8.20.25
Round 14!!!! Grammy Susie flew in for the week to help hold down the fort at home. First thing I did upon arrival to City of Hope was another ctDNA bloodtest, it usually takes about 2 weeks to get the results so we should have the results back by my next appointment. 

We met with one of the PAs and my liver levels were still low but had improved since the last treatment so we moved forward with doing my last round of FUDR in the liver pump. Although we shouldn't have to use it again for chemo we will still likely leave it in for 2 years. We also decided to hold back on the oxaliplatin since I do have a little neuropathy that creeps up when I get cold and because my all around bloodwork is still a little off. There is a specific dosage of oxaliplatin that once you start getting into that range there can be forever side effects. And there is also a specific dosage of it that someone should have in their lifetime before they do not want you to have any more so we want to be able to stay clear of both. This round we did Irinotecan and 5fu. Since we only did 2 types of systemic chemo (and one in the pump) I thought this round was not going to affect me too much. Well, I was wrong. I felt pretty bad for about 5 days. The day after getting the 5fu pack disconnected was probably the worst. I had body aches and a temp of 99.9. The food aversions were also starting to creep back. They explain it that the toxicity builds with each treatment. 

This round I also participated in a clinical trial for aromatherapy. I'm not sure how much I am allowed to publicly talk about it so I am going to leave the details out but it was exciting to be a part of something that can hopefully help grow the resources for City of Hope. 

On Saturday Mike and I were able to get out of the house and go to the movies. It was so nice to have some quiet time out of the house since I was still feeling pretty bad and then sunday my tummy was all mad and I had some bouts of diarrhea. Thankfully Monday morning I woke up and felt pretty good. My blood pressure was low but I was able to get an incredible massage at CoH and then had to get back to my todo list and catch up on things I had put off from the week before. 

-8.5.25
We had a busy 2 weeks! The day before this round we got to take the girls to Disneyland. It was magical- we were not sure we would be able to swing it this summer but made it work and it was so worth it. 

On infusion day- after doing my labs they came back that my Alkaline Phosphataes (liver levels) were elevated (standard range is 35-104 and mine was 194). This likely happened because of the FUDR that was put in the liver pump last round. From what I gathered it is fairly common for it to raise your levels and they are monitoring it closely. There was 2 paths we could have taken- 1: do the regular chemo regimen (Irinotecan, Oxaliplatin, and 5FU) and fill my liver pump with a steroid, or 2: take off the Oxaliplatin, keep the 5FU and lower the Irinotecan. Dr Kasi wanted to go with option 2 so that is what we did. 

The infusion went smooth, they filled my liver pump with heparin and we were done for the day with my 5FU pack. 

This round definitely made me feel tired and I started to feel my worst after they disconnected the pump. I got a little temperature and had constant nausea. The diarrhea was worse this round too but I was able to manage it with meds. 

On Friday, my parents returned to their Mission in New Zealand. Not having them close and them not being around to help with the kiddos made me pretty bummed out. 

Today (Wednesday, Aug 13th) The Girls started back at school! I am so excited for them. Bella is starting 1st grade and Scarlett is starting TK at a new school- Scarlett will have the same TK teacher that Bella had and we love her, so we are thrilled. It is going to be a phenomenal year for them and makes my mommy heart so happy. 

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