-The King family

Much has changed in our lives over that last two years. Travis has retired from the Marine Corps. We moved out of our old apartment into the one that we are living in now. Travis had CyberKnife radiation. Victoria started middle school. We received AMAZING NEWS that Travis’ pesky Schwannoma tumor succumbed to Dr. Adler’s treatment. NO MORE TUMOR!!!! I started back at work and went back to college.

Travis accepted his dream job at Northrop Grumman. He entered through a wonderful program called Operation Impact. Since retiring from the Marine Corps. Travis has been seeing new doctors. He struggled through Methadone withdrawal and is now 100% METHADONE FREE. He has a prescription for Vicodin to use for breakthrough pain but he has not taken any since June 30th. He has come a long way from his daily doses of 3000mg of Neurontin and 10mg of Methadone.

Our offer was accepted on our first home. (We are in escrow right now.)

Travis came down with Diverticulitis and then suffered from a secondary infection as a result of the antibiotics given to him to treat the Diverticulitis.

So much has happened over the last two years.  Life sure has not been easy but things seem to be turning around.  We are learning to see the glass as half full rather than half empty.  I expect that we will continue to face hurdles but what I have learned is there is nothing that Travis and I cannot accomplish if we put our hearts into it.

Wednesday was day 1 of being Methadone free.  Travis was able to go golfing after his pain management appointment.  Although Travis was a little achy I think that there was still Methadone in his system from the days before.

Thursday was day 2, Travis stayed in bed most of the day.

Friday was day 3, Travis stayed in bed again.  His systems are cold chills, irritability, achnyness, loss of appetite, stomach upset, restless nights, insomnia just to name a few.  Travis did not feel like doing much of anything.  I pushed him to get up and take a shower.  He was not in the move to move but I thought that a long shower may make him feel better.  The shower actually gave him some relief and I think he stayed in the shower until the hot water ran out.

Saturday was day 4, Travis went sailing!  We were invited to join a good friend on her sailboat.  I mentioned it to Travis and he was eager to go.  I was not sure it was such a good idea but if he wanted to try it I was going to support him.  He took to Dramamine to prevent motion sickness as well as his morning dose of Vicodin and Neurontin.  The mix of the 3 medications knocked him out and he took a short nap while we were sailing.  Other than the nap he did pretty well on our 4 hour sailing trip but by the end of the trip he had reached his limit and was ready to go home.  We went home slept again and rested the remainder of the evening.

Sunday was day 5, was pretty much like day 2.  Travis was not feeling well and he stayed in bed most of the day.

Monday was day 6, Travis started the day off in bed and complained of the list of symptoms listed above.  I did some research and find some info online that recommended a cocktail of vitamins and supplements to take to help the detox process.  I made a list of the “ingredients” and we went off to the health food store.  We bought most of what was suggested and it put us back $40, well worth it if it was going to provider Travis some relief.    Once we got back to the store I encourage Travis to play the Wii.  I noticed that when he is up and moving around he seems to feel better than when he lays in bed.  He played Tiger Woods golf for over an hour and seemed to enjoy himself.  That night he started his first round of the supplements.  One that may have worked was the Melatonin.  Travis has complained that he has been unable to sleep.  I gave him the Melatonin and within 30 minutes he was sleeping.  Either his body had enough and he was going to sleep either way or the Melatonin worked.  Regardless, he got better nights sleep.

Tuesday was day 7, this was a great day.  (Travis woke up with the same list of symptoms.) Travis’ cell phone rang at 6:40am.  He did not answer the call; he let it go to voice mail.  I was in the shower and he came to tell me that the early morning call was a long awaited job offer.  Travis had been waiting on this offer for almost 2 months.  This was a nice way to start off the day.  I went to work and later on he called me and mentioned that he had an appointment with a college counselor.  I wanted him to go but I would not have been disappointed with him had he skipped it.  I would have been so easy to use his withdrawal as an excuse to miss the appointment but instead he gathered his strength, drove to the college, and made his appointment with the counselor.  I was so proud of him.  After the appointment he picked up our daughter from school.  Then he rested in bed the remainder of the evening.  He took the Melatonin (along with the rest of the supplements) and fell asleep shortly after.

So far what I have noticed is that although this is a painful process for him, getting out of bed and moving around helps him feels better.  Also making him laugh distracts him from his pain and discomfort.  Laughter is the best medicine!

It was sad to leave Indiana but I know we will visit again soon.  It was also a good thing that we left when we did because less than 24 hours after we got home there were major fires in our area.  We got home from Indiana late Saturday night, late Sunday night we started packing and by 1:30am Monday morning we were evacuating to Los Angeles.

As we were packing up our things in San Diego in preparation for the fire I was more annoyed than scared.  I was tired and overwhelmed; I could not bring myself to think of all of the things I needed to pack.  I think I may have been in denial at the time.  I knew that the fire was extremely close so I wanted to leave our place but I really did not think that our things would actually burn.  So we packed up our care with clothes, pictures, important paperwork and other junk.  We arrived in Los Angeles around 3:30am.  It felt good to be back at my parent’s house.  I slept for a few hours but woke up early.  I talked with my parents for a bit before they went to work.  For some reason I was not too upset.  I started to think about al l of the things that I should have brought but didn’t.  I began to feel bad because I did not bring enough of Tori’s things.  If our place burned I would hate for her to have to deal with large hurdle in life.  I left her Halloween costume and most of her clothes.  I knew that all of her things could be replaced but I don’t want her to have to deal with that kind of stuff.  My mom reassured me that everything would be okay and as long as we got out safely everything else could be replaced.

The more I thought about that the more I became at ease.  My husband has a brain tumor.  In a heartbeat I would trade anything I own for his health back.  His tumor has taught me that love, family, and happiness are priceless.  Everything else is just the extras in life. Once I reminded myself of this I stopped listening non-stop to the news.  Watching the news was not going to stop our place from burning.  Watching the news is just dwelling on negativity.  I made the most of my time here in Los Angeles.  I spent time with my family and tried something new…sewing.  I have been wanting a retro half apron.  I was really happy when I found on in Indiana.  But with my free time in Los Angeles and my mom’s new sewing machine I put my time to good use.  I sewed three aprons.  If it was not for the fire I am not sure I would have ended up taking the time to make these aprons.  So good came out of bad.  Not that the aprons are worth the fire but rather than sit in my parents home and cry about the fires, I got productive.

In closing, each day rather than rushing through I am now learning from the challenges that I face.  I won’t cry over a hacked website or a burned couch.  Nothing is more important than having my family and friends healthy.  Everything else in life can be bought or fixed.  I am going to continue to do my best to stay grounded and remind myself not to stress about the things that can be bought or fixed and to appreciate the time I have with my loved ones.

On Saturday the three of us met up with some friends and went to the Miramar Air  Show.  That event in and of itself was exhausting A LOT of walking and standing.  After the Air Show we met up with some family and went out to dinner.  Normally after a day like that the next day Travis would have spent in bed. 

On Sunday Travis got up and the three of s went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park with our family.  It was a great time.  We had so much fun.  Travis did so well.  He made it through two long days.  Both days we did a lot of walking and today he woke up and was okay.

Normally after one long day Travis would have been had.  But he had two long days in a row and he did well.  Just a few ours ago he started feeling “blah” but I think that is because he was due to have his pain patch changed.  I changed his patch and I hope that soon he will feel better.

Looking back on the last two days I see that Travis is getting better.  He is getting stronger.  It may be a baby step, but it is progress. He is trying so hard to get better and I attribute that to his recovery.

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Brain Tumors and Radiosurgery: An Educational Program for Patients and Families Saturday, September 15, 2007 – 1-5pm.  This conference is made possible through a partnership of the National Brain Tumor Foundation, the Tug McGraw Foundation and BrainLAB. If you have any questions, please email us at nbtf@braintumor.org or call the NBTF Patient Information Line at 1-800-934-2873.www.braintumor.org 

Stand Strong Again is a nonprofit organization set up to assist in funding spinal cord research.  Money also goes towards providing  resources to action sports participants who have suffered spinal cord injuries to assist in the treatment of, recovery from, and ultimate transition to life with, spinal cord injuries.

Grind For Life is also a nonprofit organization.  It was started back in 2003 by Mike Rodgers, a life-long skateboarder, after his second battle with sarcoma cancer.  The mission of the Grind For Life organization is to provide financial assistance to cancer patients and their families when traveling long distances to doctors and hospitals. In addition, they educate and inspire these patients and families concerning cancer survival and recovery. 

I plan on writing more about these two great organizations very soon but I am just too tired to do it tonight.   I did want to get these links up ASAP so I wrote this quick post.  Have a good night.

LUNCH AND RAFFLE AT THE SKYBOX SPORTS GRILL

Fox News will be covering this event
CIRCLE THE DATE IN RED ON YOUR CALENDAR
Saturday, September 8, 2007   11:00am to 1:30pm

THE EVENT

Location: Lunch at the SkyBox Sports Grill
4809 Clairemont Drive
(Next to the UPS Store in the Clairemont Square Shopping Center)
Date:  Saturday, September 8, 2007
Time:  11:00am to 1:30am  (We have to clear the SkyBox by 2:00pm)

FOOD, DRINK AND PRIZES
Lunch is provided and donated by Mark & Chicho, owners of the SkyBox Sports Grill

COST
The cost is $10 per person. (100%  of all money goes to The Brooke Fund)
Pay at the door
Raffle tickets will be $1 each (Raffle will be held at 1:30pm).
Brooke T-Shirts for Sale

RSVP
BY Thursday, September 6th, 2007
(RSVP not required but does help give us a count for the SkyBox)
 
HAVE SOMETHING TO DONATE FOR THE RAFFLE?  LET ME KNOW!

To RSVP or any questions…
Contact:  Kittye Wallies
Email:  kittyecat@san.rr.com
Phone (858) 483-5621

Busy schedule? You want to come and just can’t…
A donation can still be sent to:

The Brooke Williams Fund
US Bank
100 E. Saint Maries Street
Perrysville, Missouri 63775

THANK YOU!