TWO YEARS and GOIN' STRONG!

It's been two years since Harv was diagnosed with "stage 4 colon cancer metastatic to the liver."

And, he's still here.

And, he feels pretty good.

And, the counts that should go down are goin' down.

And, he's still here.

Cancer has not won this fight!

And, Merry, Merry Christmas to you all!

We love you.

Looks like it's workin'

CEA count is down a little bit more!  That's a good thing...

We're gonna keep at it for a little longer!

GoFightWin!

Stirrings of the soul

There is something stirring in my soul... I don't want to say it "out loud" 'cause then it becomes real. 

There haven't been very many times in my life when my soul is stirred, but when it happens, some kind of action must be taken.

While "stirrings" can be exciting, they can also be scary. I'm not totally to the exciting part yet. I know that even when people feel unqualified, they can be used. I haven't figured out my role in this "stirring" yet, but I'm pretty sure I will have a role.

All I'm gonna say is: please pray with me. Please pray for right timing, right details, clear direction. Please pray for everyone who will be involved. 

Amen.

Movin' right along

I don't have a lot to report, but wanted to let you know that Harv went back to work. He is working  part-time at Northrop Grumann (100% from home) and helping with proposal writing. He started a week ago and has been PLENTY busy. 

While I think it's been kinda fun for him to get back into the working world, it has also been an adjustment. Partly, 'cause he jumped in right when they were working on a proposal with tight deadlines...but also just 'cause he doesn't have quite the stamina that he did before cancer entered our world with chemo, etc... But! I'd say he's kinda likin' it overall. We are very thankful that they offered him this opportunity.

He goes back tomorrow for second round of this treatment. He'll have Avastin infused and then continue with daily GMCSF shots. We have an appointment with Dr. Lin next Tuesday.

We are only days away from the 2 year "anniversary" of his diagnosis. TWO YEARS! I wouldn't say they've been easy years, but we have been very fortunate in many, many ways.  And, I believe he's doing very, very well for a stage-4-colon-cancer-metastatic-to-the-liver patient! 

Thankful, thankful, thankful!

Hopin' y'all are havin' a wonderful holiday season. 

We love you.

Giving Thanks

This is the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Throughout my life, I have attended Thanksgiving  church services where people get to voice their thanks. When I was a child, we had services on Thanksgiving day and the whole service was centered around people having an opportunity to share what they were thankful for.  No one in my family ever did it. Not because we weren't thankful. We just didn't want to share in front of the whole congregation. There were families who shared EVERY year. I think it made us uncomfortable that they shared their feelings in such a public way. We didn't think it was wrong, but we squirmed a bit when they shared so openly. And, we held our thankfulnesses tightly.

Today, in the church bulletin, I noticed that there would be an opportunity to share thankfulnesses today. I rolled my eyes in discomfort and dug my heels in, prepared to hold onto mine. But people got up and shared beautiful meditations of why they were thankful and how they practice thankfulness -- even in times of difficulty or times when they don't really FEEL thankful.

And, as I sat there, I felt a nudge to get up and share. I tried to map out my little bit of sharing -- how it would sound, what to include, what to leave out, how do I include everything I want to say in just a minute or two at most?

That part of the service was eliminated at the last minute -- probably we ran out of time -- so my little talk that I had planned "on the fly" would not be said.

Until now.

The very first thing that comes to mind when I think of thankfulness (though it is not, by any means, the only thing I'm thankful for) is that Harvey is still alive. Two years ago today, we didn't know how sick he was. December 20, 2011 we found out. It was scary. We had to talk about things with our girls that we didn't want to talk about.  We had to talk to an attorney so we would be prepared for what seemed to be inevitable. We faced (and tried not face) what seemed really ugly news. His diagnosis was stage 4 colon cancer metastatic to the liver. And, the first couple of doctors we saw did not have much hope in their eyes.

Enter the second thing that I'm thankful for: Dr. Lin and research and progress and HOPE. I remember leaving his office feeling hopeful. Hope is something that cancer patients and their families need.  And, he has given us hope throughout the past two years.... And, Harvey is doing pretty well for someone who thought his death was eminent. Hope continues two years later.  

Sometimes, though, I'm so thankful for so much that I don't want to say it out loud. Sometimes it's too sacred. The thankfulness I feel is very deep. It's not something I can describe. It's too big...too special...too important. You know what I mean? It's as if saying it out loud kinda takes away the specialness of it. 

But understand this: I have been and continue to be blessed beyond measure in ways beyond measure throughout my life... I grew up in a family that I treasure. I married into a family that I treasure. I gained a daughter through marriage that I treasure...and God gave me two little girls that I treasure -- all of those people --- more than I will ever be able to let them know.

Thankful. Deeply thankful.

For much.

Full day -- but good.

It's been a full day -- capped off with the Sehome Cross Country banquet! I am so thankful that Sarah and Hannah are a part of that team!!! Seriously. I mean it.  It's been a great thing for them during these past couple of years... (They just finished their THIRD season with the team...and it was a good one!) Sehome has gone to state every year since Sarah and Hannah have been on the team and the whole team has won twice.  Timing is interesting, huh? :-)

Anyway, we got some good news. Harv's CEA is down to 10 from 15. Which means, we believe, that the immune boosters are working.  The CT scan showed very defined borders around the tumors which is a good thing.  The lesions in the liver are showing a 30% reduction in size. The affected lymph nodes also have decreased in size. 

The PET scan was not conclusive, in Dr. Lin's opinion, because it "lit up" in some areas, but he believes that it's because of the GMCSF (immune booster). He says that the real evidence of progress is shown in the CEA count and the size of the tumors...both of which are going down. 

His plan is to have Harv continue with the GMCSF + Avastin (no more 5FU or pump!!! Weeee hawww!) for a couple of more rounds to see if the decrease in both numbers and size continues.

He'll talk with Dr. Park in the meantime and if Dr. Park thinks surgery is a good idea, he won't stand in the way, but he believes, for now, we need to keep building the immune system to keep fighting the tumors.

We left feeling energized, hopeful AND thankful for Dr. Lin.

I am SO thankful that there are people out there who are trying their hardest to develop a way to cure cancer -- specifically Harvey's cancer.

And, once again, I am very thankful for all of you...your prayers, your companionship, your love.

Many blessings to you all!

We had some good news today... Don't have time to give a full report, but things are progressing it seems. Will give a few more details later. Thanks for crossing your fingers (and toes and eyes) and your prayers! Yipppee!