Cataract Surgery 9/19/01 -- Travis Update

September 6, 2001

Dear everyone,

Sorry no update until now. Life's been overfull with these appointments, school starting, work, Team in Training running... you all know the drill (and live it in your own ways, I know!). Here's the scoop so far...

Travis will be having cataract and lens replacement surgery in his right eye (it's 20/200 right now, I think they said) on 9/19/01 (2 days after Travis' 3 year BMT anniversary and it's the 2nd day of Rosh Hashonah -- a good luck omen, I hope!) in the morning. It's out patient, so that's great. The doctor was just wonderful and reassuring -- it helped Travis quite a bit. We have another appt. next week to re-measure his eye to fit the right size lens when they do the surgery. Then he'll likely miss a few days of school just protecting his eye from schoolkid bumping -- and after that, he may have to put a hold on soccer (he'll be SO bummed) for a bit and then wear sports goggles to protect his eyes thereafter. He will likely still have glasses afterwards (he'd so hoped NOT, but looks like that's not an option) and will have the left eye done some 4-6 weeks after the first surgery. That eye's not as bad, so it can wait a bit until the first eye is healed and strong. And on a school note, he's been blessed with a wonderful, supportive teacher who is deeply concerned and understanding of the situation. So until he can see clearly, Travis is making it through school with loving guidance and support -- and managing really well.

A sweet note: One of our temple congregants called Travis just a day after her cataract surgery to tell him how smooth and easy it was for her. It was a wonderful reassurance for him -- helped him truly relax more about the whole ordeal. Thank you, Linda! Hope you're healed and in full vision.

Travis is still having bad headaches now and then. Don't know what that's about, but at least they do go away after few hours -- and it's NOT a tumor, so that's a huge relief. I forget what I've emailed out already, but in case I only dreamed writing this to you already... the MKE neurologist assured us that while the spot on Travis' brain was unusual and unexplained, it was also old (over a year) and healed. And as long as it wasn't active or recurring, he wasn't concerned -- only curious. They will be including some tests during Travis' 3 year workup in MKE in October, to try to determine what that might have been about.

3 years. Not a day goes by that I don't think of Marge, Travis' donor and hero in all this. What a gift you've been to our family, Marge. We're coming up on the big 3 year day. That's September 17. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

And on that donor note, my mom Selma Goldish, has been spearheading a bone marrow drive planning effort for this October in Duluth, MN. She and her wonderful committee (including my dad, Bob) have worked tirelessly to contact many minority groups who are underrepresented in the National Marrow Donor Program registry. Often, the closest matches for searching patients are found from donors of the same ethnic background, so ensuring that everyone has equal access to transplants with full representation in the registry is vital. Thank you, Mom, for this meaningful effort. Even the possibility of one life saved makes it all worthwhile. I'll keep you all posted on how this turns out.

Thanks, everyone, for the beautiful emails and messages you sent after that last scary update. It took me quite a while to read them all -- and the warmth and support you conveyed brought me right back into the cocoon you'd provided during our transplant days. We are so lucky. Thank you for the love, caring and prayers. I'll write after the surgery…

Love, hugs and hope,

Melanie

www.keeptrying.com