My sister came into town with her family a couple days before treatment and it was so nice to get out and do all the "normal" things. We took the kiddos to the beach (to play in the sand because it was cold and windy), spent an afternoon at the park, and even got to go out for breakfast together. 

We started treatment 6 with the normal blood draw but this time they took extra blood for another Tempus test. Then we went upstairs to meet with Dr Kasi's PA- Scott Thompson. He is also very kind and compassionate. We reviewed the bloodwork and he went over any questions we had. Then we went upstairs to the infusion center.

We have been so spoiled and usually have a spot with a window but this time we had an equally comfortable spot it was just along the interior. We held the Avastin for the treatment (you are not supposed to have it within 6 weeks of surgery) and will resume 6 weeks after surgery. While getting treatment they had someone come around and offered hand and foot massages. I of course took them up on the offer and it was so relaxing and wonderful. I also used my cryotherapy mittens and socks to try to help with the cold sensitivity I have been having after my treatments. They are a challenge to keep on because they are so uncomfortable but hopefully they will help with long term neuropathy. I thought holding off on the Avastin would give me a little break from feeling crummy but unfortunately I felt like this round hit me extra hard. I felt extra weak, extra tired and had so much brain fog. My temperature even started to get elevated which made me concerned but thankfully it stayed within the Drs perimeters.

My cousin Molly came into town to help with the kiddos and we were so thankful to have her. She kept my sprits up, cooked for us, entertained the girls, and helped with all of the household chores. She even helped me get things ready for Bellas upcoming 6th birthday. 

The side effects- eating during the treatment weeks is my biggest challenge so on the weeks off chemo I call it "bulking season" and I try to eat as much as possible. I hate seeing my weight dip on the scale! Another pain point is my hair- this round I started to loose a couple eyelashes. I also try to only wash my hair once a week but it seemed like I lost more than usual after this wash. I am prepared for the thinning and am still hopeful but im not as confident it will make it another 6 rounds. 

On Friday March 14th I did an MRI- an MRI is able to get better images of soft tissue so it is a more accurate image of the liver. Getting an MRI is a pretty interesting experience- it is loud so they have you put earplugs in and then noise canceling headphones over the earplugs. This time they also let me watch youtube (I requested a makeup tutorial and they picked one from Nikkie Tutorials and it was fantastic)- but instead of a screen being in front of me- I watched it through the refection of a mirror that was above my face and the screen was behind me. Good thing I don't get motion sickness! During the scan the machine says "take a deep breath," and then, "Hold it"- but while you are holding your breath all of these crazy loud bang and crash noises are happening so sometimes it is hard to focus on holding your breath. AND the loud bangs and crashes are never the same.

Now for the good part- THE MRI RESULTS! We were blown away to see that not only did the tumors shrink- they were not even measurable!!!!! The treatment is working and the prayers are working!

Although extremely exciting news, we are not finished just yet. The plan is to still have liver surgery and finish the 12 rounds of chemo. It is important to continue the treatment because we need to make sure we get rid of everything we can't see.

The surgery date was moved to April 29th so Dr Kasi had us schedule 2 more rounds of chemo before (when originally we were only going to do 6 before) BUT he said that what we do before we don't have to do after so we will only have 4 rounds of Chemo after. 

I am so thankful to see such amazing results, it really makes the hard days less hard knowing that it is working. 

This was a great week with scan updates. As always- I am not a medical professional and this is my interpretation of everything the Dr has said. Yesterday I got a CT scan. The liver surgeon ordered it to have better images of my hepatic artery for my upcoming surgery but we were also able to get a quick look at the images to see the tumors- AND THEY ARE SHRINKING!!!! The initial CT scan we did back in December only picked up 2 of the tumors on my liver and it was the MRI that showed 5 so I will be going back in 3 days for an MRI to really get a good look at everything. 

My CEA levels have been dropping as well!  It started around 9.5 and is now at 1.01

We also got back the results from my "liquid biopsy"- its basically a really fancy blood test. It analyzes circulating tumor DNA. The tumor marker it picked up was TP53 and back in Dec it showed 14.9% and it is now showing .8% The fancy blood tests take about 3 weeks to get the results back which is why I did the test early feb and am just now seeing the results. 

Dr Kasi also ordered an even fancier liquid biopsy that gets down to the parts per million and 
I will have the blood draw for that before my next infusion. He also plans to do a signatera blood test (likely after my liver surgery). He said they make the test with a piece of the tumor they took from my colon. And it will act as a baseline for future testing in the years to come to help detect any early signs of cancer. 

Dr Kasi is brilliant and I am blessed to have him on my team. I truly feel like he cares about me as a patient.

Walking in to treatment 5 I already felt nauseous- I did not want to go. We did the standard blood draw, met with the Dr and then started the infusion. When they started the IV into my port the machine kept beeping that there was air in the line so they had to disconnect something and pull the air out before they could re set it up. That was not fun! Thankfully they handled it quick and everything went smooth after that. Im also pretty sure this was my last treatment of Avastin until after my surgery. My long time friend from college drove up from San Diego to sit with me and give Mike a break. She brought me lunch and having her at my appointment definitely took my mind off everything.

My in-laws flew in from Idaho to help with the kiddos for the week and it was so nice to have them around. They kept me busy and got me out of the house (mostly for errands and random things on my to do list) which was a little more than I have been doing during my treatment weeks and it definitely made the week go by faster. 

After they headed home I got to have a night away with my other long time friend from college (who now lives in Texas). We stayed the night at a beautiful hotel in Newport and it was a much needed break. 

I am forever thankful for all of my friends, family and people that I have just met who have helped out, sent food, took me to apts, watched the kiddos, sent prayers and even kind messages of encouragement. I feel so supported and loved and like I'm being carried through this crazy process. Its really incredible.