So, yeah. I just realized that it's been nearly a year and a half since I posted an update. I sincerely apologize to anyone who hasn't received an update on mom, as I know that some of you who will read this are long time friends and even family members who so deserve to be updated in a more timely fashion. Truthfully, I'm just really not good at this business of writing about things that suck and are painful. We're sad, and this is really hard. We're still hopeful though, as mom has been an enigma in terms of how she has defied statistics and responded dramatically well to treatments consistently. In any case, mom could really use some love right now, and what better time to ask for it than at 1:02 am on a Sunday morning when I finally cut through the procrastination? So here we are. I'll keep things succinct. For me, at least. 

After my last update, mom was placed on a new chemo protocol to treat the metastasis to the liver, spleen, peritoneum, ovaries and lungs and received Gamma Knife radiation for the 4 existing brain lesions. In an incredibly pleasant surprise to all of us, her doctors included, she showed insanely rapid improvement, and ultimately her CA-125 levels decreased from ~5000 U/ml to within normal limits (under 38 U/ml) over the course of maybe a month. To clarify, CA-125 (cancer antigen 125) is a protein marker specific to ovarian cancers, and while it's not a perfect indicator, it's the most reliable blood marker to gauge ovarian cancer progression. So anyway, we had a period of celebration and peace, as all of the body metastases disappeared from scans, and the brain mets decreased in size dramatically and remained stable. Fast forward to spring 2020. 

All was well until we began to see her CA-125 levels slowly creeping back up. Initially, there wasn't a ton of concern, as the increases were not huge and could have been attributable to normal fluctuation. Between mid to late May, however, the numbers started jumping higher, and her doc ordered a chest/abdominal/pelvic CT. At that point though, no significant changes were noted. 

Between mid June and early July, her CA-125 jumped from 631 to 1277 U/ml. At that point, a fourth recurrence was a certainty, and because body scans were still clear, that left the brain as being the likely culprit of metastasis. By this point, mom had begun experiencing severe dizziness too. In July, we got confirmation that 2 of the 4 previous brain mets had increased in size, while 2 new frontal lobe lesions and one new lesion in the left cerebellum had also popped up. On July 24, mom went back in for additional brain radiation. 

We met with her doctor last week, and due to some bloating and feelings of fullness (classic ovarian cancer symptoms), he ordered another CT for next week. As of last week, her CA-125 has increased to 3471 U/ml, so I'm glad that he has ordered additional scans. Mom has been receiving Carboplatin infusions once every 3 weeks. Unfortunately, she has had consistent difficulties with platelet levels, and her doctors don't feel comfortable with more frequent treatments at this point. The chemo, as chemo tends to do, has been kind of a monster in some ways. Although, true to form, mom is still tolerating a pretty hard core protocol better than most superheroes might. She's dealing with some neuropathy that we're working to get under control, and she's generally weak and tired, but she somehow still has the energy to hang with Oliver sometimes, and that may be a more accurate barometer of health and vitality than any bloodwork value. 

So this is where we are right now. Naturally, it's impossible to ignore the fact that all of this is occurring against the backdrop of COVID-19. Because mom is severely immunocompromised, we are all taking an abundance of caution in everything we do right now. Get this, y'all. I'm actually homeschooling my kids. Bizarro world. Truly. Impressively, my parents have actually learned to order from Instacart and to do curbside pick-up. With the exception of doctor's appointments, none of us are going anywhere.

I won't lie. The idea of mom being in this position during a global pandemic and also in one of the country's hottest COVID hot spots (get it, Memphis) is nothing short of terrifying. I will refrain from deviating into territory seemingly more appropriate for Facebook conflicts and the comments sections on news stories. However, I will say this: please be mindful that the realities of COVID for some may look very different from the realities of COVID for you. We beg of you to give it the old college try and to try to tap into your humanity. Keep in mind that while you may have some amorphous idea that wearing a mask or socially distancing is a violation of your rights in some way (spoiler alert: it's not), your choice to not do so could quite feasibly kill my mom and my children's grandmother. Not to mention any number of other humans. Do better. That's not righteous; that's entitlement and selfishness. I'll leave it at that. 

Thank you so much for the love and support. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or if you would like to pass a message along to mom. Also, please stay safe.