Oh Man, HELLO EVERYONE!!!  The old "No news is Good news" has held well over time for me and I am so glad things have been boring health-wise.  Not perfect, but pretty boring until recently...let me fill you in😉

My last post was in Dec of 2021 so I have over a  year to update!  When I left off I was receiving infusions of Alimta (Chemo) and Keytruda (immunotherapy) every 3-4 weeks and life took on a pretty good rhythm.  My energy would wax and wane with the infusions  but I learned to manage it and time things as best I could.  Very livable.  I even went on a sailing cruise with my friend Amy!  It was sooo awesome...10/10!  

Eventually we dropped the Alimta as it was starting to make my cheeks flush and my doc wanted to avoid other side effects that could've been oncoming.  It was a good call!  Being only on Keytruda relieved a lot of the fatigue Alimta caused.  I continued that most of 2022.  But in late October last year I started to have symptoms of colitis that worsened over November and December. Due to loss of appetite and digestion issues, I lost a lot of weight and Dr. Gerber paused treatment until we figured out exactly what was going on and how to treat it.  At the end of January I had a colonoscopy and endoscopy which led to a round of steroids.  February was glorious. 🤣🤣🤣. Energy like I haven't experienced since my 20's but MUCH better life choices. Ha!  I got so much done thanks to steroids, no treatment, no cancer and mom's help!  

I had a scan to see how I've been doing since being off treatment for about 5 months and Mom and I met with my doc to go over results on Feb 27th.  Dr. Gerber said we've got some decisions to make and that not everybody makes it this far.  This perked my ears up.  I've been doing so good sans treatment he suggested just staying the course and sticking to 3 month scans to keep an eye on things. I questioned him about scans and got some clarity about a misunderstanding I've had for some time.  Stable always meant, to me, that there was SOME activity going on which put me in the mindset of living WITH the cancer.  But he said there was NO ACTIVITY ANYWHERE on my scan.  I thought that just applied to the bones on my last MRI but it applied everywhere!  This was thrilling news!!  To me this means NED!  No Evidence of Disease!  So that has taken some time to sink in and I've been re-orienting how I view my cancer.  Do I want to be NED?  I've been living with cancer for so long I've grown accustomed to it being a part of my life as a reminder to live as well as I can in any given moment.  Do I want to lose sight of that?  Will going forward with the idea that the cancer is gone lessen my focus on such an important part of my outlook?  Lots of things are still going on in my head but I have held onto the joy of that day as much as I can.  I've not come out of these last few months without lessons.  All the symptoms of colitis and the suffering it caused lead me to understand how so many people with autoimmune and digestive disorders feel so much of their lives.  My compassion and empathy continues to grow.  

Now that I'm done with the steroids I have average energy but I feel fine and dandy, the colitis did not return thank goodness.  The first week of March we headed to Port Aransas to stay with Jon's sister and her family for a week at the beach and had a great time!  We're back and I'm now contemplating what life could look like and how long-term I'm willing to plan.  We celebrated Garen's 16th birthday and my mom's 70th and my 47th is coming up on Thursday.  Busy, Busy month!   There are lots of opportunities coming up that make life exciting so I think I'll just try to go with the flow and see what sprouts.  

I've been very involved in Healing Circles Global: Living with Cancer and have made beautiful connections with people across the nation and world.  I took the training and am now co-hosting 2 circles which has been so rich and fulfilling.  I've rooted in to other support groups and spiritual groups and feel really good with the connections I've made.  It gives me a solid foundation to handle life as it comes and it always comes, doesn't it?  We've had our fair share of catastrophes over the last couple of years even besides the cancer.  And we're all still here so that's a win in my book.  As long as I'm alive it can just keep on comin! ha!  I'm so grateful to have the time to explore how to relate to the world and those around me.  

Jon's job is starting to take off and the kids are growing like weeds.  Garen is taller than Jon and Chan is up to my eyes.  Spring energy is in the air and I've started seeds for a garden so I'll be planting what comes up.  

I hope joy and abundance touch your life this season and I hope I can continue to have "no news" for you.  

Take care of you and yours,

Amber🥰