Dear Friends and Family,

This is Rick sending an update. I've been getting lots of inquiries about Stacey so it felt like time to update you and I also want to get some information out there in case someone has an idea that could help, so here we go.

First the good news. Stacey is feeling better and stronger now than any time in the prior six months. Quick reminder from my last post: She began developing flu symptoms in April that turned out to be a bowel blockage. That resulted in another surgery in May where they discovered the cancer had recurred. But she's now regained her independence enough to get out of the house on her own and even to occasionally be my designated driver again. :')

I'm not going to sugar coat things though. She had another very difficult time recovering from the surgery and she's still battling to get her cancer back into remission. I'll spare you the detailed traumas and procedures she endured during that time, but the surgery resulted in her being mostly bedridden and she was unable to eat anything orally for five months. We're amazed and incredibly happy that's she's now disconnected from everything, eating again, and able to get up and around.

In the midst of the horrible surgical recovery, she began a new chemotherapy treatment plan but unfortunately it didn't work. Since she was originally in remission for close to a year she was considered, "platinum-sensitive" meaning platinum based chemotherapy should work for her in a recurrence. So she started with Carboplatin and Doxil for the last several months but her CA125 cancer marker, after initially going down, started heading back up again. Stacey is now considered, "platinum-resistant" so we're moving on to different therapies.  This afternoon she'll be starting with weekly infusions of Paclitaxel and Avastin. Stacey's Folate Receptor Alpha is just below the threshold for her to qualify for an exciting new drug, Mirvetuximab, but her doctor is working on getting her an exception so we can hopefully try that if the Paclitaxel doesn't do the job.

On another positive note, we went to UCLA for a second opinion and met a Gynecologic Oncologist by the name of Dr. Gottfried Konecny. He tends to focus on more complicated cases, typically after a recurrence, so he is a great adjunct to Dr. Eskander here at UCSD. He gave us comfort that Stacey was receiving the best therapies available but also told us there are many more options down the road, including several promising clinical trials underway, (eg Alkermes Artistry 7 & Corcept Relacorilant) should the current treatment options not work.

As usual, I share this level of  detail about Stacey's health status and treatments in case anyone sees something missing or knows someone who might have any other ideas. We're always open for suggestions or introductions.

As you can imagine, it has continued to be a difficult time for Stacey and the family but Stacey continues to amaze us all with her bravery and resilience. We're taking advantage of her current strength by getting out of the house together more often. We did a family spa day at Rancho Valencia with the kids a couple weeks ago and we're looking forward to joining the Curebound community at the Ed Sheeran concert next week. We hope to see many of you there!

With love and immense appreciation,

Rick