Hello All…

Checking in to keep you updated. It’s been a bit of a rough week, so your continued support and prayers are welcomed and appreciated.

Last Tuesday, Mom had her regular CT scan of chest, abdomen and pelvis. Good news is that the cancer hasn’t spread. It’s still only in the lungs. Thank God!! The bad news is that the CT results indicated that the current tumors in her lungs have grown in size and number. The tumors did not grow a lot; the most growth is approximately 5mm larger. However, this does indicate a progression in the cancer. The doctor is hoping that the cancer’s progression is a result of the lower dose of Tarceva mom has been on, and hopefully raising the dose will help. For right now, the doctor put mom back on her medication daily hoping that the higher dose will either hold the tumor’s current size or shrink them again. However, there is a possibility that the cancer’s growth indicates that mom has built up an inevitable resistance to the medication. What does this all mean? Well, it means we need prayer. The best case scenario seems to be hoping that her current medication will work at a higher dose, since she’s responded so well to it in the past. However, she usually has many painful side effects with a higher dose and is unsure how long she can tolerate these side effects. If she can’t tolerate the Tarceva on a daily basis, we still have options. There are two different targeted therapy medications she could start, one is older and the other recently came onto the market. The doctor seems to be hopeful that one of those medications will work. Then after trying those options, there is still immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Thank God for modern medicine!

Of course, mom is taking it all in stride and has a great attitude. She is focused on the positive aspects that the tumors haven’t spread to other parts of her body. She’s even looking at the painful side effects she’s experiencing as a positive, knowing that it means that her body is responding to the medication. Her outlook and faith in God continue to impress and undoubtedly will continue to give her strength and resilience through this journey.  It is encouraging to know that; 1) this is the first time since she started treatment that we’ve seen growth in the tumors, and 2) things could be worse (something mom reminded me of). Mom has follow up scan to determine if the medication is working or if a new medication will be prescribed in the first week of June, rest assured I’ll keep you updated as to the outcome. Prayer works!! Thank you all for your support. We know that God has a plan through all of this and thank Him every day for our results and options.