Medical and Recovery Support for Travis Simmons

We are friends and family of Travis and Kaya Simmons, hoping to raise some funds to help with medical bills and offset several months missed wages while Travis tackles the road to recovery ahead of him. This story may take some time to read, so we want to thank you in advance for reading this, sending prayers and good thoughts to the Simmons family, and for any funds you wish to send.

 

Travis is a dedicated father to his 2 year old son, James, a loving husband to Kaya, and a favorite family member and friend. He is highly intelligent, driven, witty, funny, caring and as we know from the journey he is on, a fighter. Travis and Kaya are both University of Oregon graduates that have made a home in Texas where they teach high school social studies (world geography this year) and junior high (reading and home etc.), respectively. 

Travis had a terrible cold and cough for about a month in early March. The doctors he saw during that time were not concerned because he tested negative for the flu and COVID and he is young and healthy. On April 14, Travis was admitted to the hospital with low oxygen numbers and as his situation quickly escalated they discovered he had severe streptococcus pneumonia and sepsis. That night he was sedated and intubated.

 

Due to the extensive infection and extended time sedated and ventilated, Travis has several weakened organs including his heart. This increases his recovery timeframe. Despite many ups and downs since his admission to the hospital, Travis has slowly been making positive progress.

 

On May 6, he was still in the ICU, under mild sedation with a tracheotomy. He had been intubated for a couple of weeks at this point with a long road ahead.

 

On May 7, Travis was finally able to be awake and lucid. He began some physical therapy and while even short exercises are tiring, it was amazing to see the progress.

 

As of May 9 he is still in the ICU but may be able to move to a less intensive part of the hospital soon. The trach in his neck was switched out for a smaller one and he is now meeting with a speech therapist so he can practice talking. Every milestone in recovery, especially the ones we have seen in the last few days, feels incredible.

 

Travis' physical therapists, speech therapists and doctors all remark on his determination to get through very tiring sessions. Travis is a hard worker and his first priority will need to be healing, not worrying about bills. Kaya has been an incredible, steadfast wife and mom, tackling an inconceivable situation with grace and gusto. Taking care of baby James, being there for Travis, coordinating support efforts, balancing finances, making tough decisions, and facing an unknown future is an emotional marathon. We want to show her, Travis and baby James that they have a community of support from friends and family, near and far.

 

We created this as a way for those at a distance to help the family in a meaningful and impactful way. We also want to acknowledge the dedicated and compassionate care that Travis has received in the hospital and the many visitors that have made their way to Texas to support the whole family.