And the results are in…

 The holidays flew by and wish we could have spent more time with family, but we still had a great time. Lots of fun, food and laughter for sure. And several intense games of Left/Right/Center. None of which I won, btw. I’m pretty sure it was rigged. 

Parker with Grandpa Chuck and Teresa

Ethan with Emery, Emmett and the Grinch 

The Mills with The Grinch 

Hailey and Logan with Grandpa Chuck and Teresa 

All of us minus Kate and her family-damn Covid-with Grandma Sharon 

Us and The Grinch 

I completed my MRI guided Stereotactic Radiation to the lesion we found on my lumbar spine in early December. That was rough-but not as bad as I had anticipated. I had some nausea, and lots of fatigue the week of the radiation, but it was all gone a couple days after I was finished with treatment. The pain I was having at that spot has pretty much gone away-the wet and cold weather don’t help it, but it is bearable. 

I had a repeat CT of my chest/abdomen/pelvis and whole body bone scan done on January 12th and my Oncologist added on a head and cervical spine (neck) CT because I have been having headaches and neck pain. I got my results on Tuesday this week and with the good comes the bad. The L1 lesion we radiated in December has not grown, and shows signs of sclerosis, or healing. My cervical spine shows no signs of bone mets. The rest of my spine all the way down to my pelvis and hip mets look unchanged from previous scans. Except for a small, new spot on my left pelvis. I don’t have any pain there at all so we aren’t going to worry about one new bone lesion.  My lungs still look shitty-thanks Covid and prior radiation. But no lung mets, masses or nodules there. 

The bad news is there is an 8mm lesion that showed up in my brain. My left cerebellum to be exact. The previous reports I could find from KU and NKCH don’t mention it, which likely means it’s new and real. Other than the headaches I was having, I’m not having any other neurologic issues-which is good. The plan is for the Radiologists here to compare the CT to the CTs and MRIs  I had sent over from KC. If they decide the lesion is new (which I’m sure it is) I will have an MRI here and go from there. This likely means brain radiation is next. I will know more in the next couple of weeks and will keep everyone updated. It’s definitely not great news, but it’s not awful. My lungs and liver are still clear, and I’ll take one met in my brain over a dozen. So if you can throw some prayers and good juju up for the MRI to find nothing new in my brain-not that there’s much there anyway-and my husband says this just proves I’ve been crazy for a while…..anyway-good thoughts my way are appreciated. Now to keep myself distracted in the meantime…..

I was able to do just that by heading to KC to see the Wicked performance at the Music Hall with my dear friends. And we loved it!  Such a great story of friendship, and like the words of the song ‘For Good’ that Glinda and Elphaba sing;

I do believe I have been changed for the better
And because I knew you
I have been changed
For good.  

Wicked at the KC Music Hall 

Mandy, Me and Sandra at The Bristol with the gorgeous lights and Chiefs banner in the background 

Me and my baby sis Katie

Of course I cried in that scene.  In addition to the show we had dinner at The Bristol where my sister joined us and it was fabulous!  My trip to KC was non-stop, lunch with my awesome Dad at Corner Cafe, cleared out the safe deposit box at the credit union, stopped at NKCH to get imaging sent and get copies, and visit with some former co-workers-one a fave Radiologist of mine whose husband is a Pulmonologist and man-they are exhausted in healthcare folks.  Kudos to those who keep showing up in the face of all of this. Then I hit Kansas on the way out of town and visited my friend’s fabulous boutique-ShananiGanns- to drop off signs and jumped on I-70 to head East. Then I spent almost the whole car ride back to STL on the phone with another dear friend-sure makes the boring ride go by fast! After the news I got I needed this trip to make my face hurt from smiling and laughing so much with just a few of my favorite people to get me out of the bad news funk and ready for battle.

Again. 

But, it is what it is, and I’ll do what I have to in order to fight this crappy disease. Thanks for having my back! 

I will update when I know more, in the meantime I’m snuggled up by the fireplace getting ready to watch the new season of Ozark and my Chiefs beat the Bills this weekend because it’s too cold to do anything else! 

Xoxo

-K