Hello to all our friends and family!  It has been sometime since our last post (my apologies - we will try to share updates more often 🙂) and much has happened on Gail's journey.  I am happy to share an update and some good news today.

GREAT NEWS!

Since our last update, Gail has been continuing her multi-pronged treatments.  As you may recall, every four weeks Gail gets an infusion of Opdualog (a combination of two immunotherapy drugs).  She also takes a daily oral treatment called Binimetinib (aka Mektovi) that works by blocking different molecules within cancer cells.  Together, Gail's oncology team feels that these therapies continue to be the best treatment for Gail's cancer.  We have confidence in her team and have remained hopeful that we will see improvement in her condition.

So treatments continued and after seeing some initial shrinkage of tumors during one of Gail's hospital visits in March, we were hopeful that we would get good news from her April PET scan.  This scan was scheduled as a 4month check point by Gail's oncology team to gauge the effectiveness of her treatment.  After the scan, Gail's doctor called and shared good news - many of Gail's tumors no longer showed signs of active cancer cells!  This were truly great results!  There were still some active tumors but even those appeared to have improved substantially.  All in all, this was very positive news.  

The encouraging scan results were just what Gail needed to lift her spirits and strengthen her resolve to continue her fight,  Her treatments are clearly helping but they come with challenging side effects.  In the past month, Gail continues to battle pain and nausea.  In addition, she is experiencing extreme fatigue which has limited her mobility.  She is only walking short distances and has been using a wheelchair often.  It continues to be a very rough road but knowing that her tumors are dying keeps Gail (and her family and friends) going.

TEAM GAIL FORCE.

In another piece of good news, Gail was able to attend the Miles for Melanoma 5k fundraising event in Boston last Saturday.   Our daughter Emily learned of the race months ago and immediately set to work to create a team to support Gail and raise money for this important cause.  With the help of her sister Hannah, she recruited friends and family to join "Team Gail Force".    The level of support for Gail and this cause was humbling, exciting and absolutely inspiring,  Our team had over 80 runners/walkers turn out for Gail and we raised more than $22,000!!  Team Gail Force was the #1 fund raiser in the history of the event!  Thanks to everyone who participated and donated - this was such a lift to us all.    I've added a picture of Team Gail Force at the end of this post.  In case anyone would like to donate, here is the link to the fundraising page: https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjoin.melanoma.org%2Fsite%2FTR%2F5kRunWalk%2FMilesforMelanoma%3Fteam_id%3D9197%26pg%3Dteam%26fr_id%3D1862&data=05%7C02%7Cjay.welsh%40ey.com%7C482658b3ec34442fa98f08dc72e4bf0f%7C5b973f9977df4bebb27daa0c70b8482c%7C0%7C0%7C638511574011732309%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ns21TQtliX%2FXAI53EC%2BPg548Q3roqRrfW%2BiefFQMOS8%3D&reserved=0

WHAT's NEXT?

We will continue to have a busy schedule and will be in Vermont next weekend for Patrick's graduation from UVM!  We are very proud of his hard work over the past four years and we are excited to see him get his diploma.  We will once again be surrounded by family and friends and that means the world to us.

Thanks to everyone who continues to be so supportive of Gail as she continues her fight.  The road ahead will continue to be challenging but she is winning.  With her recent scan results and the support of our all of you - we stay positive!

Be well and talk soon.

Jay