It has been a while since I have posted; life has been busy and Matt has been generally tolerating the chemo fairly well.  Last week, he had his 5th dose of chemo.  Each time at treatment, there is a blood screen for cancer that they do, and those numbers have been dropping each visit - which has been encouraging.  He has experienced a wide array of symptoms, but they vary day to day and treatment to treatment.  And as he has each treatment, it accumulates in his system, so the symptoms are generally a little worse each time.  But he is coping, and is generally managing his symptoms and working most every day and making hay with his brother as he his able.

Earlier in June we were able to take a planned trip with dear friends to Jellystone Park near Hagerstown.  Although it was great to get away, it was tough for Matt as he was very tired for most of the time.  Our cabin had comfortable couches and he was able to rest a lot, and having friends us made everything much easier on me.  The kids had a blast.

On Wednesday of this week, we were to be back in Pittsburgh for his scans and his meeting with his oncologist was on Thursday.  As those dates approached, Matt was nervous about what the scans would reveal.  I had it in my heart that he was going to get good news.  Wednesday, after his scans, we were able to meet up with friends for dinner in north of Pittsburgh - we had a lot of laughs and it was a good distraction. 

Thursday, at noon was when we were to meet with his oncologist, Dr. Gorantla.  He told us this was the best outcome he could hope for.  The tumor in his colon was undetectable, and the tumors on his liver had all shrunk in size.  There were no signs of cancer spreading anywhere else in his body.  We think he was almost surprised at how well he responded and told us he would be celebrating that night with a scotch and soda and told us we could celebrate too - just not to get too crazy.  He told us Matt will continue the chemo for now, and he would reach out to his surgeon to start planning for surgery.  

By the time we got home from Pittsburgh, the medical assistant for his surgeon had us call about the next steps.  On August 5 he will have a detailed scan of his liver and then we will meet with his surgeon the following day to get the details on his surgery.  On August 16 his surgery is tentatively scheduled.  He will have a pump for chemo surgically placed directly into the liver so that they can deliver very strong chemo targeted to just the liver.  We learned that the FDA needs to clear this procedure for Matt before it can happen - which can take 4 to 6 weeks.  He will likely have the tumors on his liver surgically removed and the stent in his colon removed at the same time.  He will be in the hospital for at least several days recovering.  He will then need to go to Pittsburgh once every 2 weeks to get his pump refilled with chemo.

This was a lot to take in, but we remain confident we are in the best care and feel hopeful for the future.  We know we are in the prayers of so many.  Thank you for wrapping us in your prayers for healing, peace, and comfort - we can feel the Love.