TRAVIS KATZ

Travis’s story all started with what we thought was a bad cold and persistent cough that would not go away. After hearing the cough get worse we thought it was possibly croup—the doctor who confirmed our suspicion. After a week of antibiotics and steroids, the symptoms got better but there was still a raspy breathing, this made us uneasy. So, we made a doctor’s appointment again after a listen to his lungs we were told that everything was fine. After another week or two the cough returned and the breathing got worse we insisted on another doctor’s appointment, that was on November 7, 2017 this would be the day the our world exploded at 9am. We went to the doctor afraid Travis had pneumonia and by 7pm the doctor in the emergency room was telling us our son had cancer. No one is ever prepared to hear this kind of news the thought had never crossed our minds. Our son had a cough how can that possibly mean blood cancer. After an ambulance trip to McMaster and a few more tests it was confirmed Travis was diagnosed with T Cell ALL. Through all of this, Travis has been extremely brave he has taken every poke and prod and scary test with no complaints he is always cooperative with the nurses and even though it is scary he always does his best to not be difficult. He is an amazing young boy with a huge personality he never let’s his sickness define him. He is always joking and playing as if nothing has changed and every day that we get to spend time with him is a gift. Our whole family loves Travis more than anything in the world and want him to know that we all stand behind him and will always be there to fight along side in his battle no matter what it takes. No child should have to go through the things that our children go through. You truly do not know how brave our children are until they are forced to be brave and Travis is one of the bravest people I know.