Hello everyone,
Well it's always nice to get the news just as your classes are walking in the door, and especially when it's not the greatest news. Basically the cancer has started growing again. Everything is up in size and cancerous activity, as I had suspected. The good news is it's not huge growth and it hasn't spread anywhere new. It was an interesting day teaching all day with that news rolling around in my head. My doc & I had decided a while back that the next time there was growth, we would try the other type of scan again, in hopes that it might be another avenue for us, so I'm waiting to hear about that. The last time I did that scan, we timed it wrong so he wanted to try it again. In the meantime, my wonderful nurse practitioner found a clinical trial at Stanford for my type of Thymic cancer (which is amazing, because of how rare it is). I also called City of Hope to ask about my possibility of being eligible for one there, so I'm waiting to hear back on all of that too. I just thought I'd give you an update first. Please keep me in your thoughts & prayers.

Hello everyone--
Just a quick update. I've been feeling very weak. My numbers (blood levels) have been OK, but I've been extremely weak and short of breath. I had a chest x-ray yesterday and the pulmonologist says everything (fluid-wise) in my lungs has remained the same. I have been at home all week. I have a PET/CT scan scheduled for Monday at 11:30 am, so please keep me in your thoughts & prayers for good news. I am stronger than I was a week ago, but am still very weak. I miss being at school and am working very hard to get back next week. I will keep you updated. Thank you so much!

Hello everyone--
It's been a long weekend waiting for results, but my wonderful nurse practitioner just called. My PET scan shows that the size of almost everything remained the same with a couple of spots getting smaller. But the activity was decreased throughout (especially in the radiation area). So basically good news. I have to make an appointment with my doc to come up with the game plan from here, but at least I can sleep tonight. I don't remember a thing I did or said all day today, so my students probably think I'm crazy, but what's new? I have an echo tomorrow morning and Dad is going in for a procedure too, so please do keep us in your thoughts and prayers--they're working! :)

Just a little update: We waited an extra week for chemo, but I was finally up to it, so I had a reduced dose on Thursday. I’m just starting to get sick from it now. We’ll see how I do through next weekend, which is when the numbers usually start to tumble. My next PET scan is on Veteran’s Day, so we’ll see where I’m at and go from there. I’ve been back at school since the 17th, but moving very slowly. I couldn’t get through it without my amazing Dad taking me to all my appointments and even to and from school each day. Without the help of my parents, this all would be impossible. Dad even went on his first field trip with us Friday! We had a great time at the “Real Men Sing” men’s choral workshop at San Jose State.


Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers to get through this round with no more hospitals and (hopefully minimal transfusions too) and especially for the news on this next scan Nov. 11th. I’ll keep you posted.

Please keep me in your thoughts & prayers. This morning I was so sick that I had to use an ambulance (first time, if you can believe it) in all this time. I thought it was all over for me and I was saying final goodbyes to Richard & Amanda. Very scary morning for the three of us. They took me to the ER and got me stabilized, but I have a touch of Pneumonia. I'm feeling so much better. I'm going to be in the hospital tomorrow, but I'm insisting on only that long, enough to hopefully see my pulmonologist & cardiologist and get a transfusion. Something was really wrong. I'm very thankful to be here & can't wait to get back to school. Thanks again, everyone!

Well, I haven't even had the chance to respond to all of your wonderful emails yet, and the doc's office already called. I was on my only 2-day getaway to Monterey, came home today and just got the call. Everything is improving! Wonderful news! The doc is very pleased, and of course so are we. Now because of a little glitch, tomorrow will be my last radiation treatment (it's been making me cough, but they say that will go away in a few weeks). Tomorrow and Wednesday will also be the other scan, so please do keep me in your thoughts and prayers & I'll update again when I get the news from that scan. I cannot thank you all enough for the support you continue to give me. It means so much!

Well, I'm almost through with radiation (Tuesday) and I had my PET scan this morning. I should have the news Monday or Tuesday. We're praying for the best. It has been a tough summer, and I just got another two units of blood and a unit of platelets on Tuesday, so I'm hoping I'm good for a little while, since there are only two treatments left of radiation. It turned out that I had to do 10 treatments (not 5 like he originally said).
This week I will be having another type of scan that will tell us if my tumors are hormone-secreting or not. It will take most of Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, and I start back to work on Thursday. There went my summer! If the tumors are in fact hormone-secreting, there is a new treatment my doc would like to try that is NON-chemotherapy and NON-toxic to my body. I'm really praying this will happen. It will be so good for my body to get a break from chemo (especially if it works). Please keep me in your thoughts & prayers for good news on both scans. I truly thank all of you for your love, friendship & support! They mean so much to me!