Travis Weigand

In April of 2016, Travis was diagnosed with colorectal cancer with mets to the liver.  We incidentally learned of his cancer after blood work had been drawn for a change to his life insurance policy.  His blood work came back with a high CEA level, something doctor's rarely rely on anymore.  Further testing and scanning confirmed his diagnosis.

So in July of 2016, he underwent a liver and colon resection at Barnes Jewish/Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis. Recovery took roughly six weeks.

With no active tumors, he began chemotherapy treatments on September 19th, 2016.  These treatments were to ensure we "zapped" all remaining cancer cells.  A CURE was the goal.

After his third treatment he became deathly ill.  Travis is DPD deficient, which means his body can't metabolize 5FU chemotherapy.  The three treatments he received built up to toxic levels and completely wiped out his bone marrow. Without an immune system, he fell ill with legionnaires pneumonia, c diff colitis, and an infection of the small intestine.  This threw his body into septic shock, something Laura has dedicated her career to studying.  Ironic??? I think so. 

His severe infection led to DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation).  This disorder sky-rocketed his risk for bleeding.  One side effect of DIC is clotting in the small blood vessels throughout the body.  This compromised the blood flow to his feet, nose, and ears.  Ultimately resulting in a bilateral, below-the-knee amputation on November 7th, 2016.  


It's  been months since his surgery,  and he's making a wonderful recovery. He and Laura both have adjusted well to their "new normal".  Travis is very active walking his dogs almost daily. 


Late 2017, tumors returned to his liver and lungs.  He underwent MRI guided radiation at Siteman Cancer Center in STL, then began an immunotherapy regiman known as Vectibix in February of 2018.  We chose this treatment in lieu of a more traditional chemotherapy.  Fear of undergoing another toxic build-up drove us to seek an alternative treatment.  The Vectibix was presented as an option to prolong life by stopping the spread of the cancer, but we were warned it would not cure his cancer.  Not satisfied with that answer, we began researching alternative medicines, and landed on a cannabis oil known as RSO or Rick Simpson Oil.  


Here we are after nine months of Vectibix and RSO treatment, and Travis is doing GREAT.  His last CT scan did not identify any tumors.  Absolutely incredible news! 

Now we're back in surveillance mode getting blood work drawn biweekly, and CT scans quarterly. 


God is good, modern medicine is good, and cannabis is good.