• 12 weeks of treatment
• 104 hours hooked up to a chemo pump
• 65 vials of blood drawn and analyzed
• ~2 Trillion hairs lost  
• 5.3, the updated tumor marker number
• Hearing the doctor say “within the normal range” for the first time. Not exactly priceless because this stuff isn’t free, but...it feels pretty damn good!   

I am sorry that its been so long in between updates. A lot has happened, and I’m going to try to give you a brief summary.

Cycle 4: The Side Effects Strike Back!

As you may recall, we started this cycle with a tumor marker of 9.4 (just above the normal range). The treatment itself went as planned. The side effects were rough this time, and they hung around much longer than in previous cycles.  Spontaneous vomiting became a part of my life for the first time during week two of this cycle.  I won't get into details here unless you are interested, but please know that it was a bizarre experience.  I also broke my own personal record for the quantity and intensity of mouth sores from the end of week two until the middle of week three. In fact, I was on a liquid diet during this time period because any movement of my tongue made me want to talk to a doctor about having the whole thing removed.

With all of that said, it is over now! I’m done! I'm really glad that I decided not to go through with the whole tongue removal thing.   

Work! 

I started back to work full time last week! The first question that many people ask me when I tell them that I am working again is ‘Is that a good thing?’.  My answer to that is an enthusiastic ‘Yeah!  It’s a great thing!’.  The ability to focus on a project and to see and talk to my friends and colleagues has been wonderful. It’s a strange thing being gone for that amount of time and for it to happen so suddenly. There will be another post that delves into this further but the people. Man, I missed the people. We have the best people.

Updated Tumor Markers & What’s Next

On Tuesday of this week, we met with our oncologist. It was a visit filled with good news.   

1. Tumor markers are at 5.3.  This is well within the normal range!   
2. I finally got him to laugh.   
3. I don’t have to inject myself with blood thinners twice per day anymore. He switched me to a pill that I take twice each day. 

Now, we wait until July 6th. This is CT Scan day. This is the day that we find out if there is anything left of the tumor in my abdomen.  If it has turned into a normal lymph node again, we cheer and monitor it. If the lymph node is larger than 1 centimeter, surgery will be necessary.   

So, I’m not cured yet, but we are getting closer to a resolution. 

People: The Secret Sauce of Making it Through Chemo

Man, you all have made such a huge impact on Ashley and I as we’ve continued on this journey.  All of the phone calls, text messages, blog comments, emails, care packages, offers to help, prepared meals, gift certificates, and conversations at work have been incredibly humbling. I’ve told a few of you by now that I can’t imagine going through this without Ashley by my side taking care of me and propping me up in the most difficult times.  A similar sentiment can be applied to all of the great things that you all have done to remind us that you’re thinking of us and that you’ve got our backs.  Even what seems like the smallest of gestures had a huge impact.  The occasional joke and fact of the day text messages or reaching out just to say ‘hey’, these were all things that I have looked forward to.  I won’t be able to say it enough but thank you for being there for us.