Follow up on my infusion yesterday and prayer request

Yesterday I had bloodwork before my infusion. They got the results of my CBC to make sure my white counts were high enough to get treatment. Thankfully, they were! Based on this labwork and my labwork from Wednesday through Friday of last week, at my doctor appointment before the infusion, we discussed with the PA that I just come in on Friday for the bloodwork instead of Wednesday-Friday. I am going to have next week off from treatment, so I will likely get the blood marrow boosting injection on Friday, so that I may get treatment on June 1. 

Later in the afternoon, I received a call from my oncologist office, though that was not great. Prior to my first infusion of Trodelvy last week, we noticed my liver enzymes were really elevated, which wasn't good. I thought perhaps it could have been from the trauma of my liver biopsy, but that was unlikely due to the amount of time between the biopsy and treatment. Unfortunately, getting the metabolic panel back takes some time, so we weren't able to know my liver enzymes results from yesterday's labwork until later in the day. They basically doubled, which is not good, since they were already high. I have been having liver pain ever since my biopsy. Now, it could be due to receiving the treatment last Monday, because it would be the first liver panel I received since treatment with the new drug began. However, it could also be due to the cancer in my liver dying off, causing inflammation, or significant progression. We are really hoping it is due to the die-off of my cancer. To be safe, I am avoiding as many medications/supplements and treatments this week as possible to give my liver a break. I am going to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate to try to flush things out as well. I even looked up the injection I received on Friday to see if it could cause liver enzymes to increase. Basically all of the drugs I receive through my infusion can cause a temporary increase to liver enzymes. Also, the bone marrow stimulating injection can as well, But, the increase should only be temporary (1-2 days), so this huge increase is a bit alarming. 

My prayer request is that my liver function improves, my liver enzymes go down significantly (normal level would be awesome), the pain resolves and I can continue treatment that is extremely effective. We should know the results of my labwork late on Friday. Thanks for your continued prayers. I feel at peace with all of this, knowing God is sovereign over all.

A Busy Mother's Day weekend plus New Cancer Treatment

Mother's Day weekend was extremely busy but fun. Drew's parents came up to help us with our busy weekend and we are so grateful. Abbey's Advanced Theater production play was on Friday and Saturday, Luke's State Track meet, which was located 3 hours away, was on Saturday and then Mother's Day was, of course, on Sunday. So, Drew, Luke and I left on Friday night after Abbey's first performance to head to a town outside Fort Worth, TX for Luke's track meet, while Drew's parents got Abbey to where she needed to be. Here are a few photos from Friday and Saturday.

Abbey played the character, Charlotte, in Pride and Prejudice

Charlotte is Lizzy's best friend and ends up marrying Mr. Collins.

Pride and Prejudice was so much fun to watch and Abbey did an awesome job!

Luke's team in the 4x100M relay ended up getting 1st place at State. He ran the 3rd leg.

3 state track events and 3 medals. 1st in the men's 4x100m and 3rd in the 100m and 200m

This was Luke's first year in track and he enjoyed it so much. This summer he plans on researching biomechanics, elite athletes and the amazing engineering of the human body as a passion project to try to figure out how to increase his times for next season. I love this kid and his self motivation so much!

On Sunday, we celebrated Mother's Day with Drew's parents. Here's a quick little church photo. As you can see, my family now towers over me.

Then, on Monday I started a new treatment regimen: Trodelvy.  I can't recall which number of treatment this is since I was diagnosed Stage IV in 2022---maybe 7 or 8? I brought the laptop on Monday because I knew it would be a long day. I was told the treatment itself would be about a 5 hour infusion. But, I also had to have bloodwork before and an appointment with my doctor to discuss the treatment. Well, my plan to get a lot of work done on the laptop did not happen. Early in the infusion, they brought a huge syringe full of Benadryl to infuse into my port, as one of the many pre-medications before the Trodelvy. The nurse said I may get very sleepy. Well, it literally knocked me out almost immediately. I could not keep my eyes open as everything was constantly spinning. So, I was not able to provide any sort of update on the blog last week. Knowing this, I am back today trying to type out this post prior to getting the Benadryl. :-)

My oncologist last week went over the side effects that 1% of patients get, because I typically fall in that 1%. To be honest, she scared me a bit going into the treatment. However, I know that God is sovereign over all and in control here. Also, they started me off with only a 50% dose of the Trodelvy to ease into it. The side effects ended up not being too bad considering what she had mentioned as possibilities and I was very thankful, praising the Lord. One of the most annoying things was coming in for bloodwork on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to make sure my white counts (and specifically neutrophil counts) weren't dangerously low. If they were, I would need to get an injection to boost my bone marrow into producing more white blood cells. On Wednesday, my neutrophil was in normal range, yet they still wanted to give me the injection (which is expensive and carries some painful side effects). I fought it and they let me leave without it. On the following day, my neutrophil count was still steady at the same fine normal number. So, I was able to leave without the injection again. However, on Friday it dipped a bit (still in normal range but trending in the wrong direction). Since I was on schedule for another treatment today, they decided I needed the injection so that I could have treatment today. If the count was too low, treatment would have to be delayed. On Friday, I didn't really notice too many side effects from the injection. But oh my goodness---the pain was extremely intense on Saturday. I can only equate it to a deep nerve like tooth ache, but in all the bones in the lower back, hips and pelvis. It was excruciating. I know this is because the drug was stimulating the bone marrow. We were visiting our nieces in the Houston area, attending their graduation brunch. We headed back after that to try to make Abbey's volleyball game back home. I put the seat heater on and took Claritin, which helps with bone pain, on the 3 hour drive home. The only other super annoying side effect I had Friday-Sunday was the lack of sleep. On Friday night I got zero sleep, on Saturday night I got a couple of hours and then last night I got about 6 hours of interrupted sleep every few hours. But, it felt so good to get sleep!!! I think it has to do with the steroids and possibly the injection I had on Friday. 

Anyway, I actually need to end this post now, without editing, because I am in the infusion chair and they are pushing the Benadryl into my port. Thanks for your continued prayers.

A new plan for cancer treatment

I am just following up from my last post, as a lot has happened since then. Last week, I went to MD Anderson, where I had a liver biopsy (it was painful) and a brain MRI. The goal was to see if my cancer had mutated from its original ER/PR+ status and Her2- status. If it had, that would open up other options for treatment. I have been on a lot of different treatments since I became stage IV in 2022. When one fails, I move on to the next one. Well, it appeared I was nearing the end of options, so I wanted to see what clinical trials were available to me. Yesterday, I had a follow up appointment with my MD Anderson doctor. The cancer has not changed ER/PR + status or Her2- status. The good news is that the cancer in my brain still looks stable or even improved. Unfortunately, there are no clinical trials available to me at MD Anderson. In fact, my appointment yesterday with my MD Anderson oncologist was short and very sad. He recommended a drug (eribulin) that has a median progression free survival of only a few months. In addition, it tends to cause a number of serious side effects, include severe neutropenia, which I already have issues with. So, instead I am going to go with my local oncologist's recommendation of treatment with Trodelvy, which, in studies, provides a couple of additional months of progression free survival. It is also a little more targeted chemotherapy option. 

None of this is good news though. The only good news in all this is that I am totally reliant on a miracle from God. God is sovereign over all and is in control. There is no option available to me on earth that can heal my cancer. Only God can heal. So, when that happens, it will be totally obvious who deserves the Glory and praise for my healing---no man, oncologist, drug or anything else can receive the Glory.

Friends, please pray with me for healing:

• That the Lord heals my body miraculously and completely
• That I have enough energy to exercise my body
• That I find time to write out all the instructions and plans for my family (for all the stuff that only I know in my family), just to be prepared. Friends have encouraged me that planning in this way does not show a lack of faith, but just preparedness.
• That I can get nutrients into my body regularly. Nothing ever sounds good to eat and it is difficult to eat, but I need to eat good food!
• That this new treatment doesn't knock me down or provide too harsh side effects. What I read about the side effects does not look fun.
• That I have faith as a grain of mustard seed: For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20) My parents were told after they were married that there was very little chance they would ever have a baby. They had this verse on a wooden sign hung on the wall and would pray for this type of faith. Then, I was born---it was a miracle. I have seen many miracles in my life and have experienced many of them in my own life. SO, I know anything is possible. Please pray that as I watch friends with the same cancer as mine pass away these past two months, and as I hear a lot of negativity from my oncologists, I don't forget that only God is in control and can perform miracles. 

Thank you for your continued prayers!