{New Plan}

Travis and I were able to meet with the Dr. today to discuss our next 

step in our treatment plan.

He has been on his 2 week break from Sutent,

and honestly is still feeling the side effects.

He does feel a little better then when he is on the drug,

but is still swollen, tired, and his poor stomach still has

many aches and pains.

We discussed all of our options today with the Dr.

When Travis was diagnosed the first time,

there wasn't many options in the field for RCC patients.

Today, the Dr. gave us a list, 

and while there aren't dozens,

there are options.

I just couldn't help but be grateful that we do have the options 

we have.  I can't imagine how terrifying it would be to not even

have the chance to choose your treatment plan.

 10 years ago we wouldn't have been so lucky.

After discussing all of our choices,

we opted to go with a mixture of drugs.

The first is called interferon, which is the oldest drug in the book.

And another called Avastin.

Avastin is infused, so that old port will come in handy again.

He will go every other week and the infusion takes about an hour.

Interferon is a shot that he will get 3 times each week.

And it sounds like either he, or I will get to administer it.

In his belly.

Ewwww.

The side effects for Avastin seem tolerable enough.

And really, taking that pill each night has been so hard for 

Trav's stomach that I think he will welcome going in for infusions again.

But the side effects for interferon will be harder.

It sounds like the stomach problems wont be as bad,

which is really fabulous, but there are lots of side effects.

Mostly flu like symptoms.

Which sounds awful and hard...

Poor Travis.

He's honestly felt like  he's had the flu for months now.

I am so grateful for how hard he fights for us.

 I watch him pull himself out of bed each morning and head to 

work when I know he feels incredibly sick,

and it reaffirms that I married a pretty amazing man.

Our lives have changed drastically in the past year.

And it's been very hard.

Harder then I really ever imagined.

 It's incredibly hard to watch the person you love feel so sick

with no relief or end in sight.

It's been hard on our kids.

The cold is affecting him worse then ever...

(in fact, he wears special thermals that are supposed to trap in heat every day,

and is still freeeeezing.)

So he isn't able to go outside and build a snowman,

or go sledding.

 Dad can't wrestle with them anymore.

On NYE we went to dinner and Adyson watched a

Grandpa wrestle with his grand kids.

Adyson looked at me and said it makes her sad that her

dad can't do that.

And it broke my heart.

 But then I see the ladies snuggle up next to him on the couch to warm him up.

And they make him watch videos on their ipod,

and he is always willing to read to them and will

spend every second he has catering to them.

And on every single good day,

he is thinking of something fun and special for them.

I hope they realize that he is stronger then most dads out there,

just in a different way.

This ended up being a pretty long rant for a little update.

Sorry about that!

Anyhow, they will get this all approved by the insurance and we will

begin soon.

Feeling nervous and optimistic.

Even though I stated there are options,

there's still  not enough.

We'd really like it to work,

and we'd really like it to give him,

and all of us,

a better quality of life!

Thanks for checking in.

If you made it all the way to the end of this

huge post,

I applaud you.

A little PS-
I love the Cancer Center her in Logan.
They treat my Trav like the rockstar that he is.
So grateful to them.