Hi Everyone,

We wanted to let you know that Travis came home this evening so we are all hoping for a good night of sleep for the first time in 10 days. He had some good days and was able to eat Oreo McFlurries from McDonalds any time he wanted (doctor’s orders).  The Castiglione’s brought over homemade chicken noodle soup, pasta and meatballs.  Travis said that if they were to sell it, he would buy it!

Now we can start preparing for the next part of our journey. We do have some follow up appointments next week to obtain some spinal fluid samples (looking for remaining cells) and to install a porta-cath (or port) under his skin in preparation for the upcoming treatments and testing. Travis is such a trooper!

Some of you have been asking about the tumor and our neuro-oncologist has identified it as Medulloblastoma (grade 4). After the successful surgery, the treatment will begin with radiation and followed by chemotherapy. We are waiting for the final genetic testing of the tumor to be complete to determine the exact dosage of each. He has recommended that we should have the radiation treatment done at MD Anderson in Houston, TX if at all possible. He said that if it was his child, that is where he would go. The reason being is that MD Anderson has 1 of only 9 Proton Beam Therapy centers in the US. San Diego has one now but it will not be used on patients until July, 2013 and he does not want to wait that long after surgery. The difference between Proton Beam and Photon Beam is that Proton Beam is a newer technology that allows for more precise delivery of the energy and has less scattering of energy that could be absorbed by surrounding organs and tissue. His suggestion is to start radiation therapy within 30 days of the surgery which would put us right around Easter time (or shortly after) and he is expecting it to last ~6-7 weeks. Then Travis would get a break and continue his chemotherapy here in San Diego.

Thanks for all of your love, well wishes, prayers and support! It means so much to us.

Love,

Tony and Lynne