Well, it's been a while, but we have been busy living my life to the fullest. We have been out enjoying Hope's Terrible Twos(yes, although stressful, it remains the greatest thing we have ever done). My cancer remains in remission, and recently I had sinus surgery to, hopefully, reduce the number of sinus infections I contract, and thereby reduce the likelihood of my cancer returning.
My cancer remains incurable, and my doctor tells me it's merely a "matter of time, let's hope it's still a ways away". So, again Honore and I are supporting the Leukemia Cup Regatta event here in Chicago. Here's a copy of our fundraising campaign. To help support our effort, please go to www.sailtravis.com.
June 1, 2010
Dear Friends and Loved Ones,
This year marks our seventh fundraising campaign for the Leukemia & Lymphoma’s Leukemia Cup Regatta. Your love and support has helped us raise over $250,000 for research into blood based cancers like my Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, for more on my story go to honitrav.blogspot.com.
Honore and I have fought my disease for seven years now. We have battled for every day, and hearing the laughter in our daughter’s voice when she finds something humorous makes every PET scan or CT scan or Rituxan treatment or blood test that much easier. All of those tests, all of those inconveniences, are what keep me alive to appreciate Hope’s laughter.
And, as of January of this year, my cancer is in remission. Sadly however, remission remains the best I can hope for as there is still no cure for my disease. One day, one of the scans will come back with another mass, and the cancer will have returned. The stem cell transplant from two years ago gives me a 50-50 chance of making five years before the horror returns. When it comes back, one treatment option remains: a donor stem cell transplant. However, the procedure carries a 25% fatality rate, and provides no cure.
To me, life is a precious gift, which is why I continue to ask for your donations to support the Leukemia Cup Regatta. The gift you give with your support is life. Its hope that a cure will be found, but it’s more, it’s actually DOING something about finding a cure because 85% of all donations to the Society actually go to a researcher.
Would you please make a donation to support the Society? To donate online, log on to www.sailtravis.com or complete the donation form below and return it in the included envelope. We understand these economic times make giving difficult. Please know any amount is greatly appreciated and makes a difference. Thank you for your love and support.
This year’s regatta kicks off August 27th with the Red Sky event Friday night at Columbia Yacht Club, which will include food, drinks, dancing, a silent and a live auction. Please call the club for reservations, 312/938-3625. The racing will be Saturday on Lake Michigan followed by a dock party and awards ceremony at Columbia Yacht Club. Mark your calendars today!
I am going to beat this disease and I am going to live my dream of walking Hope down the aisle one day, I just need your help to insure it becomes a reality.
With Love and Gratitude,
Honore & Travis
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Update Hope's 2nd Birthday
Tonight, we held my beautiful daughter's second birthday party. She was born yesteraday, two years ago, but we held the party tonight because last night we had family night. So I'm feeling unusually emotional, and I'm not terribly great at that if you didn't guess already.
Just seeing the picture montage(sp?) of darling little Hope made me appreciate what a wonderful life I have been blessed with, even just in the last two years. Cancer aside, the last two years have been a roller coaster of highs and lows that I wouldn't trade in for all the gold in the world. I have been blessed with the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows, and have been taught the humility to appreciate the wonder of the world we live in, it's truly incredible.
Then, after everyone went to bed, I was listening to my iTunes on random, and several songs from earlier in my life came on, and I began to wander down the road of my own history. I have been a VERY lucky person. I have seen some incredible things; places, people, events in time, and history making passages.
One of the greatest lessons of cancer that I learned came from my spirit guide while I was meditating once. I probably wrote about the time he took me to the bottom of the waterfall that was at the bottom of the canyon. I think of that journey now because it holds so much significance for me. I have seen so much, but to truly appreciate the summit's I have achieved, I have had to overcome so many chasms, and having survived long enough to endure the valley floor, I appreciate the mountaintops all the more.
Ok, so I'm a lousy linguist, and a wretched writer, but my point is, I appreciate the top of the mountain more, because I climbed here from the bottom. And Hope's second birthday is an incredible summit for me.
Yesterday, Honore and I took her to the Shedd Aquarium for her birthday. Too see the wonder in her eyes, the pure, unadulterated excitement for the raw adventure of life was inspiring to me. For a brief moment, I glimpsed the energy that drives all of us. That childhood curiosity which pushes us to see what lies just beyond the next corner, around the bend, beyond the horizon.
I felt complete because for all the years of being the child of my parents, and then exploring the world on my own, finally I began to see what the world I would pass on to my child might look like. I could see in the wonderment of her eyes the desire to explore, and that made me feel wonderful.
I am sure this lesson is something all parent go through, but I am grateful to be one long enough to experience it.
Had my PET scan two weeks ago, and the cancer is still in remission. So I get another 6 month reprieve, Halleleujah!
Love,
Travis
Just seeing the picture montage(sp?) of darling little Hope made me appreciate what a wonderful life I have been blessed with, even just in the last two years. Cancer aside, the last two years have been a roller coaster of highs and lows that I wouldn't trade in for all the gold in the world. I have been blessed with the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows, and have been taught the humility to appreciate the wonder of the world we live in, it's truly incredible.
Then, after everyone went to bed, I was listening to my iTunes on random, and several songs from earlier in my life came on, and I began to wander down the road of my own history. I have been a VERY lucky person. I have seen some incredible things; places, people, events in time, and history making passages.
One of the greatest lessons of cancer that I learned came from my spirit guide while I was meditating once. I probably wrote about the time he took me to the bottom of the waterfall that was at the bottom of the canyon. I think of that journey now because it holds so much significance for me. I have seen so much, but to truly appreciate the summit's I have achieved, I have had to overcome so many chasms, and having survived long enough to endure the valley floor, I appreciate the mountaintops all the more.
Ok, so I'm a lousy linguist, and a wretched writer, but my point is, I appreciate the top of the mountain more, because I climbed here from the bottom. And Hope's second birthday is an incredible summit for me.
Yesterday, Honore and I took her to the Shedd Aquarium for her birthday. Too see the wonder in her eyes, the pure, unadulterated excitement for the raw adventure of life was inspiring to me. For a brief moment, I glimpsed the energy that drives all of us. That childhood curiosity which pushes us to see what lies just beyond the next corner, around the bend, beyond the horizon.
I felt complete because for all the years of being the child of my parents, and then exploring the world on my own, finally I began to see what the world I would pass on to my child might look like. I could see in the wonderment of her eyes the desire to explore, and that made me feel wonderful.
I am sure this lesson is something all parent go through, but I am grateful to be one long enough to experience it.
Had my PET scan two weeks ago, and the cancer is still in remission. So I get another 6 month reprieve, Halleleujah!
Love,
Travis
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