Hi Everyone--
I haven't been feeling great and need some prayers. My red blood cell count and platelets took a dive, so I wasn't able to have chemo this week as planned. I had two transfusions Tues/Wed (2 units of blood and 1 unit of platelets). I also had two shots to help my body make more platelets. After the transfusion and the first shot, they only went up from 30,000 to 53,000 (still too low for chemo). I had a second shot today. The shot makes me short of breath.
On top of that I'm trying to start radiation for a spot that is on my diaphragm and causing some breathing issues and a ton of pain. We thought it was on my spine, but the radiation oncologist is saying it's on the diaphragm. Very confusing. Anyway, I've had extreme pain and very little sleep since December, and they can't even start my radiation until July 5th. After that it will take at least a month to start helping my pain, but they do think they can eventually get rid of it. I'm just feeling low right now--low energy and needing the support of your thoughts and prayers. I need those platelets back up so I can have treatment, especially since you'll remember my last scan showed a little progression. Thanks so much, in advance.

Hi everyone--
Yesterday, I got the results from my latest PET scan. There was no new growth, which is great, BUT there was slight growth in size & activity in the existing tumors. We’re taking this is a yellow flag of warning. We had decreased one of my two chemo drugs to only 1/3 of what I was getting before. We decided to stay with the drug combo that was working and increase back to 2/3 (not all the way). All in all, not the best news, but I’m still here and continuing on. They are also looking into another treatment for me that we will be checking into once school is out. I remain positive and strong in faith. Please do keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I continue through the summer.

Hi everyone--
Well, it is indeed wonderful news. No fun to wait, but worth the wait. The voicemail from my nurse practitioner said "this scan is better than we ever could have hoped for." Apparently, pretty much everything has shrunk in size and activity, and by quite a bit. My NP and doc keep saying "congrats," so that feels pretty good. My NP said to tell everyone that's been praying for me that it's definitely working! So we're pretty excited. I see the radiation oncologist on Wednesday to get an update on how well the radiation in December worked. The doc had decreased my last chemo dose, so we will stick with what is working & I will have round 10 on March 8th, the week before our production of The Sound of Music opens.
My thanks for the supportive emails, thoughts and prayers! Please, keep 'em coming!

Hello everyone--
I got a message from my doc's office saying "your PET scan results are in and everything looks better, so that's good news." That's all they said, so I have to wait until tomorrow to talk with my nurse practitioner and get the details. We're very happy to at least have that news. I'll blog again when I have details.
I can't thank you enough for all the supportive emails and comments on my blog (which I don't really know how to respond to--so sorry). That, along with your prayers have really helped me get through!

Hi everyone--
It's been quite a while, and I wanted to update you. Since my last blog, I've done four more rounds of chemo, had radiation at the end of December, two blood transfusions and a platelet transfusion. All my levels are ok right now, but my doc decreased my last chemo dose because it has been too hard on my body. I've now had 9 rounds of Etoposide/Carboplatin. My scan will be on Monday, so we can see how I've done these past four months. I've had my times of weakness, but overall I've been ok. Now we'll see how I'm really doing when we get the results (probably around Wednesday). Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers for good results. No matter how strong my faith is, it's always hard to wait. I thank you so much for the love and support you continue to show me.

Hello everyone--
Well I got good news today. My scan shows that basically everything except one of the nodules has continued to shrink in both size and activity! :) That one stubborn nodule has grown very little. So we are going to keep on this same chemo regimen and then they are going to refer me to a radiation oncologist to see if a new type of pinpointed radiation is an option to shrink or get rid of the one nodule. I have been through radiation before and it was nothing compared to chemo, so if it will help to get rid of the one nodule, then great.
In other news, I will be having a second procedure at Stanford on my vocal cord to see if we can get my voice back to normal. The surgery will be Monday, 11/22.
I thank you for all the support & prayers you've given me. Can you believe in about another week it will be five years since they originally diagnosed my cancer? I am truly blessed to still be walking among you, and I plan to continue doing just that!

Hello everyone--
Well it's been a couple of months, so I wanted to update you. I had a good scan after my first two rounds on this chemo regimen. Now I've completed three more rounds, so I will be having a PET scan 7:30 Wednesday morning. Other than being a little weakened by the chemo, I've been feeling great. Please do keep me in your thoughts and prayers for a clean PET scan on Wednesday. I truly appreciate all the support you've given me. I should have the results Friday or Monday and I will update the blog when I get them.