Slow and steady wins the race…..

Dr. A just came by for a visit.  She said he is doing GREAT and that his EEG last night showed that he had some "trauma" (hello HUGE ASS TUMOR REMOVAL) and that is good news and she is confident his speech and motor skills will slowly but surely come back

Travis is very sleepy and gets very frustrated easily But I have been able to make him smile a few times ...even a tiny giggle when  I allow myself to be a smart-ass

Dr. A says he can go home when he is walking better, eating better and poops   (bring on the bowel movements)  This most likely will not be tomorrow but possibly Saturday.  She thinks he might be able to recover with out-patient rehabilitation but has offered to have a consult to see if he is a candidate for acute inpatient rehabilitation...so we are supposed to decide that before we head home...we will just see how he is doing by then.

Once again Thank You for all the support, prayers and kind words

Smiles,

Karla

Words, Words, Words…..What a difference a day can make!

Travis is using words today   So nice to hear him again.  He is saying one or two word answers for now and the speech therapist said she will try to get verbs and sentences out of him tomorrow.

I just got here today...I stayed home with the boys last night and took me a while to get errands ran and up here.  He has had occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech already today so he has told me he is tired.  He just let me order him some food so that is awesome as well

He looks so much better already!  What a difference a DAY can make

Once again THANK YOU for all your kind words!!!

Smiles,

Karla

Time to recover….

Dr. A just came in and was a little 'taken back' by his inability to find his words.  She said he had been doing well in surgery but did have a few seizures and may have had another one that resulted in his speech loss he currently has.  Dr. A believes he will be able to regain his speech through therapy but it may not come back to its 'normal' state.  Travis has lost some strength in his right arm and can't write at this time but that will be able to be rehabilitated with time.

Please keep Travis in your thoughts and prayers.  I am going to go home and get my babies tonight and head back in the morning...i miss them so much!!  But I also feel guilty for leaving Travis...but I know he will understand.

Be well,

Karla

Two steps forward…one step back..

I just got back from visiting Travis.  He was not as 'tip-top' as I had been lead to believe.  He was in a great deal of pain and unable to verbally  communicate to me (but through blinking and moaning I could get the picture he wanted and needed pain medication).  He had previously been able to answer questions and had asked to see me but when I got there he was not doing so hot.  I think it may have been the anxiety, pain and raw emotion all coming together and it was just way too much too soon.  They administered quite a bit of pain medication and some to bring his blood pressure down as well.  When I left a few minutes ago he was finally resting quietly.

Thank you all for the tremendous amount of support   However while in the ICU we ask that you do not visit or call his room as the nurses have told us this can be too much for him to handle at this time.  I will let you all know as soon as he is moved from ICU to a regular surgery recovery floor and at that time will be allowed to have calls and visitors.

PLEASE continue to give him words of encouragement and support through this site   I am hoping for a better day tomorrow and that I can once again share this site with him.

Thanks again...be well,

Karla

p.s. sorry if any of these posts are hard to follow or don't make sense...I need sleep

What the surgeon said…..

So we have talked to Dr. A but I have not been able to see Trav yet.  He is in recovery and will go for a baseline MRI soon. She said he is responding well and moving his right side well as of right now.

Dr. A  thinks she got MOST of the tumor.  This doesn't mean he is "cancer free" there will always be cancer cells and now we have to KILL them with radiation (to put it bluntly).  Unfortunately there a high chance of recurrence with brain tumors but Travis will have MRI scans every three months to check for new growth or changes.

The tumor is currently in the hands of pathology and we should hear back in in 2 to 5 working days.  The pathologist will tell us if the whole tumor is stage 3 or if there is any stage 4 lingering in there.  This will determine if he gets radiation only or chemo therapy as-well (the chemo would be a pill for not the intravenous type you are used to)

I should get to go see him soon...another 45 minutes or so   Man it has been a LONG day!  Thank you all for all of your support and kind words!  It has been so wonderful to see throughout this ordeal.

Thanks again from the bottom of my heart!

Karla

Just got to talk to Travis….

They nurse just put me on speaker phone in the OR and I got to talk to Travis!  It was really hard to hear each other but through the emotions I heard him say he is 'happy' and he is 'okay'.  Dr. A had just showed him the tumor and told him she had gotten MOST of it and it  had not infiltrated his primary motor function   That is a REALLY GOOD THING!!!  The tumor will now be sent to pathology to see exactly what the next step will be.  It was so great to hear him and even better to hear they got most of that damn tumor!!!

The nurse also said he has been in great spirits through-out surgery ...of course braggin' on his boys and i am SURE sharing several tid-bits about is GORGEOUS wife (lol)

He should be out in a few hours....to be continued!!!

Surgery Day…..

Well we made it to check in on time this morning (see silly story below:)) 6:00 a.m.  (too early)  Travis actually slept some last night (I can always tell because he is snoring, lol) I didn't do so well sleeping but oh well.

He was taken back at 7:30 a.m. and I got the first update call at 9:30 a.m. that Dr. A has began her incision.  They said they will call me every couple hours

Funny story-  So we decided to go for a little walk last night around the buildings here at the Med Center.  We wanted to go to the Gift Shop to look around (okay so I wanted to go to the gift shop to look around) any-hoots we only needed to go down ONE floor so Travis said "let's take the stairs I feel lazy when it is only ONE floor" so I said 'okay' so down the stairs we go.....we get to the door we need and it is LOCKED!!!  Both of us were like "OH SH*T!"  We tromped back up the flight to the door we had entered and LOCKED!!!  I swear Travis was beginning to have a heart attack at this point.  I then began to have several thoughts go through my mind like #1. I have my cell phone so we will be fine #2 crap what if I have no reception in these stairwells #3 we will have to start banging on the doors yelling "HELP" (while doing chest compressions on Travis because he seriously was FREAKING out on the inside.   We went down to the bottom level and low-and-behold FREEDOM!!!    Thank GAWD!  What a night we would have had stuck in a stairwell

Thanks again to you all for the support!  I shall keep you all posted as this is a great outlet for me!

Karla.

Countdown…

Aside from barely getting to see my boys on their 3rd birthday, today wasn't too shabby...been a long day, but nothing new there. I did get to talk to the boys on the phone, they're staying with my parents tonight, and it made my day and broke my heart at the same time...I know I've said this before, but I'm glad they don't understand what's going on. I just hate how it takes me away from them...the only comfort I have is knowing they are in good hands.

As I type this it's roughly 7hrs til game time. I have to be at the surgical center at 6am. It'll take 60-90 minutes to get me set up. I'm not real clear on what all this entails other than immobilizing my head. I know they will have curtains (lack of a better term) set up and the folks who I will be able to see will not be able to see the surgeon. I believe they have surgery set for 730am or thereabouts...can't start soon enough as far as I'm concerned.

The first part of the procedure is the craniotomy, cutting and removing part of the skull. There is a cranial fluid sack (can't recall what it's called) that is between the brain and the skull so that is next...I'm not sure what she'll do but I do know she will repair this sack before replacing the skull section (apparently there are surgeons who allow this to repair itself...?).

Once she's comfortable with all of that, they will wake me up...still seems weird/scary. I guess they're never sure how people will react to this...she's had people who are totally groggy and never really 'with it' and others who are wide awake and completely aware of what's going on. I have no idea which side I hope to be on...

Once I'm awake they will do different tests involving motor and speech skills. Basically the surgeon is learning exactly what the tumor is touching in relation to the brain. Specifically, she's looking for primary functions and secondary functions so she knows where she can cut and where she needs to stay away. Primary cannot be re-learned and she has every intention to stay away from anything primary...but secondary can be re-learned and she will be more assertive in that area. I'm ok with this...completely ok. If it means being around longer for my boys and for Karla, hell yes I'm ok with it.

In speaking with the surgeon, she appears to be extremely meticulous...and of course I'm also perfectly fine with that It's hard to say how long surgery could last...they've pretty much scheduled it for most of the day. I won't be surprised if it's 8+ hrs. I assume they'll let me somewhat get my bearings about me...but not long after the surgery is completed they will shove me in the effing tube again and do an MRI scan which will serve as my new baseline for future scans (Lincoln has an 'open air' MRI...wonder if I can go there??).

They will keep me in the hospital for 3-5 days for sure...there's a lot of unknown's until after the surgery. Hopefully I'm boring you all with another blog post Wednesday or Thursday

I probably sound like a broken record...the support Karla and I are getting from you all is nothing short of amazing! Please know that it means more to us than words can describe! I hope you all are well. Take care...I'll chat with you later.

PS...The Thousand Cranes are hanging up in our room and will be waiting for me as soon as Karla learns what room they're putting me in!

Hook’em

As most of you know I've been a Texas Longhorn fan for a long time (and I'm certain most of you are not )...nonetheless, whoever contacted the UT Football department and got Coach Mack Brown to send a signed photograph as well as a photo signed by most of the 2009 team to me, along with a note from Coach Brown, thank you! This was pretty cool and something I will always appreciate...and I would love to personally thank you if only I could find out who pulled the strings

Tomorrow we're celebrating the Boys' 3rd birthday! I can't believe they're already 3...seriously, where the hell did time go? At the same time I'm very thankful they are not old enough to understand what's going on. Next week is going to be tough...I've never been away from them for more than a couple of nights. Hopefully I'm doing well enough on Wednesday that Karla can come home and be with them...

Enjoyed this evening with my wife...Jodie and Dean (sister in law/brother in law) watched the boys at their house so Karla and I could enjoy dinner and a movie at home. It's been a really long time since we've done that and it really was wonderful. Thank you Jodie and Dean!

As always, I hope you all are well. Take care and talk to you soon...TB

Friday’s thoughts…

Went into work for a few hours; needed to wrap a few things up and wanted to see my work family one last time (until I get back ). Little did I know how special these few hours would be...and how incredibly grateful I would feel.

Pretty much started off like most any day...WAY too early...nothing new there! Got a few last minute things done and spoke with a couple of clients. Not long before Karla was picking me up to head to O-town, my buddy Cameron walked into my office and matter-of-factly lets me know there are 'some people who would like to see me'...so that was a bit of an understatement. My friend and co-worker, Tae Yamaki, presented me with the chain of cranes (picture below) along with dozens of my friends and co-workers. There were so many people involved in getting this done, thank you so much!

An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origame cranes will be granted a wish.

To elaborate some on the picture's caption, the crane in Japan is a mystical or holy creature and is said to live for a thousand years; by folding a thousand cranes, one's wish will come true.

Tae, correct me if I'm wrong but I think you said there are 1377 origami cranes in all! Simply amazing...but there's more...this was all done in the last week!!! It get's better...a few of the strands were cranes folded by some of the kids at Sheridan Elementary School, my old stomping grounds (thank you Stephanie!)! I still don't know what to say...thank you doesn't seem like it's enough...I truly hope that you all know what this means to me. I have every intention of bringing this to my room for pre and post surgery and I can't wait to tell everyone the story of how this very special gift came into my life.

The MEG test was pretty interesting, but exhausting at the same time. It's weird...you'd think these scans wouldn't be any big deal as far as the effect they have on someone. But they seriously wear me out. The MEG was like a bank vault...literally. The door looked nearly identical to a bank vault door; enormous, thick, crazy big lock. Inside I sat in a chair that was pretty comfortable. What sucked though was when they raised the chair and basically forced my head into this 'helmet' for lack of a better term. My eyes weren't covered and I could see fine...but I could barely move my head, and much like the MRI's, I was told several times to 'stay as still as possible'. The scans themselves were fairly short, but there were several to go through. For the first scan they showed me random words for about 10 minutes; I had to essentially read the word (not out loud) and if the word rhymed with 'trail', I had to tap my finger. Another scan involved being shocked...the technician hooked these electrical things up to both of my wrists; when the thing fired it would make my thumbs twitch. It didn't hurt...it was annoying more than anything. Then they did the same thing but this time the electrical things were hooked up to my ankles, making my big toes twitch.

I then had an MRI, the shortest MRI I've ever had which is great since I'm not a real big fan of  the tube they put you in. This MRI will basically be overlapped or synched up or intertwined with the MEG scan, allowing Dr. Aisenberg to have what she described to me as a GPS look at my brain (I don't pretend to know exactly what this stuff is, pretty much just repeating what Karla and I have been told). If it helps her do what she needs to do, I'm all for it

Thank you so much for all your kind words and support. Having this website is proving to be a wonderful source of strength and encouragement for Karla and I.

I hope you all are well and warm. Take care...TB