A Ray of HOPE.....

Mom & Dad at San Antonio Folkfest 2006

Just wanted to let everyone know that the trip to Houston went well! My Mom and Dad are still at MD Anderson for chemo treatments. My Mom a treatment tomorrow afternoon and then they are coming back to New Braunfels. My Dad just went down there for the Doctor’s visit this morning and so I could come back for my marathon practice tomorrow.

So my Mom had testing done all of yesterday morning. The Barium from the CT Scan made her a little sick during the day yesterday but she was feeling well today. We got the results back this morning and it was all positive news. This is still pretty early for a scan but it was still good news. Her Tumor Marker in her blood work was DOWN and her CT Scan showed that her tumor in her pancreas had not grown and may be getting smaller. The doctor also stated that the chemo appeared to be working on her liver spots. So again….still long ways to go and it is an early scan…..BUT I do not care. I was very happy with the news!!!!

Her magnesium was low again. She said she did have to get that today after chemo, but her potassium was fine. They did lower her dosage because her side effects have been lasting longer and she has been having more. The Doctor said not to worry about the dosage being lowered it will still hopefully fight the cancer and allow the body to fight it as well. We do not go back until August 16th for the chemo treatments. They are giving her a little extra rest time and it allows us to get back on the Wednesday/Thursday treatment schedule.

So the second cycle starts now. She will do 3 rounds of chemo and be re-scanned on September 12th or so! That scan will be more of a normal marker to compare to her baseline scans and lab work. They scanned her so early this time because it is a clinical trial and it is in their protocol. But like I said for me it is a glimmer of hope and some positive news (no matter how small),

My Mom was feeling fine and appeared happy with the news. She said she was not worried about this scan but more so about the next one. I guess I did all the worrying for the both of us!

Thank you to all those that have asked about my Mom and continue to pray for her battle against this disease. I sincerely appreciate the prayers and support for her and our family! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Love you –

Crystal