December 16th

Dear Friends,

The 16th of December will mark the four-year anniversary of Travis' first seizure and our ultimately learning of the brain tumor. Travis had his most current MRI about a month ago and everything looks great. He is really doing well and at his appointment the doctor was just amazed at how he is doing. On Friday, December 9th, Travis, his father, mother, brother and sister-in-law attended a meeting at MD Anderson with Dr. Fred Lang, who performed the surgery. Dr. Lang is doing some amazing research related to brain tumors and the use of the common cold virus to attack brain tumors. It has great potential and the early results look highly encouraging. Dr. Lang had not seen Travis in four years as Travis was passed off to an oncologist after the surgery. After Dr. Lang talked to Travis, he told his dad how great Travis looked and appears to be doing. He also told him a great story. I would like to pass it along to you.
After Travis had his surgery and radiation treatment, we decided we needed a vacation. So the two of us flew to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and spent a few days. We went on a chartered fishing trip and caught some marlin fish. After we returned, Travis sent Dr. Lang a picture of us with one of the marlin. Travis wrote on the picture, “Three months after brain surgery. Thanks Dr. Lang!” Dr. Lang passed along to Travis' dad that he has framed Travis’ picture and put it up on the wall of his office. He said that he uses it when he has people who come to see him to discuss their brain surgery. After explaining the many dangers involved, he shows them Travis’ picture. Dr. Lang says the picture has been a big hope to people who need hope at that time! Isn’t it amazing how God can use terrible things to send wonderful messages! This Christmas season, I am reminded that God did just that when he sent His son Jesus to earth to be born, live among us and then die on the cross for our sins. That is where the ultimate hope is and we stand in awe that God has shown favor on Travis and is using his life as a vessel for hope to be experienced by others. As always we want to THANK YOU for all of your support, encouragement and prayers through these past four years. There is no doubt in my mind that God surrounded us with a faith family who went before the Lord on bended knee and now look at how God is using us.

Praise God, we feel very blessed!

"How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. " Psalm 31:19

The Black Family wishes you and yours a very happy Christmas!

February 18th MRI check up

I am on a quarterly MRI schedule now and had my most recent check up on Feb, 18th. Everything looked great and all appears to be stable. My next scheduled appointment will be in June. Thanks for your continued prayers these appointments are always stressful.
Travis

3 year survivor!

I wrote this on January 10th, the 3 year anniversary of my operation. "Three years ago from the time I’m writing this I still had few more hours of surgery to go. I had already been on the table for 12 hours. Many of you had spent a long day or were about to spend some long nights at the hospital in support of Jennifer and me. Other’s had sent up many prayers through out the day. Each year as this anniversary comes up I reflect on how blessed Jennifer and I are to have such great family and friends like you to help us get through life’s curveballs. While there have been many and sometimes continue to be moments of fear or doubt I am comforted by the fact that God has used this experience to draw me and many who have witnessed my experience closer to him. In my weakness He is strongest. In my moment of great sorrow I cried out to Him and he answered by giving my surgeon “The most successful operation of his career” and me a full recovery. So, on this third anniversary of my brain surgery I give thanks and praise to God for you and for what he has done in me. Go count your blessings I’m sure they are all around you."

To God Be the Glory!

Travis had his appointment yesterday and the oncologist said that everything on the MRI looks great! There has been no change at the tumor cavity site and everything looks stable. We were also surprised to hear that Travis can now go every four months for an MRI check-up instead of every 3 months. Thank you so much for the prayers for our family. We believe that prayer is a huge part of why Travis is a living testimony of Gods miracles. To God be the Glory!

Jennifer

God is still working miracles...daily

Daily Devotional by Max Lucado

“God Is! God Is!”

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

f I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

Psalm 139:8 (NIV)

It is the normality not the uniqueness of God's miracles that causes them to be so staggering. Rather than shocking the globe with an occasional demonstration of deity, God has opted to display his power daily. Proverbially. Pounding waves. Prism-cast colors. Birth, death, life. We are surrounded by miracles. God is throwing testimonies at us like fireworks, each one exploding, "God is! God is!"

The psalmist marveled at such holy handiwork. "Where can I go from your Spirit?" he questioned with delight.

"Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there" (PS 139:7-8 NIV).

We wonder, with so many miraculous testimonies around us, how we could escape God. But somehow we do. We live in an art gallery of divine creativity and yet are content to gaze only at the carpet.

We are truly witnessing a miracle at work with each occuring MRI and follow-up appointment. Travis had his 3 month check up and appointment and the MRI remains "un-changed, with no new tumor growth". For almost two years this has been the report and we praise God for His goodness. Going into this we never expected God to declare Travis to be healed or cured from cancer or from the tumor, although we know that we serve a mighty God that can do so and we would give Him all of the glory if this is what he is planning for Travis and our family. We do however count each appointment, in which we hear the doctor say "everything looks great and there is no change", as a miracle in itself. Thank you God for each miracle. That is why this devotion speaks volumes to us and we hope it does to you also. As Max Lucado says : "It is the normality not the uniqueness of God's miracles that causes them to be so staggering. Rather than shocking the globe with an occasional demonstration of deity, God has opted to display his power daily. Proverbially. Pounding waves. Prism-cast colors. Birth, death, life. We are surrounded by miracles." Our family has been blessed with many miracles lately with the birth of our second son Connell James and now with this great doctors report. We thank God for showing us His miracles daily and quarterly with Travis' MRI and follow-up appointments. We hope you find the daily miracles He abundantly gives to you also!

Testimony

Recently the pastor of our church, Bear Creek Baptist Church, preached a sermon series How to Recover from your Worst Day Ever. During the series they interviewed people who had experienced their "worst day ever". We were asked to share about finding out Travis had cancer and how God has walked us through it. It was very intense for us to recall all of the events that have brought us to today, but know that God has a far more powerful ending to our story. Our prayer is that someone's life is reached for His glory through this testimony. If you would like to view the video or the sermon, click on the link below. Please share the link with as many people as you would like. You never know how it will touch someone's life.

http://www.bearcreekchurch.tv/other-videos

Travis and Jennifer

New MRI report 8/21/09

Well, after waiting over a week to get the results from last Thursday's MRI I'm glad to say that everything looked great. God continues to show me his grace and faithfulness. The tumor cavity in my brain seems to be getting a little smaller. I still have a hole in there about the size of my ear. In the picture above the tumor site is the black circle on the left. The left is actually the right side of my head because the MRI is a mirror image. By the time I go in for my next MRI we should have a new baby boy, and a new house. The next one will be after Thanksgiving. Thanks for checking in on me. I appreciate all of your prayers, which seem to be working.

Travis

Update

We just wanted to give everyone a Travis update. Overall things have been going well since the last doctor's appointment and MRI. Travis had two mild seizures last month which warranted a MRI and doctor's appointment. Dr Degroot, MD Anderson oncologist, did not see any sign of growth in the tumor and said that the seizure was most likely a result of stress and lack of sleep. We have been trying to take it easy around here, but between selling our house, preparing for the new baby and life in general we stay busy. Please continue to pray for our family and especially for Travis and his upcoming MRI scheduled for August. We are so amazed at how God has poured out His love, mercy and grace on us through this experience.

Travis and Jennifer

MRI and Jennifers Ultrsound on March 31 2009

Hey everyone, Travis here. This is my first time posting on the blog. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I can't express how grateful I am for each one of your prayers. Thank You!!! Today I got another great MRI report. The exact words from the radiologist were " There is no change". Another great thing about today's doctor appointment was that they told me I could start going in for check ups every 3 months instead of every 2 months like I have been doing for the past year. The only bad thing about today was that my Dr. appointment was for 11:30 and I didn't get to see the doctor until 1:20. We were starving by the time we got out of there. And as you may, or may not know Jennifer is eating for two right now.
Jennifer is 8 weeks pregnant and the due date is Nov. 5th. While I was getting my MRI Jennifer went down the street to her doctor and got an ultrasound. It's still to small to hear the heart beat but it was flashing on the screen. The doctor said everything looked normal. So to sum up the day I would say, "The baby is growing and the tumor is not." Woo Hoo!

January 23rd MRI and Dr.'s Appointment

Today was another follow-up MRI and appointment for Travis at MD Anderson. Dr. Degroot, the oncologist, said everything looked "outstanding" on the scans and that all margins looked clean. He also thinks Travis is doing "outstanding" overall. His only concern was that Travis' blood pressure was quite elevated. He would like for Travis to monitor it for this coming week and then if needed he will be place on blood pressure medication. We think that under the circumstances and the MD Anderson environment would cause any one's BP to be high!

A special thanks to you all for your continued prayers and to God for his continuous grace in our lives.

Travis and Jennifer

MRI and Dr. Appt.

I will have to be short and brief, we brought Jacob with us and he has been a handful this morning. We have an afternoon trip to the zoo scheduled and he is impatiently waiting to go. The MRI was taken at 9:30 and with a dr. appointment at 10:30 the radiologist had not read the scan yet. However, Dr. Degroot did read the MRI scan and he said everything look "clean" and "there was no change from the month before". He also said after the radiologist had read the scan that if there was any differing opinion he would inform us. We are thankful for this good news for the holidays and look forward to spending Thanksgiving with family and giving THANKS to God for his goodness and faithfulness in carrying us through this year.

We also wanted to say a special Thank You to all of you who have prayed and blessed our family during this year. We are so thankful and grateful for your friendships and appreciate your continued kindness.

Travis and Jennifer

Another Great Report

Praise the Lord for another great report! We give all of the glory to Him!

After another MRI and blood work Dr. Degroot said, of the tumor cavity:

"It looks clean as a whistle and there is no concern at this time".

Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement.

Travis will return for another MRI in 2 Months.

Upcoming MRI

Just wanted to give you an update...

Travis' next MRI and Oncology Appointment is scheduled for August 29th.

GOD is GOOD!

We met with Dr. Degroot this morning and reviewed the MRI results. He told us that nothing had changed from the previous MRI in April and the MRI looked clean. Great news! We rejoice and glorify God for allowing us another two months to rest in His goodness.
Thank you so much for your prayers, we definitely were lifted up this morning and were suprisingly not nervous.
We will return to MD Anderson in two months and Travis will recieve another MRI.

Two Month MRI - Friday, June 27th

Well it is hard to believe that this Friday, June 27th will be two months since Travis' last MRI. It has been so great to have a couple of months to breathe and create "normalcy" around our house. We have enjoyed a lot of fun time together as a couple and a family. We traveled to Mexico in April and to Disney World and The Bahamas in May. We have also spent a lot of time just hanging out together at home during the week and with extended family on the weekends. As you may have read in the previous post, Travis began driving again on June 16th. He is enjoying the independence. He also began his regular work routine on Monday the 16th, so things are busy at work.

I wanted to write an entry to ask for your prayer. We are beginning to have anxiety over what will transpire on Friday. Our prayer is for a "clean MRI", but we know that whatever God's plan is for our life, that He will hold us tight and walk us through. We thank you for standing in the gap and lifting us up in prayer.

We meet with Dr. DeGroot on Friday at 11:00 am. I will post an entry with the results on Friday afternoon.

Jennifer

"The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You. "Trust in the LORD forever, for in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.

Isaiah 26:3-4

Gentleman Start Your Engine!

As many of you may know, for the past 6 months Travis has not be allowed by the state to drive a vehicle. Law states that after suffering from a seizure you must wait 6 months until you can resume driving. As of June 16th Travis will be behind the wheel again and we want to celebrate! Please join us if you can the infomation is below:

"Drive-In" to Sonic for a special treat celebrating Travis' return to the wheel.
Travis will be able to drive again after 6 long months and we want to celebrate.
Stop by between 7-8pm on Monday, June 16th and join us for an ice cream treat.


Hope you can join us!
Jennifer

MRI Results and Doctors Appointment

We received a GREAT MRI report and fantastic news from the doctor's appointment. Praise God! We cannot THANK YOU enough for all of your prayers! The MRI presented today, taken on 4/24/08, was compared with the post-surgery MRI taken on 1/11/08. It showed that the swelling of the brain had decreased significantly and that the cavity where the tumor was removed is shrinking. The upper perimeter of the cavity still shows some contrast on the MRI and the neuro-radiologist and neuro-oncologist are unsure if that is from swelling, scar tissue or tumor that was unable to be removed during the surgery. This area will be closely monitored every 8 weeks with an MRI to see how it progresses. Dr. Degroot seemed to think that it could possibly be there for years and never change. That is definitely our prayer. We thank you for your sweet prayers and your kind encouragement. We are in God's hand and are thankful for His great love for us! We can trust His promises because He's a good and faithful God!

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

MRI

Just wanted to give everyone a short update on Travis' progress. Today we went down to MD Anderson for Travis to have an MRI and blood work. Tomorrow we will meet with Dr. Degroot, neuro-oncologist, to discuss the results. I will update this site late tomorrow afternoon with the results. We thank you so very much for your continued support and prayer and we look forward to seeing God glorified above all!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

Cabo San Lucas

On Friday, April 18th Travis and I went to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for a four day getaway. It was the first trip we had made as a couple since Jacob was born. It was a much needed vacation and we had a fantastic time. I posted a picture of Travis with his big catch of the trip, a Striped Marlin. The story behind the picture is amazing. Travis loves to fish. When planning the trip to Cabo, Travis really wanted to fish for Marlin in the “Marlin capital of the world”. Even though it was more than what we wanted to pay, we decided to do it anyway. Saturday morning I prayed we would see a marlin or that Travis would catch one. The fishing guides told us it wasn’t even marlin season so we didn’t know if we would see one or not. As you can tell from the pictures, we not only saw a marlin, but each one of us caught a marlin!! Travis was so excited; seemed even more excited over my catch, than his own, and it was worth every penny to see Travis enjoy something he loves to do. God is blessed us on this trip and I am reminded of the verse that my youth pastor, James Darby, spoke to us on December 18th:

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine………"

Our God has done this in so many ways we can hardly keep up, but this time it was with a fish.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Travis completed his last day of radiation therapy on Friday, March 21st. Travis celebrated the end of his treatment by participating in an M. D. Anderson tradition of ringing a bell signifying a final radiation session. I secretly invited both of our families to meet us at the hospital for Travis' last treatment and we were all so excited that this part of the journey was complete. Afterwards we went to dinner to celebrate! It has been a long 6 weeks, but thanks to your prayers and encouragement we made it through and Travis knows that he has fought this cancer with all of his might, thus far. We thank God for strengthening, comforting and loving us. He has carried us through and we give all praise to HIM. Each and every day Travis becomes stronger and feels better than the day before. We pray that his heath continue to be restored. In one month we will return to MD Anderson for another MRI of Travis' brain. If the results show the tumor is growing again, chemotherapy will be administered. If there is no sign of cancer, frequent MRI's will be taken to monitor.

Thanks again for the outpouring of prayers, support and encouragement. We will continue to update the blog for prayer requests and to let you know how things are progressing; so check back soon.

We love you all and would like to leave you with this verse and our prayer for Travis...

1 Peter 5:10

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.