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| HOME || TRAVIS UPDATES || UPCOMING DRIVES || HOW TO HELP || LINKS |
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Two Years Travis/Family Update 9/17/00 |
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Dear Everyone, |
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It is unbelievable to us -- seven hundred thirty days have gone by since Travis' bone marrow transplant! Two years ago at this time of night on September 17, 1998, Travis received healthy marrow from the one person in the world who could offer him the gift of life. Marge Sullivan Levesque's selfless marrow donation has given us days of gratitude that we could have never before imagined. Marge, THANK YOU! |
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Here's the full scoop on "normal" life -- and it does feel pretty close to that -- with us: |
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Travis is now a happy, thriving student in second grade. He's still a thoughtful, kind and sweet child, who now (like so many other kids his age) adores the band N*SYNC, loves reading, soccer and playing every day with his best friend and brother, Spencer. We don't forget for a moment how miraculous this is. |
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At his two-year checkup, Travis' blood counts were all in the normal range, with NO sign of the Leukemia or Philadelphia Chromosome (cancer indicator) -- Hooray!!! His eyes are showing no further CMV Retinitis problems. YAY! Other than that, two tests seem to show some changes from last year to this year -- lungs and some rheumatoid test. The doctors have told us not to worry, but to be on the alert if Travis starts complaining of shortness of breath (or can't keep up with his friends) or complains of joint pains. So far, he seems to be doing fine, so again, they say not to worry -- it's just something they'll monitor year over year. Travis' growth is just great -- he's gaining weight normally and growing like any about-to-be-eight-year-old! The only test left is the psych evaluation, which has been postponed due to scheduling snafus in MKE. Frustrating, since we want all the two-year tests behind us? To us anyway, psychologically, he seems to be well adjusted -- and intellectually, he's as bright as ever. The only difference we have noticed lately is when Travis reads, he seems to often skip small words (if, the, and, etc.). This started sort of suddenly, so we're not sure what this is about. They'd told us to watch for abrupt changes, and this is? so we'll see if this is anything BMT-related or not when the psych evaluation finally takes place. Kind of a minor thing, but something we'll have checked out during this test. |
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On another note, a few weeks ago, Travis received a wonderful surprise in the mail. A box from Marge ("our" donor) arrived -- and inside was "Marrow the Bear-O". You may remember that this bear was a special gift from Marge two years ago, along with her marrow, on the night of the transplant. And somehow, unfortunately, Marrow disappeared from Travis' room in the hospital (we think it got wrapped in soiled laundry) shortly after that night. Marge had written that she'd bought a bear for Travis and the same one for her -- to always share together. Now, she'd wanted Travis to have her bear, to replace the lost Marrow the Bear-O. If you all could have seen Travis' eyes when he opened that box -- it was priceless. Right away, he knew the significance of this gift. He'd been SO distressed then it was missing in the hospital (as were we), and now, here was that cuddly bear once again. So, a few days ago, we made a card for Marge (a poster with "We love you" spelled out of life saver candies and a message written by Travis), and attached pictures of the boys, including one with them cuddling Marrow and "Shivers" (the replacement bear she had also sent). Marge was thrilled and touched -- as were we! |
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Many of you have been so wonderful to ask how Spencer has been doing. I still say that cancer affects the siblings in ways we'll probably never fully appreciate. But I'm so relieved to say that Spencer has truly come a long way since those unsettled days. I remember when we could almost see how ungrounded he was from all the craziness and fear associated with his brother's diagnosis. And now, again, we can just as clearly see how he's "settled back into life" -- playing, laughing, feeling good about himself and his own special skills and talents. He is thrilled to be in first grade -- with the big kids, finally. He is truly a loving child that has come through some amazing trauma with strength and sweetness. Honestly, I knew we'd come to a major milestone in this journey with Spencer coming so far and also just living a "normal" life again. The boys are as close as ever -- and now don't seem to live in constant fear of losing one another. Thank God. |
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Last night, we began our two year anniversary celebration weekend with a bunch of our neighbors and friends -- participating in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's "Light the Night" walk in downtown Chicago. It was a beautiful evening -- with over two thousand people walking along the lake shore, all holding lit helium balloons glowing in the night sky. Red balloons for supporters; white balloons for survivors. It was an emotional night -- mostly just joyful -- as Spencer and Travis skipped, ran, walked and laughed over the 2 1/2 miles with some of their closest friends (our neighbors' kids). And for Joe and me, it was so touching that again, our friends, who have been so incredibly supportive of us during this journey, were right by our side -- walking, remembering and celebrating. |
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Finally, we're living a more typical life these days. As a friend said to me recently, I've definitely come out of the cancer tunnel a different person that I was going in. For all of us, I believe that's true. We do see things differently than we ever did before -- which is a real gift, I believe. Yes, life is more normal than it has been since this all began -- so there's much hope ahead. I'm still working at Pecos River/Aon Consulting -- full, full time. Joe is going back into the workforce, now that the boys are in full-day school. We're both still running -- Joe coming up on his LLSA "Team In Training" marathon in Chicago on October 22 (he ran 18 miles the same day of our Light the Night walk!) -- and me still eeking out some runs, including a 1/2 marathon last week! |
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So, thanks to all of you -- and especially Marge -- we have much to be thankful for. In fact, please know that your generosity is being passed on. On October 4th, bone marrow drives are being held in Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg and Palatine, IL -- and we're passing along money from the Friends of Travis Fund that many of YOU supported. This funding will be used to cover the unsubsidized charges for full ABDR testing for up to 1000 registrants on that day. We know so well that getting people into the registry at the ABDR level can mean life to another person. Now it's time that we pass on your generosity to try to help others find the match they so desperately need. So if any of you live in this area -- or know others that do-- please pass the word and register! The drive will now be free of charge for all registrants at these locations. Hopefully, these drives will be a huge success. Saving even one life will make it so. Thanks for making this happen! |
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So, friends, we count our blessings for having Travis' childhood to celebrate -- something that two and half years ago we didn't know we'd see. We marvel at each hysterical, frenzied dance show that Travis and Spencer choreograph to their N*SYNC CD; at each page of homework; at each new pair of pants we need to buy because both boys are getting so tall; at Travis' delight at winning a Pokemon Master tournament; and mostly, at both boys' normalcy. It's a miracle. We pray that the days continue so well -- and take each one as it comes. |
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| Thank you for the love and support you've shown us each step of the way. |
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| Love, |
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| Melanie, Joe, Travis and Spencer |
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| HOME || TRAVIS UPDATES || UPCOMING DRIVES || HOW TO HELP || LINKS |
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