T3N0 = Stage 2

It’s been a little while since I’ve updated on Travis. So this is what’s been going on the last couple weeks. They staged his cancer as T3N0, or stage 2. However, they did a ct scan and found a “smudge” on his lungs. If it turns out to be cancer then it will change it to stage 4. Trav got his PICC line put in last week to prepare for the Chemo. On January 7th he will start Chemo and Radiation. He will be hooked up to the Chemo all the time Monday through Friday, and Radiation will be a daily appointment Monday through Friday for 5 weeks. After he finishes it up he will wait 6 weeks before they can do surgery. Once the surgery is done he will have another round of Chemo. We really appreciate everyone’s continued support through all of this! Love y’all!

Genetic Testing results

We met with the Radiation Oncologist today and found out that we did the genetic testing 2 years ago...good news being it was fine then…bad news is we just wasted an entire month getting us closer to an answer we already knew! But, the radiation oncologist is getting us moving in the right direction now and hopefully soon we’ll have this thing staged and know what steps we need to take to get Travis cancer free! Thank you for the continued support and prayers! Love y’all!

Testing..

Well…more questions, few answers. Travis and I went to the surgeon this morning. The next step is sending him for some genetics testing. If it comes back positive, he may lose his entire colon. If it comes back negative we’ll most likely do an aggressive surgery, so different from the last one, and remove his lymph nodes this time. Chemo is still a possibility, but we really aren’t sure yet. Radiation, probably not, but not necessarily ruled out yet either. Thanks for everyone’s continued support!

It's back

Well I thought and hoped this blog would never be used again!  But, Trav's cancer is back. He was having bloody stools and so he got a colonoscopy. They found the cancer at the edge of his scar from the last cancer.  He had a colonoscopy 6 months ago, and it was fine...so it's pretty quick growing.  We are pretty overwhelmed, but are going to fight this again!  We don’t know a whole ton. He  is going to get a CT scan tomorrow, and then on Wednesday he will have an appointment with our surgeon.  Tuesday we are having a fast for Travis if anyone wants to be join us you are welcome to! 
....................................................................................................
All the support we’ve received today is overwhelming! It’s been an emotional day, I would’ve thought it’d be easier the 2nd time around, but it’s not…it’s still cancer and it’s awful! Thank you for all the love, support, and prayers! It sincerely means a lot to know we have so many friends and family that cares! (That includes the e-mails, texts, hugs, etc!) Thankful to my parents (Rick & Michelle) who still stop everything in their lives to support me through everything! Grateful my Mom was able to take our kids for the day and still find time to make us a delicious dinner! We love you all! Also grateful for and love my sweet Travis!

Colonoscopy

Trav was having some complications and so he went in for a colonoscopy. This picture was me waiting, since then we have found out it's cancer again.

From Travis:

It is with a heavy heart that I'm making this post. Sadly my fight against cancer is not over. Today we discovered it has returned. Please send any prayers and/or good vibes my way if you have any left to give. Here goes round 2...

C. Diff

Well who knew that the thing that saved Trav was going to be so hard to get rid of!  We are thankful for the difficult C. Diff that didn't just go away, because without that he would've never been scoped.  However, he is still suffering off and on from it.  He has had to do a bunch more tests and another scope, and he does not have C. Diff.  He has all the symptoms, but not the bacteria.  I guess that's good, but it's frustrating knowing we are just waiting out the symptoms!  His GI doctor thought it was best for him to not take any medicine, because that can also cause problems.  If it comes back again really strong then he is going to have another colonoscopy.  Poor guy has already had 4 this year! 

Three of Trav's syblings have gotten colonoscopy and have all been clean!!

C. Diff

Well Trav still is sick...he has been fighting the C. Diff since about a week post-surgery.  He'll start to feel good and then just crash again.  Travis had a scope last week, fourth one this year, and there were no signs of C.Diff.  So, Travis is tapering off the medicine again.  He is currently taking 2 medicines to control the C. Diff, then a probiotic, and a mega multivitamin!  He has been sick for over 3 months now and so he is quite frustrated.  After we taper off we will hope and pray that he is all better.  The GI doctor says that it's possible that his colon has just been through a lot, or maybe the medicine is causing him to feel the way he does, I'll spare you the details!  If that's the case then in time he will be feeling better.  If it's still C. Diff then Trav has to let it basically get out of control, so it's very painful, then we can go back in and he can be tested again.  We are just continuing our faith and know that Trav will eventually be better! 

Tumor Board Results

Well I didn't want to post this right away, because we thought it was best to wait til Trav's Mom talked to all of Trav's siblings before blogging about it!

The good news is all of the genetic testing has finally come back and it does not appear to be genetic!! Yay! However, they still don't know why he would have cancer so young, and coming from parents with such little families, they thought it'd be a good idea for Trav's parents and siblings to get a colonoscopy! The main reason is for them, they don't know if they are also at a greater risk, but also for Travis so we can see if he does have a greater chance of relapse. If they find anything I'm not sure if that really changes our future too much, but we aren't going to predict that for now! This is the current plan...

No Radiation!!! No Chemo!!! Both great news! The Tumor Board felt like they got all of the cancer, with large enough borders, so there is no point in any further treatment! However, since he has had colon cancer he has an increased risk of getting it again, especially for the first few years. So, Trav is lucky enough to have a colonoscopy yearly for the next few years! They will also draw his blood every three months for a year. Not too big of a deal, with these precautions they would catch a polyp before it turned cancerous!

We feel so incredibly blessed that they caught his cancer so early! Every doctor we have seen just comes in and asks if Travis realizes how lucky he is. We know that the Lord had a hand in every step of this process! Travis received an incredible blessing when he was suffering from the C. Diff, it has been incredible to look back and see how inspired it was and to know the Lord prepared us for the cancer before we knew about it! The oncologist told us that our surgeon made a bold move by doing the surgery he did, she said it would not have been acceptable considering Trav’s ultrasound showed it as a T2, into the muscle. However, we know that the Surgeon was blessed and directed! We are so grateful for the lessons we have learned from the cancer and the blessings and miracles we have been able to witness!

Where we go from here...

This last Thursday, May 6, we went to an Oncologist to see where we go from here, and after a 2 hour wait we were told he does not need Chemo and we were being referred to another Oncologist to discuss the possibility of radiation. 

So Friday we went to the other Oncologist were she said Travis probably does not need radiation, but we are unsure right now.  He is a special case and so they are presenting his case in front of a Tumor board this Wednesday.  This will be a board of a bunch of Oncologists and Surgeons discussing where to go from here!  Just because the cancer is gone, does not mean we are done!  Our GI doctor, Surgeon, and the 2 oncologists we have now seen will be presenting our case.  If Travis was 50-60 years older we would be in a much easier place.  We could say...let's do radiation/chemo, and go forward knowing there is very few side effects to be worried about.  Or we could say let's not do anything and go forward assuming old age is gonna kill him before cancer!  We do not have some of our genetic testing back yet, and so that is also going to play a role in determing if radiation is necessary.

It's all kind of confusing and overwhelming!  They want to be proactive and agressive because he is so young.  But they also want to be conservative and not burn any bridges, because he is so young.  We know the Lord's hands have been in every step so far, and do not doubt he is guiding the doctors thoughts and helping us get the best care that Travis needs! 

In addition, the C. Difficile has flared up again.  A couple weeks ago Trav went down to 1 pill a day and a few days later he got sick again.  Dr. Gonzales was out of town, the GI Doctor, so another doctor in the office told us to go back to 2 pills a day for another week, then back to 1.  We got a call last week saying that Dr. Gonzales will be back in the country next Tuesday and wants to meet with us.  Travis went back to 1 pill, and it's flared up again since we made that appointment, so we will be discussing where we go from here with that.  Tomorrow I want to discuss with the doctor about using a probiotic to get some good bacteria in Trav's intestines...but have read about some of the other possibile treatments that we may have to look into. 

We appreciate everyones continued prayers and support!

Comedy Fundraiser

Today was such a great day!  We woke up really early, for us, and got the kids out of bed and dressed and headed to Salt Lake.  Travis and Joy were on the radio talking about the fundraiser.  It was way fun to see the radio station and visit with Joy for a little bit!  We also got to meet Keith Stubbs, from the Stubbs show and also the owner of Wiseguys!  He was way cool!

Then we went home and Travis had to rest...he was wiped out!

Then that night Tami and Jason came over to watch the kids and we headed to Wiseguys!  It was so fun seeing so many people we had not seen for awhile, and it's impossible to explain the love and support we felt that night.  Joy had set up such an amazing night!  The food was great, the comedians were so funny!  The comedians were so amazing to donate their time!  Everyone enjoyed the night!  Thanks again Joy!!  Thank you to everyone who came and supported us as well!  And thank you to those who were unable to attend, but still gave donations to Joy, Ali, Tara and my Mom, or sent them directly to us!

We then came home and watched the Jazz lose with Tami and Jason!  Was fun to spend some time with them, but sad the Jazz lost!  After they left we crashed!  I slept better then I have in months!  It was nice to have a fun day, it was needed so badly, and laughter is the best medicine! :D