22nd Round of Chemo and Test Results

August 2, 2017

Another month has come and gone. How quickly our summer seems to be going. Ben completed his 22nd chemotherapy treatment today. 1 full year of treatment behind him. It still amazes me how different our life is now, yet I am thankful for the good days!

Home after chemo today. Girls were so happy to see him
but Ben was exhausted.  He loves his girls!

Last month Ben completed 3 scans. One was a regular follow up CT scan, a bone scan (Ben's legs and knees have been really bothering him) and an MRI to evaluate Ben's back pain. We waited weeks for the results of these scans. If any of you have waited for results for a medical test you will understand some of the anxiety that we may have been feeling. Waiting on scans that pertain to cancer brings even more anxiety. The bone scan and MRI came back clear. (insert praise here). Ben's doctor believes the leg and knee pain may be associated with his chemotherapy. For now Ben is on a list of pain medication to try and keep this at bay. Ben's routine CT scan still shows disease in his colon, liver and lungs. The lung nodules don't appear to have decreased since starting back up with chemo in April. However, Ben's oncologist said the scan isn't 100% clear and isn't willing to say she thinks the cancer has progressed at this point. Ben will continue on the same chemo regimen and repeat this scan in 6 weeks. If the scan at that time shows progression of the disease (spreading or growth) then he will have to switch treatments. If the scan shows improvement then he will stay on the same course. Basically Ben has been back on chemo for 3 months and so far things haven't changed. The good news is Ben's CA level has decreased. (CA is a protein found in most cancer cells that is secreted into the blood steam and can be detected through a simple blood test) In April this was at 900. Today this is at 400. Ben's doctor is very happy to see this going down.

To be honest I'm not sure what to think of the news. When Ben started chemo a year ago his body responded dramatically to the chemo and showed a remarkable improvement and decreased disease each scan. With 3 months of chemo done and no change it does make me worry, but I am trying not to let my mind race right now. For now, Ben is doing pretty well and he looks great! Even his doctor made a comment about how well he looks. He is eating, gaining weight and enjoying his summer with me and the girls! Praise God for that too! Thank-you to Ben's parents for taking the girls for us yet again so that I can be with Ben during his treatment. Ben also planned a date night for us this week so the girls got to have a sleepover at grandpa and grandmas and Ben and I enjoyed dinner out and some much needed time together. Thank you!

Over the last few weeks we have had to do a lot of things that are out of our comfort zones and remain pretty challenging. For one, I took Brooke to McMaster Children's Hospital and signed a consent form for an upcoming surgery. Brooke will be heading in for surgery within the next 10 weeks.This surgery is to address an issue she was born with due to being a micropreemie. The surgery will be about 2-3 hours in length and she will have to stay over night. It is something that has been on my heart for her and I really wanted Ben here with me while she goes through this. We will keep you updated on Brooke as she goes through this. I mean, what's one more thing on our plate, right? The second thing was actually sitting down with our friend and financial advisor to prepare us for when the day comes that Ben does pass. We made a list of questions and felt the need to address them. We are feeling better about the future in that regard, yet I don't think that feeling in the bottom of my stomach will ever go away. Regardless, we are thankful to have a good friend to be there supporting us and helping us through this.

We have one full month left of summer and we are headed back up to the cottage for hopefully another great week with our girls. Thank you to those who continue to read the blog and check in with us! You are our lifeline!

Visit to Bala with the Girls

Fishing Trip with Josh & Matt.

St. David's Carnival 

Making use of our free Canada Park's passes