November News

It's been a bit of a time here the last two weeks. It's harder than I'd like to admit waiting to get scans done. Waiting 5 days for results is also a huge challenge. Not that fretting will change any outcome-I'm well aware of that, but these crazy things do seem to have the capacity to alter the lives of those who need to access their information. So...here's how these latest scans have gone...

The two lesions in the brain seem to be completely stable from August. This is good. I really like stability. And we all especially like stability in Mom's brain. It just seems to be good news for everybody. The lesions in my spine also are still inactive. This I appreciate as the cancer in the spine seemed to be going so quickly through the bones.

The liver, however, decided to become a bit finicky and the two lesions that were previously inactive became active again, and they added a third to their ranks. Drat. This obviously is no good, and means that my body is beginning to develop a resistance to the chemo. Dr. Kenyon recommended that I not recieve any after our appointment on Friday, and no chemo over Thanksgiving. The week after Thanksgiving I get to change concoctions (sometimes called a "chemo" cocktail.)

There is a relatively new drug called Avastin which is a monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factors. Got that? It basically means that it helps to stop the blood vessel growth to the tumors. This is not an actual chemotherapy drug, but has shown promising results in reducing tumor load and seems to be tolerated quite well. I'd still be getting the monthly Zometa for the bone strength and anti-cancer effects, and they'd add probably two chemo drugs-one from the Taxane family, and maybe some Carboplatin for good measure. These are supposed to have a higher chance of making the hair fall out, a bit more neuropathy, etc., but are also supposed to be tolerated ok. Go figure. I did tell Dr. Kenyon that it wasn't very nice to be making me lose my hair in the middle of winter as it's getting colder.

I'll still taking all the herbs. Jonathan is in England and I'll be chatting with him on the 30th of Nov. to alter things as needed, or maybe just add more of the same. I admit I was getting sloppier about taking 1 tsp. of pwd. herbs vs. the 3 that he'd have preferred. Wrong move!! There is another oncologist in Seattle that I'd talked with at the beginning of this, and he said he'd had good results with the Taxane/Carboplatin regime. Dr. K. had given us a choice of 3 combos, and that was also his first pick.

On the good side, my blood work looks great with all my tests in a good range-normal white and red blood counts, etc. etc. The CEA came back higher that I'd wanted, though, which reflects partly the added cancer growth. It also is an indicator of what a drag it is to be dehydrated and drink two Banana flavored pints of Barium after fasting all night and morning, then get a double dose of contrast media injected into the veins and be in a cold room with a thin blanket over you while you lie on your back in a tube and have 45 minutes of jack hammer like pounding in your head for one test, then lie on your back on another skinny table in another cold room in a very expensive donut shaped machine while the dye stings various internal parts of your body as it's working it's way through. MMmmmm. I highly recommend NOT getting any blood work done after that experience if you want it to look normal.

God did provide me with a vision of Guardian Angels surrounding my big donuts and self, and when the brain MRI machine began, one especially compassionate one stood up and was present over me throughout the procedure. Pretty Cool Stuff. Thanks, God!

Well, with tough times, good times come too, and you all know that my kids are a big part of the good times at our house (as well as the laundry and food budget). Today we went up to Portland so Daniel could participate in a huge Special Olympics swim meet. He did awesome, with a big grin on his face all the way down his lane, and took two gold medals, one in each of his two events. Very cute. Uncle Chris and Aunt Cheryl came and got to see him receive his last medal. Dan would probably improve his time a bit if he'd quit looking over his shoulders to see where the other guys were behind him, and also looking for family and fans in the sidelines. We all have our issues, don't we??? He's a tired pup tonight, so we'd better get moving toward bedtime here...

Thanks for continued. prayers for wisdom, healing, trusting, and just being in God's amazing hands.

Love you all,
Jeanne H.