2.25.19

No, we haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. Somehow life happened and time flew by! I'll do a recap of our winter thus far-
Chad finished radiation and his "big" round of chemo just before Thanksgiving. Gave us something substantial to be thankful for over turkey and potatoes! He was certainly glad to be home with his dogs and family and friends. There's no place like home, after all!
He still felt pretty weak and occasionally nauseous, due mostly to the steroids he was taking (not the muscle-building kind) to help with the tumor swelling. Every time he'd try to wean himself off the steroids, he'd feel like he was getting the flu and get really ill. It turned into a balancing act between medications.

In December he resumed his chemo treatments. This was the first of 6 months of treatments; he will take a higher dose of chemo for 5 days / month. This will be done in May. The chemo, not surprisingly, also makes Chad feel like crap. The first day or so is fine, but then everything catches up and he ends up nearly immobile. It usually takes about 1 week after he finishes a chemo treatment for things to start to feel "normal again". In December Chad went down to Mayo again to visit with his radiation oncologist and neuro oncologist, and get some blood work done. No MRI at this visit. He'll visit with these docs every 2 months.

January was more of the same. The chemo dose increased again and Chad, accidentally forgetting to take his anti-nausea pill before his 1st day, got violently ill. Throwing up nearly a dozen times within an hour. Thankfully day 2 progressed as planned when all the pills were taken in order. It's a lot of remember!

February saw Chad going down to Mayo again for visits and another MRI. This is the visit we've been waiting for, since the MRI will show us what that stupid tumor is looking like. The results came back and... no change. The tumor, it turns out, may be more stubborn that Chad. However, his oncologist did say he thought he saw a slight decrease, but Chad wasn't so sure. His oncologist also said he'd got another patient with a similar tumor, and it took a year and a half before her MRI showed any decrease in tumor size. So... not the news we had all been hoping for (we wanted shrinkage!!), but definitely news to be grateful for (no new growth!). Chad will go back down to Rochester again in April.

The winter has been a tough one; polar vortex's, endless snow, endless sickness for Anya (thank you, daycare). The illnesses she brings home are a bummer especially because Chad's immune system is so weak; he's essentially quarantined himself to the downstairs bedroom. At least the dogs seem to be in good health!

Again, my apologies for being a negligent poster, but like i said, life happens. Maybe with time flying by so fast Spring will be here before we know it.

Thank you to everyone who has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We're very blessed to have you!

Love,
Alyssa