Fall 2009: Jake and Nancy learned that Nancy's breast cancer was stage four. Winter 2013: They are still fighting. This is a gathering place to follow their story, offer support, love and prayers... to be by their side.



Thursday, October 16, 2014

Quick update

Hey friends and family, thanks again for continuing to check in on us and send notes of encouragement.  Jake and I appreciate it so much.  Hard to believe, but I've been dealing with metastatic disease for about 5 years now and, thankfully, continue to beat the odds.  That's a long time and we truly appreciate that you are still checking in on us.

I am doing okay, though this current chemo is not my favorite, which is a polite way of saying I hate it.   The tummy issues are miserable, though at a reduced dose I'm figuring out how to take enough drugs to counter the side effects.  Compared to late July when I literally couldn't get out of bed and had terrible pain, I'm significantly better.  Why can't I get a chemo that has side effects of glowing skin, lustrous hair, improved energy, and weight loss?  Is that too much to ask? :-)

I had my normal weekly treatment today and had monthly tumor marker (CA 27.29) lab tests.  Initially my markers went down by one point on this chemo, but they jumped up 20 points last month.  Dr. Rinn said (and I totally agreed) that it was too early to abandon this chemo because I haven't had very much of it.  I suspect this month's tumor markers will be important.  If they go up significantly, I'll get a scan and likely need to change treatments.  If they are stable or reduced, we'll stick with the current chemo, though Dr Rinn said we aren't wedded to this treatment, so if it is too miserable, she'll find something different for me.  I'll update the blog once I get results.

Thanks again for checking in on me and keeping up with the minutia of my many health updates and ramblings over the years.  We've all got something...I'm humbled and honored that you keep checking in.
Will let you know what I find in the next few days.