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!!
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!!
I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was amazing, and your Christmas season has started off awesome. Our family enjoyed time with my siblings and their families in Arkansas on Beaver Lake during Thanksgiving week. It was our first Thanksgiving and Holiday together without any parents. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and creating memories together. We had to be very intentional about scheduling it and finding a place to all meet together with all of the busy-ness of the season and kids' activities, but we did it and it was great!
Silly group photo during a hike
at the Bentonville downtown square
View outside one of the windows at our airbnb
I am sitting in the infusion chair at Texas Oncology right now getting an infusion of Enhertu. I think this is my 7th infusion of it (I get the infusion every 3 weeks), and my tumor markers and Signatera test continue to come down (this is a good thing). I still have quite a ways to go, but we are headed in the right direction. My next PET scan will be at the end of January. I will have my next brain MRI and echocardiogram in January as well. The cancer seems to be getting better in a lot of areas. We just need the LMD (Leptomeningeal disease) to get better as well). This is the scariest part of my July diagnosis and I finally realized that leg weakness, trembling and some of the other symptoms I have been having are likely from LMD vs. radiation or medication side effects.
They drew a LOT of blood this morning.
I haven't gotten a cold in forever, but it seems a picked up a little virus. I had fever and body aches on Saturday and I have been feeling better as each new day comes along. I still have congestion today and don't feel great, so I was a little surprised they are still doing treatment. Apparently, my neutrophils and lymphocytes are low. So, as a precaution, they are making me take an antibiotic. If you know me, I hate that. I despise antibiotics and would rather rely on my body's immune system to get rid of the virus (with the help of vitamins), which it seems to be doing. However, because my body's immune system is need of help, and this infusion will tank my immune system even more, we have to be very careful. My body could struggle to fight even the common cold and it could progress very quickly and force me into the hospital if we don't take necessary precautions. I will just have to make sure to take lots of probiotics.
Even though I am feeling poorly, I am determined that we are going to make fun memories together this Christmas season. We have been enjoying this time together as a family, and we continue to pray for complete healing! I do believe God is still performing miracles. We would love prayers for healing of the cold virus and healing overall for my body. Please Lord, remove all the cancer and restore my body! Thanks friends!
As I mentioned in the previous post, I have infusions of the drug, Enhertu, every 3 weeks. I have had 4 infusions so far and will have my 5th on Tuesday (11/18) as well as labwork and an appointment with my doctor.
I am excited to talk to her about the results of all my recent tests: labwork, MRI brain, echocardiogram and PET scan. I have received the results of all except the echocardiogram.
I mentioned the results of the MRI of my brain in the last post. I think of all the areas where cancer is, the LMD (leptomeningeal disease) has had the most negative effects on my body. I am often dizzy, wobbly on my feet, and have weakness in my legs (and numbness and tingling in my left leg), and from what I am reading these can be side effects of LMD. I also have swelling in my brain, likely from the radiation I had in July.
I was very excited about my PET scan results!
I was most excited about the reduction in bone metastasis. It looks like my L4 is the main area showing cancer in my bones (and my skull, which the MRI showed--the PET scan doesn't scan my head). My liver mets are still around, but reduced a little bit. And lastly, my lymph nodes didn't show activity. So, this is all headed in the right direction---praise the Lord!!!
Looking at my labwork after my last infusion, it appears my liver enzymes are elevated (not normal). So, on Tuesday at my doctor appointment, I need to talk to her about that. Maybe they will do a dose reduction of the Enhertu? I would hate to have to stop treatment because of the elevated liver enzymes, because it appears treatment is definitely helping. I am also doing a bunch of integrative things to try to help, as I have always done. As I am typing this, I am getting a high dose vitamin C infusion to help get rid of the circulating tumor cells.
Anyway, that is just a quick little update on my PET scan, as promised. It's great news and I thank you for your continued prayers! Right now, my big prayers are for ultimate, complete healing of the cancer. Since the treatment seems to be helping, I pray my body doesn't suffer from it and can be strong, so I can continue to get that treatment. I pray that all my bloodwork can be within normal range (it currently is struggling--white counts, red count, liver enzymes, etc). Thanks prayer warriors!!!
First, I would like to apologize for the lack of updates to this blog. I have literally either had no time or didn't feel well enough to sit at the computer and type out something. Our kids' schedules have kept us extremely busy. There have been times where I had to be at an appointment at the same time as Luke needed to be somewhere in one part of town and Abbey needed to be somewhere in another part of town---and I wasn't allowed to drive. It was a very difficult time, but we are so thankful for friends who helped us with rides and more.
I get Enhertu infusions every 3 weeks. Enhertu is the latest drug I have been on for cancer. Because it is known to cross the blood-brain barrier, they switched me to this drug when they discovered my cancer had metastasized to my brain and it appeared I had leptomeningeal disease (LMD). I am currently in the infusion chair for my 4th treatment, so I have some time to update everyone. The infusions have been going well, with no terrible reactions. Surprisingly, during the first week of the infusion, I feel my best; I'm sure it has something to do with all the anti-nausea meds and steroids they give me. For the first few infusions, weeks two and three were the worst--lots of nausea and endless constipation has been the ongoing issue. At the last infusion, I requested to get a full bag of fluids before they put the bag of Enhertu on, and I feel that helped with nausea throughout the three weeks significantly. We are slowly lowering the duration of infusion, but with the pre-meds they give me, the total time is about 3 hours. I also have labwork and a doctor appointment prior, so it is a large chunk of my day. Hopefully, with each infusion, my body gets more used to treatment and the nausea isn't as significant. I have found the more movement I get in, like walking, the better I feel. It's often difficult to find motivation to workout or walk when I feel extremely fatigued or nauseous, but it does always help. So I do have movement goals each day. Some good news is that my tumor markers continue to go down. They still aren't close to how low they were when I was first diagnosed as stage IV (in 2022), but they continue to fall. Our prayer continues to be complete healing. Some people have asked how long I will be on this treatment. Because I have stage IV cancer there is unfortunately not an "end" to treatment. I am on a treatment as long as it is showing that it is working to kill the cancer. If it appears the cancer has figured out how to resist treatment and begins progressing, we get off of one treatment and onto another. Enhertu is my 6th or 7th line of treatment since being Stage IV. I really hope and pray this works for a long time. I don't believe there are FDA approved treatments options after this since I have already done so many other treatments, so I believe it would be clinical trials after this. But, I totally believe in healing---with or without conventional treatment. And I know only God knows the number of my days, and He is sovereign over all. So, my focus should be on taking good care of this body He gave me, and focus on glorifying Him in all I do. He cares most about my heart and soul. I need to focus on my character, and my relationship with Him and others above all else. Cancer can be very overwhelming and take over your life---in both time (tons of appoinments), and thoughts and feelings (when you feel sick, sometimes it's difficult to think about other things). I have to remain focused and speak life and positivity to myself and others.( adding this awesome devotional, scripture and prayer from a channel i have been visiting on YouTube because it is super relevant to what I just wrote--i love listening to these on the car rides to appointments and activities:
I had an MRI of my brain a couple of weeks ago. It appears treatment is working. All the areas of cancer in my brain have reduced. I will be honest though--as the neurology oncologist was showing me the images of this most recent MRI and the last one, I had no idea how significant the cancer in my brain was. It seemed to be all over the place. For some reason I just thought I had a little bit of cancer in my brain. So the fact that it is all reducing is a HUGE praise. Also, I asked him again if it did look like I had LMD (leptomeningeal disease), which you probably shouldn't google because it is scary. Unfortunately, he did confirm that I had that. But, the good news is it appears Enhertu is helping with that. The other thing I didn't realize, but was called out in the MRI, is that I have many cancerous lesions throughout my skull. Since that was bone-related though, the neurology oncologist said he didn't really look at that (he focuses on the brain and spinal cord). With all the holidays coming up, that oncologist was okay with us scheduling my next MRI in January.
Above is the impression from my MRI (summary of the findings)
I have a busy week of appointments this week. Tomorrow morning, I will have a PET scan. The PET scan will show us how my liver, bones, and lymph nodes are responding to treatment. I pray that just as my brain is responding, my bones and organs are responding well also. On Thursday morning, I have an echocardiogram scheduled. This drug, Enhertu, can cause heart issues, so we have to get regular echocardiograms. My resting heart rate has been very high since starting Enhertu, so hopefully my echocardiogram shows my heart is still functioning well--and that my heartrate is just high due to the drugs. My resting heart rate used to be in the 60s (bpm) prior to starting this treatment. This morning, for example, they measured my resting heartrate a couple of times and it was 110-120 beats per minute. I have a watch that shows my heartrate and it is typically now in the upper 90's to low 100's. I drink a ton of water, so it doesn't appear to be a dehydration issue. I also have my high dose vitamin C infusion appointment scheduled on Friday morning, so it is definitely a full week and tons of time will be spent in doctors offices.
More positive news...At the beginning of this month, I gained the ability to drive again since it has been 3 months since my last seizure. I do a lot of driving with all the kids activities (our new 2024 van has almost 40,000 miles on it), so this is huge!!! Also, Luke turned 16 and passed his driving test. So, we have a new licensed driver in our house. All of this has been extremely helpful! Praise the Lord!
We have been traveling a lot for volleyball and to go to Oklahoma recently. Sadly, my dad passed away in September. He was not sad, as he was looking forward to going to heaven to be with Jesus. However, we all miss him greatly here on earth. So we traveled to Oklahoma when he passed and again in October for his celebration of life. My mom passed away in 2015, so it is odd having no living parents any longer. Also, my siblings and I are now trying to figure out what to do with all of his things and the house we grew up in. It's quite the process. I am so thankful though to have had two amazing Christian parents---we were truly blessed.
my dad and I at our wedding
my parents with us at our baby dedication at church
Here are a few photos from volleyball and Luke's birthday. (He had a volleyball tournament in Dallas on his actual birthday).
that's him in blue---look at that vertical!
on his actual birthday when we got home from Dallas--he picked up his free "Nothing Bundt Cake".
At his 16th birthday party
Hopefully, at least by my next Enhertu infusion in a few weeks, I can provide another update to everyone. By then I will have seen my results from my PET scan and my echocardiogram. And I'm believing we will be praising and thanking the Lord for all the answered prayers and healing. Thanks for your continued prayers.
I had my first Enhertu infusion on August 5th (the day after my port placement on August 4th, after a hot mess attempt at a picc line placement on July 31). Here's a little video update on how that went.
My first Enhertu infusion seemed to go well. I had a port placed on Monday (I had previously had a port back in 2012 that was removed I believe in 2014). So, I needed a new one. They tried to put a picc line in on the Thursday before, but it was a hot mess at the hospital and it turns out I couldn't get the procedure. The radiologist recommended a port instead, which we honestly preferred anyway. God worked it all out for us. I ended up having a bad reaction to one of the drugs they put into the port before the Enhertu, so we had to quickly get a bag of saline, Benadryl and steroid and Ativan into my body before beginning the Enhertu. It knocked me out and the rest of the infusion went well. The Enhertu infusion was supposed to be longer than the future infusions, at 90 minutes. Instead, we went even slower and did a smaller dose over 2 hours. Between that and the reaction, we ended up not leaving until 2pm. We were there from 7a-2pm. SO it was a long day, and so far, no nausea or other issues. Just pain in the neck area where the port was placed. But, it gets slightly better with each day. Thanks so much for your prayers friends! Excited to share upcoming miracles with you!
A couple of weeks ago, I posted this video on youtube. Being on the computer has been difficult, so I apologize for the delay in posting this. But I am trying to catch up now. I figured some are new and may be curious about the backstory. So, here's a little bit:
Here is the description from the youtube video, with the actual video just below:
I was diagnosed with Stage 3C breast cancer (ER/PR+, Her2-) in September 2012, At the time, our youngest was an infant and son was only 2 years old. It was a very tough time in our lives, with lots of suffering and trials, but God brought us through it all. Then, in October 2021, unfortunately, I caught Covid and my health sort of went downhill from there. Covid wasn't a hard illness for me at all, it was just the aftermath that got me. I got some respiratory viruses easily after that and in December/January had a cough that just wouldn't go away. It seemed there was a lot of inflammation in my body. We went on a trip to Colorado in early May, and I struggled with the elevation and hiking (I was super fit so this really alarmed me), When I returned back home, I went to the asthma/allergy doctor and he said my small lung capacity was terrible. I tried to show him a hard lymph node in my neck and he refused to touch it saying to go to the oncologist. He said I showed all asthma symptoms and prescribed some inhalers. (While I waited to see my oncology team, I decided to go back to juicing and eating ultra healthy, while researching all the natural treatments--the cough finally went away and I went back a month later to the allergy doctor and retested my lung capacity and it was practically normal--this was before starting any oncologist's cancer treatment. This told me these God-created, natural healing methods would be important in my treatment). I had just seen the PA at the oncology office in March and she didn't seem as concerned about my lymph node, which was hard and immovable. She said to just continue to monitor it and it could be from the cough. After researching, I saw that lymph node was not connected to the lungs, but rather the liver and other areas. So, I went to the oncologist in May after our trip to Colorado and to the allergy doctor ( I was REALLY hoping it was related to the cough), they scheduled me for a biopsy and in June 2022, I was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer that had spread to my Liver, Bones, and lymph nodes above and below my diaphragm. That's the short backstory and I will tell details in upcoming videos.
