Journal entry by Jeremy Marks —
Michelle had her last radiation treatment this morning. The potassium she got during chemo last week helped her energy a ton, but she's noticed she's dragging again yesterday and today. Her nurse is calling in an order for lab work to make sure she's doing okay since the chemo can affect her system for a week or two after treatment. We're hoping it's just normal exhaustion, but would rather be on the safe side. The rest of the week was pretty "normal" for us (controlled chaos to the world outside), and we're hoping that now that we don't have to make daily trips for treatment our life can get back into a regular routine. We are also nearing the end of fall sports season, and once that is over we will hopefully be able to actually spend time together as a family (shocking thought, I know).
With treatment completed, we are now in the "wait and see" phase. We have a follow up with the radiation oncologist in 4-6 weeks to check the skin and see how she's recovering from treatment. We will have a PET scan sometime in December most likely, and then see where things stand. We know the doctor said the mass in the lymph node was already significantly smaller (about 50% of its original size a week and a half ago), and we know it will continue to shrink for a bit as the treatment continues to work. What we don't know is if we got it all. Or if it had spread elsewhere. Or if it will come back somewhere new. Or any of a million other things. We'd love to be optimistic that it is gone for good. But the realist in us says we've already seen this thing be stubborn and annoying and so it's hard to believe that this is the last time we'll fight this. But as Michelle has said hundreds of times, we will fight this thing with all that we have until the very end. (I say we, because I've seen enough husbands who have had to encourage their partners in the fight and at times have had to take the lead because their partners were just too weak to do it on their own). I would expect that these journal updates will be even less frequent going forward, but I will do my best to keep everyone informed as important things happen.
Before I close, I want to thank everyone again for all of their love, prayers, and support. The friends who have checked in, the meals that have been given, and the gifts that have been offered have been very much appreciated. I have added a few more dates to the Meal Train (https://mealtrain.com/dyzlr3) to get us to the end of the month while she is still weak and I'm still managing sports chaos for anyone who would like to help. For those who pray, I know she would love prayers for rest, peace, strength, and for her kids to act like they love each other (and us) because heaven knows they don't act like it a lot these days.
Hoping for the best but preparing for the not-quite-best,
Jeremy
With treatment completed, we are now in the "wait and see" phase. We have a follow up with the radiation oncologist in 4-6 weeks to check the skin and see how she's recovering from treatment. We will have a PET scan sometime in December most likely, and then see where things stand. We know the doctor said the mass in the lymph node was already significantly smaller (about 50% of its original size a week and a half ago), and we know it will continue to shrink for a bit as the treatment continues to work. What we don't know is if we got it all. Or if it had spread elsewhere. Or if it will come back somewhere new. Or any of a million other things. We'd love to be optimistic that it is gone for good. But the realist in us says we've already seen this thing be stubborn and annoying and so it's hard to believe that this is the last time we'll fight this. But as Michelle has said hundreds of times, we will fight this thing with all that we have until the very end. (I say we, because I've seen enough husbands who have had to encourage their partners in the fight and at times have had to take the lead because their partners were just too weak to do it on their own). I would expect that these journal updates will be even less frequent going forward, but I will do my best to keep everyone informed as important things happen.
Before I close, I want to thank everyone again for all of their love, prayers, and support. The friends who have checked in, the meals that have been given, and the gifts that have been offered have been very much appreciated. I have added a few more dates to the Meal Train (https://mealtrain.com/dyzlr3) to get us to the end of the month while she is still weak and I'm still managing sports chaos for anyone who would like to help. For those who pray, I know she would love prayers for rest, peace, strength, and for her kids to act like they love each other (and us) because heaven knows they don't act like it a lot these days.
Hoping for the best but preparing for the not-quite-best,
Jeremy
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