Maladies.

Here's a little update on Trav's many maladies.
I'm thinking of changing the blog title to travscrappydiseases. You like?

Disease #1.
The cancer.
Trav had a bone scan on Tuesday. It's been almost 3 years since his last one, and he was due. He said when the initial scan was over the tech very wearily told him he needed to take another picture of his rib....and he seemed a little relieved when Trav told him he already knew there is cancer there.

We were happy to report that there was no new cancerous growth on his bones.
Score 1 for T.

His rib pain seems to come and go, which is better then the constant pain he had a few weeks ago, but still not as good as it could be. He's determined to golf next week, and I've told him he can, but if he hurts himself I may kill him. :)

At the end of the month he will get his CT scan. (I know, has it been 3 months already?) We will be able to see what the radiation did, and are really hoping that for all the pain it's been, it's done something. And for those of you who need a little reminder, my birthday is also at the end of the month (write it down, it's a big day) so I figure happy scan results make for 1 happy b-day.

And we all know that my birthday is really what matters most. (I kid.) (A little.)

Disease #2:
Bursitis.

The steroids really helped pretty quickly, and after the first few days the pain started to lessen. I'd say he isn't %100 quite yet, but he is much, much better.

Side note: The nurses at the cancer center (who we adore. a lot) gave Trav quite a bit of crap today for having yet another old person disease. Apparently he was compared to and "old lady with bursitis in her knees" and taunted and teased when they put on "The Andy Griffith show" and assumed it was Trav's type of show, because he is 80 after all.

Heaven bless those nurses.

Disease #3 and #3.5
Arthritis and Slipped disc.

I don't really know which one of these nasty buggers has caused some discomfort as of late, so I will clump them into one.

Once T's shoulder started to feel better, his poor back started aching, and I started wondering who had it out for him. Luckily a few days later it seemed to work itself out, but all these aches have us thinking a bit...

The drug he takes is supposed to prolong life for 10 months. (10 months!) (Hooray for 100 treatments! and what, like 3 years? on that stuff). It hasn't been approved for very long, so in the haze of achy backs, achy ribs, and achy shoulders, we wondered if maybe all of these things are long term affects of his drug treatment. Not that it really matters, or that we will ever really know, but it gave us something to ponder. And now you can ponder it too. Aren't you excited?

A lot has happened in the past month making us even more thankful for what we have. We've watched a (I want to say friend, though we've never met them, so I guess acquaintance is the right word?) pass away after a very hard cancer battle, leaving his lovely wife alone with their 4 beautiful, and young children. When I find myself feeling blue or picked on, I just remember that still, we have a battle to fight, and we should be thankful for it.

A real pain in the....

Sunday night Trav started getting a pain in his shoulder, like a really bad pain. He couldn't lay on his back, and was pretty uncomfortable. And by Monday night, the pain was awful. I could see a lump on his back, and it just felt like a big muscle knot.

Now, one of those bad things that come along with cancer, is the worry EVERY single time something comes along. Trav gets a bad cough, and we worry. A funny ache, we worry. And a lump on his back, you can bet, we were worried.

He called the doctor on Tuesday and they got him a muscle relaxer hoping that it would work itself out, and he might feel some relief. The nurse told him to take it and see how he does and if he was still in pain by Thursday, to call and they would figure out what was going on.

Well, you know he was in a lot of pain, because he tried those muscle relaxers one night, and knew the pain wasn't going anywhere, and called the Dr. on Wed. instead. (Pansy) (I kid, of course).

Today he went in for an MRI to see what was going on, and just prayed that it wasn't that darn cancer.

And it isn't! :)
But he does have yet another ailment. :(
Bursitis?

From Wikepedia: Bursitis is the inflammation of one of more bursae (small sacs) of synovial fluid in the body. The bursae rests at the points where internal functionaries, such as muscles and tendons, slide across the bone. Healthy bursae create a smooth, almost frictionless gliding surface making normal movement painless. When bursitis occurs, however, movement relying upon the inflamed bursae becomes difficult and painful. Moreover, movement of tendons and muscles over the inflamed bursae aggravates the inflammation perpetuating the problem.

Fun eh?

They called in a prescription for some steroids today, and I'm really hoping that he will start to feel a little better during the week.

Now, I've been asking in my prayers to be able to be with Travis when he is old and gray. I'm starting to wonder if I'm unclear in my requests with the big guy upstairs...
I don't mean I want him to get all the old people diseases right now, I just want him to live for a really long time, long enough that it is age appropriate for him to get arthritis, and bursitis...

Tonight I shall make my request a little clearer. ;)

And if you'd all like to pray that this medicine will help, that would be grand. With his crappy spine, swollen ribs, and now bad shoulder, he could use a break!

Also, Bone scan next week, just to see how things are looking. Let's all pray for his rib to be lookin' good, and for the rest of his bones to be free of the bad stuff.

Thanks for checking in.

{100}

Today marks Trav's 100th treatment.
I wondered briefly if we should celebrate somehow, but then realized maybe this isn't the type of thing you throw a party for...
At any rate, I'm just glad they are working and grateful at all the time they have given us.

We may have jumped the gun a little in deciding the radiation side effects weren't so bad. The radiation onc. really thought that he would have started experiencing pain a few weeks ago, so we thought we were in the clear.

The other day he complained that it was aching a bit, and as the day went on it got progressively worse. There are 2 really swollen spots that you can visibly see and feel. He's having a hard time even rolling over in bed, and I watch him walk around clutching his side a good chunk of the time, though I don't think he realizes he doing it.

Now, when I ask him how he's doing, he, of course, says "It's not that bad, I'm OK."
He's such a liar.

We both know that if the radiation works, the pain is worth it, but boy it's hard to watch him feel so crappy. I imagine he will get a scan in a few weeks to see whats going on in there. The hardest part about the rib pain is that it will probably be there for a while making for a very long summer.

And to top it off he has 6 or 7 cankers and they are pretty large, and pretty painful. I think once those clear up he will feel a little better.

I know this post is sounding quite negative and it wasn't meant out to be that way. We have so much to be thankful for, and know that soon enough his mouth will clear up and hopefully his pain will be lessened. I'm just hoping that happens sooner rather then later.

Superhero?

I've been asked about a million times how Travis is holding up, and each time it reminds me I should probably update this blog for those of you who are reading it. (Hello to Trav's cousins who I hear are reading, we appreciate you keeping tabs on him!)

Our radiation onc. made it pretty clear that this would be pretty hard on Travis.
She thought because of the high dosage of the radiation, mixed with him weekly treatments, he would be pretty exhausted. Also, they thought that his rib would be extremely tender. And he would get a pretty red sunburn type rash on the area the radiation was aimed.

We braced ourselves for it.

I gave myself pep talks about how "I will be supermom this week" when Trav comes home too tired to think.

He promised he would take days off work when he was plum tuckered out.

The ladies promised to be quiet when he was tired, and not to tackle him too much.:) Sienna still prays for Daddy's rib each night.

But truth be told, the side effects weren't that bad.
My man is like a superhero.
A Dr. Pepper drinking Superhero.

Oh yes, he had some really bad, really tired days. And his stomach felt a little weird (like I mentioned in the previous post), but it was manageable. And after the first week instead of getting worse (which was expected) he got a little better. His rib has ached a bit more, but not to the point they thought it might get. He even thinks he might give golfing a try here in a few weeks! And the sunburn never really came. (Just a nice mocha tan.:)

Now, this is all according to me. Travis tends to tell everyone that "he is fine" even on his worst days, so he could be lying to me and it is worse then all this, but usually I can tell when he is fibbing, and he really seems to be okay right now.

We are so thankful to have it over with, and so thankful that it has been better then expected. He goes in tomorrow for his 90something treatment.

Do you remember how much we hate Thursdays around here?
They are like a gloomy dark cloud over the week.

Tonight I am just feeling thankful that he is willing to put himself through so much for us.
I married up.
I love my husband.

As always, thanks for checking in!

Almost Done.

Tomorrow marks Trav's last day of radiation.
Huzzah.
It's been a long week.

When we met with the radiation onc. she said that because the radiation area is close to his stomach, it may feel a little funny, and he may be even more queasy then expected.

He hasn't exactly felt nausea's, but keeps telling me that his stomach feels "weird" and has had absolutely no appetite.

I've pretty much force fed him every night, and mother him with texts like "Did you eat lunch today?" And when he responds "Yes", I take it one step further and say "Something real?".

Poor guy. I think at times he wants to tell me to just back off! But then who would bring him ice cold DP's when he is in need?

And he's completely exhausted.
Like, bags under his eyes exhausted.

He went in for his radiation today at 8, and then went in for his regular treatment at 3, and came home and crashed for a good chunk of the night. When he woke up his chest was aching like crazy and he felt pretty awful.

Thursdays are tough. They are hard on Travis, who just feels awful. He hates not being able to play with the girls, and feels bad when they want a little daddy time and he just does not have it in him. And it's so hard to see him feel as awful as he feels. Someday I pray to find the balance between caring wife, and overbearing wife. Heaven help me!

We've been told that the side effects from his radiation will last for 2-4 weeks, but I'm really, really, really hoping that they go away quickly. It's tough on Trav to do the chemo and the radiation at the same time I think. We are also really hoping that the rib pain doesn't last the whole summer, because I would like to send him golfing!

Thanks so much for all the kind texts, e-mail, and phone calls checking on Travis. He really is doing fine, and as usual has a better attitude then me.

Zapped.

Travis started his radiation today.
He went in at 7:45 this morning.
He was there for maybe an hour, just getting all set up, re-x-rayed. (I made up that word),
and getting zapped.
They made him hold his hands very still above his head for a good half hour, and that was his biggest complaint.
Turns out, radiation is quick and easy.

When we met with the radiation oncologist last week, she told us that when he starts his therapy he will want to get %100 aloe Vera to rub on his rib, because the radiation will cause a rash.

Today, he asked the guy helping him how often to use it.
The man says "You only have 5 treatments, once a day should be plenty."

They zapped him, then as he's getting ready to go the same guy says,
"Um, that's a really high dose, so you probably should put the aloe on at least 3 times a day."

Awesome. Travis is pumped about his upcoming aching skin.

From what we've heard the majority of the people who get radiation don't experience side effects right away. They usually kick in a week (or 2) later. So we are very curious to see what happens in the next few weeks.

His stomach did feel a bit "funny" today. He just wasn't hungry and opted to eat a banana for lunch. I force fed him dinner, and babied him all night long.

He's in good spirits though, and being his sarcastic self.
Like tonight when I asked him to wash the girls hair while they were in the tub, he replied with a very hearty, very whiny,
"But I had radiation today".
It's a good thing he said it with a smile.

He still ended up washing their hair.
Punk.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us, bringing us dinner, mowing our lawn, and just being here for us. We are so thankful. So. very. thankful.

{35}

Travis turns the big 35 today!
I do love being 6 years younger then my husband,
mostly because I can give him crap about how old he is,
for like,
ever.

It's good stuff.

I am so thankful for a husband who:

will get me a Sonic Dt. Coke whenever I text him my complete need.
always baths the girls, because by bath time, I'm spent.
tells me I look pretty, even when I'm in my sweats.
always. always. find the energy to entertain his ladies.
can eat twixes by the bucket load.
is louder then any fan, at any Jazz or Aggie game. (it can be embarrassing at times)
works hard to provide for our family.
wakes up with the girls if they need something in the middle of the night.
puts up with my never ending honey do list.
pretends he feels good, just so others don't worry about him.
puts up with my moodiness.
is an amazing daddy.

Words can't express how thankful I am for all he does for us.
I married up.
Big time.

I'm thinking we need to beat the odds and spend the next 35 years together.
I wrote it down, so it's a goal. ;)

Wish him a happy birthday, wont you?