April 2026 Cancer Updates

It's been a bit since my last update, so here is where we are with cancer right now:

My most recent PET scan showed that cancer is progressing in my body; therefore, Enhertu (the treatment I've been on since August) is no longer working. I met with my local oncologist this week on Tuesday, and it was really a pretty sad appointment. She didn't offer a lot of hope and I did not have an infusion that day. She offered two potential options for chemo--neither of which I am too excited about and may only work for a short time if they work, while potentially having a lot of negative side effects attached. It was very difficult news to hear and Drew and I spent a lot of the day in prayer and tears.

However, we went before the elders of our church for prayers on Wednesday night, and it has felt as if a weight has been lifted off of me since then. At the same time as Drew and I were with the elders of our church in prayer, many of my friends and family members were also praying for us. Thank you so much--I believe the prayers are working. On Thursday morning, Drew, the kids, and I headed to Houston to visit MD Anderson to see if there were any clinical trials for which I would be eligible. (Thanks to Drew's parents who spent time with kids during the afternoon while we were at doctor appointments.) However, my oncologist there wants another tissue biopsy before recommending any type of treatment or clinical trials. He said in the number of years I have been stage IV (about 4 years), many patients' cancer changes hormone receptor status or her2 status. It's been about 4 years since my last tissue biopsy. He said that about 25-30% of patients have a change, which affects what type of target treatment you can receive or which trials you may be eligible for. We actually asked my local oncologist on Tuesday whether I should be getting another tissue biopsy,  but she said I didn't need one since I just had a "liquid biopsy" in March. A liquid biopsy is an analysis of the circulating tumor cells in my blood. MD Anderson said though that while the liquid biopsy shows mutations that the cancer in my body has (this helps recommend specific drugs and trials as well), it does not show my hormone receptor status (ER+, PR+) or her2 receptor status. As far as we know, I am still ER+, PR+ and Her2- (but low, so Her2 low). If this status changed in any way, it most definitely affects which treatment will work. It either takes away options or gives me new ones. So, now I am waiting to get a biopsy appointment with MD Anderson (hopefully next week since I am not on any sort of treatment right now) and they also want to try to get an MRI on the same day so we can make sure my brain metastasis hasn't progressed. If the brain mets aren't stable, that prohibits me from being in some clinical trials as well. I have one scheduled for 4/30 here locally, but we need to move that up. They weren't able to move it to a sooner date locally. I have no idea what body part they are going to biopsy, as the breast cancer metastasis currently shows up mainly in the liver (biggest issue) and bones. The MD Anderson oncologist said their interventional radiologists are really good there and that they would look at my scans and figure out where they could do a biopsy easiest, whether that be liver or lymph node.

So the good news is that I am not on treatment for a while, which gives my body some time to recover a bit and feel better. The bad news is that I am not on treatment for a while and my cancer could continue to progress. However, I am to a point where my trust in the Lord is great. God is in control and loves me. My struggle is always in how much do I "plan" for? Like, should I get things in order and documented for Drew in case something happens to me. I homeschool our kids and have all these planned steps for their education and to optimize their ability to get into any college they want to get into. Is planning for me to potentially not be around showing a lack of faith or is it showing preparation? I believe God can heal me from this---nothing is impossible. But I am also a planner--should I plan for me not being around? Anyway, that is a big struggle for me right now.

Here's is where I covet your prayers:

• Complete healing and removal of all the cancer in my body forever!!!
• If that comes through a manmade treatment or protocol, that it happen seamlessly and easily and the treatment works for a very long time.
• I would love to be able to work out regularly (with lifting weights and walking, rebounding or cardio). 
• Protection and logistics for traveling to and from MD Anderson in Houston (it's a 6.5 hour round trip for us each time) .Our kids have classes and activities every day of the week. Thankfully, we are getting closer to summertime--which will also be busy but at least not like it is during the school year.
• That we are able to be glorify God in all this and that his love, glory and purpose be shown to all through this trial.

Thanks so much for your prayers. I am so grateful and I KNOW the power of prayer. As I said, after prayer with the elders and friends and family, Drew and I have felt so much better about everything. I have peace and joy and I know God is at work.

March Updates

As I sit in the infusion chair for my Enhertu infusion, I just checked when I wrote my last blog post and realized it was January. After seeing that, I decided it was time to provide an update. Honestly, I have just been so busy and haven't had a chance to type out something. It's quite a bit of information to type up, and there have been so many other priorities and activities in my life lately.

Luke began his first season of track, and Abbey has recently been in two theater productions. Abbey also started back up with volleyball (just a spring rec league). 

With those activities come many rehearsals and practices. I continue to homeschool the kids and we are already looking ahead to college planning. After this semester, Luke will have 22 hour of college credit for free through the dual credit program here. So, as his "guidance counselor," we met with his college counselor to make sure we are on the right track with things. Abbey will be taking the TSI (a test used to determine readiness for college classes before the kids have the opportunity to take the SAT), so she can begin taking college courses. I can't believe she will be a freshman in High School next year---we will have two high schoolers!!

I had a slew of tests done at the end of January, including a PET scan, an echocardiogram and a brain MRI. The good news is that my brain MRI showed a lot of great improvement. My heart also looks to be surviving the treatment just fine (although, my resting heart rate still remains elevated in the 100s since August--previously my resting heart rate was in the 60s-70s.) The bad news is that my tumor markers continue to trend in the wrong direction ever so slightly. That, paired with slight progression on my PET scan at the end of January, makes my Oncologist want to do another PET scan asap (even though it has only been two months since my last one) to see if I am having more progression. This will help us know whether my tumor markers line up with my PET scan so that maybe I don't need as frequent of PET scans (if my markers are reliable). It will also tell her if we need to go ahead and switch to another line of treatment.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there are a lot of available treatment options besides a chemo that might work for a few months here (carboplatin), so I plan to reach out to MD Anderson for available clinical trials based on my mutations and what treatments have failed so far. I need to stay ahead of things and see what trials I am eligible for based on my history or treatment and disease progression. I hope though, the PET scan shows the disease is stable and I don't have to leave this treatment I am currently on. I put all of my past treatment and my cancer mutations into chatgpt and it gave me a list of options that I am going to ask my MD Anderson Oncologist about.

Prayer partners: I would love your prayers for my health as follows:

• That my condition become stable and things don't progress
• That we can easily identify some great future options for treatment
• And ultimately, that I am healed from this terrible disease!!

Thank you so much. God is good, all the time!

So many appointments!

It's 2026 and we are getting back in the swing of things around here. I believe I mentioned in my last post, that at the end of January, I was going to be having a slew of appointments and tests. We are now in that process. First, last Tuesday I had another Enhertu infusion. The physician's assistant agreed to let me get a bag of fluids not only with that infusion, but also on the third week of the cycle. I want to see if that helps me feel better. On Tuesday of this week, I had a brain MRI; today I had a PET scan; tomorrow I am having my high dose vitamin C infusion; Monday, I am having an echocardiogram; on Tuesday I am having that bag of fluids in the infusion room; on Friday I have an appointment with my neuro-oncologist to go over my brain MRI results, and then the next Tuesday, I have my next infusion of Enhertu and will go over my PET Scan results with my oncologist. 

Lately, I have been noticing some vision issues and sometimes feel like I am going to pass out, so I am prayerfully hoping it is due to inflammation in my brain due to cancer die-off (hoping that's a thing) and not from the LMD (leptomeningeal disease) or the cancer metastasis in my brain. I will say that after I had the Enhertu infusion on Tuesday last week, the episodes where I feel like I am going to pass out haven't happened. I am still having the vision issues though.

Anyway, I just thought I would pop on here and provide a quick update. We are super busy around here as usual and trucking along. I will plan to provide a longer update at my next Enhertu infusion. Thanks for your continued prayers!!