Silly Little Cells

Yesterday was Sarah's and Hannah's birthday so I waited until today for medical news.

Harv had a CT scan and we were hoping that the nodules they saw on the scan last time were due to his cough and that they'd go away when his cough did. Unfortunately, the nodules are still there. Dr. Lin says that sometimes the teeny weensy cells get angry when they get blasted with strong chemo and sometimes they dig their heels in and fight... It sounded like they were pretty little, but they're still there. His CEA count is slightly higher, but not dramatically.

So, we're gonna kinda sneak up on 'em with what he calls "maintenance" chemo for a couple of months and then we'll have another CT scan. Harv will start taking the Xeloda (oral drug) again right away and most likely follow that up with Avastin (an effective, but easier chemo drug). We'll be traveling a bit this summer so Dr. Lin is making it simpler to attack the chemo and still have a life. We were gonna wait until we got back, but we're gonna start real soon...perhaps even today. And, when it's time for the Avastin, we'll be able to get that in Bellingham.

While we don't especially like that the little nodules are still there, we still feel pretty good about things.  Harv feels good. He's been very busy at work and he's been working on lots of house-y stuff. It's been very nice not to have to go to Seattle so often and very nice not to have any type of infusion. Life without chemo can be pretty pleasant. It helps, I'm sure, that the weather has been so nice lately, too.

And, so... the battle continues. The fight isn't quite as scary as it was at first, but we still have to be on our toes. Can't let those silly little cells think they own the place.

Many, many blessings to you all. Thanks for keeping up with us. Wishing you all a wonderful summer...