Happy New Year everybody; sorry it's been a while since the last update. Overall, it's been a "no news is good news" situation.

Laura has had two rounds of imaging since June and no change or growth has been found in the cancer. During one of her procedures last summer, they took a sample to biopsy, but it wasn't big enough to get any info from. They've also done liquid biopsies from her blood but weren't able to get enough cells to do any sequencing, so we don't have any information yet about possible use of targeted genetic therapies. But the good news is that since it hasn't changed, she doesn't need to start chemo or other treatments now.

There have been some ups and downs with her other complications. It seems like the hyperbaric oxygen therapy fixed the bleeding in her small intestine, so she has a reasonable amount of hemoglobin these days. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of that treatment is changes in vision. She has had her eyes checked twice since treatment, but even with her updated prescription her far vision is significantly worse than before. She can still see well enough for most daily activities, but I wound up narrating most of Max's plays in the outfield to her at baseball games last summer.

Her blood tests show closer to normal liver function, so the collateral growth of new arteries around the blocked ones are doing their job. 

Keeping weight on is her biggest struggle. Her doctors concluded that her difficulty eating was related to the radiation damage in her intestine preventing her stomach from emptying. And waddya know, they have a surgery for that, it's called a gastrojejunostomy. In October they made a new connection between her stomach and the middle section of her small intestine. The new connection allows food from her stomach to bypass the restriction in her duodenum. It appears to be working, her nausea and ability to eat have improved.

The issue now is that things are moving thru pretty quickly, and her body isn't able to get all the calories out of the food. At our most recent visit to Mayo, they put her back on enzymes and a drug to slow things down. With any luck that will help her put on some winter weight.

Of course, through all of this she's been a trooper and every doctor's favorite patient. In addition to all the hospital visits and working at the marathon, she was busy last summer and fall with vacations and family events. Somehow, she has found energy to participate in most things. There are some days where she's just too tired to do a whole lot, and when that happens, we cancel our plans and just hang out. 

Her next doctor's appointment is in March. It would be super fricken cool if she got to go 3 months without setting foot in a hospital. I'm optimistic it's going to work out this time. We're both appreciating the mild winter weather and looking forward to our family trip to Hawaii in February. That's all for now.

One more thing: did you know Laura is a multi-media celebrity now? Grandmas Marathon has a podcast and they interviewed her in November. You can find it here: Gearing Up for Grandma's (buzzsprout.com)