Travis’s Story

Site created on February 15, 2020

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place.


As many of you know, Travis was a healthy, active boy who was passionate about baseball, football and being with friends.  He had just turned 9 years old and was playing in travel flag football tournaments with his buddies when he came down with a few back to back viruses.   He became increasingly pale and wasn’t recovering.


By June, we took him to his pediatrician because we were very worried. They ordered multiple blood tests to try to find out what was going on.  The doctor called us that night and said that we needed to get Travis to the hospital as soon as possible for a blood transfusion as his hemoglobin was 5 (normal is around 12).


We rushed him to the hospital where they admitted him and gave him blood transfusions and iron infusions.  After a few days and a hematologist consultation, they discharged him with a hemoglobin of 9 and still had no idea what was causing the issue.  


Over the next year and a half we went to 5 hematologists and 4 GI Physicians in multiple hospitals to try to figure out the cause of his continued severe anemia.  They ran tests upon test and Travis endured so many IVs, blood draws, scans, biopsies, scopes, and infusions, it was heartbreaking.  Every time we went for a test we prayed for the answer so that he could get back to a normal life and not have to endure all of the pain.


When we moved to Seattle for work, we were able to get him into Seattle Children’s with a hematologists who was determined to find the cause.  She swore he was bleeding somewhere and begged the GI team to do a 3rd pill cam where they finally found bleeding in his small intestine.  What started out as relief on our part that we finally found the cause, turned out to be much harder to understand  and and accept.


After additional, focused, scans and an enteroscopy at UW, they found a 5cm tumor growing out of his small intestine.  Travis underwent surgery on January 16th and they were able to extract the entire tumor and reconnect his small intestine.


Sadly, the tumor came back as a very aggressive cancer called a GI Stromal Tumor.  It is a rare sarcoma that occurs in very few children and even fewer males in the small intestine.  They are still trying to figure out the genetic mutations of the tumor so that they know if there are any targeted therapies that could slow progression.  At this time, they have no cure, but will watch him closely and try to surgically remove future tumors as they occur.


It has been a long road and we are praying for a miracle.  Travis is such a sweet, kind, smart and talented young man.  His story is one of amazing fortitude and bravery and we are so thankful for all of the love and support we have.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Amber Gilroy

It’s been a while since the last post and it has been great year so far with Travis still cancer free!  He’s been tolerating his chemo much better over the last few months and it’s just become a part of his regular routine.  His labs have been pretty stable although they’ve diagnosed him with Gilbert’s disease which impacts the liver’s ability to process medications.  It’s not a great diagnosis for someone who needs to be on strong medication indefinitely but it is also something they can monitor closely now that we know about it.  His bilirubin has continued to be high due to the disease but they watch him closely and so far his total liver function seems to be doing well.  He also has developed a heart condition called prolonged QT interval, which can be pretty dangerous.  The medications he is on can cause this condition so he has EKGs every month to keep an eye on his heart.  His doctors at Seattle Children’s have been so awesome and the goal is long term remission! 

Next week Travis will become a rising 7th grader.  When he started getting sick in 3rd grade and then the diagnosis in 5th grade, we weren’t sure what the future would hold.  Every day is a blessing and we continue to pray that his cancer is gone for ever.  He’s so strong, brave, resilient and just an amazing young man.  Love you all and keep the prayers coming!! ❤️

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