It's been a minute since the last update. God is so good!

Here's what's been going on. Mark has been having Avastin (immunotherapy drug) infusions every 2 weeks since December 5th. (You may recall that the chemo was not working, the tumor was growing, the brain swell was increasing, and he was miserable. Avastin was the only option and surgery, still is not.)

A quick bit of 411 on Avastin - it stops the blood flow to tumors. It will not shrink or make the tumor disappear. The side effects are minimal but it can decrease blood flow to the heart, kidneys, other internal organs, and in extreme cases, it can cause heart attacks and stoke. The side effect for Mark is it has slowed the blood flow to his vocal chords so, yeah, that's one more thing this cancer is trying to take from him. His beautiful, amazing, voice. He's very disappointed about that but I told him it sounds sexy and very bluesy so just run with it. And, thankfully we have many recordings of him singing! Including his most recent album, "Down the Road".

The January 11 appointment was the first positive appointment we had experienced in 6 months. After 3 rounds it proved to have slowed the flow of blood to the tumor which, in turn, stops it from being able to grow. Yay! There was also improvement in the brain swelling which was helped by the Avastin and adding a steroid.

Since the January 11 Mark has had another 4 infusion sessions and we're working on decreasing the steroid. The results from yesterday, another win! The tumor is stable, a bit more swelling but not much. The one thing we found out yesterday was that the MRI from 1/11 showed there was a new spot in his brain. Same lobe, just deeper. That too has remained stable. The professionals will continue to monitor and Mark will continue to fight! 4 more rounds of Avastin and the follow up is set for May 1.

How are we living life? As best as we can and as much as we can! It's been over 5 years of this stuff! Mark does require an ample amount of sleep, rest, naps but is able to do some things around the house and exercises often. Between the countless appointments, we try to get out and socialize (not often but we try). He's on a ton of anti seizure meds but again, he's a fighter and tries not to let that get him down. He hasn't driven for almost 2 years (I'm still waiting for my chauffer hat).

I've been gifted, from many generous employees at the State of Minnesota, some vacation hours through a program they have. It's over-whelming and humbling that through their generosity, I can be with Mark more often and he's not left alone everyday, thinking about all that he's going through and what is to come. While I'm not totally done working hours at the blind school, I spend more time with Mark these days. Thank you to all that are making this possible. Memories are precious and so are you.
 
We continue to hold on to each other, to all of our family and friends, to prayer, Hope and to God's immeasurable Grace and Strength. I really haven't any fancy words this time around. We are just beyond grateful to be able to continue to love on each other, to smile, to make memories, to face the hard days knowing and praying that we get through them, and to be in awe of where we've been to where we are now. 

We love you. We thank you. We appreciate every miracle, big, small, seen and unseen. May every day that you have fill your heart with hope and gratitude, joy and awe, and God's beautiful Love.

Mark Allen & Julee