Hi All,

Just a quick update to to let you know about Mom starting radiation therapy. She saw multiple doctors on Monday, and started the process. They made the mask she needs to wear during treatment. This upcoming Thursday will be her first day. She will start the day with another CT scan of her chest, abdomen, and pelvis to rule out any further metastasis. Then she has her first dose whole-brain radiation treatment. She’ll be receiving those for ten sessions. After the radiation therapy, the doctors will re-evaluate her progress. She will most likely start IV Chemo the week after radiation ends. We all appreciate your prayers and messages so much, and we know Mom is in God’s hands. Please continue to pray on Thursday – praying for minimal side-effects from the CT contrast, NO metastasis in other organs, physical and mental strength though treatment, and treatment effectiveness. We’re praying that God guide the doctors and treatment team to the best decisions, and for the radiation to eradicate the tumors in her brain. Thank you again for the great support, Mom has been uplifted by your words and thoughts.

Here are some songs Mom has been listening to for encouragement.

Hi All,

As promised, we are trying to keep you more updated, especially as this new treatment starts. On Monday October 1, Mom will see both her Oncologist and Radiation Oncologist.  She will then get a CT for planning the whole-brain radiation treatment. After that, the team will decide her treatment plan, and we should have more information to share at that point. Mom has been super encouraged by your messages, support, and prayers. We are asking for you to keep it up!!! We’re praying that God leads the treatment team, and gives Mom the strength she needs to carry on.

Thanks Everyone!!!

Hello all. I must deeply apologize for the delay in posts again, but we’ve got a lot to catch you up on. Mom had an exciting summer. In July she and Dad traveled to Jordan and Israel where they got to visit many sights of the Old Testament and to walk where Jesus walked.

Sailing on the Sea of Galilee and floating in the Dead Sea were some of the highlights. On her three-year anniversary of being diagnosed with cancer, she climbed 750 steps to the top of Petra in the humid 90’s temperatures. Talk about a survivor. Mom praises the Lord for giving her the strength and ability to make this trip with no problems.

Mom and Dad have also enjoyed spending time at Lake Roosevelt during the summer with her granddaughters, Kaelynn and Addison. It has been exciting for them to teach the girls how to wakeboard and watch how quickly they learned, went outside the wake, and now want to learn how to jump the wake. Soon they will be teaching Mom and Dad how it’s done.

Last week Mom started having severe pain in her lower legs/calves, after having a month-long battle with the flu. Unable to find relief she began to suspect a deep vein thrombosis and possible pulmonary embolism. She called her Oncologist and he suggested she come into the ER at Virginia Mason and get it checked out just to be safe. The CT Scan revealed she had several blood clots in her lungs. They admitted her into the hospital and began a regiment of Heparin and subsequently Lovenox. She had an ultra-sound the next day, revealing she has two blood clots in her leg, which is probably where they originated from. True to Jeanene form, she was thankful and felt blessed to be diagnosed and treated before the blood clots caused any life threatening complications. The CT Scan also revealed that the tumors in her lungs are growing again and new ones have appeared since her last scan. This means the oral targeted-therapy chemo (Tagrisso) she was taking is not working to maintain or reduce the tumors and a new chemo treatment needs to be found.

While in the hospital, mom spoke with her attending doctors about increasing episodes of ocular headaches she has been experiencing for the last several months. Mom and the doctors discussed if a brain MRI would seem reasonable to make sure the cancer was not spreading. Unfortunately, the MRI did show that the cancer has metastasized into her brain. The doctor’s report stated, “There are too numerous to count enhancing lesions distributed throughout the brain… These measure 2 to 10 mm.”  Not the news we wanted to hear, but again Mom Praises God they were discovered before she began to have worsening symptoms, and thankful she was able to get the MRI sooner rather than later.

Friday evening her oncologist came to speak with Mom and Dad and assured them that the new tumors are treatable. The regiment will be difficult, but the brain tumors can be controlled. Beginning next week she will meet with the Radiation Oncologist who will outline the treatment plan and get her started on radiation therapy to the brain, five days a week for the next three weeks. After which she will begin IV Chemo to continue to battle the lung cancer.

Mom feels assured God has been and will continue to go before her and stay close beside her every step of the way on this turbulent cancer journey. During the MRI she was listening to Christian music while the test was performed. The last song to play just as they pulled her out of the MRI machine was one of her favorite encouraging songs, “I Will Trust in You” by Lauren Daigle. She praised God for giving her that audible sign and assurance that she can indeed trust in Him through the next bend and bumps in the road. Mom continues to hold onto the promise, “It’s not the greatness of my faith that moves mountains, but my faith in the greatness ofGod.”

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for my Mom and our family. We appreciate the thoughts and kind words, and Mom is always uplifted by your messages. Please pray that Mom will be able to withstand the new treatments with minimal side-effects and for effectiveness of the treatment on the growing tumors.  I will continuously be updating the blog, more often, throughout the ongoing process of radiation and IV chemo.

Hi All!

Well.. Mom had her scan today. It went well and we are praising God for His Mercy. Below are what the plans are and what’s happening going forward. More good news is that due to her trying all sorts of things for her side-effects, her hands have improved and are more tolerable now. Yay!!! Praise God.

So, to tell you more about it… here’s mom :

PRAISE GOD again for our good news today!!!!

The CT scan reveals mostly tumor stabilization with minimal growth!

Going forward Dr recommends:

—NO IV CHEMO NOW!!!

—try to keep on maximum oral targeted therapy dose depending on side effects

—monitor skin and report to the doctor about hand skin worsening to lower dose

—follow up Doctor appointment in 1 month

—next CT scan in 2 months

We are so very humbled by this news, as God continued to go before me in each step of this journey.  And so grateful for caring, praying family & friends who keep me encouraged and continually lifted up before our great and mighty God.

     👏💕🤗💕👏

HI All,

Sorry again for the delay in posting again.

Well, a lot has been happening… In the beginning of April, mom had another CT scan. The scan showed that her tumors had grown slightly. Not great news. In addition, Mom has been experiencing many painful and difficult side-effects from her medication, Tagrisso, that she has been taking since December. Her hands are red, have rashes, bleeding, and cracking. She is bruising easily and basically wears gloves almost all the time incase her hands decide to bleed. Very painful! Also not so great news. Because of the intense side-effects the doctor decided to change some things. During the month of April, Mom is going to take as much medication as she can stand, given that the pain in her extremities isn’t unbearable. Next week she has another CT scan to see the outcome of the past month – whether or not the tumors have grown or maintained their size. If the tumors have maintained size or are shrinking, we can rejoice and she’ll most likely stay on Tagrisso. If the tumors have grown, she’ll be taken off the targeted oral therapy, and have a 9-week- long round of IV Chemo (once every 3 weeks). What happens after that varies. The doctor is hoping that the short hiatus from the Tagrisso will help with decreasing the negative side-effects on her hands, and the month of IV Chemo will attack and shrink the tumors. Then after that they will decide what the next course of action is.

As you can imagine, nerves are a bit high. Only God knows what is best and what will happen next.We appreciate your prayers for Mom and prayers that God will guide not only the result of the treatment but the decisions of the doctors as well.

Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers. We are hopeful that good outcomes are in the near future and appreciate the army of support you have provided.

I’ll keep you updated after the next scan.

https://youtu.be/CKECQ86XexM

Hi All!

Well, again with another late post, I apologize. But here’s the update.

On January 25 mom had another scan and blood work done. GREAT NEWS!!!!! The scan showed that the tumors have NOT GROWN since being on the new medication, Tagrisso. PRAISE THE LORD!! Thank God for the medications mom has been able to be on. We are so grateful! This is the last oral medication option there is, so we’re praying for continuous results like these for a LONG time.

Here are mom’s comments:

PRAISING GOD for the positive results of my CT lung scan!
• All lung tumors showed reduction in size since I’ve been on the newest and last oral targeted chemo option, Tagrisso, even at the reduced dosage from 80mg to 60mg
•All of my side effects have improved and are tolerated on this lowered dose.
• I will NOT need to advance to IV chemo with these favorable results!

Thank you to all my prayer warriors for your relentlessly supplication on my behalf!!! I am overwhelmed by your continued support and commitment these past 2 1/2 years! I’m so amazed & grateful for God’s continuous blessings on me!!!

Good Evening All, and Happy Holidays.

Family at Thanksgiving

It has been quite the eventful past few months… and again I must apologize for the absence of updates.

As we’re in the midst of the holidays, many more things are changing… But we’ll start at the beginning, and to explain it all, here’s what my mom wrote…

Since the last update in June, there have been more monthly tests, scans and changes to my treatment. So here they are in a nutshell:

• July – The lung and abdominal CT scan at least confirms NO metastatic tumors anywhere else….Praise God for that!  However, the scan showed growth in all lung tumors & a new cluster of unusual tumors not previously detected on my right upper lobe.
• August – Had a bronchoscopy to biopsy the new cluster of tumors. The pulmonologist attempted 23 biopsies, but sadly there was not enough tissue collected to send for additional DNA testing (to determine if a new mutation is causing the tumor growth). But, gladly, results did determine the tumor cluster consisted of mostly scar tissue and very little cancer. Again, praise God!  Then I had a PET scan conducted to identify the tumors with most growth activity, in order to possibly re- biopsy the tumors. Results indicated the most active tumors are too close to the side of the left lung wall, which posed the risk of collapsing my lung if biopsied. So, the oncologist recommend changing my oral targeted therapy chemo from Tarceva to Gilotrif. The hope was that I could tolerate a higher and consistent daily dose of Gilotrif that would more effectively maintain and potentially reduce the tumors (which was not occurring with the lower every other day dose of Tarceva that I could hardly tolerate).
• September – I started Gilotrif 40mg for only 10 days. I was unable to tolerate it longer due to side effects of nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and loosing 10 pounds. We lowered the Gilotrif to 30 mg daily which was more tolerable, allowing me to stay on it for a total of 2 months.
• October – Had the normal blood work every 2 weeks, and it reveals everything is normal… so far so good!
• November – The CT lung scan reveals all tumors continue to grow in size which confirms I am NOT responding to Gilotrif. The doctor recommended switching to a newly developed oral targeted therapy, Tagrisso.
• November 29 – Started Tagrisso 80mg. So far the side-effects are nose bleeds, muscle twitches, and exhaustion.

I want to express my sincere appreciation for all of my family and friends who continue to be my Prayer Warriors and lift me up before our Great Physician. Your support and prayers have greatly encouraged me as I continue this life-altering journey, all the while keeping my eyes open to ongoing evidences of God’s miracles and leading as He constantly goes before me every step of the way.

Requesting prayers that I will be able to tolerate the full dose, that side effects will be manageable, that I will respond favorably to this new chemo by either maintaining or at best shrinking my tumors. And I will be able to stay on this treatment with the best possible outcome for the greatest length of time.

My Prayer – Dear Lord, You are good. And You are good at being God. Therefore, I trust Your plan and believe that You’re allowing this to happen for a reason. It may be hard, but I’d rather be close to You through a thousand difficult moments than apart from You in a thousand good ones. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Here are two songs mom has been leaning on for support and inspiration.

https://youtu.be/CLeJSWfbAGs

Hello All.

Yesterday, mom found out the results of the blood test. The test was looking for whether or not the EGFR mutation of the tumors had changed into another type of mutation. The blood test came back negative, meaning none of the many mutations the blood test was testing for were identified. There is still a possibility that it could be a different type of mutation, and for this she will need a CT guided lung biopsy. The doctor is going to schedule a subsequent CT scan and possibly a biopsy for the beginning of August. Mom will be on a higher dose of Tarceva in the meantime and the CT scan will be compared to the past one she had on June 6. We’re praying that the CT will show that the tumors have shrunk, which could mean that the biopsy wouldn’t be necessary. But in the meantime we need to pray. God has a plan. Come August I’ll check in to tell you the results.

Your thoughts, prayers, and support are much appreciated.

P.S. – Today my parents celebrated 42 years of marriage. I think that kind of commitment is pretty special, don’t you? 🙂

Good Evening All.

Well… Mom had her follow-up scan yesterday regarding the lung tumors growing. Since last month Mom has been on high dosages of the Tarceva to try to inundate her system with the medication. Yesterday’s CT scan indicated that the tumors were not greatly affected by the Tarceva, and there has been about 2mm of growth in some of the tumors. The doctor said that most likely the tumors have built a resistance to the Tarceva. In this case, what that means is not only are the tumors no longer receptive to the medication, but as part of the resistance, the tumors have possibly mutated a secondary defect. This means that the Tarceva, which was targeting the EGFR mutation will no longer work if the tumors have mutations beyond EGFR. The doctor ordered a wet lung biopsy, which is a new type of blood test that can hopefully indicated if the tumors did in fact mutate without the need to insert a needle directly into the tumor tissue. The test is new, so it could be inconclusive, in which case she’ll need another bronchoscopy to determine the type of tumor mutation. Since the test is so new, first, the kits need to be ordered, and then once they collect the blood, it’ll be approximately one and a half weeks until we hear the results. After the results are in, the doctor will decide which type of treatment is appropriate. There are still some oral targeted therapies that he could prescribe, depending on the mutation, IV immunotherapy, and of course, IV chemotherapy. So, this means we have about three weeks to pray pray pray. Pray that the blood test will be conclusive. And pray that when the results come, there is a viable option for treatment that will combat the tumors as good, or better, as the Tarceva once did. As you know, this was not the news we were hoping for. However, as you also know, mom is taking this all in amazing stride. She has a tremendous attitude, and is looking to God, and his perfect timing, will lead her and the doctors to the right treatment at the right time. I’ll be keeping you updated as soon as we know more from the tests. As always, prayers are welcomed and appreciated, I know He hears them and already knows the best treatment plan and outcome.

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.