Today was a treatment day. I wasn't sure we were going to do a treatment today because the last 2 made me so sick! The first week and a half of the last two cycles were the hardest. This is a combination chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The possible complications are scary. It is a hard treatment, and it does not carry the same motivators as curative therapies. The goal of this treatment is to cause the tumors to become inactive or to shrink enough that they are not detected on PET Scans. After 6-8 rounds we will repeat the PET Scan. If we find that the treatment has worked we can look at other daily medications to prevent the tumors from coming back as quickly. The only true "cure" available to me is a miraculous touch from God. 

Some of my doctors are less optimistic than others. I have been told that other women with this type of cancer, the same aggressive, smart cancer that adjusts to medications far more quickly than we would like, tend to live 2-6 months after it has spread to the brain. I have other doctors who say that if the medications work I can live another year or so before switching to more aggressive treatments, we just have to fight and push through until a cure is found. 

I say that no one knows the day or the hour. I will keep believing, praying, hoping, and pressing on in faith. I will live out every day the LORD has ordained for me. I will keep contending for the promise of healing and an abundant life as long as there is air in my lungs.

With all of that established, these treatments suck and I need help! The help bar on my Caring Bridge page has links to fundraising sites (these need to be updated with current treatment expenses) and a meal train. The planner is stuck in 2023, so I can not use it right now.  I will need rides to Anchorage appointments for a little while longer. The neuropathy in my legs and feet and pain from tumors in several areas prevent me from driving long distances. 

My upcoming appointments;

January 30th @ 2PM- Katmai Oncology. This is a quick one. I just have to get a shot. (I live in Meadow Lakes so we will need to leave here around 12:30)

January 31st @ 1PM- Coastal neurology. I don't know how long this will take, but it could be interesting, we are going to take a look at my brain to see how far the tumor has spread and why I am having multiple symptoms. We should leave around 11:30.

February 13th @ 9:45AM- Katmai Oncology. This one could be really long. It is my scheduled infusion. That is what I had today. There is no predicting how long it will take. It depends on my blood work. If my numbers are too low they won't do treatment and we will get out of there early. If I need extra stuff like today, it could be a very long day. (Today I left the Valley at 11:30AM and did not get back to the Valley until 6:50. I had to pick my kids up after that, so I didn't get home until almost 9PM.) We should leave my apartment around 8:15AM.

Please let me know if you can drive me to any of these. We can use my car or yours and I can help with gas. Also, please pray as I attend these. Treatment can change quickly and there are many decisions to be made every step of the way. I have been praying for wisdom, that the LORD will order my steps, for safety as we drive there and back, for the doctors I work with to see Jesus in me, and for all of them get saved, for the doctors to operate in faith, wisdom and understanding, and of course for my healing miracle. 

This has been a long road. Thank you for standing with me through it all. 

Love Always,

Christiana Grace Sitbon