Thoughts from T's Last Injection

Travis received his last injection for the Peg-interferon clinical trial at 11:50a MST on Thursday, February 12th. All the emotions and memories of the past year filled the day and brought me to tears many times throughout the day. To celebrate the last injection we created a party atmosphere filled with donuts and a few balloons. :)

Last dose of Peg-interferon

Travis decided we should also get donuts for the office staff at his elementary school and for the family. T chose Valentine sprinkled donuts and Banbury Cross Donuts provided the goods (seriously wonderful donuts if you're ever in Salt Lake City). Banbury Cross continues to support Travis and donated once again to the #EndNF with Travis charity golf tournament on May 30th.

The last-injection donuts

The school nurse with T's last injection

When the shot time neared, the principal and both secretaries joined us for the injection. As soon as the needle was out of T's arm, they started clapping and cheering for T. Truly a moment to celebrate. T ate part of his donut and headed off to recess before lunch.

Travis with his donut

Thursday morning I posted the following on Facebook having no idea the amazing response to come..."T's final injection is today, have a donut wherever you live to join us in the celebration of completing a clinical trial. ‪#‎EndNF‬" (This is the first clinical trial T's completed, he was removed from Rapamycin in 2012 due to tumor progression.) The Facebook response of our family, friends, and those we don't know brought me to tears again. See the video below for some of the pictures we saw in support of T.

Friday night Travis started running a fever of 103.0F, Peg-interferon decided to give T one last high fever before departing. I'm filled with mixed emotions as we close out this clinical trial...glad to have the injections and fevers behind us while wondering what the future brings for his tumor activity. We move into an uncertain area, with many questions to be answered to determine what comes next.
Travis and I travel to the NIH on Feb 18th for a Feb 19th meeting with his team for his final Peg-interferon evaluation and family meeting. We know T's a priority patient for the MEK inhibitor clinical trial, yet we don't know where he falls in that category. The MEK trial brings more travel and the potential for more side effects, yet it brings tumor shrinkage. For now...we pray and celebrate.