We brought him to a pediatrician, a dermatologist, and a surgeon, who all came to the conclusion that he had a tumor. Much to our relief, an oncologist informed us that it was a benign cavernous hemangioma.
At the age of 9, we took him to a neurovascular radiologist at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis who did the first of three sclerosing procedures. He had two more procedures done at the ages of 14 and 15. All were very painful and temporary fixes, resulting in the recurrence of the tumor.
After taking him to approximately 10 more physicians throughout the state of Minnesota, we asked Travis if he wanted us to start searching for another physician to possibly correct his facial deformity. He answered, "No, why, it's very painful, and it always comes back." None of the physicians we've taken him to wanted to operate, fearing that they would make him more deformed than he already was.
Early in April of 2000, my husband was surfing the TV channels when he came upon a story on the Discovery Health Channel called "Anthony's Story." The program was about a six year old boy with the same cavernous hemangioma as Travis, only his was on his upper lip, whereas Travis' is on his lower lip. He got very excited and taped the program for Travis to see at a later date.
The next morning, I searched the Internet to get the number for Dr. Magee's office. I called to make an appointment for the three of us to visit Norfolk, Virginia. On July 18th, we flew to Virginia to have a pre-op visit with Dr. Magee and his staff. The following morning, Dr. Magee surgically removed the tumor, brought the resected area back together, and reconstructed his lip.
It has been six weeks post-op and I cannot tell you how pleased we are with the results. The scar is very minimal, and now he looks like a hockey player!
God has always directed our lives; through Travis' hockey career and bringing our attention to the Discovery Health Channel and Operation Smile. Should Travis' career ever advance to the NHL, it will be with great pride that he would be a spokesperson for Operation Smile, Dr. Magee, and his wonderful staff.
Thank you for bringing peace to a great kid who never allowed a deformity to hold him back from his dreams!