At the end of Week 4, we have now finished our full cranial/spinal treatment and will be moving on to “boost” treatments over the next 2 weeks.  Major milestone!  Our radiation treatment appointments will go from 1 hour down to 30 minutes and will be scheduled mostly in the early morning which will free up the rest of the day which will be nice.  Maybe we will be able to do some more things around Houston provided Travis is up for it.  The doctor says that there may be some slight side effects like tenderness in the area they will be treating (tumor bed) but we will take things as they come.

Despite last night being “Stadium Night” theme for dinner at the hotel with all the favorite stadium food like hotdogs, Travis wanted a Sonic chili-cheese dog for lunch but we ended up going for pizza with some of our new friends.  There was a huge storm that blew through this morning and created flooding everywhere we drove.  The roads and traffic were so bad, it took us an hour and a half to get to the proton center which made us 30 minutes late for our appointment.  They ended up working us in but we were starving for lunch by time the appointment was done.  So, pizza it was.

When we got back home, we had a bag delivered by Nancy (friend of Christyn) that had 2 Prayer Shawls inside handmade by members of the Holy Spirit Episcopal Church.  Thanks so much Nancy and everyone who had a loving hand in making these beautiful shawls.  They definitely bring us comfort and we are grateful for your prayers!

Tony and Tyler arrived today so we will all be together for Mother’s Day.  It is the first time we have ALL been together since April 14^th.  We came back home so that Tyler and Travis could catch up on everything over some ice cream.  They really missed each other and couldn’t stop sharing stories!  Travis can’t wait to introduce Tyler to the Sonic chili-cheese dog. ;o)

Week 4 is out the door!

Thanks,

Lynne and Tony

As we near the end of Week 4, we have so many things to be thankful for.  First and foremost, we are thankful that Travis is doing well.  Even without hair, he is a handsome dude!  Second, we are thankful for all the support from family, friends, neighbors and our entire community who have been there for us in so many different ways that it is impossible list them all.  We are thankful for all the great gifts, cards and care packages we have received with the most recent from the Spangenberg family.  How did you know Bacelona was one of Travis’ favorite teams?  Thanks so much Phil, Tracey, Brooke, Blake, Michelle and Sean!  We are also thankful for the wonderful staff here at the Homewood Suites who told us they would take care of us like family and they have. Today, we had a huge basket, prepared by some of our Homewood Suites family (the housekeeping staff), stuffed full of things for Travis (Astros jersey, football, baseball, and so many other goodies).  Thank you all so much for the basket and for all your kind gestures each and every day.  Travis loves it all and so do we!  And finally, we are thankful that Grandma arrived in Houston.  After the travel odyssey she experienced courtesy of American Airlines, let’s just say we are thankful she arrived.  You wouldn’t think it would be that hard to travel from San Diego to Houston with a change in Dallas.  What should be about 5 hours of travel with the layover in Dallas, turned out to be close to 12 and an arrival at the hotel at 12:30am.  Thanks AA!  Almost forgot, we are thankful for Shannon, Jonathon, Spenser, Reed and Collyn for taking Tyler out for ice cream.  You are so special and he loves hanging out with you all!

Love,

Lynne and Tony

We had Proton at 11:00 am and ate lunch at Subway after our treatment.  Travis has been wanting to eat there for a while.  Some more of what he calls “quality fast food.”  We went to the Health Museum after that.  Admission was free with our RH Fleet membership.  It was a small museum, but nice to walk around in.  At the gift shop, since Travis is our bug man, he bought cheddar flavored mealworms to share with the technicians at the Proton Center.  He already ate a bag of them on his own.  One of his favorite technicians has been out on vacation, so we are waiting until Monday to see if they are all up for the challenge.  We have our guesses as to who will partake but this will be something for them to remember Travis.

When we got back home, there was a large box waiting for us.  It was from one of our Faith & Works families, Keith and Beth.  Among all the goodies, they also sent two containers of homemade chicken noodle soup.  Can you believe it?  They froze it, wrapped it in dry ice, and then sent it overnight through Federal Express.  The soup was still frozen when we received it.  Back in March, when Travis first came home from the hospital, they brought the soup over and Travis just loved it.  He said: “if they were selling it, I’d be buying it!”  Keith is a chef and a very good cook.  I just can’t believe they sent it all the way to Houston.   How nice of you to go through all that trouble.   Thanks you guys for bringing a smile to our faces and warmth to our bellies!

A great Dinner back in Carlsbad for Tony, Tyler and Grandma was provided by the Perryman family.  Thanks Erin for doing so much for us!  Tony had soccer practice tonight and a coaches meeting afterward.  At the Wave office, they had put together some Wave gear (backpack, hoodie, warm-up jacket and pants) for Travis with his name on it.  Travis just loves wearing his Wave wear and has been representing here in Houston.  He gets comments all the time about Carlsbad, Wave and soccer in general.  Soccer really is a major motivation in keeping him going and one of his biggest goals is to get back out on the field whenever he can.  Thanks Steve, Jodi and the rest of our Wave family for decking out our boy!

Finally, thanks to the family at Bethlehem Preschool who left the anonymous gift for Travis!  Every day, the support you all have provide to our family amazes us.  We are so blessed!

Thanks,

Lynne and Tony

Again, we have managed to forget to mention some special people.  Where does the mind go?  Thanks so much Trish, Kathleen, Sherri, Lynn and Kristina for your generous gifts and special cards.  You all are so kind to us and Travis can’t wait to get back and say hi to our Novatel family.

With the early start on Tuesdays and all of the appointments we have (port access, lab work, doctor appointment, chemo push and proton treatment), we feel like we have had a full day by lunch time (and we have).  The doctors are pleased with where Travis is again this week.  He is feeling good, his counts are good and his side effects are minimal.  Knock on wood!!!

During the afternoon, we worked on some school work, thank you cards and emails.  Before you know it, the afternoon was gone and it was dinner time.  The theme was Cajun style food at the hotel.  Did we say that these free dinners from Monday to Thursday are great and very convenient?  Travis ate like a machine.  With a big meal in his stomach combined with our early start, he was asleep on the coach by 8pm.

Where did the time go?  In a couple of days, Grandma and then Tony and Tyler will be in Houston for Mother’s Day.  Besides pictures and Skype, Tyler and Travis have not seen each other since April 14^th and Grandma has not seen Travis since Christmas time.  It will be great for all of us to be together for the weekend!

Thanks,

Lynne and Tony

Week 4!

After such a busy and fun weekend, we realized that we forgot to thank some of our friends for their kind gestures.  Thanks to the Price family and Trina for the great care packages!  Thanks to the Kohn and O’Leary families for your generous gifts!  Travis loved everything!  And, thanks to the Yousko family for a great pre-Cinco de Mayo dinner for Tyler and Grandma!

Here we go with our 4^th week of full cranial/spinal treatment. We had an appointment with the doctor prior to the proton treatment so we had to get an earlier start.  Travis wore his JJ Watt hat today and everyone was commenting on it and what a nice guy he is.  Travis just smiled from ear to ear for which we can’t thank Lisa, Kevin and JJ enough.  Then as we started the treatment, Tony had to leave for the airport to head back home to Carlsbad.  After the treatment, Travis spine was a little sore.  They are reducing his steroid every few days and he may be experiencing some inflammation due to the radiation.

When we returned home, we had another great care package from Aunt Judy and Uncle Doug.  Thanks Danny for the great idea of the Messi jersey.  Travis loves it!  We also had some beautiful flowers and a very nice note from Kimberly here in Houston.  Thank you so much for brightening our day.

Tony made it back to Carlsbad where Tyler and Grandma picked him up at the Coaster station in Encinitas.  They had a great meal provided by the Splavec family.  Thanks Kelson for all of your support!

Sorry if we missed anyone but we truly appreciate the overwhelming support we are receiving from everyone.  Amazing!

Thanks,

Lynne and Tony

On Saturday after breakfast, we watched the movie Life of Pi.  Travis really liked it!  We went out to watch a soccer game at the Houston Amateur Sports Park where the Houston Dynamo Academy teams play.  We had a picnic lunch, threw a Nerf football and kicked the soccer ball around for a little bit.  Travis’ energy level gets low quickly and his muscles are fatigued so we are always trying to do little things to build him back up. On the way back home, we stopped by Trader Joes for some provisions and always come out of there with more than we were expecting.  We had been told about a place to get a good burger so we went out and had Whataburger.  They had some good onion rings, milkshakes and we liked the spicy ketchup.  It is definitely a step up over normal fast food (even better than In-N-Out).  We came back home and watched The Hobbit which Travis really liked too.  Back in Carlsbad, Tyler and Grandma went out for Yogurt Shack and a movie, Iron Man 3, which Tyler really liked.  All in all, it was a good day!

On Sunday, we had breakfast and went to church.  We have now been to 3 types of masses (Traditional, Contemporary and Youth) at St. Cyril of Alexandria.  We like certain things about each one but Travis seemed to like it during the Youth mass when the priest was talking like characters from The Hobbit as he related to the teenagers.  The music/choir are good at each one too.  After church, Travis wanted to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with some tacos and nachos, so we went to Taco Cabana.  It was pretty good for fast food and kind of reminded us of Rubio’s back in California.

JJ Watt Hat!

One of our friends from preschool, Lisa, was in Houston for the weekend to visit her brother, Kevin, and they stopped by after lunch.  Kevin works with the Houston Texans organization as a Pro Scout and they brought a hat for Travis signed by the Houston Texans’ JJ Watt (#99).  It is amazing since we just saw a special on JJ Watt several months ago and Travis really liked him because he is such a humble person and is always giving back to the community.  Wow…Travis can’t stop smiling from ear to ear!  He went right up and started working on thank you cards for Lisa, Kevin and JJ.  Thanks so much you guys!

Then on Sunday afternoon, our new friends, Christyn, Scott, Madison, Jackson and Mason, invited us to their house for dinner.  We had a great time talking, playing and eating.  There is just nothing like cooking on the grill and sharing good company.  Thank you all so much for inviting us into your beautiful home and making us feel so welcome.  Travis said that was the best meal he has had since being in Texas.  That is saying something coming from him since he has had some “quality” food since being here.  He had a great time playing with Mason and Jackson and just being able to hang out with some other kids.

We came back home and watched Chasing Mavericks, a good movie based on a true story of surfer, Jay Moriarty.  We have been wanting to watch it for quite some time and finally had the chance.  Thanks Red Box!

We had a great weekend which almost felt normal!

Thanks,

Tony and Lynne

We are officially halfway done with 3 weeks down and 3 more weeks to go.  Yeah!  Also, in terms of our little milestones that we track, we now have 3/4 of the full cranial/spinal radiation done and only have 1 more week of this full radiation to go.  Then we move to finish the remaining 2 weeks with “boost” treatments where they only treat the tumor bed area and the appointments only take half the time (30 minutes instead of 1 hour).  But who’s counting, right?

We met with our doctor for our weekly appointment.  She said that everything is going well with the proton treatment and Travis is doing great despite his rough start.  We have started noticing Travis is losing some of his hair from the radiation treatment.  Since he had his hair cut short, it is not too noticeable yet but we can tell that it is thinning.  It is almost like he is shedding his winter coat (see, the way he is with Cisco, we always knew he has part dog in him).  He says that he doesn’t care and that if it falls out, it falls out.  Hair today, gone tomorrow (just like dad).  Such a positive attitude!

When we arrived back home at the hotel (our home away from home), we found a new “Warrior” jersey had been dropped off by our new friends Christyn and Mason.  Thanks so much you guys…Travis loves it!  There are so many other cards, letters and emails that Travis says to say Thank you to everyone.  He really appreciates everything and they all bring a smile to his face.

Tony arrived and we went straight from the airport so that Travis could treat him to a McFlurry.  He is such a giving little guy and would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.

We are Free from Week 3!

Thanks,

Tony and Lynne

Our treatment went well again today.  Travis is an old pro now.  He gets himself changed, climbs up on the table, lines himself up and all the technicians say that he makes their job much easier.  After our treatment, we went over to the main hospital again.  No, not for another appointment!  This time it was to tour the new Pediatric Oncology floor that was just remodeled.  They have been working to consolidate a lot of the related functions onto the same floor.  They had a grand opening which included festivities and a tour.  It is really well done and set up to be kid and family friendly!

Our Faith & Works group had our monthly works activity down at Father Joe’s Villages St. Vincent de Paul this evening.  Tony, Tyler and grandma were able to go down and help our group serve dinner for those in need.  It is amazing how far a simple smile, look in the eye, “hi” or “how are you doing today” can go and lets people know you care about them.  Our group consists of 5 families who have become an extended part of our family and big part of our lives.  Even though Travis and Lynne couldn’t be there in person, they were there in everyone’s hearts.  We can’t wait until we are all at home for our next meeting in June.  They are planning a special works project in July where we will be participating in a 24 hour Hope Relay for Life in Carlsbad for the American Cancer Society in honor of Travis (more details to come).  Wow…we are choked up just talking about this!

Thanks,

Lynne and Tony

After our treatment today, Travis had another baseline appointment but this time it was with Endocrinology so they can keep an eye on any potential effects from the radiation treatment.  They talked mainly about potential issues with his Thyroid and possible slight growth impacts from treating the spine.  Afterwards, Travis wanted to stop by the cafeteria to experience the great food there again.  This time he settled on, you guessed it, Pizza!  He said that it is “quality pizza for a good price.”  He is becoming quite the foodie when he is feeling good!  He has been talking about all the food he wants to have when Tony arrives on Friday which is a good thing.

When we arrived back home there was a great package from the Santos family. Travis loved everything and it makes him feel so special that people would go to so much trouble for him.  He really does appreciate every little thing (texts, calls, emails, cards, notes, drawings, pictures, packages, thoughts, prayers, etc.) and so do we.  We are so blessed to have such great support from everyone!

Tony had soccer practice tonight and all the kids and parents were asking how Travis was doing.  They all send their thoughts and prayers to Travis.  Juli had a Canteen from the Marines on Camp Pendleton for our little Warrior.  He loves it!  Travis really misses his team and playing soccer.  He can’t wait to be able get back out on the field and that is a very motivating goal for him.  Thanks you guys and Go Wave!

A great dinner was provided by the Lambert family for Tony, Tyler and grandma.  Thanks Therese!  It is such a relief to know so many people are helping us.  Again, we so are blessed!  Tony reminded me of the first time we were going to be apart after we were married.  I was going to take the train up to see my grandmother for the weekend.  He was in college and had a big project due so he couldn’t go with me.  His first reaction was “what am I going to eat while you are gone.”  Even though he has come a long way in the almost 24 years we have been married and I know he wouldn’t starve, it is nice to know we have friends looking out for us!

Thanks,

Lynne and Tony