Waiting Game

Travis ended up being sedated and on a ventilator for 3 days after his second surgery. He came through it great - he hardly remembers a thing. His parents and I are the only ones who have to live with that horrible scene.

We believe that his doctors made the right decision on taking him back into surgery. Travis finally got some rest and his vitals have improved. Trav told the doc today that he has no regrets in going in to fix the leak - who knows if it would have ever healed on its own.

So, now we are playing the waiting game. We will wait until Thursday to do another leak study.

As of tomorrow, Trav will be in the hospital for 2 weeks! We know every nurse in the ICU and I am getting to know the cafeteria employees pretty good, too.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

Sprung a Leak

Dang it - he had a leak. (I would have liked to have said something stronger, but I know I'm writing to a mixed audience.) Every time Trav ate, he came down with a high fever. Although, the two studies came back looking good, his doctor felt that there was probably a tiny leak, and he was right.

Trav went back into surgery yesterday. The leak was found where the new connection was between the esophagus and stomach. Basically, we are back to day 1 in the recovery process. Travis was very disappointed, he doesn't like being in the hospital (don't know who would).

We will have to wait until Wednesday for the next study to see if the leak has healed properly and go from there. His doctor refuses to cut any corners or rush things. We all need to be patient- especially the patient. Please send your positive thoughts to Trav that time flies during the upcoming days.

Post- Surgery Updates

Day 7 -

The test results were good. No leaks. He slowly started eating soft foods and drinking water. Yay! The doctor said he may come home either Thursday or Friday. We can't wait.

Day 6 -


Travis continues to improve everyday. He had a tube coming out of his nose that really bothered him, and today the doctor removed it. Right now, he has a chest tube that drains chest fluid and one IV that administers his pain medicines, potassium and iron. And he also has a J-tube which delivers his nutrients.


Tomorrow, he has the big test to see if there are any leaks and to see if he can swallow. If the test is good, he can start eating and drinking.

Travis is getting antsy being in the hospital - no final decision has been made on when he will get released.



Here is a picture of the chapel in the hospital. It's a beautiful chapel with stained glass windows.


Day 4 -

Last night Travis didn't sleep well, the bed and him having to sleep on his back is very uncomfortable for him.

I took the kids up to the hospital to see him. I had actually taken a picture of him yesterday and showed it to them prior, I wanted them to be prepared for all the tubes. Trav hasn't even seen himself, yet.

His doctor and nurse say he is doing great. He is following their orders and doing well with the coughing. He also walked more often and farther.

Correction Notice - Apparently, I typed a wrong word yesterday on "Trav' To Do List". I'm sorry if you missed it, it was pretty damn funny. I told Angie that I am blaming it on my lack of sleep and stress. I think my mistake was called a Freudian slip - but what do I know, I never took psychology. I told Travis about it - he just rolled his eyes, I bet he is thinking that this blog isn't such a great idea.

Day 3 -

Really good day for Trav. They decreased his status from critical care to intermediate care. He is still in ICU, but he they don't take as many tests as often, and he is not one-on-one with the nurses. (Bye-Bye Ryan!)

I talked to his S surgeon he was able to keep 2/3 of Trav's stomach. Very nice! He started receiving small feedings through his J tube. The tube is located on his left side.

He walked twice today, once to the door (as long as the oxygen could go) and then once without oxygen half-way around the nurses station. He did great and he said it felt great.

They removed one IV - one down, hmmm about 10 to go. (Not exaggerating.) He spent alot of his time today untangling the cords around him.

Pain has also leveled off. Since the surgery he was really clicking those 'patient control' buttons - he had one for each hand. But he was having a hard time coughing (he needs to cough often, so pneumonia doesn't set in). He thought maybe he was overdoing it a little. He told Ryan - "Hey, I stopped using the buttons - I think I'm over medicating - it was fun while it lasted, but I gotta get down to business to get outta here."

The families of Valerie, Angie and Lyndee sent these balloons. The card read, Trav's to Do List:
- Watch 'Price is Right'
- Channel surf
- Flatulate
- Belch
- Adjust gown so I can flash the nurse
- Watch a movie
- Sleep
- Remember that I am loved
- Watch 'Price is Right'
- Repeat previous days list


I asked him, "Do you care that I am doing a blog and whatever you say may be published?" He said, "I'm OK with it as long as you don't tell everyone about my bowel movements." Oh, alright! Man, he is no fun. BTW, no BM's, yet. But I'll let everyone know as soon as it happens. Just kiddin'.

Day 2 -

Last night went good for Trav. Keith (Travis' dad) stayed the night to keep an eye on him. He had a little bit of a low blood pressure and fever, but it wasn't anything to worry about and was to be expected after the surgery.

Travis had two surgeons one for the stomach and one for the esophagus. His E surgeon said that he removed 6 inches of his esophagus. The S surgeon left a good portion of his stomach, like he said, "He won't be eating a big steak dinner anytime soon, but I left enough where he can have a nice meal." Plus your stomach stretches with time.

His main issues were pain control and the breathing exercises. He has to breathe into an incentive spirometer 10 times per hour. As Trav calls it, "It's his ticket outta here." It basically keeps you from getting pneumonia.

He was alert enough to tell the nurse that she needed to come back after the "Price is Right" is over to sit him up in the chair. She just laughed and said "OK, I have another patient to attend to anyway." Here is his nurse, Ryan. Looking at her now, I am re-thinking leaving him there alone with her! Just kiddin'. She is super cute and a very good nurse.
Keep those prayers comin'!

The Hurdle

Today was Travis' esphagastrectomy surgery and we couldn't be more relieved for 1) for it to be over and 2) with how well it turned out. Trav went in about 7:30 a.m., they took about one hour to get prepped, it was over about 2:45 p.m. He received an epidural to help with the pain. The nurse called us about 4 times with updates - which was really great.

His surgeon came out and told us that they could not see any of the tumor, which we pretty much expected since the last endoscopy. Part of the procedure was to biopsy any enlarged lymph nodes for cancer. But to his amazement he could not find any! Travis does have some scar tissue behind the stomach due to the radiation. The retraction of the stomach into the esophagus went well. We plan on Travis being in the hospital for 7-10 days. They will try to have him going on solid food in one week and do a swallowing test to make sure that everything is performing as it should. For right now, he has a feeding tube inserted on his side for nutrition. After surgery, Trav was awake, recognized me and said a few words. He was in a lot of pain, but after they got the pain meds going he was resting comfortably.

As Travis put it this morning, "This will hopefully be one of the last things we have to do that are unknown to us." For those of you who know Travis, you can almost seeing him crossing this surgery off his list.

Thanks to everyone for praying for us - we felt them. And praise God for getting Travis through.

Starting the Blog

So, I'm starting a blog. I think it will be a great way for everyone to keep track of what is going on with Travis' recovery. I am always asked "Hey, how's Trav doing?, when will we get another update?" Well, maybe this will be a better way of communicating it all to you.

I've posted most of the email updates that I have sent out in the past 6 months. The very first ones I didn't save - I'm kinda glad that I didn't, those were some scary ones. As I go through them all I amazed of how far we have come. Every phase had its own challenges -- and though it may not have been pretty, we came through stronger.

Cancer is and will always be a big part of our lives. But that's not all we are dealing with. We have two teenagers and a tween for hell sakes! Life does go on.

God has been great to us. He blessed us by coming together as a family and dealing with adversity and along the way we hope that our story can help you, too.

The BIG Surgery

Tomorrow, 2 Apr will be a very important day. Travis will be going in to have an esophectomy. This 6-hour surgery will consist of removing the part of the esophagus where the cancer was and also where it had spread to the stomach. His doctor will make an incision on his abdomen and remove part of his esophagus and then make another incision on his side to retract the stomach up. His stomach will be considerably smaller, like a tube.

The surgery will be done at Salt Lake Regional Hospital and we can expect Trav to be there for about 7 days. (No visitors, please)

Trav is definitely coming to the end of his treatment. And although this next step is going to be trying, he is anxious to get it done. The Dr told us, that most people with esophageal cancer don’t ever get to this point – in fact this doctor has only done 10-12 of these surgeries. In most cases, the cancer is so far advanced that most people do not even get to a possibility of a cure. Since Trav has had such a great response to all of the treatment -- it’s possible.


Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Remission - Yes!

Great news to pass along this time - Travis is in remission! We are witnesses to a MIRACLE! And I must say it couldn't happen to a nicer guy - don't you think? There is no evidence of the primary tumor on his esophagus. A biopsy was performed on the area where the tumor was and no cancer cells could be detected. We are looking forward now to the next phase of his recovery which includes 4 - 6 weeks of daily radiation and a less intense weekly chemotherapy regimen that will run concurrently with the radiation.Travis will get a month long break to recover from the radiation and chemotherapy, and then surgery will be done to remove the damaged esophagus. What a journey this has been and I am sure it will continue to be. When we started this, Travis was very sick and in pain, we were in shock and trying to find answers. In the past months we have learned many things that I have mentioned before in my previous updates. We have learned the generosity of family and friends. You all have been awesome.Travis and I have talked and we just come to the conclusion that we can never repay what was given to us - but we will be there for you in your time of need. What a blessing this experience has been. Can you believe that we are grateful to have gone through it? We are grateful!! Cancer took us to the deepest pit you can imagine and we were pulled out by God, through your prayers and Dr. Hansen's hands. I can't explain to you how BIG this was for us, and how much BETTER we became as a family. So, we beat cancer - but not how you might expect. Yes, we beat it by slamming it into remission. But we have conquered it another way -we've learned that we can LIVE with cancer. We have cancer, but cancer doesn't have us. Anyone can beat cancer, because being victorious is not only about being cured. It's about walking by FAITH, not by sight and knowing that anything that happens is going to be OK.