July Scan Report

Today the fun began with a dose of Avastin, followed by an Abraxane chaser. Then a bit 'o lunch and an appointment with the oncologist...who said...

That my brain has the tiniest bit of one tumor that just needs to be sloughed off. It is inactive, and not detectable via the naked eye.

My bones have new calcium growth over the old lesions, and no new lesions have formed, and...

The Liver is completely free of tumors!!!!!!!!!!! It's a little early to say "Yes, it's remission"-it was at about this time last year that we thought that, and the 2 inactive lesions in the liver took off and began making babies like bunnies. However, this is the best things have ever looked on scans.

My CEA numbers had been increasing slightly, and Dr. Kenyon said that the Avastin seems to be causing a little havic with people's counts so we can't use it as a truly reliable tool at this time. For a long time, it was quite reflective of what was happening. Evidently the Avastin can make the number lower OR higher than what would be revealed in the scans. I'm grateful that mine is what it is!!

My white blood counts are quite low, so my chance of infection is increased a bit right now. I'll have to be careful, and increase the herbs to strengthen my immunity. We'll try to keep everything "medicine wise" as it is at this time, to con't. to stay on top of things, and maybe wean off later if things stay stable. We'll see Dr. Kenyon in 6 weeks, and have more scans in another 3 months.

Thank you thank you for the prayers. Praise God for this bit of encouragement!! What a huge deal. And thanks to the woman at Coldstone Creamery who gave me a dish of free ice-cream because she was excited for me. (Honest, Jonathan-I've never been in there before, and it was only to celebrate. :D And Pat and I shared it.)

So to end the day, we went to see Superman Returns. Wow!

Thanks, and God Bless,
Jeanne H.

Summer Scans...oh boy

Well, the break was nice while it lasted, but all good things come to an end, they say. Dr. Kenyon is back from watching the World Cup Soccer Games in Germany, and wants to check out the old liver again, along with the brain and bones. It must be tough, being in all of the hub-bub and thrill of the crowds, the athletes, the food, etc, then come back to these quivering lipped scaredies who want to hear only good news. My CEA counts aren't terrible, they've crept up to 9.2 as of last Thursday; as a comparison, they were 22 in December. So, it's not awful, but the trend is for them to go up at this time, and even though it's poking along, that's not the direction I was wanting. The vitamin C is definitely helping the am nose bleeds I was getting, and helping my immune system-I was able to fend off a cold this last week. With the V-C, some acupuncture, and a bit of a massage, it peaked and left within about 3 days. Yeah! I think the sunshine is great too-I snitched the first cherry tomato off the vine today. Yummm! We should have tons of tomatoes this year. Hope the kids are going to be ready for canning season.

Family stuff:

Nicole got a job with Industrial Pipe in Albany, as a book keeper-it's part time, which she desired, and has good benefits, which I desired. She's still working at Benton County Health Dept., to finish up some projects, and is sharing a post partum doula job with Valerie.

Valerie took the first part training in Suzuki violin, so she can begin taking the courses to teach. She helps a ton in holding down the fort with my wacko schedule. She and Nicole each have house sitting jobs as well, so it's a busy summer-again.

The others are doing math, etc. still (No, we don't take a complete break in the summer-just slow down a little bit.) Sarah wants to pick blueberries and earn some $$ to increase her loot at the bank. Robert wants to mow lawns, but we need to get his and Pat's schedule together so they can actually go do it.

So, things are good, the Lord has been so faithful in bringing people in when needed, and providing encouragement and tangible help. He's definitely in this, and so are all of you. Thanks.

Prayers are always coveted-healing, wisdom, timing, and patience. It sure seems like we should be done with this by now. A friend told me of someone who was on the edge, but has hung in there for 15 years. Wow! Perseverance! I like good stories.

Thanks again, lots of love and much peace to you,
Jeanne H.