Thursday, February 8, 2018

Stable Scan!!!

Jen's scan today was stable!!!  The area that grew a few months ago when Jen became recurrent does in fact look as if it has gotten a little smaller.   As long as Jen's blood work holds, she will resume chemo on Tuesday.  This will be her 7th cycle since her recurrence.  There are no standards for how long to continue with the chemo at this point.  She may have already derived all the benefits from resuming, or maybe not.  There really are no absolute rules at this stage as there are for an initial diagnosis.  Both Jen and I as well as her doctor from UCLA believe we should continue for at least a few more cycles if Jen continues to remain stable.  I'm not exactly sure why, but it is our gut instinct.  Thanks again for all the prayers and support!

A quick update prior to Jen's scan later today

     It has now been a couple of weeks since Jen has recovered from her last round of chemo.  The bouts of sickness have also passed and it has been good to have a few more active weeks.  Allergy season seems to be hitting Jen a little earlier this year thanks to the unseasonably warm weather.  We are still trying to find some relief that she can tolerate.  Jen did have another small seizure about a week and a half ago.  Nothing to be alarmed about as she has 1 or 2 about every 2 months.  I wish they didn't happen, but the alternative of increasing meds with debilitating side effects is less appealing to Jen and myself.  Jen also had a fall in the kitchen about 2 weeks ago.  She is okay and has fallen before, but this is always concerning.  She had had a long day and probably over did it a little.  We do try to be constantly aware of Jen's risk for falls and are constantly taking precautions as her balance isn't always the best especially when she becomes fatigued.
     On a more positive note,  Jen has resumed physical therapy after a long break due to sickness/chemo/sickness/chemo.  Her therapist was surprised to see that after all her inactivity that she hadn't lost any progress.  She is only going about once a week as we need to be judicious with her PT as the year has just begun, but she has also resumed regular workouts at home.
     Jen's next scan is later today.  As always please keep Jen in your thoughts and prayers.  I will post the news about her scan hopefully this evening.
     As I mentioned, we have been a little more active again.  Below are pictures from 2 concerts that Jen and I attended.



Watching The White Buffalo perform on stage
 
Jen posing with Terry at the show

Jen & I with Rich and Terry
 
Jen posing with Jake Smith (front man for The White Buffalo)

Watching Mia Doi Todd
 
Jen & I at Mia's show