Life in 2023 has been a bit hectic thus far, but it is all looking up from here! We've had lots of basketball tournaments (a few out of town). At the end of January, my cancer markers were looking great and my circulating tumor DNA number (Signatera test) had dropped significantly (at the end of October it was 1.59, and at the end of January, it was .69). Then, many stressful events occurred. At our district basketball tournament in Mansfield, TX at the end of January, Abbey was swung to the floor at a basketball game by an opposing team player and rushed to the hospital with a compound fracture. Both her radius and ulna were broken in her right arm and one of the bones came right through her skin. It was rough and she underwent surgery where two rods were placed in those bones to hold them together. I felt so badly for my sweet girl. I hadn't gotten any sleep in the hotel the previous night, and now, I lost another night of sleep caring for our sweet girl on (making sure she didn't roll onto her right arm while sleeping).
We
got back early on Sunday morning, and I managed to get a little sleep Sunday night and Monday night. Then, my dad came to visit on
Tuesday. We had been looking forward to his visit, but only got a little time of fun with him until Tuesday night, when a terrible ice storm came to our town and we lost
power (cue more nights of no sleep). We lost power for days and had a
lot of destruction at our home. We lost trees, massive tree limbs on our
gorgeous live oak trees and several massive limbs even fell on our home
in five places, damaging the roof and gutters. We also had limbs fall
on other things all around our house, causing a lot of destruction. Our
friends and neighbors were so kind to offer us a place to stay with them
since they had warmth and power (this was especially important since my
dad was there visiting). I say all of this only to explain the battle I
have had with the lack of sleep and stress lately. With all that, some of my
healing modalities couldn't happen. So, needless to say, I was not
surprised at my next blood draw to see how my tumor markers came flying
back up (not good). You may recall that in December, my PET scan showed
remarkable improvement. In fact, many of the cancer tumors were
completely gone and the ones that remained were greatly reduced. Things
were headed in the right direction. Since things were improving, I
decided to test some changes I had made previously to see if they were
necessary. With Christmas, I added occasional sweet
treats. In addition, I added more occasional meat to my diet. Honestly,
every time I did though, I regretted it, as I didn't feel well after. I have
learned that meat doesn't make me feel well. Everyone is different, but
it is better for me to have very high quality fish or chicken
occasionally only. Red meat in general is no good for me. The other problem with meat, is that when I do, I eat less vegetables (nutrient dense foods that my body craves). I also had
higher glycemic index foods on occasion.
We tried to take care of the massive amounts limbs that fell around our house and property ourselves, but they were just too numerous. We finally caved and, after getting the most reasonable quote we had seen, paid a company to help us clear all the limbs. Although our front yard looks so much different (not in a good way, due to losing a huge canopy of live oaks that we previously had), having all the branches cleared to where we could actually see our home lifted a very heavy burden.
Anyway,
fast forward to Monday, March 13, where I had my 3 month follow up PET
scan. I was at peace during the scan due to all the prayers going up on
my behalf. I received the results on Thursday by phone, along with the
request that my oncologist wanted to meet with me the following day. Anytime your oncologist wants to meet with you as soon as they receive your scan results, it is not because they are good results. My results showed progression of the
cancer in my bones and lymph nodes (from the previous scan), but my
liver tumors are stable. It definitely wasn't the response I was hoping
for, but with the stress and lack of sleep I had over the past couple of
months, I definitely wasn't surprised. I experienced changes in eating,
my healing modalities and exercise, sleep and stress and I am hoping
that by going back to the strict lifestyle I had during the first 6
months of treatment, and with prayers, my cancer will go away. I am also working hard on making sure I deal with stress the right way. Stress kills, y'all. I think my labwork clearly shows how important sleep and stress reduction is.
After
speaking to my doctor about other treatment options she was
considering, we agreed to stick to the current course for another month
and see what happens to my circulating tumor DNA. At my last ctDNA test
at the end of February, we noticed it was back up to 1.47, from .69 (it
was 1.59 at the end of October).
Typically, you will see changes in that
prior to seeing changes in diagnostic testing. Considering the PET scan
seemed to line up with this increase in ctDNA (my Signatera test
results), it seems like a pretty good indicator to my treatment
response. A blood draw is much easier than a PET scan. So, I will get
weekly blood draws (my ctDNA every two weeks) and in a month, I will
meet with my oncologist to see if things are working and what our
continued plan is. I will schedule another PET scan in 3 months, in June (which will be one year from my initial scan.)
So my plan is to go hard core on all my healing modalities, diet, exercise, stress reduction, prayer and meditation, deep breathing and more! I would love your prayers---prayers that God leads me to what I can physically do to help heal this cancer and bring my body to a low inflammation and healing state permanently. I want this cancer gone--and gone for good! I would love for your prayers of complete healing of my body so that I may enjoy many, many years with my family. Thanks for your continued prayers!
