that he will have after chemo ends?

I really want to thank you all for checking in on Travis. Thank you for signing his guest book :) Thank you for the good thoughts and the prayers going out for his recovery. They are working!!!

One more thing, please consider donating blood. There seems to be a perpetual shortage of type 0 blood. It is very easy to do and only takes a short time out of your busy day. Please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE and set up an appointment at a blood center near your home.

Love, Enola

Saturday, July 30, 2005 7:20 AM CDT

Travis was at the clinic on Friday, July 29, 2005. He was examined by Dr. W (resident). He received 2 milligrams of vincristin (his last dose!!!!!!!!) and 693 milligrams of methotrexate (also his last dose!!!!!!!!!). He weighed 53.9 kg and his temperature was 36.1C. He has been feeling well. No problems at all :) His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 2.87
Neut 1.07
HGB 13.1
Plt 287

He doesn't return to clinic again until Thursday, August 4. He will be examined and have blood work - no chemo! The period of time with no chemo scheduled is to allow his body to recover. It is very likely that he will be neutropenic next week. We are just hoping that he doesn't develop mouth sores. He has band camp scheduled for August 15-20 and really, really, really wants to participate. He was scheduled to be in the hospital starting August 15, but Dr. A has given him permission to delay that stay until the following Monday, August 22. Travis will have a pretty good amount of time with no chemo. He should be feeling pretty good come band camp time, provided he doesn't develop those mouth sores. Fingers crossed.

Please consider becoming a blood donor. You never know when you might need blood!!! How awful would it be if that blood wasn't available.

Enola

Thursday, July 28, 2005 10:00 AM CDT

Travis was at the clinic on Friday, July 22, 2005. He was examined by Dr. M. He had blood drawn and he was given 2 mg of vincristin through his mediport. His weight went up very little, even after his steroid pulse. It was 53.8, BP 116/72 and temp. 35.9. His counts were as follows:

WBC 4.64
Neut 3.80
HGB 13.3
Plt 190

We were hoping his counts would be good, as we wanted to go visit our son Greg. He is a Marine stationed in Virginia Beach. Dr. M. said it looked like a Virginia trip for sure lol.

Travis did very well this weekend. We toured the USS Wisconsin, docked in Norfolk, walked all around Colonial Williamsburg several times lol and got a chance to see where and what Greg works on. Also got a chance to meet some of the guys he works with. Only thing we would have liked to have done but couldn't, was visit the beach. No point in going to a beach in really hot humid weather and not being allowed to go into the water. No ocean until after the mediport is removed. It was a very quick trip but a pleasant one. Only thing was the weather was really hot/humid. I believe on Monday there was a heat index warning - 106 degrees. Thankfully it wasn't quite that hot on Saturday and Sunday when we were outside a lot.

I talked with our Make A Wish contact yesterday. It looks as if we are going to shoot for December 3-10 for Travis' Hawaii trip. I still have a hard time even thinking about this. Never in a million years did I ever think that I would have a child that would qualify for a "wish".

As you can tell from the countdown at the top of the page, Travis is quickly (though he probably doesn't feel like it is quick enough) getting to that magic "end of treatment" date. Dr. M. mentioned a meeting that we will be scheduling to go over any questions we may have about what the procedure will be after treatment ends. I am pretty sure he can't answer the only really important question I have. That is, "will this be gone forever". I know that they can't answer that. I am pretty sure he can't answer the other question I have. Will I ever be able to relax and not be constantly on the lookout for "signs" of . . . . . . I can't even bring myself to type the word.

Travis will be returning to the clinic tomorrow, for another dose of vincristin (praying God that this is the very last dose he will ever need) and IV methotrexate. We are praying that this doesn't cause him mouth sores as it has a couple of times in the past. Oh, another thing. His hair is once again falling out. We have lost count of the number of times it has fallen out and come back. We also pray that this is the last time it falls out. That this is the last time we will have to shave his head, because his hair doesn't fall out completely. It comes out in patches and looks scraggly. Not a good look for a handsome guy, so out comes the razor.

I once again want to thank everyone who is checking in on Travis. Please take a minute to leave a quick "I was here" message for him. Also thank you for your continued prayers and good thoughts. We really, really appreciate them.

Please also consider being a blood donor. Type O, Travis' type, is always in short supply. Thank God he hasn't needed any blood products for a while now, but there are kids/people who do every day.

Enola

Friday, July 15, 2005 2:28 PM CDT

Travis was at the clinic today, July 15. He received a 2 milligram dose of vincristin and starts prednisone (300 milligrams a day for seven days) today. It turns out he is neutropenic (immune system suppressed) so he has to be careful of what he eats (no fresh fruits/veggies) and if he runs a temp we have to monitor it. Should it reach 100.5, he will be admitted to the hospital for iv antibiotics.

He was examined by Dr. J today. His counts are as follows:

WBC 1.23
Neut 0.31
HGB 13.0
Plt 196

This is a busy weekend for Travis. He is attending Drum Camp today, tomorrow and Sunday. I was hoping that it would be a bit nicer weather wise, as I really think the high heat and humidity is hard on him. Of course, being the trooper he is, he wouldn't think of not attending. He is trying out for snare drum this season.

We talked a bit with Dr. J about what is in store for Travis after treatment. We found out he will have to continue his antibiotic, bactrim, for six months. He also will not be released back to his pediatrician's care until six months is up. He will receive a final spinal tap and bone marrow aspiration at the end of treatment. They don't do anymore spinals or bma unless there is something in his blood work that isn't right. He can have his mediport removed as soon as he is finished with treatment. We also touched base on this "nervous" feeling of ending treatment. Larry and I aren't alone it seems. Dr. J said many parents express the same feelings about ending treatment.

Found out that there is a blood shortage right now in Michigan. Several people we know have had trouble getting transfusions. Please, please make an appointment with the local blood bank to donate. Call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE to make an appointment. You could very well save a life. It takes maybe an hour from start to finish. The blood donation takes only minutes of that time. Grab a friend and take them too!!!!!!

Enola

Sunday, July 10, 2005 8:12 AM CDT

Travis was again at the clinic on Friday, July 8, 2005. He was there to receive his LAST dose of Cytoxan (please dear God.) He has to be hydrated several hours before and several hours after receiving this chemo. This chemo can damage the bladder. He was very nauseous that morning, because of the 6TG. He vomited once and gagged several times during the course of the day. He was given IV zofran (for nausea) and then 1,980 milligrams of IV Cytoxan. Thankfully he was feeling a little better once the zofran kicked in. That isn't always the case. He was alert, talkative and able to play his game :) For you that know Travis, his favorite pastime :) He even felt well enough that night to eat something for dinner :)

He was examined by Dr. J :) His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 2.93
NEUT 2.06
HGB 12.7
PLT 234

Travis will return to the clinic on Friday, July 15 to receive further chemo.

Thank you all for visiting. Thank you most of all for the prayers being said for Travis. If you would be so inclined, would you please remember our friend Alex (another teen with ALL), who isn't feeling well right now. He may have walking pneumonia. Please pray that the antibiotics work and that he doesn't end up in Beaumont Hospital.

Also, please please please be a blood donor. At the clinic on Friday, a little one almost wasn't able to get a blood transfusion that he needed because supplies are very low. Please take an hour out of your day to ensure that no one who needs blood is turned away. An almost ridiculously easy way to become a HERO!!!!!

Enola

Thursday, July 7, 2005 1:28 PM CDT

Travis was at the clinic on Tuesday July 5. He was there for a spinal tap if his blood counts were high enough. They were. He was examined by a Dr. W and seen by Dr. A (onc). His weight was 54.4 kgs (120 lbs), height 179.3 cm (5'l0.3"), temperature 36 C, blood pressure 110/60, and pulse 84. His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 3.74
Neut 2.61
HGB 14.3
Plt 171

He did receive his spinal tap, with 12 mg of Methotrexate injected back into his spine. His spinal fluid was normal and crystal clear. Dr. A did a fantastic job on the spinal :) He has been taking 12 1/2 tablets of 6Thioguine (40 miligram tablets) each night since Tuesday night. He will finish the 6TG up on Friday night. It is making him more and more sick as each day progresses. He is now having to take zofran morning and night. We will be returning to the clinic tomorrow, July 8, where he will receive more chemo (Cytoxan).

Thank you for visiting his site. Please take a minute to sign his guest book. Nothing more than a "Hi I was here" is necessary. Thanks also for the prayers being said for Travis. We appreciate them more than words can ever express.

Enola

Friday, July 1, 2005 8:37 AM CDT

Travis was at the clinic on Thursday, June 30. He was examined by Dr. J. His counts were as follows:

WBC 3.52
Neut 1.66
HGB 12.7
Plts 122

This is his "rest week", where his body is allowed to recover from last weeks chemotherapy. His counts are good enough to allow him to do anything he wants. He has been feeling good, which is always a blessing. You really can never tell how he will be feeling after chemo. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good. We will take the good anytime :)

He will return to the clinic on Tuesday, where if his blood counts are good, he will get a spinal tap, with chemo. This will be the start of his LAST ROUND of chemo. I am praying that his counts are good enough (neuts at least 1000 and plts at least 100) so that we can start this last round and hopefully finish it completely.

Please continue to pray for Travis. It has been a long hard two years and we know that he wouldn't be doing so well if it wasn't for the generous prayers and good thoughts being sent out for him.

Please continue to be a blood donor and consider becoming one if you aren't. It takes about an hour of your time from checkin to checkout. You can save as many as three lives with one donation. What an easy way to be a HERO!!!!

Enola

Saturday, June 25, 2005 7:09 AM CDT

Travis checked into Beaumont Hospital, Room 5321, on Monday evening, June 20. He was there until 9:30pm June 22, 2005. He received 5 aditional doses of ARA-C (66 miligrams IV each) and 6Thiogiune (60 miligrams oral each)spaced 12 hours apart. It was a very quiet, uneventful visit. Just the way we like it. Travis has just one scheduled hospital stay left. :)

Once again I ask for prayers for Ryan W. He is undergoing chemotherapy for a rare cancer. He is doing as well as can be expected at this time.

Also, want to thank everyone who continues to keep Travis in their thoughts and prayers. It is working!!!!!! Larry and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Please also consider becoming a blood donor. Travis has had so many blood and platelet transfusions, I am sure he wouldn't be here today if not for the generosity of the many donors involved. It takes such a little amount of time and can save a life. What a wonderful thing it is to know that you have possibly saved a life.

Children and adults are dying everyday because they need bone marrow and can't find a match. Please consider becoming a bone marrow donor. Please contact me if you would like additional information. Larry and I aren't matches for Travis, but we have placed our names on the National Bone Marrow Donor registry. Please consider doing the same.

Again, thank you for visiting Travis' site and for the many prayers.

Enola

Monday, June 20, 2005 11:54 AM CDT

The photo at the top of the page was taken by Dr. A at the clinic when Travis' brothers went to the clinic with him. That is Timothy, Greg, Mom and Travis sitting in front. It was taken in May when Greg was home on leave. Greg is a US Marine :) Aren't my boys very good looking. Can't say the same for me. Not my best picture ever lol.

Travis was at clinic this morning, June 20, 2005. He was examined by Dr. A. His counts were taken and they were high enough for him to start his current doses of ARA-C and 6Thioguine. His weight was 54.6 kg (120 lbs), height 180 cm, temperature 36C, pulse 80 and blood pressure was 118/58. His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 4.07
Neut 2.23
HGB 14.6
Plts 254

He received 66 miligrams of ARA-C and 40 miligrams of 6Thioguine. He will receive 5 more doses of ARA-C and 6TG over the next 72 hours. Travis has to check into the lovely "hotel Beaumont" to receive this chemo. Please feel free to visit him if you are in the area :)

As you probably know from reading the above, today is the second anniversary of Travis' diagnosis. A strange day to say the least. Memories of that awful day intermingling with Travis' laughter and joking around as we pack up for the hospital. He has come such a long way in these two years it is unbelieveable. He is my hero for sure. He just keeps on keeping on. I have nothing but admiration for how he has handled himself these last two years.

Also, it seems that caringbridge ate my post about the wonderful mother's day luncheon that I was lucky enough to get to attend on Saturday, June 18. Below I have tried to piece it back as best as I can lol.

June 18, 2005

Just wanted to share my day yesterday. The hemotology/oncology clinic social worker, Linda, was awarded a grant by the Children's Leukemia Foundation of Michigan. They used this grant to organize this luncheon for the mothers of their oncology patients.

Let me start off by saying I had a wonderful time. We were given a breakfast of bagels, muffins, pastries, fresh fruit, coffee, tea, etc. The program started off with a speaker. A wonderfully entertaining woman who talked about the body and misuse of joints etc. I know, sounds boring, but she had us laughing. She also gave us a copy of a book she had written. I am taking it to the hospital with me on Monday. I will let you know what I think. Then they released us to do various "stations". A chair massage (I started with this), reflexology massage of hands/feet (I was wearing panty hose so only did my hands lol), a knitting station (I started a scarf that I will take to the hospital to work on), a bracelet making station (we got to pick out a variety of beautiful beads and created our own keepsake bracelet) and a scrapbooking station (which I didn't have time to get too). In addition we got a wonderful assortment of discount coupons, samples, etc. I won a free one hour massage and the center piece from our table. Lunch was a fresh fruit cup, bread butter, chicken salad/tuna salad/potato salad on a bed of salad greens. Raspberry sorbet in a chocolate cup and chocolate chip cookies. Yummy!!!!! (I stayed OP)

Beyond all the wonderful activities, there was the opportunity to connect to women who are going through the same thing with their children. Mom's who know exactly what I mean when I talk about heading to the hospital for a neutropenic fever. Oddly enough, I didn't think I knew that many people at the clinic, but I knew just about everyone there. They were teasing me about talking to everyone. I guess I do lol. We had mom's who are just starting out on this journey, mom's whose children are finished with treatment, and mom's like myself, whose children are nearing the end of treatment. The only thing missing were the mom's that didn't make it. I know several mom's that weren't there. I am hoping and praying that they aren't parked at Beaumont with their children.

This luncheon couldn't have come at a better time for me. I have been feeling a little down as today is the two year anniversary of the day we first heard the word "leukemia". Travis was admitted to the hospital on June 19, 2003 and the next day we got the official diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, T-Cell type. Needless to say, those days will always be emblazoned in my memory. I feel renewed and better able to continue to help Travis with his fight.

Enola

Friday, June 10, 2005 4:08 PM CDT

Travis was at the clinic on Thursday, June 9, 2005. He was in for blood work. A check to see how his counts were doing after receiving Vincristin and Methotrexate last week. He was examined by Dr. A. His weight was 53.9 kg and his temperature 35.8 c. His counts were as follows:

WBC 7.94
Neut 6.39
HGB 11.8
Plt 286

I will say I was freaked out by how high his wbc and neuts were, but was reassured that everything is fine. OK Dr. A, I am trusting you here lol.

He got a tiny mouth sore from the Methotrexate, but it quickly went away. He only had to use the benzalox a couple of times. He doesn't have to return to the clinic until Monday June 20. This is the longest break from the clinic that he has had since this all began. I think he, and I, floated out of the clinic Thursday :)
So, unless something unforeseen occurs, there will probably not be another update until June 20 :)

We have decided not to attend the Norville family reunion in Texas this year, because Travis will get two treatments the week of the reunion. They are two that make him feel pretty yucky. We are planning to attend next year's reunion, God willing, where ever it is held.

School finished Thursday. Travis will be a junior in high school in the fall. We are looking forward to him having a "regular" high school year next year. Of course, God willing.

Well, I have rambled on enough. Please know that we truly appreciate all the prayers and thoughts sent for Travis. We know the prayers are helping. If you are so inclined, would you please include all the children around the world that are fighting battles with cancer. There are more than you know right this minute. Thank you.

Enola

Friday, June 10, 2005 4:08 PM CDT

Friday, June 3, 2005 4:15 PM CDT

Travis was at the clinic this morning. He was examined by Dr. M. His weight was 54.3 kg, temperature 36.1 C. He had to make counts (neuts and plts) in order to receive his iv Methotrexate. He made counts. They were as follows:

WBC 3.22
Neut 1.42
HGB 12.9
Plt 249

He received IV Vincristin (2 miligrams) and IV Methotrexate (600 miligrams)infused over four hours. The Methotrexate was reduced 20rom his last dose because of really bad mouthsores. We/I don't want to see him have to go through that again. They were really bad.

He finally seems to be over the effects of the Prednisone. He ended up missing out on marching in the Memorial Day Parade, because his skin hurt and he couldn't carry his bass drum :( Thank goodness that has passed.

He saw his friend, Ryan (the young man who graduated from Travis' high school last year) at the clinic today. Ryan was looking pretty good, considering he has started his chemo. We are saying prayers for Ryan to beat his battle with cancer. We would appreciate any prayers you would give for him also.

As always, we appreciately greatly all positive thoughts and prayers going out for Travis. We KNOW that they are working. Thank you so much.

Please consider becoming a blood donor. It takes such a small amount of time and effort to donate, and you could save a life or two. Also, please consider becoming a bone marrow donor. What a wonderful thing it would be to save a life.

Enola

Saturday, May 28, 2005 11:04 AM CDT

Travis was at the clinic on Friday, May 27. He was examined by Dr. J. He had a physical and received his 2 miligram dose of Vincristin. His blood pressure was 110/60, temperature 36.6 and weight 53 kgs. He finished up his last dose of Prednisone Friday morning. The Prednisone did a number on him this course. He was having trouble sleeping, having weird dreams, and started to get pain/discomfort in his back, hips and knees. His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 2.86
Neut 1.71
HGB 13.3
Plt 263

He missed a couple of days of school because of the effects of the Prednisone. I am hoping he feels good enough to march with the band on Memorial Day. He will probably be marching his bass drum. Praying for nice weather Monday. I won't allow him to attend if it is raining.

We finally heard from our "wish manager" from Make-A-Wish. They are granting Travis' wish to go to Hawaii. We are hoping to go in December, January or February. We want to give Travis' body time to recover and for him to feel better.

As you can see from above, we have started a countdown to end of treatment. I know that Travis is really getting tired and beat down by the treatment schedule. He has been such a trooper all along, but I think he is reaching the end of his rope. I would appreciate any prayers you could send for him to hang on and be strong.

I also want to thank each and everyone of you who continues to check in on him. I ask, tho, that you sign his guest book whenever you visit, even if just to say Hi I was here. It helps him!!!!!!

Thank you again for all the prayers and good thoughts. They are working :)

Enola

Sunday, May 22, 2005 8:19 AM CDT

Travis was at the clinic on Friday, May 20. He was examined by Dr. M (resident) and Dr. A. His BP was 110/90 and weight was 52.2 kg. His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 2.86
Neut 2.21
HGB 12.7
Plt 138

He received Vincristin (iv), 2 miligrams, and starts Prednisone (oral) today, 290 miligrams daily for seven days.

Travis is looking good and feeling pretty good. He had a crew with him at the clinic today. He took both of his brothers, Greg and Tim, plus Mom, with him to this appointment. We looked like the keystone kops moving around in that tiny exam room whenever a nurse or doctor would come in lol. Dr. A took a picture of the four of us that if I can figure out how to do it, will put it on the website.

Again I want to thank you for checking in on Travis. Thank you also for the good thoughts and prayers going out for him. It is making a difference :)

Also, please consider becoming a blood donor and/or a bone marrow donor. Imagine knowing that you saved a life or two!!!

Enola

Sunday, May 22, 2005 8:19 AM CDT

Saturday, May 14, 2005 8:34 AM CDT

Travis was at clinic yesterday, Friday, May 13. He was there to get his day 4 chemo, Cytoxan. He got there at 8am (left around 4:15pm), blood was drawn, he was accessed and hooked up to fluids. He had a pretty yucky morning, as he was sick (vomiting) in the exam room and again during the day. His day 4 is usually pretty yucky as he has an accumulated effect of the 4 days of 6Thioguine. Although, by the time evening rolled around, he was feeling pretty good. Good enough to go out to someones house to watch a basketball game and play cards :) That is the interesting thing about chemo therapy. Reactions can change from one time to the next. I am grateful that this time he was feeling pretty good by evening. It hasn't always been so. Taking one day at a time.

He was examined by Dr. A. His weight was 52.8 kg, down from Monday. Temp 35.8C. He received 1,960 mg of Cytoxan. He also received zofran. His counts were as follows:

WBC 5.33
NEUT 3.54
HGB 13.1
PLT 266

He will go to the clinic again in a week for day 11 (above) chemo.

We are all pretty excited here, as Greg will be home on leave on Monday :) We haven't seen him since October 2004, so we are really happy that he can get home. We are hoping for great weather, as we have lots of running around planned :)

Please, please consider becoming a blood donor. One donation could help as many as three people. Also, please consider becoming a bone marrow donor. How wonderful it would be if you could save the life of someone just by donating a little bit of bone marrow.

Thank you also for the many prayers being said for Travis. They are making a difference.

Enola

Monday, May 9, 2005 5:16 PM CDT

Travis was at the clinic this morning, May 9. He was scheduled to get his spinal tap with Methotrexate (Day 0). We have been at this point for a while. Thank you God! Travis' counts were good enough for him to get this treatment. He is back on track.

He was examined by Dr. A. His weight was 53.4 kg, height 180 cm, temp. 36.2C and blood pressure 110/80. His counts were as follows:

WBC 2.6
Neut 1.2
HGB 15
Plts 338

He received 12 miligrams of methotrexate in his spine. He begins four days of 6Thioguine (12 - 40 miligrams tablets each night) tonight. He will return to the clinic on Friday for Cytoxin. He will be taking zofran (for nausea) as the 6tg causes him to be sick. We don't know if he will be able to go to school. He really wants to try, because he has missed almost two weeks with low counts. He has a band concert on Thursday evening that he really wants to attend. Crossing fingers he feels well enough to attend.

I would also like to ask you all to pray for a young man, Ryan W. that was just diagnosed with a rare cancer. He just finished his first year of college. I know you all are so generous with prayers for Travis that you won't mind adding another to those prayers. Please pray for his family as they come to terms with what it means to have a child with cancer. Pray that those closest to them find the right words and actions to help. As always, thank you so much for the prayers and good thoughts going out for Travis. I truly believe they are making a difference.

As always, please consider becoming a blood donor. You could save 2-3 lives with one donation. Also, I just heard of a local young man who is in desperate need of a bone marrow donor. Maybe you are that donor. Please consider becoming a bone marrow donor. Become someone's HERO.

Enola

Friday, May 6, 2005 10:05 AM CDT

Travis was at the clinic this morning. He had a blood draw to see if his counts were high enough for his spinal tap. They are all up, but the neutrophils still aren't high enough. We will be going again on Monday. Dr. J said they will do the tap if they get to 750 (usually need to be 1000), but with this delay they will go at 750. Travis was at 610 today (up from 250 Monday). Dr. Jamil explained that the bone marrow is getting tired and delays are not unexpected. He said that the other counts were doing what they were supposed to do and that if the others weren't going up or the wbc and neutrophils were stagnant, then they might worry about something going on in the bone marrow. He didn't see anything to indicate a need to worry. I told him I was trying not to worry and he said, "go home enjoy the weekend and don't worry." So I am taking him up on that. No worry here lol - right!!!!

He was examined by Dr. J. His weight was 115.7 (52.5 kg), 179.9 cm, temp 35.7 C.

His counts were as follows:

WBC 2.02
NEUT 0.61
HGB 14.9
PLTS 391

I want to wish all the mothers that are reading this a very happy Mother's Day. I also want to thank everyone for their prayers and wishes for Travis. He is doing well. He had a major meltdown the other day, but I think he is once again in "kicking cancer's butt" mode. He is missing a lot of school, and it looks like he may not pass all of his classes this semester. I really don't have the strength to worry about that right now. We will get through this the best we can.

Also, please consider becoming a blood donor and also a bone marrow donor. What better gift could you give, than the gift of life.

Enola

Saturday, April 30, 2005 5:38 PM CDT

Monday, May 2, 2005 Just a quick update. Travis went to the clinic for a blood count. He is still neutropenic so he will be home from school all week. He will return to the clinic on Friday. Hoping that his counts are where they need to be to start the next round. His counts were as follows, as well as last weeks counts: Firsts todays/last weeks

WBC 1.44/1.27
NEUT 0.25/0.25
HGB 14.4/13.0
PLTS 420/388

Hi! Dr. A!, Dr. J!, Dr. M! and Nurses K, N and D!!!! Hi M and B, our favorite office staff :) I am working on a better picture of Travis for the site!!!!

Travis was at the clinic Friday, April 29. He was scheduled to have a spinal tap, but his counts (neutrophils in this case) weren't high enough. They had dropped from last weeks 600 to 250. He needs to be at 1000 for his chemo. This is his second week delay. We will try again on Friday, May 6. Since he can't attend school until his neutrophils reach 300, we are going in for a blood count on Monday. I am hoping they start up again and he can get back on track and back in school :)

He saw Dr. A. His weight was 51.9 kg, height 179.9 cm, and temperature 36.2. Since his is neutrophenic I have to keep an eye on his temperature. If it reaches 100.5 he gets a trip to lovely Beaumont Hospital. We really would like to skip a trip there!!! Travis has been neutrophenic for a while now, it is definitely getting old :(

Just wanted to remind everyone to consider becoming a blood and/or bone marrow donor. There is a great need for blood. Also a great need for bone marrow. How awful it would be for someone to die because they couldn't find a match!!! Larry and I don't match Travis, but we are on the bone marrow donor list. It took a simple finger prick!!! Hopefully we might be a match for someone in need.

Enola

Friday, April 22, 2005 12:27 AM CDT

Travis was at the clinic this morning. His blood was drawn and it was determined that his neutrophils weren't high enough to allow for the start of the next round of chemo. He was supposed to have a spinal tap with methotrexate (injected into the spine). His neutrophiles needed to be at 1000 and his were only at 600. So, he is still neutropenic and he will go back next Friday to try again.

His counts today were as follows:

WBC 1.58
Neut 0.60
HGB 11.8
Plt 106

Thank you for checking in on Travis. He is doing pretty well right now. Hopefully he will be back on track next week.

Please donate blood. You could save several lives with one donation. Also, consider becoming a bone marrow donor. Be someone's HERO!!!!

Enola

Saturday, April 16, 2005 12:02 AM CDT

Travis was at the clinic on Friday, April 15 for blood work and a checkup. He was examined by Dr. J. His weight was 51.5 (down from 53.6 kilos). His temp was 36 C. His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 1.30
Neut 0.41
HGB 12.5
Plt 365

He is neutropenic, which basically means he has to be careful with hygiene, avoiding anyone obviously sick and can't have any fresh fruits/veggies. We want to go to Tim's Drum Group performance today. Dr. J said he thinks it would be ok to attend, as he feels Travis' biggest threat to illness is his own body.

Thanks for checking in on Travis. Many thanks for the prayers and good thoughts, they are greatly appreciated. If you get a minute, please leave a message of encouragement to Travis. I feel he is getting weary of everything. Maybe a joke, or a good wish, would help him a bit. Thank you in advance.

Also, please consider becoming blood and bone marrow donors. You could save lives!!!!! You could be someone's HERO!!!

Enola

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 5:33 PM CDT

Travis was in Beaumont Hospital from 12noon Saturday, April 9 through 1:00am Tuesday, April 12. Needless to say, it was a long stretch and we were both glad to get home.

Travis received his six doses of ARA-C (66 miligrams each) and 6Thioguine (60 miligrams each). He had a very uneventful stay. Quiet - just the way we like it. Only fly in the ointment is that is was beautiful here this weekend. Hopefully he will be able to take advantage of future good weather. He has to return to the clinic on Friday for blood counts.

Please consider becoming a blood donor. You could save a life or two with one donation. Also, bone marrow is needed badly. You could save a life. Be someone's hero.

Enola

Friday, April 8, 2005 12:08 AM CDT

Travis went to the clinic on Thursday, 4-7-05. He was examined by Dr. F (resident) and Dr. J (oncologist). When his counts were taken, they were high enough to allow his chemo. His mouth sores were healed enough to proceed. He was given a 24 miligram dose of Adriamycin, after receiving Zofran for nausea. His weight was 116.5 lbs. His counts were as follows:

WBC 2.25
Neut 1.03
HGB 11.6
Plt 205

He was again at clinic today, 4-8, where he again was examined by Dr. J. His weight is again up, 118.2 lbs. He was given HIS LAST DOSE EVER of Adriamycin (24 miligrams). Travis has reached his lifetime limit on this drug. He can not have it again ever! That means he will lose two days of chemo on his protocol schedule. He isn't unhappy about that. Tomorrow morning he will be checking into Beaumont Hospital for three days of ARA-C and 6Thioguine (six doses 12 hours apart). I will update again after his stay.

Please consider becoming a blood donor. Also consider becoming a bone marrow donor. You could save a life.

Enola

Tuesday, April 5, 2005 6:40 PM CDT

Just a quick update on Travis. He went to clinic today, 4-5. He was supposed to get his first of two doses of Adriamycin. He has to make counts in order to get this medicine. He made the counts, but because he still had some small mouth sores, Dr. J. decided to give him a couple of days for the sores to finish healing. His concern was that the Adriamycin could aggravate the healing sores. So, we are going back Thursday and see what his counts are doing. If they are good, he will begin his two days of Adriamycin and go into the hospital for six doses of Ara-C and 6Thioguine. This will only put us a little behind on his schedule. I will post more after Thursday. He has gained a kilo (2.2 lbs) from Thursday last week. Thankfully the fever is gone and he is feeling better :)

His counts for today were:

WBC 2.63
NEUT 1.49
HGB 11.4
PLT 120

The counts have fallen from last week. I hope they don't fall farther and delay him further.

Prayers are always appreciated. Thank you so much.

Enola

Friday, April 1, 2005 7:54 AM CST

We took an unscheduled trip to the clinic Thursday afternoon. I was feeling that Travis wasn't getting any better. I called and talked to a nurse and she arranged for us to come in right then. Needless to say, Travis wasn't very happy with me. I was scared because he wasn't eating anything. I couldn't even get him to use the benzalox anymore. I had good reason to be scared, he has lost almost 10 pounds in the last 9 days. He had no energy, not even enough to play his video games.

We were examined by Dr. M. who asked Travis if he would try to eat something if they gave him a stronger pain killer. He agreed to that. They gave us a prescription for a morphine based pain medicine. If he doesn't begin to eat, they are going to hospitalize him and give him TPN (liquid nutrition through his mediport). Thankfully his counts are good. Down a little bit from Tuesday. Though he continues to run a low grade temp (100 at the highest). We have to go into the hospital if it reaches 100.5. His counts were as follows:

WBC 3.20
NEUT 2.28
HGB 12.5
PLT 238

Travis took his first dose of the new pain med around 4:30 and started to feel better. He tried eating and drinking. Although not alot, I am satisfied with his efforts. I knew it was working when I heard his voice. He was actually talking. He wasn't talking at all in the last few days.

Any prayers you would send up for Travis would be greatly appreciated.

Love, Enola

Wednesday, March 30, 2005 1:20 PM CST

Travis was at the clinic on Tuesday, 3-29, for blood work. He was examined by Dr. M. His counts were as follows:

WBC 3.52
NEUT 2.83
HGB 12.5
PLT 344

His counts were good, but unfortunately he isn't feeling very well right now. He has a nasty case of mouth/throat sores, a rash and a low grade temperature. I believe that this is caused by the dose of methotrexate he received last Tuesday. The doctor agreed. I am trying to get him to eat/drink something as all he has had since Sunday is frozen cokes from 7-11. He isn't even talking right now because it hurts too much. The benzalox isn't helping much.

I absolutely hate that he is missing his spring break from school. He is feeling so poorly that he isn't even playing his new video game. That is telling.

Hoping to have better news to post soon.

Love, Enola

Sunday, March 27, 2005 9:33 AM CST

This update is late as usual. :) Travis was at clinic on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 his 16th birthday. He received a 2 mg dose of Vincristin (IV push) and a 736 mg dose of Methotrexate (IV over 4 hours). This is the highest dose of methotrexate he has received to date. The last time it got near this dosage he got mouth sores. We are watching for them. He also had a delay in counts recovering, so they dropped the dosage and are rebuilding it. So I don't know what will happen there. He will be going back into the clinic on Tuesday, March 29 for a blood count.

He was examined by Dr. S (resident) and Dr. M (onc). His weight was 54.9 kg. (121.1 lbs), BP 120/78, pulse 98 and temp. 36. He had to make the counts for this chemo (neut of 1,000, and plt of 100). They were as follows:

WBC 4.10
NEUT 1.86
HGB 12.8
PLT 296

Well, I wanted to thank you all very much for wishing Travis a happy birthday. He was amazed by all the wishes. You are all wonderful. It was hard to imagine his 16th birthday back in June 2003. He has come a long way. We are really looking forward to celebrating his 17th birthday chemo free :)

Well, wouldn't you know it, Travis woke up Friday morning with a sore in his mouth. He is taking that benzalox (spelling?) solution every 4 hours. His appetite is non-existent right now. All I can say is thank goodness for 7-11 slurpees.

Please call the red cross and arrange for a blood donation. Also, think about becoming a bone marrow donor. There are children right now that are in critical need of bone marrow. You might be that child's hope.

Love, Enola

Tuesday, March 15, 2005 12:49 AM CST

Travis had an appointment at the Rose Cancer Clinic this morning at 9am. He received his 2 miligram dose of Vincristin. He had some jaw pain yesterday. We believe it is caused by the Vincristin. He received 2 miligrams last Tuesday. Thankfully Tylenol relieved his discomfort. He finished his last dose of Prednisone this am also. He was starting to get the red puffy face look. It looks like someone had slapped his cheeks. He also breaks out in a rash on his face. Kind of like red spots under the skin. Hard to explain, but he gets it regularly at this point in his cycle. He also was on a steak kick this week. Of course, I am thrilled that he is eating, so I will gladly fix him steak three times a day if he can/will eat it. It is funny the foods that he gets fixated on during a Prednisone cycle (bacon, nacho cheese, shrimp and now steak lol). His weight was up as a result. He weighed 121.6 lbs (55.2 kg) up from last week :) His temp was 36.4 and pulse was 88.

He was examined by Dr. S (a resident) and by Dr. J (onc). He is doing well. He was able to return to school after his appointment this morning. He missed a week of school because his counts were in the basement last week. His counts this week are as follows:

WBC 6.02
NEUT 4.32
HGB 12.7
PLT 293

His counts are so high courtesy of the Prednisone he took last week. He will be returning to the clinic next Tuesday for more Vincristin and Methotrexate. Next Tuesday is his 16th birthday. What a great way to spend it - NOT!!!

Just a reminder that Lamphere High School is having a Blood Drive on Thursday, 3-17 from 8am till 2pm. Please consider dropping in an donating a pint lol. You could save 2-3 lives. Believe me, if it wasn't for donors, Travis probably wouldn't be here today.

Thank you for the many prayers and thoughts sent out for Travis. We appreciate them greatly.

Enola

Tuesday, March 8, 2005 12:10 AM CST

Travis was at the clinic this morning, Tuesday, March 8, 2005. Things were crazy there as the lab tech was absent. It usually takes a few minutes to get the blood counts, today it was taking up to 45 minutes. Fortunately, Travis was getting a chemo that wasn't count dependent. He got his dose of Vincristin (2 miligrams). He also starts a seven day course of Prednisone (280 miligrams a day). He is severely neutropenic, so he will not be returning to school until possibly next Tuesday afternoon. We are on fever watch. A fever of 100.5 will automatically mean a hospitilization. The last place we want to end up.

He was examined by Dr. A. His weight was 53.4 kg (117.5 lbs) and his temp was 36 C. His blood counts were as follows:

WBC 0.8
NEUT 0.1
HGB 11.8
PLTS 261

Please consider becoming a blood donor. Lamphere High School is holding a blood drive on March 17, 2005. Please put it on your calendar and donate. You could save a life or two.

Saturday, March 5, 2005 9:55 AM CST

Once again this update is a little bit late. Travis went to the clinic on Tuesday, March 1. There he received his dose of Cytoxan (1,920 miligrams) as well as zofran and hydration. We were there at 8am and didn't leave until 4:30pm. Day 4 of Travis' protocol cycle isn't usually a good one for him. He gets very nauseated from the 6TG that he takes Day 0 through Day 3. He threw up at the clinic when he tried to get up and go to the bathroom. He also threw up when we got home. Needless to say, he wasn't feeling very well. He still felt bad on Wednesday, so he wasn't able to attend school. He finally was feeling ok enough to get back to school on Thursday. Poor kiddo! I stand amazed at his strength. I am not sure I would be able to do anything at all. Travis, if you read this kiddo, I love you and am inspired to keep on keeping on with things that cause me trouble. If you can get up everyday and function and keep your positive outlook, so can I.

He was examined by Dr. M. His weight was 118.8 lbs (53.8 kg). His counts were as follows:

WBC 2.48
NEUT 1.37
HGB 12.3
PLT 306

He will be back at the clinic on Tuesday March 8 for more chemo.

Just found out that Lamphere High School is having a Blood Drive on March 17, 2005, from 8 am till 2 pm. Please put it on your calendar. The Blood Bank is perpetually low on blood. Please, please consider donating. It is a way for you to make a difference.

Love, Enola

Friday, February 25, 2005 6:59 PM CST

Travis was at the clinic today, February 25, 2005. It is day 0 of his 56 day chemo cycle. He was given a spinal tap with intrethecal (in the spine) methotrexate (12 ml). He will start taking his 6Thioguine (6TG) tonight. He takes 12 tablets (480 ml) each night for four nights. He also has to take zofran as the 6TG makes him very sick/nauseous.

He was examined by Dr. J. and had his spinal done by Dr. M. His weight was 119.1 lbs (54 k), his height was 5'10.5" (179.8 cm). It appears that he has grown 1/2 an inch in the last two months :) His BP was 108/60, temp 36.1C. The best news of all is that his spinal fluid was NORMAL. Normal is a wonderful word.

Travis will be at the clinic again on Tuesday, March 1, when he gets a dose of cytoxan. Travis' blood counts for today are as follows:

WBC 2.07
NEUT 1.17
HGB 12.1
PLT 118

Lots of thinking going on around here lately. We have finally calculated the number of days that Travis has left in his treatment. If we computed things correctly, he has 186 days left. That equates to around 26 1/2 weeks or 6.2 months.

Again I want to thank you for all your prayer and good wishes for Travis. He has definitely benefited from them. Please sign the guest book so he knows you were here.

Also, please please consider becoming a blood donor and a bone marrow donor. Children (and adults) are dying because they can't find a match. You could be that match.

God Bless you all.

Love,

Enola

Sunday, February 20, 2005 12:31 AM CST

Travis was at the clinic on Tuesday, 2-15-05. He was examined by Dr. A. He had a blood count taken. It was as follows:

WBC 2.99
NEUT 1.47
HGB 14.2
PLT 296

His counts were good enought to allow him to get out during this winter break. He really didn't go out much, though he did go to the Drum Line competition that his brother Tim participated in yesterday. Congratulations to the North Coast Academy Drum Group. They came in first with a wonderful performance. We are proud of you all. Those uniforms looked great (I am tooting my own horn, as Mom helped make some of them lol)

This morning things aren't so good. Travis is complaining about a stuffy nose and a slight sore throat. His temperature was only 97, so don't know what is going on. I am afraid he might end up back in the hospital, as this is the period of time where his counts should be down because of the last round of chemo he received. He is not scheduled to return to the clinic until Friday, 2-25. Praying hard that this is something that passes on its own. Wonder if that ever happens to anyone with ALL.

Any prayers, good thoughts or good wishes would be truly appreciated. Travis has been through so much.
If you visit his site, could you be so kind to sign his guest book. We know that you are checking in because the counter continues to go up, but we would really like to see who is visiting.

Enola

Sunday, February 13, 2005 8:53 AM CST

Just a quick update. Travis was released from Beaumont Hospital last night. He finished up his last round of ARA-C and 6Thioguine. He was deaccessed and released. He had a pretty uneventful (Thank you God) stay. We like those kinds.

Thank you for checking up on him. Thank you also for all the thoughts and prayers being said for him. Even though he is doing well, that can change in an instant. We just found out a little boy from our ALL support group has relapsed in his CNS. This hits us particularly hard as he was diagnosed just days before Travis. It brings home very quickly just how awful this disease is. This little boy, Victor, could use prayers and thoughts also.

Travis is scheduled to go to the clinic on Tuesday for a blood count.

Enola

Thursday, February 10, 2005 9:00 AM CST

This is the toughest week in Travis' maintenance cycle. He was at the clinic Tuesday, 2-8, Wednesday, 2-9, and today, 2-10. He will check into Beaumont Hospital tonight and stay until Saturday night.

On 2-8, he was examined by Dr. A. He weighed in at 118 lbs, which is up a bit from last week :) He received 24 miligrams of Adriamycin by IV (also zofran) . He wasn't examined on 2-9, but did receive 24 miligrams of Adriamycin (also zofran). He was examined today, 2-10, by Dr. A (again). His weight is 118.8 (yes) up a little bit from Tuesday :) He received 64 miligrams of ARA-C and took one 40 miligram tab of 6Thioguine. He will receive 5 more doses of both chemo's (every 12 hours). That is why he has to check into the hospital. He will be released after the last doses are administered.

His counts on Tuesday were as follows:

WBC 3.67
NEUT 1.84
HGB 13.8
PLT 209

Enola

Thursday, February 3, 2005 11:48 AM CST

Once again, this update is a little bit late. Travis had a clinic visit on Tuesday, February 1, 2005. He was in for a blood count and physical exam. He was examined by Dr. J. His weight is up to 117.2 lbs (53.1 kilos) and he is 70.5 inches tall (179 cm) His temp was 36 c. He is feeling pretty good right now. It is good to see him feeling pretty well, because his hardest week of protocol rotation starts next week.

His heart tests came back as normal. Thank you God! Adriamycin has a potential risk of heart damage associated with it. It appears Travis has suffered no damage from it. I believe he will reach his life-time limit on adriamycin next week.

His counts were as follows:

WBC 4.43
NEUT 3.12
HGB 10.5
PLT 263

Travis has approximately 7 months left in his treatment. We are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I know he is getting tired of dealing with everything, because of some of the things he has said lately. I pray with all my being that when treatment is over, Travis never has to look back. I pray that someday this is all like a bad dream.

Thank you all for checking up on Travis. We appreciate all the visits, the thoughts and the prayers for him.

Love, Enola

Saturday, January 29, 2005 12:16 AM CST

This update is overdue. Things have been busy and Travis hasn't been feeling well and that makes it even harder to get around to updating this site. Please forgive me if you are one of the dear souls that continues to check up on him.

He is feeling well right now. Don't know how long that will last. As you have probably figured out, we never know for sure just how he will feel after each chemo, even ones that he has taken before. Heck, he has been taking these chemo's for 19 months now and we get different reactions from time to time. Dr. M said that he hears that story all the time.

Last update was January 14, 2005. Since then he has been to the clinic twice (1-19-05 and 1-25-05) and the Heart Doctor (1-28-05).

Update for January 19, 2005

Travis was examined by Dr. C (a resident) and Dr. J (onc). He weighed 49.9 kilos (roughly 110 lbs). He was given 2ml of vincristin. His counts were as follows:

WBC 2.32
NEUT 1.62 (finally not neutropenic)
HGB 12.8
PLT 433

His counts were good enough to allow him to return to school, but he couldn't go because he was still feeling tired, wiped out. Dr. J and I agreed that it was probably the combination of recovering from the unknown virus and the chemo. Knowing that really didn't make it any easier to watch my son laying around too exhausted to do anything. Being that exhausted, and he couldn't sleep at night (a side effect from the prednisone we think). Travis gets restless, tired, didn't eat well (which is sometimes different on prednisone), had weird dreams, and sore skin.

Update for January 25, 2005

Travis was examined by Dr. M. His weight was up to 114.4 lbs. BP 110/70, temp 36.4 C. He received 2 ml of vincristin and 650 ml of methotrexate (a 10% increase because he didn't have any problems with counts, etc. after last time). They infuse the methotrexate over 4 hours, so we are at the clinic a while. We are on mouth sore watch, as he has gotten them once before after receiving the escalating IV methotrexate. His counts were as follows:

WBC 4.4
NEUT 2.86
HGB 11.7
PLT isn't listed

The good news for this week is that Travis was feeling better and was able to return to school on Monday January 24. Of course, he had to miss all day January 25, for the clinic visit, but he was able to return on Wednesday (which isn't always the case). This is the first week Travis has been at school since January 3, when he came home sick, ended up in the hospital and had such low counts he couldn't go. It has been a very bad month for Travis. Prayers going out that February is a better month.

Update for January 28

Travis went for an EKG and 2D echo. We will have the results by Tuesday, when he returns to the clinic for blood work.

Travis has received 390 mg/m2 of adriamycin (anthracyclines) which has a 450mg/m2 lifetime limit for him. They are very close to reaching that limit and wanted an update on how his heart is handling it. I am not worried, much, about it as he had an ultrasound on his heart several months ago and it was ok.

I want to thank you dear friends and family who check up on Travis from time to time. Your prayers and good thoughts have helped more than you can know. If it isn't too much trouble, would you please sign his guest book and let him know you are thinking of him.

God bless you all,

Enola

Friday, January 14, 2005 12:20 AM CST

Travis went to the clinic yesterday, January 13, 2005. It was his first visit after his hospital stay. They did blood work and he is still neutropenic. Which means he will be out of school until at least Wednesday next week. They gave him his 2 ml dose of Vincristin. He started his 7 day course of Prednisone (280 ml a day). He had lost a bit of weight since his last weighin (at the hospital). He was at 49.4 kilos (roughly 109 lbs). We are crossing our fingers that this course of Prednisone will stimulate his appetite. He really doesn't need to lose any more weight.

His counts were as follows:

WBC 0.65
NEUT 0.04
HGB 12.4
PLT 143

Needless to say, with counts this low, we are still on fever watch. Please say a prayer that Travis doesn't end up back at Beaumont.

I went to the Blood Drive hosted by Page Middle School's Health Class (taught by Mrs. MacDonald). I was really disappointed that I wasn't able to donate this time. My iron level wasn't high enough. So, I have got to build up that iron so I can try again in March when Lamphere High School has its Blood Drive. Please plan to attend that upcoming drive. Blood supplies are at a critical level here in Michigan. Help alleviate that problem.

Thanks,

Enola

Wednesday, January 12, 2005 7:09 AM CST

Where to start. Travis went to the clinic on Tuesday, January 4, 2005 for his scheduled dose of Cytoxan. We were there for 8 1/2 hours. Travis has been complaining of a headache over the weekend. Bad enough to warrant taking some tylenol, which he never wants to take. He awoke on Tuesday with a 99.3 temp. The doctors decided to go ahead and give him the cytoxan (1,920 miligrams). He was having a hard time that morning with nausea. He was sick first thing when he got up and also in the parking lot of the clinic. He basically slept the whole day away while getting his chemo. His weight was 50.6 kilos, 112 pounds. His temp was monitored all day and it stayed in the low 99's. His counts were as follows:

WBC 2.37
NEUT 1.48
HGB 14.0
PLT 301

We went home and were told to monitor his temp. It was up to 100.4 (100.5 is the call the onc point), but it was back down to 99.3 by bedtime. He had a normal temp all day Wednesday. Wednesday the blood culture for 24 hours came back negative. Good news.

When he got up on Thursday, it was obvious he was sick. His temp was 101.5. I called and was told to go to Beaumont. We got to the hospital around 1pm Thursday 1-6-05. They again took blood for culture, sent him for a chest x-ray (he had started coughing that morning), and started antibiotics. He was given 3 antibiotics basically around the clock. Tobramycin (110 ml) every 8 hours, Vancomycin (1 gram) every 12 hours and Zosyn (2,500 ml) every 6 hours. They dropped the Vancomycin on Sunday and started him on Zithromax. As soon as his temp was under 100.4 for 24 hours, they let us come home. Unfortunately they really couldn't tell us what was wrong. All of his blood cultures came back negative, as did his chest x-ray. Now, of course, his counts are in the basement. They were:

WBC 0.2
NEUT 0.1
HGB 10.3
PLT 112

He hasn't had any temperature issues since coming home. He did have a nosebleed last night, which scared me as his platelets had been dropping all weekend. It stopped after a few minutes.

He goes to the clinic on Thursday. They will check his blood counts and decide whether or not to give him vincristin.

I wanted to thank the Royal Oak Church of Christ for the beautiful flowers they sent and also for the cookies. We loved them :) Also thank you all for the prayers said for Travis. Even though the doctors tell us that this isn't uncommon, it is very hard to see your already sick child dealing with another illness. Enough is enough!!!

Please consider becoming a Blood Donor. Page Middle School is hosting a blood drive on Thursday, January 13 from 2 until 8pm. Help save a life.

Love, Enola

Thursday, January 6, 2005 9:42 AM CST

Just a quick update. Travis is headed off to Beaumont, as soon as a bed becomes available. Please pray that this is something that passes quickly.

He has been running a low grade fever since Tuesday. It finally jumped up to 101.5 this morning.

Enola

Sunday, January 2, 2005 4:05 PM CST

This update is a wee bit late lol. Travis had a clinic appointment on December 30. His counts were good enough so he received his spinal tap with intrethecal (in the spine) Methotrexate (12ml). This was one of the best taps he has had done so far. Dr. J you did a great job. Even better, we got the word that the spinal fluid was "normal". The only fly in the ointment is that Travis has had a headache for a couple of days. This is the first time that he has gotten a headache. It was bad enough that he took some tylenol Saturday, which he almost never will take. He doesn't like taking any pills, unless absolutely necessary. He has also been taking 6Thioguine (which works out to 12-40 miligram tablets each night) for four nights. Also Zofran as they make him queasy. Now we go again to the clinic on January 4, 2005, where he will get Cytoxan by IV. We will be at the clinic for eight hours to get this nasty chemo. They have to hydrate him both before and after he receives this drug, as it can damage his bladder.

His counts were as follows:

WBC 4.28
Neut 3.02
HGB 14.0
PLT 133

His weight was 114 lbs. He just can't seem to keep any weight on. He is eating, but it doesn't seem to stick.

We had a very nice Christmas here. Santa was very generous to our boys this year. It was nice to see Andrea, Mike, Gabby and Jude this year. We are sad that Greg couldn't get home from Virginia this Christmas. Maybe next year we will all be together.

Please take note that there is a BLOOD DRIVE on January 13, 2005 at Page Middle School, in Madison Heights. If you are interested in attending and want an appointment, please email me. You could save 3 lives.

Also, please consider becoming a BONE MARROW DONOR. There are children and adults who are waiting for bone marrow transplants. You could save a life. Please email me if you want more information.

Thank you all for all the prayers and good thoughts being sent for Travis. We appreciate them and know that they are working for him. God Bless You All!!!!!!!

Enola

Friday, December 24, 2004 9:22 AM CST

Travis was at the clinic for blood work on Tuesday, 12-21. He was examined by Dr. M. Things are pretty good right now. Travis isn't feeling too badly, tho he does seem to need zofran occasionally. I believe it surprises the doctors that he needs it even when he isn't actively getting chemo. We have found that the Bactrim seems to cause him an upset stomach.

His counts were as follows:

WBC 2.12
Neut 1.21
HGB 13.5
Plt 231

I was hoping Travis counts would be good enough for him to get out and about over his holiday break from school. I also had to laugh as we had a snow storm on Wednesday night, the last day of school, and he missed getting a snow day from school lol.

PLEASE CONSIDER BECOMING A BLOOD DONOR. THERE IS A BLOOD DRIVE AT PAGE MIDDLE SCHOOL ON JANUARY 13, 2005!! START YOUR NEW YEAR OUT RIGHT. HELP SAVE SOME LIVES!!! For more information, please email me.

ALSO, PLEASE CONSIDER BECOMING A BONE MARROW DONOR!!! HELP SAVE A LIFE!!!!! For more information, please email me.

Monday, December 20, 2004 7:53 AM CST

Just a quick update. Travis went into Beaumont Hospital on Thursday night and was released on Saturday night (10:45pm). We were fortunate enough to get our own room. He got his 5 doses of ARA-C (IV 64 miligrams) and 6-Thioguine (oral 40 miligrams). He was able to eat a little, which makes me really happy. Doesn't take much lately lol.

On Thursday night we were "carolled" by a group of "Santa's" I never did hear what this group was called, but they did a great job. They stopped outside of our room and Travis could see them via reflection in the window on the door :) Also, while I was out of the room, Travis was visited by some pretty ladies that gave him a Christmas present. They identified themselves as being from "Starbucks". All in all it was a very quiet visit. The machines were wonderful. I don't think they "beeped" at all any of the nights. As visits go, it was pretty good.

Well, Travis will be going to the clinic on Tuesday, Dec. 21 for blood counts. I am crossing my fingers that they are decent, as we would like to be able to do things over the school break.

Just a reminder, if you can donate blood, Page Middle School is having a blood drive on January 13, 2005. Please email me and I will give you the information.

Also, Please consider becoming a Bone Marrow Donor. There are children and adults dying because they need a donor and there isn't one. You could be that one person!!!! If you are interested in more information, please contact me.

Love, Enola

Wednesday, December 15, 2004 1:00 PM CST

Travis went to the clinic on Tuesday. He had to make the count in order to get his chemo. His neutrophils and platelets needed to be high enough (N-1.00 and P-100). He made the counts.

He was examined by Dr. J (a resident) and Dr. J (oncologist). His weight was 116.9 down from 117.1 last week. That really surprised me as he has been eating almost non-stop all weekend :) His temp was 36.0.

He received a dose of Adriamycin (24 ml), as well as a 24 hour dose of Zofran (for nausea).

His counts were:

WBC 3.73
Neut 2.30
HGB 14.6
Plt 191

He went again to the clinic this morning (12-15) and received another 24ml dose of Adriamycin and a dose of Zofran. He will go again to the clinic tomorrow morning and receive a dose of ARA-C (IV) and 6-Thioguine (oral). These meds will be repeated every 12 hours until 6 doses total are received. That means Travis will be checking into Beaumont Hospital tomorrow night. We will be living there until Saturday evening. If you are reading this, please feel free to call him. Of course, if you are healthy you can come visit him. Especially if you are up to playing some type of X-Box game lol.

We heard that the floor is really full now. We are hoping and praying that Travis gets a private room. Please say a prayer that he does. It is hard enough being in the hospital without having to "live" with other people lol.

Also there is going to be a Blood Drive at Page Middle School on January 13, 2005, from 2:00pm until 8:00 pm. Please let me know if you can donate and I will give you information on setting an appointment. Last year this class held a drive to honor Travis. Lets help them beat their numbers from last year.

Also, please, please consider becoming a Bone Marrow Donor. You could save a life!!!!!!

Please take a moment to sign the guest book.

Love, Enola

Sunday, December 12, 2004 5:21 PM CST

This update is a few days late. Sorry. Busy time of the year.

Travis went to the clinic on Tuesday, Dec. 7 for a blood count. He was examined by Dr. J (a resident) and Dr. M (oncologist). He didn't get any chemo as this is one of two built in "rest" weeks in his treatment protocol. Time to let his body recover from the previous chemo treatments.

We will be back at the clinic on December 14. If his counts are high enough (neutrophils at least 1.00 and platelets 100), he will start the hardest week of the 56 day maintenance cycle. He will get Adriamycin on Tue., and Wed. and will get ARA-C and 6 Thioguine on Thurs. at the clinic and five more doses of each Thursday night through Saturday night at the hospital.

Looks like Travis' hair is staying in again. Of course we know it won't last, but it is nice to see him with hair. It has come back in very soft and with blond highlights.

His counts on Dec. 7 were:

WBC 4.73
Neut 3.38
HGB 11.8
Plt 299

He weighed in at 117.1 lbs. Up from last week. I am expecting his weight to be even higher this Tuesday coming up, as he has been eating non-stop all weekend (and not a steroid in sight). It is good, because he hardly eats anything while getting the ARA-C and 6 Thioguine. They make him very sick. It will be hard to see, as Travis has been feeling pretty good lately :) I have so enjoyed his being his old self.

I will update when I can. Thanks so much for checking in to see how Travis is doing. We appreciate the visits and the prayers. They are working.

Love, Enola

Saturday, December 4, 2004 8:48 AM CST

I was hoping to get this update finished sooner, but life just keeps getting in the way.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family. We truly have so much to be thankful for this year, especially where Travis is concerned.

He had another clinic appointment on November 30, 2004. His appointment was at 9am, and we didn't leave until 3:30pm. A very long day. Apparently they didn't have a technician who usually reads the blood tests in office, so they had to be sent to the main hospital. That combined with the fact that they couldn't order the meds until they were sure Travis' counts were good enough added to the delay. Oh well. It happens sometimes. Travis and I always take something to do to help pass the time. You never really know how long any appointment will end up lasting.

His counts were as follows:

WBC 5.0 (down from 10.14)
NEUT 2.9 (down from 8.30)
HGB 13.6 (up from 13.4)
PLT 266 (down from 289)

Travis was examined by Dr. J. His weight was 114.3 lbs (51.8 kilos), height 179 c, and temp was 36.2 centigrade. He hasn't grown any in the height department since he started treatment. We talked a little bit about that. Dr. J said Travis should catch up to where he would be after end of treatment. :) I think it bothers him that his twin, Tim, is now at 6ft. They have always been right together on that kind of thing.

Travis got a dose of Vincristin (2 ml) and a four hour dose of Methotrexate (576 ml - a 20eduction because of delays in counts recovering and the development of mouth sores). He was instructed to be very aware of any soreness in mouth or throat and to let me know. He has an oral med to take for the sores, but he doesn't want to take anything unless he absolutely has to.

Amazingly enough, Travis has handled this dose of methotrexate very well. He was able to go to school the next day. Hasn't needed any nausea meds either. Why? Who knows, but we are enjoying it for now!!!!!

Travis will get a break from chemo for now, because he only gets a blood count next tuesday, Dec. 7.

Once again I would like to thank you all for looking in on Travis, and for the thoughts and prayers being said for him. We appreciate them all and you all. If you wouldn't mind, just leave your name on the guest book so that we know who is visiting.

PLEASE CONSIDER BECOMING A BONE MARROW DONOR!!! IT TAKES ONLY A FINGER POKE TO GET WHAT IS NEEDED TO BE TYPED. THERE ARE CHILDREN AND ADULTS DYING EVERYDAY BECAUSE THEY NEED A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT AND A MATCH CAN'T BE FOUND.

Love, Enola

Tuesday, November 23, 2004 12:32 AM CST

Wow, what a difference a week on chemo can make. Travis was at the clinic this morning. He was given another dose of vincristin (2 ml). He was examined by Dr. A. Again his mediport didn't draw blood back so he got a finger poke.

His counts today were high. I was told not to worry about the counts. OK Dr. A I will try.

They were as follows:

WBC 10.14 (Up from 1.10 last week)
NEUT 8.30 (Up from .38 last week)
HGB 13.4 (Up from 11.8 last week)
PLT 289 (Down from 330 last week)

Travis weighs 115.2 lbs (52.4 kilos) up from last week :)
Travis only has to take bactrim until tomorrow and then has nothing else to take until next Tuesday. He hasn't been feeling too spiffy this week. The vincristin and prednisone do a number on him. Causes bone aches :(

Thank you all for continuing the prayers for his recovery. We are very hopeful that he will be finished with leukemia once and for all at the end of this treatment.

Unfortunately that is not always the case with leukemia. I know of several children that are in need of bone marrow transplants that are not finding matches.

PLEASE CONSIDER BECOMING A BONE MARROW DONOR. IT COULD SAVE A LIFE. LARRY AND I ARE BOTH ON THE REGISTRY. A SIMPLE BLOOD TEST IS ALL THAT IS NECESSARY!!!!!!!!!!! Please email me if you would like more information.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004 5:55 PM CST

Travis was again at the clinic (our second home it seems) on Tuesday, Nov 16. He was given a dose of Vincristin (2ml) and started his seven day course of Prednisone (280ml a day). His mediport was again being cranky and refused to allow for a blood drawback, so he had to have his finger poked.

He was examined by Dr. A. We discussed the intensity of Travis' protocol and the end of treatment date. Also, what to expect as far as visits to the clinic after chemo ends.

He put on a bit of weight. He was 51 kilos (112.2 lbs.)up almost two pounds. Way to go Travis. Must have been Grandma's good cooking :)

Travis' counts were as follows:

WBC 1.10
Neut 0.38 (he is very neutropenic)
HGB 11.8
Plt 330

Now we are on fever watch. If Travis gets a fever of 100.5 it is an automatic stay in the hospital for antibiotics. The scary thing is that he spent the weekend prior to this clinic visit at his grandparents house with his brother and his cousin. His cousin got sick on Monday, sore throat, etc. Now we have to be even more anxious.

There isn't anything else to report. So far Travis is holding his own. Not feeling ill. Praying that we don't run into any germs while his neutrophils are so low.

Please sign his guest book and let him know you were here. It doesn't matter how many times you have signed, it helps him whenever you do.

Also, I want to thank everyone who is praying for Travis. We appreciate each and every pray said on his behalf.

Enola

Thursday, November 11, 2004 6:49 AM CST

Where to start. It has been a while since my last update. Lots of things have happened in that time.

On Saturday, October 30, Travis was at the Pontiac Silverdome participating in the State Marching Band Competition. He did very well. The band finished in 6th place, with the highest score it had received to date :) We felt they deserved first, but we are prejudiced. That was a long day and it did tire him out, so Sunday was a low keyed rest day.

He went to the clinic on November 4, where he had a spinal tap with intrathecal methotrexate (12 miligrams). He also had to start taking his 6Thioguine (480 miligrams a dose) for four evenings at bedtime. He never feels well taking the 6Thioguine. By the end of the four days, he is very queasy. His counts on November 4 were as follows:

WBC 3.7
Neut 2.2
HGB 12.6
Plt 151

The last couple of rounds Travis has had a delay at this point, so the nurse hadn't set up for him lol. He fooled her this time. She thinks they may have finally hit the correct dosage of ARA-C.

He was again at clinic on November 9, for his Day 11 chemo. Cytoxan (IV) (1,920 miligrams). He had to be hydrated for hours before and hours after getting this chemo. He had to miss school, obviously. He also missed school the next day because he felt so poorly.

His counts on November 9 were:

WBC 2.74
Neut 1.77
HGB 12.2
Plt 353

His weight is hovering around 50.2 - 50.9 kilos. He hasn't had much of an appetite.

He is scheduled to get Vincristin and Prednisone next Tuesday. That usually perks up his appetite a little.

Almost forgot. Travis' band had a banquet on Monday night and they presented him with a wonderful crocheted blanket. It looks like a football field with "Lamphere" in one end zone and "Rams" on the other. It is marked with yard lines, etc. It contains the names of everyone in the marching band. It is for him to take to the hospital when he goes. Thank You Lamphere Marching Band, Mr. Milch, and especially Mrs. Anderson. You are all the Greatest.

Also, wanted to thank Laura Sawyer for running the LLS Dublin Marathon and completing it. She wore Travis' picture on her back. Thank you Laura for your fund raising efforts. You are a special lady. :)

Thanks for checking in on Travis.

Friday, October 29, 2004 6:47 AM CDT

Travis went to the clinic yesterday, October 28, for blood work. He was given a physical exam by Dr. B (a resident) and also seen by Dr. A (oncologist). He is doing pretty well. Hair still hasn't come completely back so we have to shave his head so that he continues to look good :) His counts were as follows:

WBC 2.85
NEUT 1.88
HGB 10.4
PLT 181

His weight has stayed exactly the same as last week. 111.9 lbs (50.9 kilos). Dr. A talked to Travis about the necessity of eating. Travis is eating ok, maybe not as much as I would like, but he is eating. He hasn't needed zofran since Wednesday :) Travis will be returning to the clinic on Thursday November 4 to hopefully start the next cycle of maintenance. He will get a spinal with intrethecal methotrexate if his counts are high enough (Day 0 of his protocol cycle).

Saturday Travis will be competing with the Lamphere High School Marching Band at the Silverdome. They are competing against 9 other Flight III bands from around the State. Good Luck Lamphere!!!!!!! It would be a thrill if we could take 1st place this year :):):)

Monday, October 25, 2004 5:46 PM CDT

Travis just completed the hardest week of his protocol. Day 39 through Day 43. Day 39 and 40 Adriamycin IV, Day 41 through Day 43 ARA-C IV and 6Thioguine Oral. Travis was able to return to school after the clinic visits Tuesday and Wednesday but Thursday after the ARA-C he wasn't able to return. He was feeling too yucky. Thursday evening, Friday and Saturday he was in the hospital. We had a great private room and it was a very quiet weekend. Little to no IV beepings, etc. The fire alarm sounded at 6:15 Friday morning tho lol.

His blood counts from 10-19-04 were:

WBC 2.47
NEUT 1.13
HGB 13.4
PLT 435

He will return to the clinic on Thursday afternoon for blood counts only :)

He is hoping to feel well enough this weekend to participate in the State Marching Band Competition at the Silverdome on Saturday, October 30. This is the last competition of the year. Travis unfortunately has had to miss several of the competitions this season. I really want to thank Mr. M and the Lamphere Band for allowing him to participate even knowing he probably wouldn't be able to attend every show. You all are the best!!!

Please let us know you have visited the site by signing the guestbook.

Enola

Thursday, October 21, 2004 4:42 PM CDT

Just a quick update. Travis and I are headed up to Beaumont Hospital. He will be there tonight through Saturday evening. He is going up for the ARA-C and 6Thioguine. This is the hard week in the protocol. Chemo everyday for 5 days straight, ending with the hospital stay.

Another bummer, Greg is leaving to go back to Virginia tomorrow morning. It has been so nice for Travis, Tim, Dad and I to have him here. I will be crying when he leaves. Guess it won't matter how old my children get.

I will post this weeks information when we get out.

Just wanted to wish Lamphere Band good luck at Durand Saturday. Travis is going to miss that competition :( Hope you blow them away like you did at our invitational lol.

Love,

Enola

Saturday, October 16, 2004 10:35 AM CDT

I am late with this update. Things have been crazy here. Greg is home on leave and that is some of the best medicine that Travis could receive.

Travis went to the clinic on Monday, Oct. 11 for blood count and chemo. Unfortunately his neutraphil count wasn't high enough for him to receive his chemo. We will be going back on October 19 to try again. I will be happy to have him back on the road, since it is coming up on a month with no chemo because of the virus, etc.

On the other hand, Travis was very happy to have another delay because of Greg coming home, and the Lamphere Band Invitational today. He wanted to be able to participate. If he had resumed his chemo, he would be in the hospital. I can understand his reasoning. Thank you God for giving this extra time to Travis. Now I am praying that come Tuesday, we can get him back on track.

Travis' picture was in the Community Section of the Free Press on Thursday, Oct 14. It caused a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye to see him. I see him in the hospital quite often unfortunately, but I had never seen him from this particular perspective. I hope that makes sense.

Can't seem to find the copy of his counts. Will have to ask for another one on Tuesday.

Thank you to all that have said prayers, sent wishes and good thoughts to Travis. They are appreciated, and are working. Thank you to all that have signed and who continue to sign his guest book. He looks and I think it helps him. You know who you are. :)

God Bless,

Enola

Sunday, October 10, 2004 10:38 AM CDT

Alot has happened since my last update. Travis has been home from the hospital since Wednesday afternoon, October 6. He was readmitted on October 1, 2004. I really don't know where to begin. So, I will start at his release from the hospital on September 27.

He had grown no bacteria in any of his blood cultures so they attributed his fever and rash to a virus. Travis went home with an antibiotic and an ointment for his rash. His temperature continued to move up each day from a 99. something all the way up to 101. something. I called and talked to Dr. A on Tuesday night. He advised calling him back if it got to 102. It didn't. In the meantime, Travis wasn't eating anything. His sore throat wasn't getting any better. He was subsisting on frozen cokes and soft drinks.

We went to the clinic on Friday, October 1. They examined him and found that he had developed very bad mouth sores since they had seen him last. This, together with the fact that he had lost a huge amount of weight (48 kilos down from 53), the fever that wouldn't go away, a nagging cough, etc. he was placed back into the hospital.

His chest was x-rayed. It was clear (Thank you God). He was immediately hooked up to three different antibiotics (vancomycin, tobramycan, and zosan). He was also given benadryl (for the red-man syndrome) and zofran for nausea. On Saturday he was also hooked up to TPN (feeding through his port). He was also given benzolox (spelling ?) as a mouth wash several times a day. He also received one miligram of morphine on Saturday for the pain in his mouth and throat. He was looking very bad then.

I am dealing with guilt that I didn't get him back into the clinic earlier. I was giving him everything he would take by mouth and he was taking his antibiotic. I didn't realize he had mouth sores, because I wasn't able to see in his mouth because he couldn't open it enough for me to see anything. Talk about winning the Bad Mother of the Year Award. I get it hands down.

We had a small miracle happen on Friday. His port has been very stubborn for months and they were never able to get any blood draw back. Since he needed to have blood drawn from his port in order to culture it, it was a blessing from God that they were able to draw blood back on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday before it stopped drawing. Wednesday it wouldn't cooperate. Thank you God. They were able to culture the blood from his port and it came back negative each time. That truly did save Travis all those arm draws. All his cultures came back negative for bacteria.

His counts were as follows:

October 1
WBC 2.26
NEUT 1.68
HGB 13.8
PLT 98

October 3
WBC 1.9
NEUT 1.1
HGB 9.3
PLT 46

October 4
WBC 1.7
NEUT 1.2
HGB 9.6
PLT 48

October 5
WBC 2.1
NEUT 1.1
HGB 9.6
PLT 55

October 6
WBC 1.6
NEUT 0.7
HGB 9.8
PLT 94

Travis had regained much of his weight from the TPN. He weighed 52.4 kilos on Wednesday. Dr. M told Travis he must eat because they would be weighing him on Monday and he had better be holding his own, or he would get more TPN. Blackmail lol. Travis is eating and was even feeling well enough to attend school on Friday. It was only a half-day because it was Homecoming. He even attended the football game that evening. He seems to be getting better every day. Thank You God!!!!!!

As many of you know, Beaumont Hospital just built a new wing onto the hospital. They moved the entire pediatrics area there. We had one of the new private rooms. It was hugh and beautiful. Dare I say state of the art. If anyone of you is familiar with the old 4th floor, you won't believe it. Travis had a plasma tv, a dvd/vhs player, his own mini-fridge. I had my own rocking chair (very soothing by the way), and a new fold out sleep chair that is very, very nice. I didn't wake up hurting lol. He also had his own bathroom complete with shower/tub. If he had to be in the hospital, that was definitely an improvement over the old rooms. Now saying that, we hope not to have to go there for anything other than the remaining hospital stays built into his protocol. Now if they could just figure out a way to keep IV's from beeping all night long lol.

One other thing. Travis is going to have his picture in the Detroit Free Press. The Thursday, October 14 issue. There is a fund raiser going on for the "cancer" college scholarship program. They wanted a picture of someone at the hospital getting treatment. They took his picture on Wednesday morning. It will be in the "community" section on Thursday the 14th.

I learned a valuable lesson from this. Never forget that things can turn wrong at the drop of a hat. Also on the flip side, even the wrongest thing can turn around for the good. Keep the faith, trust in God and keep rowing for shore lol.

I want to thank you all who have visited his site and left messages. It helps to keep him fighting. God bless you all.

Love,

Enola

Thursday, October 7, 2004 3:45 PM CDT

We are HOME!!!! Yesterday they released Travis. I will update the site with all the gory details when I get a minute to catch my breath.

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for the prayers, thoughts, good wishes that were sent for Travis. I must say I hadn't been this scared since June 20, 2003.

Love,

Enola

Friday, October 1, 2004 2:41 PM CDT

Well, just wanted to get in a quick update. Travis is back in the hospital again. We went for our 9:15 follow up visit and they sent us directly over to the hospital. I am just home to pick up some things that Travis needs.

I will update further when I can. Basically it is a continuation of his last weekend hospitilization. As he really didn't improve any this week.

Please continue with the prayers. They are much appreciated.

Love, Enola

Thursday, September 30, 2004 12:42 AM CDT

I don't even know where to begin. How to put into words the horrible week Travis has had. It started on Friday, September 24. Actually, it probably started on Tuesday, September 21 when he got his last chemo. He was hit pretty hard by the vincristin and iv escalating methotrexate. He had been very nauseous and feeling bad all that week. I picked him up from school on Friday and he said he had a mild sore throat. Around 5:30 I took his temp. and it was 99.5. Well, he wasn't going to go to the football game (band performs there) with a low grade fever. It had gone up to 100.5 by 7:30. I called the onc and he advised waiting one hour to see which direction it was headed. This was because he had a good neutrophil count on Tuesday. By 8:30 it had rised to 100.8. Off to the hospital we went. Once there, they did a physical, drew blood for cultures and CBC and started IV antibiotics. His counts were still good, so he was given two antibiotics rather than the three he would receive if he had been neutropenic. He was given Vancomycin and Cefepime/Maxipime. As his luck would have it, he started getting a "side effect" from the Vancomycin. They call it "red man syndrome". He started turning beet red. They gave him benedryl and slowed down the infusion of Vanco. He also developed a rash on his body. Small spots started covering his face, arms, legs and trunk. He was seen by a dermatologist who gave him an antibiotic ointment to put on them.

His blood cultures turned up nothing bacterial, so they think he has a virus. He was released to go home on Monday afternoon, but he really isn't better. He is still running a temp between 99.6 and 101. We are going to the clinic tomorrow at 9:15. I am praying they can give him something to make him feel better. He is currently on amoxicilin. His throat is still very sore and the spots are still there. He looks absolutely horrible right now. He hasn't eaten anything to speak of for almost a week. I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't lost at least 5 pounds. It if wasn't for orange sunkist pop and frozen cokes, the kid wouldn't be taking anything in.

I am asking everyone who reads this to send a prayer, good thought, wish or whatever they believe in for Travis' recovery. He is as sick as I have seen him in over a year. I am very scared. He was doing so well and I guess we got comfortable. I learned that you can never get "comfortable" when dealing with this dread disease.

I will try to update tomorrow after the clinic visit.

Please take a minute to let Travis know you are thinking of him.

Love, Enola

Sunday, September 26, 2004 8:01 AM CDT

Just wanted to take a quick minute to let everyone know that Travis is in the hospital. Friday when I picked him up from school he had a sore throat. By 5:30, when he was supposed to return to school for the football game he had a low grade temp of 99.5. By 7:30 it had reached 100.5, when I had to call his onc. Dr. J had me check in it one hour and it had rised to 100.8. He told us to go to the hospital. :(

He is getting iv antibiotics and we are waiting for the results of blood work.

I will update more as I learn more.

Friday, September 24, 2004 2:42 PM CDT

Travis was at the clinic on Tuesday, September 21. He had his blood counts checked. They were high enough, so he was given his dose of Vincristin (2 mg) and escalating Methotrexate (729 mg). His weight was 117.1 and his height was 179.4. PB 116/70. He was examined by Dr. M.

His counts were as follows:

WBC 3.78
NEUT 2.24
HGB 14.1
PLT 237

Travis has started losing his hair again. I have lost count of the number of times it comes in and goes. He doesn't lose it completely, so we have to shave his hair off so that he looks good.

He had a really hard time with the medication this time around. He was very sick from the chemo. He vomited, and thankfully he hasn't been that sick in a while. I do believe it is the escalating methotrexate. He also ran a low grade fever, 99.6 for several hours Tuesday night. Thank God it was gone by 11:30 that night and has not returned. He has been very tired too. More so than normal lately. Methotrexate is probably the culprit. He has managed to go to school.

He has a band performance tonight at the football game. Then he has a band competition at Trenton tomorrow afternoon. I think I may have to take him home early, as the last time he had two performances in a row it was very hard on him.

I HATE THIS!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, September 14, 2004 10:13 AM CDT

Travis went to the clinic for his second dose of vincristin (2 ml) this cycle. He was examined by Dr. A. His weight was 116.1 lbs. It is up from 114.4 last week. His temp was 36.4.

His counts were:

WBC 6.18
NEUT 5.69 (inflated by the steroids)
HGB 13.4
PLT 128

Travis had a very busy weekend. He had a band performance at the Friday night football game against Madison. We won!!!!!! Saturday his band had its first band competition. It was an all day affair. It started out at breakfast with the drum group, and ended up at midnightwhen the busses pulled into the school parking lot. There were a dozen bands, and at the end of the competition, they all marched back onto the field and the hosting band, South Lyon, played America the Beautiful and The Star Spangled Banner. It was a "goosebump" presentation for sure. Our band placed 3rd in its flight.

Travis held up well for the performances, but it did take a toll on him. He was pretty out of it all day Sunday. Resting, napping, almost all day. I think he is just now starting to feel better. Travis is really pushing himself to do this. I hope everyone appreciates just how much he is pushing to do this. :)

Please take a moment to say hi on his guestbook. He appreciates all your comments.

Later........

Wednesday, September 8, 2004 6:12 PM CDT

Today was a clinic day for Travis. What made it different is that I picked him up from school at 10am and had him back by 11:45am. He got a dose of vincristin (2 ml) and starts his 7 day cycle of prednisone (280 ml daily). He weighed 114.4 lbs down 3 lbs from last Thursday :(
He was examined by Dr. M.

His counts were:

WBC 3.59
NEUT 3.00
HGB 13.0
PLT 163

Travis has been attending school, with the exception of treatment periods. His treatment plan will cause him many missed school days/periods.

Your prayers and thoughts for Travis are greatly appreciated. He is doing well and doing more than we hoped he would be able to do considering his treatment plan. God is good.

Friday, September 3, 2004 1:23 PM CDT

Travis went to the clinic yesterday for his chemo treatment. He received a dose of cytoxan (1944 miligrams) and a 24 hour dose of zofran.

He did very well this time. He was at the clinic for 8 hours to get the cytoxan, because they have to keep him hydrated before and after receiving it. It is very hard on the bladder. This time around he was able to eat and drink during his treatment. Last time around it was a very different story. Needless to say, it was very nice to see him feeling so well. Today he is still feeling pretty good. :)

His counts yesterday were as follows:

WBC 3.0
NEUT 1.9
HGB 14.0
PLT 244

He doesn't have to go back to the clinic until next Wednesday, when he will receive a dose of vincristin.

Travis' weight was 117.4 lbs, height 178.7, bp 126/70, temp. 35.9. He was examined by Dr. O, a resident. Again his mediport refused to draw blood back and he had to get a finger poke.

Will update next week.

Tuesday, August 31, 2004 12:02 AM CDT

Good news! Travis' counts were good enough to get his treatment. On Monday, August 30, he got a spinal tap with intrathecal (injected into the spinal column) methotrexate. He also begins 4 nights of 6Thioguine (12-40 miligram tablets nightly).

His counts are as follows:

WBC 3.41
NEUT 1.55
HGB 16.9
PLT 247

Travis was examined by Dr. A., who performed the spinal. Travis gave him a better than average grade on it lol. This is the procedure that Travis likes least.

He started school today. Thank goodness it was only 1/2 day as he doesn't always feel so good after the 6thioguine.

He said it wasn't a bad day. Actually he is feeling pretty good. :) May God look down on Travis and help him accomplish all that he wishes this school year. I pray that he gets teachers that will understand that sometimes the mind is willing but the body isn't.

If you have a moment, please stop by the guest book and sign in. It doesn't matter how many times you have been there, please go again. It helps spur him on. Thanks.

One more thing, as of Sunday, August 29, Travis has exactly one year of treatment left (8-29-05). Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Later......

Friday, August 27, 2004 10:31 AM CDT

Bummed out this morning. Travis went to the clinic to get his spinal, and couldn't because his counts still weren't good enough. They have all come up from last week, but the neutrophils are still not good enough.

They were as follows:

WBC 2.28
NEUT 0.88
HGB 13.8
PLT 319

Since he was originally scheduled to have this spinal on August 13, they want him to come in on Monday and see what his counts are doing.

Please pray that they are good so that he can start back on his chemo. His above counts are good, all except the neutrophils. They need to be 1.0, or 1000.

On a side note, Travis' marching band had their first performance last night at the football game. It was such a pleasure for me to watch him and his brother out there marching, carrying their bass drums :) God is Good!!!!!!

Thanks for visiting the site.

Friday, August 20, 2004 1:58 PM CDT

Travis was supposed to get his spinal with chemo today, but when they checked his blood counts yesterday, the neutrophils were too low. They need to be at least 1000 and they were only 110. So he is very, very neutropenic. (Which means he has virtually no immune system right now.) This means that there will be a one week further delay of the start of his next 56 day chemo cycle. I must admit it is making me nervous, as he had had two good weeks of blood counts prior to this. The doctor's had allowed him to delay his spinal one week so that he could attend band camp this week. So, if he had not delayed his spinal, this whole cycle would be underway. Oh well, it is all in God's hands now. I will try not to worry too much. What am I saying, it has always been in God's hands. I just forget that sometimes.

Travis' counts were as follows:

WBC 0.74
NEUT 0.11
HGB 11.7
PLT 301

Because his neutrophils were so low, the doctor's told Travis they would allow him to attend band camp the rest of this week, only if he promises to let me know if he starts to feel ill. If Travis gets a fever greater than 100.5 degrees, it will mean an automatic admission into the hospital. Of course, Travis is old enough to know to wash his hands etc. So, I am praying that he doesn't pick up a germ at school.

He is going to try to attend school this year. It will be an anxious time for me, as he will continue to have periods of time where his immune system isn't there.

Just a slight change of thought here. I attended a blood drive being sponsored by a local furniture store and a local news station. When I told them I was there because of Travis, they interviewed me. I was on for about 15 seconds on the 5pm news :) I took that opportunity to tell them how desperately cancer kids need blood. I did hear of at least one woman who came in because she saw my plea. :)

Well, just wanted to thank you for your visit and for your prayers for Travis.

Saturday, August 14, 2004 11:30 AM CDT

Travis went to the clinic on Thursday, August 12 for a blood count. He should be getting a spinal on August 13, but he talked to the doctors and they agreed to put the spinal tap off until Friday, August 20, so that he would be feeling ok for band camp. Travis really, really wants to attend band camp this year, as he was too ill last year to participate.

He was examined by Dr. J Thursday. His weight was 116.1 lbs. Up from last week almost 2 pounds :) He blood counts were as follows:

WBC 2.34
Neut 1.28
HGB 12.2
Plt 122

He is feeling pretty good, all in all. He had a visit with his teacher on Friday. He has one more visit and then will be starting school on August 31. He is hoping to be able to attend school full time. We are hoping that he will be able to attend also. It is hard on a teenager to be isolated at home so much.

I will be updating his page after next Friday's clinic visit. Thank you again for stopping in to check on Travis. If it isn't too much of a bother, please sign his guest book. He likes to see who has been checking on him lol

Wednesday, August 4, 2004 12:12 AM CDT

Travis went to the clinic yesterday afternoon (Aug. 3) for a blood count. This is to see how his body is reacting to the ARA-C and 6Thioguine he received last week.

His counts were as follows:

WBC 1.85
NEUT 1.09
HGB 14.1
PLT 238

He was examined by Dr. J today. He has lost some weight since last Tuesday. He weighed in at 115 lbs.(down around 4 pounds) Dr. J told him that he has to work on eating this week. He wants to see a little more weight next week. :)

Travis had an echocardiogram while he was in the hospital last weekend. It shows that there is NO damage to his heart. It is good to know that, since he has his chemo injected directly into his heart via his medi-port. The cardiologist said his heart was perfect :)

I will update next week, after our next clinic visit.

Sunday, August 1, 2004 12:50 AM CDT

Travis had the "hardest" week of his 56 day maintenance cycle this last week. It started on Tuesday, July 27. He was given a finger poke, blood test, to see if his counts were high enough to get his chemo. They were. His counts for Tuesday were as follows:

WBC 3.73
NEUT 2.26
HGB 14.1
PLT 227

He was given a physical by Dr. M. He then received his first of two doses of adriamycin (24 miligrams). He was also given a 24 hour dose of zofran.

He again went to the clinic on Wednesday morning. He received his second dose of adriamycin. He again got a 24 hour dose of zofran.

He was feeling pretty yucky Thursday morning. He wasn't even able to brush his teeth, without vomiting. He went to the clinic on Thursday morning and received another 24 hour dose of zofran, plus his first dose (of six that he receives over 72 hours) of ARA-C and at home got his first dose (of six) of 6-Thiogine. He wasn't able to keep this first dose down, so we had to try again a little while later. Thankfully that stayed down.

He started feeling a bit better, so he went to his drum practice. I picked him up from that around 6pm. We went home, grabbed his bags and were off to the hospital. We got there around 7pm. They were in around 8-8:30 to start his ARA-C and 6-Thioguine. Things went very uneventfully and well this visit. He received his meds right on time. He had a great roommate. His roommate this time was a 19 year old video game aholic, just like Travis. They played two player games, etc. It made the time go much quicker for Travis. I stayed Thursday night, and thankfully Larry was able to stay over Friday night. Travis was released around 8:45 Saturday night. :)

He will be going on Tuesday, August 3 for a blood count.

Will check in then to let you know how the counts went. I am hoping they are good, because right now Travis is only receiving a 90% dose of ara-c and 6thioguine because of his counts dropping too low and causing a two week delay in starting the next cycle.

Thanks for stopping in to check on Travis.

Sunday, July 25, 2004 6:27 PM CDT

It has been very busy here, so I am really late in posting this update.

Travis went to the clinic on Tuesday, July 20. He had a blood count done. This is one of the weeks that his body gets a rest from chemo, so that it can get ready for the next round. He was seen by a Dr. T, an adult oncologist, that was working in our clinic today. He did the physical examination on Travis. We saw Dr. A, after the exam. Dr. A told Travis that he could eat anything, and do anything that he felt like doing because his counts were so good.

His counts were:

WBC 3.11
NEUT 2.25
HGB 11.4
PLT 307

I am thankful because Travis had Drum Camp on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 22-24. It was a 9-9 day on Thursday and Friday, and 9-12 on Saturday. Travis really, really, really wanted to be able to attend. He has his heart set on getting a spot on the drum line. He is playing/practicing on Drum 4. He did well. He seems to have come out of this intense camp with sore legs and a few bruises. I am proud of Travis for making it through. He rocks!!!!!!!!

Travis will be headed back to the clinic for his next round of chemo this Tuesday, July 27. This is the hardest week of his maintenance cycle. As he will get chemo Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and go into the hopsital Thursday evening for chemo that evening, Friday morning, Friday evening, Saturday morning and Saturday evening. After the last chemo Saturday, they release him to come home. Please pray for him. Pray that his body will continue to respond to the chemo and that it will permanently kill this cancer.

Thanks for checking up on him. Please let him know you are visiting and thinking of him by signing his guest book. Believe me, he looks :)

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 11:48 AM CDT

Travis had a clinic visit this morning. He had his blood drawn (finger poke) and his counts were high enough so he was given his dose of vincristin and escalating IV methotrexate. He was examined by Dr. M, who pronounced him well lol. He was down a pound. :( We were at the clinic almost 6 hours. Very long day.

His counts were as follows:

WBC 4.48
Neut 2.39
HGB 11.6
Plt 323

We have been on vacation from Wed. July 7 through Sunday July 11. We went to Glasgow Kentucky for a family reunion/funeral.

Travis did very well while he was there. He was able to go on a walking tour of the Mamoth Caves, horseback riding, a boat tour of Lost Cave, and swimming. He ate very well also. He was a "regular" kid for those few days. We are so thankful to have that. Thank you God.

Tuesday, July 6, 2004 10:43 AM CDT

Travis had a visit at the clinic today. He was examined by Dr. J. He received another dose of vincristin. He has put on a little weight, he is up to 121.1 lbs :)

His counts are as follows:

WBC 4.13
Neut 2.38
HGB 11.6
Plt 275

He has not been feeling really good lately. He is getting alot of bone pain. Mainly in his back, but also in his neck and hips. It is caused by the prednisone. He took his last dose this morning. Hopefully he will begin feeling better in a couple of days, when the prednisone has worked its self out of his body.

More later.

Friday, July 2, 2004 8:03 PM CDT

Good news. I took Travis into the clinic for a blood count check, because of the holiday weekend. There are a lot of things he wants to do this weekend, that he wouldn't be able to do if he was still neutropenic.

His counts had come up. They are as follows:

WBC 1.96 (up from .55)
Neut 1.49 (up from .13)
HGB 11.2 (down from 11.3)
Plts 116 (down from 180)

So provided he feels well, he can go anywhere and eat anything he wants. Thank you God.

More next Tuesday, when he has his next clinic appointment.

Tuesday, June 29, 2004 7:04 PM CDT

Travis had a clinic appointment today. He got a dose of vincristin (chemo) today and starts a 7 day round of prednisone (280 miligrams each day). The blood counts today were disappointing. Travis is extremely neutropenic. That means he wasn't able to attend a birthday party celebration we had scheduled for tonight. He also can't attend his band class today or tomorrow. We are hoping that we will still be able to go to our family reunion next week.

His counts today were as follows:

WBC 0.55
NEUT 0.13
HGB 11.3
PLT 180

Hopefully the steroids will cause his counts to rise so that we will feel better allowing him to be around people. We have to monitor his closely. Since he has almost no immune system,he is very suseptible to illness. :(

Hopefully we will have better news to report next week.

Later. Thanks, also for visiting his site. Please sign the guest book, even if you have signed it before. It perks him up to see the messages. Also, thanks so much for all the prayers being said for him. They are truly appreciated.

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 2:16 PM CDT

Where to begin. I have had computer problems that kept me off line for over 3 weeks.

June 1, 2003

Travis went to clinic and was examined by Dr. M. His weight was up to 116.7 lbs. He got a dose of adriamycin. His counts for that visit were as follows:

WBC 3.35
NEUT 2.16
HGB 14.0
PLT 187

June 2

Travis again went to the clinic. He was examined by Dr. M. and he received his second dose of adriamycin. This dose and the one he received the day before was reduced by 20% to 19 miligrams because his counts were down for almost 3 weeks after this part of his treatment last cycle. Hope that makes sense to you.

June 3

Travis went to the clinic and received his first (of six) doses of ARA-C (52 miligrams) which also was reduced by 20% based on the counts after the last cycle. He also received his first (of six)dose of 6-thioguine (60 miligrams). He will be going into the hospital for the remaining 5 doses, as they need to be administered at 12 hour intervals.

Travis arrived at the hospital at around 7:30 pm. They took him to his room and he got his chemo right on time. He was lucky this time as he didn't have a roommate for the whole time he was there. This is a good thing :) The rooms aren't very large and with two patients and two parents it is a tight squeeze.

He remained in the hospital until 9pm June 5. They did a blood count for us so we would know if it was ok for him to be out and around on Sunday, provided he felt good. There was a fair in Birmingham that was allowing the cancer kids to attend it for two hours before it was opened to the public. We wanted to go if he felt like it. His counts on Saturday were as follows:

WBC 2.6
HEUT 1.6
HGB 13.0
PLT 195

Unfortunately Travis wasn't feeling very well on Sunday, so he didn't get to go to the fair.

June 8

Travis went to the clinic for a blood test. Thank goodness he doesn't get any chemo. This is a week built into his protocol to allow his body to recover, so they can start it over again the next week. His counts were as follows:

WBC 2.56
NEUT 1.64
HGB 14.5
PLT 261

His weight had dropped to 114.2 lbs. He doesn't eat much when he is in the hospital.

June 17 (day 56/0)

Travis went to the clinic to have his blood counts taken and to have a spinal tap with methotrexate (intrathecal - means injected into the spinal fluid). This can't be done unless Travis' counts are at least 1000 Neut and 100,000 platelets. Fortunately, his counts were good so he could start this next cycle of maintenance. I believe since he didn't have a delay in the start of this cycle they will increase his adriamycin, ara-c and 6-thioguine by 10% the next time he reaches that point in his cycle. He also has to take 6-Thioguine for four days (12-40 miligram tablets at bedtime). These make him very sick.

His fluid was clear and everything looked good. Unfortunately for Travis, Dr. M. had a little trouble getting the fluid this time. Dr. M. apologized for it. I hate watching that because it is obvious from Travis' face. But, I wouldn't not be there for anything. His counts were as follows:

WBC 3.01
Neut 1.75
HGB 13.4
Plt 175

June 21, 2003

This day started out badly for Travis. He was sick (vomited) when he got up. He went to the clnic and they tested his blood. He got his dose of Cytoxan. He has to be hydrated for a couple of hours before and after as this drug is very strong. He was sick almost all day. He vomited again, after having zofran, around noon. They ended up giving him atavan. It helped a little bit. He got home around 5pm and felt yucky for the rest of the day. He took more zofran before he went to bed.

It was very hard to see Travis so sick, as he has generally been feel better lately. He seems to have more energy and more desire to get out and do things. I hope this was just a fluke and that he continues to feel good.

I want to thank everyone who read this book lol. Thanks in advance for any prayers and good thoughts you send out for Travis.

Wednesday, May 26, 2004 12:18 AM CDT

Travis had an appointment at the clinic yesterday afternoon. He saw Dr. M. They did a physical and he is looking good :) His counts were good, they are as follows:

WBC 4.06
NEUT 3.19
HGB 12.7
Plts 259

He is feeling pretty good right now. So, he went to a band practice last night.

He doesn't go back for chemo until next Tuesday. All for now.

Friday, May 21, 2004 1:35 PM CDT

Well it has been a very busy week here.

I want to take a moment to thank Mrs. MacDonald and her 8th grade students for the wonderful job they did hosting a blood drive in honor of Travis. The blood drive, held on May 14, was a success. There were 72 wonderful people who came in wanting to donate their blood. That blood will go to help so many people, they should all be proud of themselves.

Travis had a chemo treatment on Tuesday, May 18. He received vincristin and methotrexate in IV. He barely made the count for this one, though. He needed to have 1000 neutrophils and he had .999 (down from 7890 last week). Dr. A. said that was close enough, phew! I didn’t want to have to postpone it. I want him to get all the chemo he is supposed to so that this leukemia takes a permanent hike. He gets a week off chemo next week to allow his body to recover from this treatment. We will go in next Tuesday for a blood count to see how his body is doing.

He has been feeling pretty good this week. He was able to attend a band practice on Tuesday night. He was also able to go out for 18 holes of mini-golf last night. He does seem to be paying the price today, because he is very tired. Oh well. At least he was able to be a normal kid for a couple of days.

Hair today, gone tomorrow. Travis’ hair had been growing in over the last 3 1/2 months and we were hoping that it would stay in for the remainder (another 15 months) of his treatment, but it was not to be. It started falling out on Thursday night (last week). We shaved it all off so he didn’t have to be bothered with it. He looks great bald :)

Well, guess that is all for now.

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 11:51 AM CDT

REMEMBER BLOOD DRIVE FRIDAY AT LAMPHERE HIGH SCHOOL
2 PM TILL 8 PM TO HONOR TRAVIS HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Today Travis had a clinic appointment for vincristin. It was a short visit. We were there about 40 minutes total. Too bad most of his visits aren't that quick.

Travis just finished up a seven day course of prednisone, and it has taken its toll on him. He has been feeling really yucky for almost the entire week. He is very tired, yet can't sleep. This time he didn't fixate on any one particular food item, but did seem to eat. His weight was 120.2 lbs this morning. Of course, this is the first weighin he has had there that he actually had eaten something before lol. Hopefully his appetite will continue for a couple of more days. He did have some bone pain from the chemo this past week, hopefully it won't continue. He had a red blush to his face this week too. His cheeks were just starting to fill out. He hates that "moon" faced steroid look.

The doctor said he "checks out great". :)

Here are his counts from today:

WBC 8.83
Neut 7.89 (up because of the prednisone)
HGB 13.1
Plt 242

Too bad that good counts don't necessarily equate to feeling good.

Travis has a session with his teacher tomorrow. Hopefully he will be feeling better then.

Well all to report for now.

Tuesday, May 4, 2004 10:58 AM CDT

REMEMBER BLOOD DRIVE AT LAMPHERE HIGH SCHOOL IN HONOR OF TRAVIS MAY 14, 2004 2pm TILL 8pm

Travis had an appointment at the clinic for 9AM today. He got a dose of vincristin (push) and starts a seven day cycle of prednisone (275 mg a day spaced out at 100 mg morning, 100 mgs afternoon and 80 mgs at bedtime). Because this dose of prednisone can cause stomach acid problems, he has to take a dose of protonix each morning. This is a boy who hates to take pills. Unfortunately they weren't able to get a blood draw from his mediport, he had to get a finger poke.

Wonder what food Travis will fixate on this cycle. In the past it has been bacon, ham and cheese pizza, honey barbequed chicken wings. Hopefully it is something easy to fix and not too expensive lol.

He weighed in at 114.7 lbs today, down from last week.

His counts are right where the doctor's want them, according to Dr. M, who saw Travis today.

WBC 1.73
Neut 1.24
HGB 13.1
Plt 148

He won't have to go back to the clinic till next Tuesday, when he will get another dose of vincristin.

Travis gets sore skin during this phase of treatment and he has also gotten jaw pain. Hoping he skates through it this time.

I have heard from several people about the blood drive. Thank you so much for considering a donation. You are helping much more than you know.

Thank you also for the many prayers being said for Travis. They are helping :)

Thursday, April 29, 2004 4:03 PM CDT

BLOOD DRIVE MAY 14 at LAMPHERE HIGH SCHOOL in Travis' Honor

Travis had a clinic appointment on Tuesday, April 27. It started out a bad day for him as he was very sick when he got up. His counts were good so he was able to get his chemo, Cytoxan. He has to be hydrated for two hours before and several after. We got to the clinic at 8am and left at 4:30pm. Unfortunately even with a 24 hour dose of zofran, for nauseau, he was sick during the treatment too. The 6thioguine that he takes for the four days before makes him very sick.

He felt a little yucky yesterday, but is feeling much better today. He felt well enough to have a session with his teacher :)

His counts on Tuesday were:

WBC 4.64
NEUT 3.22
HGB 14.8
PLT 242

He has a little break from the clinic until next Tuesday, May 4.

The weather here is so crazy. Tuesday when we were at the clinic it was snowing here. Today is is 80 degrees. Love that Michigan weather.

Sunday, April 25, 2004 11:36 AM CDT

REMEMBER BLOOD DRIVE AT LAMPHERE HIGH SCHOOL MAY 14 TO HONOR TRAVIS

Sorry it took so long to get this update posted. It has been a busy weekend.

Travis' counts were good, so he was able to get his spinal tap with methotrexate, and start his oral 6Thioguine pills (12 pills each evening for 4 days in a row). He has to take Zofran twice a day during this chemo as it makes him very nauseous. I was able to sleep well that Friday night, as they test his spinal fluid for blasts (cancer cells) and no call means that there were no blasts found. Thank you God!!!!! There have been a few children that I know of who have relapsed in the spinal fluid lately, and with everything being delayed, you can imagine how I was feeling. Also, it appears that because there was a delay in starting this round, his chemo during pulse D, will be reduced to 80% (from 100%).

His counts are as follows:

WBC 3.19
Neut 1.75
HGB 15.3
Plt 264

I was a nervous wreck going to the clinic Friday, because if his neutrophil count was still under 1000, he would have had to have a bone marrow test. Phew!!!

It was amazing to see Travis this past week, as he had been off of any chemo for 3 weeks, he was starting to feel better, still tired, but better and his pre-chemo personality was returning :) It was really hard to see the almost immediate change in him. Oh well, we keep telling ourselves that this is a necessary evil to be handled. Those drugs are killing the cancer cells so that they can't come back to hurt him.

Since his counts were ok, he was able to go out. We went to the movies Saturday. He is having a friend come over today. First time in a while he has felt like having someone come.

He had a great visit with the homebound teacher on Thursday. I must say that I just love this teacher. He is just what Travis needs. This teacher has a child that needed homebound teaching, so knows what it is like.

Also, I received an offer from a yoga instructor to come to the house to work with Travis. I must say I was blown away by the offer. We are seriously considering it. There are so many angels in the world. We have been blessed to have them touch our lives.

Mrs. M, a wonderful angel teacher, has organized a blood drive to collect blood in Travis' honor. The amazing students at Page Middle School, who are helping her with this. Truly angels All. I hope their parents appreciate how wonderful their children are.

The amazing friends and family that are praying for Travis, and for all the children that are suffering from this dreaded disease. We love and appreciate you all very much.

Well, I am rambling on this morning. It is starting to feel like spring here with the weather warming up. Travis has started to feel like getting out and walking with me. He has also started a very limited working out, ie pushups, situps, etc, in order to try to regain some of the muscle that he lost. He has grown a half inch since he started his treatment, and now weighs a whopping 116 pounds. He is hanging in for all it is worth. As is his hair lol.

Love you all, Enola

Friday, April 16, 2004 12:06 AM CDT

REMEMBER!!!! BLOOD DRIVE at LAMPHERE HIGH SCHOOL MAY 14!!!

Travis went to the clinic this morning anticipating getting his spinal tap with methotrexate. After taking his blood and checking the counts, it was found that his neutrophils weren't high enough. They were only 510 (down from 750 last week) and they need to be 1,000. So, they told us to go home and come back in a week.

I was not happy, as I am nervous about any time passing without him getting the chemo he needs. I was told by the Doctor that because his chemo protocol is so intense, it is not unusual for his body to take a bit of time to recover. So they weren't concerned about it because his other counts (WBC, HGB, and PLTS) were all good. That is reassuring.
Of course I asked what would happen if they were still down next week. Dr. J. said they would do a bone marrow test to see what is going on. I pray that doesn't become necessary.

His counts were:

WBC 1.6
Neut .51
HGB 14.1
PLT 352

So, he is neutropenic, which means we have to be very careful of being around anyone because his has an impaired infection fighting ability. No fresh fruits, veggies, flowers, etc. The timing of this is awful, as it is Spring Break from the High School and we can't go and do anything as a family. Enough complaining.

Thursday, April 8, 2004 9:11 AM CDT

Remember!!!!!!! BLOOD DRIVE at Lamphere High School May 14!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Travis had a clinic appointment to start the 5th course of his maintenance this morning. He had to make the blood count in order to get the treatment. (Neutrophils over 1000 and platelets over 100,000)

Unfortunately, he didn't make the count. He needed to have 1000 neutrophils and had only 750. He will go back in a week and see if his counts are ok then.

His counts today were:

WBC 1.86
NEUT .75
HGB 13.3
PLT 125

This is only the second time since he started treatment that he has had a delay because of low counts. I pray that they recover so that he can start his treatments again next Friday.

Travis had a good meeting with his teacher yesterday. Thank goodness he is feeling well, even though he is neutropenic. His hair is staying put :)

Friday, April 2, 2004 11:43 AM CST

NOTICE!!! Blood Drive in Honor of Travis May 14 at Lamphere High School from 2PM until 8PM. Child Care available!!!!

It has been a while since I have updated the site. Here are the last 3 blood count results for Travis.

3-23-04

WBC 5.76
Neut 4.23
HGB 13.7
Plt 219

3-27-04

WBC 2.9
Neut 2.2
HGB 12.2
Plt 202

3-30-04

WBC 2.56
Neut 1.59
Hgb 13.3
Plt 213

Travis went into the hospital on March 25 (Thursday) and was there through Saturday March 27. It was a pretty good stay overall. There was a bit of trouble getting his chemo on time Thursday evening, but that was taken care of and he was given Ara-C every 12 hours. He slept alot this time around. He was feeling pretty good when he got out Saturday night. He was feeling so good on Sunday, that he went out to see a movie :) (Woohoo! good counts and feeling well all at the same time!!!!) (This is the first time he has felt so good after Ara-C). We have found tho, that as the week progresses he is feeling more tired. Thankfully he has a break from chemo until April 9 when his maintenance cycle starts over. On April 9 he will be getting a spinal tap with methotrexate. Our clinic has their patients lay with their feet over their head for 3 hours afterwards. He will also start a four day round of 6Thiogiuine (12 tablets in the evening).

Wish Travis luck on April 9, as his dad will be taking him in for the spinal tap, as I have an opportunity to go out of town for a couple of days and am going to take it. Part of me feels guilty for leaving him, but everyone agrees that Dad can handle things for a couple of days lol.

Sunday, March 21, 2004 4:47 PM CST

MARCH 22, 1989

Happy 15th Birthday Travis and Tim!!! Happy Birthday Mom!!!

I remember so clearly the day that Travis was born. He was born at 4:14 am on March 22, 1989. He was born one minute after his brother, Tim. It was one of the happiest days of my life. They were my birthday present!!! I am also happy that we are celebrating another birthday. Nine months ago, it was hard to imagine getting here. Thank you God for giving us this time together.

This week will be a very hard one for Travis. He will be going to the clinic on Tuesday morning for a dose of Adriamycin. He will have to go to the clinic on Wednesday morning for another dose of Adriamycin. He will go to the clinic on Thursday morning for his first (of six) dose of Ara-C. He will have to check into the hospital on Thursday evening. He will get another 5 doses of Ara-C along with 3 doses of 6 Thioguine. He will be released on Saturday evening after he receives his last dose of Ara-C.

Please feel free to call him or stop in to visit him. The days drag by at the hospital. We are hoping this visit goes better than the last one. Room mate troubles. Enough said.

Thursday, March 18, 2004 11:11 AM CST

Travis had a quick visit (only one and 1/2 hour lol) at the clinic on Tuesday, for a blood count. His counts were good. They were as follows:

WBC 3.90
Neut 2.77
HGB 12.3
Pts 286

He had gained a pound. He is feeling good this week.

He had a good visit with his teacher on Monday. And will have another visit from the teacher tomorrow. On Tuesday, he got his first official hair cut since his diagnosis. He has lost his hair several times in the last 9 months, but this is the first time that it actually has gotten long enough to need trimming by a professinal - yeah!!!! We are crossing our fingers that it stays in. One doctor said it probably won't, and another said it might lol. They really don't know. Some kids lose all their hair, some don't lose much. Travis didn't lose his hair completely, just enough to make it necessary to shave his head and keep it shaved.

He has been feeling much better this week. Feeling well enough to go to a drum corp performance this past weekend. He and his brother, Tim, both would like to some day try out and perform with this corp. :) I would be very happy for them both. I wonder how many out there realize that I have two drummers in this house and we have a full set of drums in our basement. I love it when they are banging on those drums lol. Makes things seem normal.

We are going to try and get out of the house some this weekend, while Travis is feeling better, because next week starts the most intense week of his maintenance cycle. He will get chemo 5 days next week. He gets Adriamycin on Tuesday and on Wednesday. He will get Ara-C and 6Thioguine on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. He has to be admitted to the hospital on Thur until Saturday for the Ara-C. It is usually not a great stay, as this medicine makes him feel yucky.

Well, just wanted to thank all of you that went to the High School Blood drive yesterday. I talked, unofficially, with someone there and said they had a great turn out. Also, the HS kids earned a compliment from one of the nurses. Said they go to a lot of High schools, but the students at Lamphere were among the most polite, respectful they had come across :) Of course, I already knew that the students from Lamphere are the greatest. Thanks parents, friends and students for taking the time and effort to donate the life saving blood. You all rock!!!!! I understand that Page Middle School will also be having a Blood Drive in Travis' honor in May. Hope to see you all there too!!!!
(Thanks, Mrs. M).

Wednesday, March 10, 2004 12:19 AM CST

Travis went to the clinic yesterday for treatment. He had to "make the counts" in order to get this treatment. His counts were as follows:

WBC 5.3 (Normal: 4.5 - 13.0)
HGB 12.5 (Normal: 11.7 - 15.6)
NEU 3.1 (Normal: 2.5 - 7.3)
PLT 227 (Normal: 150 - 450)

He received IV Vincristin (push) and IV Methotrexate (over 4 hours). He is feeling pretty good now. He weighed in at 111.4 lbs.

He gets a little break from the chemo next week, as he will only be getting a blood count next Tuesday. :)

Travis' high school is having a blood drive in his honor on March 17. If you live in the area, please try to stop in and donate. They will be there from 8AM till 2PM. Please email me if you want the directions to the school.

I asked the nurse to get the information on how many blood and platelet transfusions Travis had when he was initially diagnosed. He received a total of 16 blood and platelet transfusions during his initial hospital stay. Hehas had three since then. I thank God for the donors whose donations made it possible for Travis to get the life saving transfusions he needed. Without this blood, I am not sure where Travis would be today.

Tuesday, March 2, 2004 11:39 AM CST

This past week has been a hard one for Travis. He has been feeling very tired and yucky. The doctor attributes it to the prednisone. He said that it takes a toll on the kids.

He was at the clinic today for a dose of vincristin. Once again they weren't able to draw blood back from his mediport for the blood test, so he had a finger poke.

His counts were as follows:

6.95 WBC
5.09 Neut
12.7 Hgb
273 Plt

He has gained 4 pounds in this last week. Even though he hasn't had that ravenous hunger that he sometimes gets, he did put on a little weight. He eats very little most of the time.

He is no longer neutropenic, so if he feels well enough, he will be able to attend the HS band concert tomorrow. He hasn't seen most of the kids in a while, so he was hoping he would be able to go. Fingers crossed that he feels well enough to go.

We cancelled his home teacher on Monday because he wasn't feeling well and we weren't sure about his counts. Hopefully we will be able to arrange another visit later this week. I am hoping that with the end of the prednisone today, he will start to feel better.

He has started coughing. I am hoping it goes away on its own. His chest is clear. He had developed a cough early on in his treatment that prompted two chest x-rays. It just basically went away on its own. I am hoping this one does before we get to the chest x-ray again.

We wanted to thank everyone who has signed his guestbook. It means a lot to us. Thank you all.

Tuesday, February 24, 2004 9:46 AM CST

Travis went to the clinic this morning. I don't know where my mind was this morning as I got us there thinking we had a 9am appointment only to find out we had a 9:30 appointment. Dr. A was teasing us about most of his patients being late and us being so early. You had to be there lol.

Travis got his dose of vincristin. They had trouble getting a blood draw from the port, so he had a finger poke instead. They have been having some trouble lately with this. He also is starting a 7 day course of prednisone. He is taking 280 mg. (broken up in 3 daily doses) for seven days. This should stimulate his appetite. He weighed in at 110 lbs this morning, down 1 pound from last Tuesday. I wonder what food he will fixate on. It has ranged from bacon to nachos and cheese. Hope it is something relatively easy to prepare lol.

His counts are:

0.78 WBC
0.25 Neut
12.2 HGB
291 Plt

He is neutropenic :( What that means is that he is very suseptible to infection now. His immune system is very depressed. He can't have any fresh fruits/vegetables, cut flowers, or go to school (if he was attending - he isn't at this time - he has a homebound teacher). Thankfully he is feeling ok. He is a little tired this morning, but he said it was because I woke him up too early this morning lol. He still has a sense of humor. He was teasing me that he wouldn't have been tired and neutropenic if he had gotten that extra 1/2 hour of sleep.

He has one week before he needs to go back to the clinic. :)

Wednesday, February 18, 2004 1:55 PM CST

Travis had a rough day yesterday. It started out with him being sick (vomiting) just after he got out of bed. He got to the clinic where he was hooked up to his dose of cytoxin. He is encouraged to drink while he is getting this drug. He vomited up his drink. He was able to eat when we got home at 5:30. Unfortunately just before he went to bed he got sick again. A miserable day for him.

Fortunately today, he is feeling a bit better.

Yesterday his counts were:

2.08 WBC
1.29 Neut
13.0 HGB
380 Plt.

He is scheduled to return to the clinic next Tuesday for a dose of vincristin, at which time he will start a seven day course of prednisone.

Monday, February 16, 2004 5:15 PM CST

Travis hasn't been feeling very well for the last several days. He has been having a problem with nausea. The thioguine seems to give him a problem. He has one more dose tonight and then that is finished for this course. He has an appointment at the clinic in the morning for Cytoxin. Isn't that a hidious sounding name. It is an eight hour visit for the cytoxin. They hydrate him before and after receiving it. He is strongly, STRONGLY, advised to drink, drink and drink once he is home. The doctor said it can cause burning to the lining of the bladder.

On the positive side, Travis' hair is once again growing. He may even need a hair cut soon. This is the third time it has come back in, each time it is a slightly different color and texture. This time is it a light brown, very fine baby hair texture.

Saturday, February 14, 2004 9:21 AM CST

Travis had a good day at the clinic yesterday. He had a spinal tap with intrathecal methotrexate. That means they withdrew spinal fluid which they will test for various things, i.e. proteins, sugar, white cells, etc, and replaced it with the chemo agent. Travis' least favorite part of his treatment is the spinal. He likes Dr. M to do the procedure. He got Dr. M yesterday. He gave Dr. M an "A" on his technique lol. We numb the area with emla cream and they give him a shot of lidocaine. He sits cross legged on the exam table and bends forward. He listens to his cd player. After they finish with the spinal he goes into another room where he must lay with his feet higher than his head for 3 hours. After that he gets to go home. At night he has to take 12 thioguine tablets every night for 4 nights.

Here are his counts:

2.69 WBC
1.60 Neut
12.6 HGB
200 Plts

We were teasing him last night about what the doctor had slipped into his spinal fluid, as he was wound up and bounding around. We were happy to see him feeling so well.

Thanks for reading. Please sign the guest book and let us know you were here :)

Wednesday, February 11, 2004 4:38 PM CST

Travis is doing well today. He had a visit with his home-bound teacher. He now has homework to do. :)

He is going on Friday for his spinal with methotrexate. He will also start 4 days of oral thioguine. This friday starts the fourth course of maintenance. According to Travis, the spinal is the worst part of his treatment. He didn't even mind the leg shots as much as he does the spinal. Well, after Friday he should only have 8 left.

Not much left to report. More on Friday.

Please let us know you have visited our site, by signing in on the guestbook. Thanks.

Tuesday, February 10, 2004 12:37 AM CST

Travis and I met with the principal, Mr. B., the special services representative, Mrs. M., the liaison between us and the school,Mr. I, and Travis' homebound teacher., Mr. C.

Things are definitely headed in the right direction. Travis' teacher is coming by today to talk with him and discuss what they will be doing and how they will be doing it. He is supposed to come by tomorrow to bring actual assignments to him.

Travis was told his is a LHS student, whether or not he is able to attend full time. He has been given permission to attend after school functions, games, assemblies, etc. as he is able to. The school is concerned about his socialization as well as his education. They realize just how hard this is on a teenager.

Travis wasn't feeling really well yesterday. He even was up in the middle of the night sick, which hasn't happened in quite a while. Hopefully it was nothing. Of course, since he was at the high school for a little while yesterday, I was thinking I hope he isn't getting sick. He appears to be no worse for the wear this morning.

I will post more when the teacher has been here. :)

Sunday, February 8, 2004 6:53 PM CST

Tomorrow morning Travis and I are going to the high school to meet with the principal and the homebound teacher to plan out his course of study. I am hoping that they stick to the plan we discussed earlier, i.e. having someone come to the house and allowing Travis to attend classes at the school as he is able. We will see.

I also wanted to thank everyone who visits the site. I appreciate the notes that are being left on the guestbook. Please continue to visit and let us know you came.

Wednesday, February 4, 2004 7:44 PM CST

Travis went to the clinic yesterday for a blood count. It was as follows:

WBC 2.05
Neut 1.13
HGB 13.4
Plt 237

Good counts. Yeah. That means provided he is feeling good, he will be able to attend the meeting at the high school on Monday. We will be mapping out his homebound schooling.

Now he has a break from chemo (and the clinic) until Friday, Feb. 13 to allow his body to recover. On Friday 2-13, he will begin the 4th cycle of maintenance. This day 0 starts with a spinal tap with intrathecal methotrexate and oral thioguine for 4 days. When he gets the spinal chemo, he has to lay with his head below his feet for 3 hours. Over that weekend, he probably won't be feeling too spiffy.

Right now, though, he is feeling pretty good. Good counts and feeling good, what more can we ask for right now :)

Sunday, February 1, 2004 8:27 PM CST

Travis was released from the hospital at 9pm last night. It was an interesting stay this time. Seems that when we went in on Thursday, they were full up and we were placed in a room that had a special needs child. Unfortunately this child's mom didn't stay with him and he cried all night for her. It broke my heart to hear him cry, because there was nothing I could do for him. Having said that, it was hard on Travis too. This child didn't stop crying until 2am. They were thankfully able to move us to another room on Friday afternoon. We had a roommate in this room for only a couple of hours as he was being released. At midnight we got another roommate. A little boy that had fallen and had hit his head. Thank goodness his xray taken on Saturday morning cameback as ok. He was able to go home. He and his mom were wonderful roommates. After he left Saturday afternoon, we were in the room by ourselves until we checked out that night :)

Travis seemed to do very well this round. He ate a little more, was alert and actually talked to me. This is the 3rd time he has had these drugs. Previously when he had them he slept alot and hardly ate anything. This time was definitely different. I guess it means you can never tell how he will react to any particular phase of his treatment. We are going to the clinic on Tuesday for blood counts.

Travis is on a maintenance cycle that runs 56 days. Today is day 44. His body has 12 days to recover before he starts another cycle. God knows it will take all of those days to recover from the massive amounts of chemo his body has endured over the last 5 days.

Travis is handling everything so much better than I would. He just keeps on plugging along. God Bless my son!!!!!

Thursday, January 29, 2004 8:52 AM CST

Things are on track with Travis so far today. Went to the clinic this morning for his first dose of Ara-C and Thioguine. They did another blood count and his counts were great. They weighed him and he is 114 lbs. Travis is 5'10" so he needs to put back some weight. He probably will eat very little in the next 3 days because he never does when he is in the hospital. Praying that this hospital stay goes smoothly. Travis isn't feeling very well now. Unfortunately good counts don't always equal feeling well.

I will update things when we get home from the hospital on Saturday :)

If you are reading this, thank you. If you are saying a prayer for Travis, thank you.

Wednesday, January 28, 2004 5:18 PM CST

Went to the hospital before our clinic appointment today so they could do a "lineogram" on Travis' mediport. It was very interesting. They inject a contrasting solution into the port and xray it. It was operating perfectly. That was good news. From there we went to the clinic where he got his second dose of adriamycin.

Travis seems to be feeling pretty good. :)

Tuesday, January 27, 2004 6:46 PM CST

Travis was at the clinic today. His counts were good so he was able to get his adriamycin. They were unable to get a blood draw on his mediport, so we are going tomorrow (before the clinic appointment) to get a "lineogram". We were told that this is where they run a dye through the port to see what is happening. They had to use an iv to give Travis his chemo today rather than the mediport.

Travis seems in good spirits. I thank God that he is taking everything in stride.

Monday, January 26, 2004 5:06 PM CST

Tomorrow is another clinic day for Travis. He will go in for a blood count and if the counts are good, he will receive a dose of adriamycin. Then back on Wednesday for another dose of adriamycin. Then to the clinic on Thursday am for the first of six doses of ara-c. He will get to come home after the first dose of ara-c, but we will be checking into the hospital Thursday evening for the next five doses. He gets the ara-c every 12 hours. Hopefully we will be discharged (if all goes according to plan) Saturday night. We will be taking video games, puzzle books and movies to help speed the time along.

Tuesday, January 20, 2004 7:17 PM CST

Travis had a good visit with the doctor today. His blood counts are great. He is feeling pretty good. Can't ask for more than that right now :)

Tuesday, January 20, 2004 10:01 AM CST

Yesterday I had a meeting the the principal of Travis' high school, and the director of special services for our school district. We are working on some kind of plan for Travis. He tried to attend school when it started (he had just started his maintenance phase) and did ok. Unfortunately, with treatment causing problems and missing classes compounding things, he felt he couldn't keep up. Since this was causing his much stress, which he definitely doesn't need, he stopped attending. That isn't working either. So, we are going to try homebound schooling when necessary and attending when he can. I am praying that this works for him. Of course our number one priority is his health, but I don't want him vegetating in the meantime. As hard as it is to let him out into the "germy" world, I know that he needs to be out among his friends and peers. I know he is wanting to go, so we will just give it another try.

We are heading off to the doctor's office this afternoon for a blood count. This is one of the two weeks during his treatment protocol that he doesn't receive any chemo. Hopefully it will be a quick visit. Of course, that isn't a given.

Sunday, January 18, 2004 5:35 PM CST

I just wanted to continue with Travis' story. Although it is a blur all the things that happened when Travis was initially hospitalized, somethings will remain crystal clear in my memory. Sitting across from a Pediatric Hemotology Oncologist hearing the words that your son has leukemia is blazed into my head and heart. Hearing that you and your entire immediate family must be tested for a possible bone marrow match. Hearing that because your child is a boy and because he is 14 he will have to have a more intense treatment is chilling. I will never forget when the doctor's told us to pay attention to how he was acting/talking once he started coming around. They said that damage to the brain, and other organs could be caused by the extreme high level of white cells.

Travis has been through alot in this seven months. He has had several blood transfusions, platelets, and has been hospitalized once for a fever (they weren't able to figure out what caused it, but he responded well to the antibiotics and was home after 3 days). Everything taken into consideration, Travis has done very well. I hope I haven't jinxed things by saying that.

Saturday, January 17, 2004 2:39 PM CST

Our first indication that there was something wrong with Travis was when a lump came up on the back of his neck. As it was noticed on Saturday, I figured there was nothing to do about it until the first part of the week. He was scheduled to go to Cedar Point with his school class on Monday, and since he didn't seem to be feeling badly we let him go. He came home that night with horrible bruises on his calves. He didn't know what he had done that could have caused them. By the time I could get him to the doctor, he had a rash on his legs. I figured he had some type of virus.

I really didn't think it was serious as he really wasn't acting like he was sick. More tired than sick.

After examining Travis I knew something was up when the doctor asked me to step into his office. That was the first time in 24 years of dealing with pediatricians I ever had one take me out of the exam room, away from my child. He was pretty blunt as he said that Travis either had leukemia or lymphoma. The doctor indicated that their office machine couldn't register Travis' white count. He told us to go immediately to the hospital. I called my husband, who was still at work, and he met us at the hospital. That was June 19. The morning of June 20, they transferred Travis to PICU. They did a bone marrow test and a spinal tap and told us he had T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Because Travis' white count was so high (250,000) they had to do something called Leukofriezes (not sure if the spelling is correct). This is a procedure that removed blood from Travis, spun the white cells out of the blood and then returned it to him. They indicated that they had to get his white count down before they could even start his chemotherapy. The days spent in PICU are a big blur of nurses, doctor's, visitors, etc. Our healthy teenager was now very sick.

We left the hospital on July 1, 2003. We then continued his chemotherapy at the Rose Cancer Center. He finished induction phase and his bone marrow test indicated he was in remission (at 28 days). He entered consolidation phase which consisted of some type of chemo everyday for 28 days. He is now in maintenance phase which is to run through August 29, 2005.

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