Fourth Round of Chemo

Just a quick update on how Vann is progressing along. We had a week that was full of opposite emotions, but ultimately came out looking very positive! When Vann went in for her fourth round of Chemo we were told some depressing news from her blood draws. Apparently the CEA numbers had dramatically increased during her third round of Chemo. This pointed towards the Fol Fox Chemotherapy not being effective for Vann's particular Cancer. At this point it was determined to stop the Chemo and perform a CAT Scan to get a better idea of what was occurring.

Upon the review of the CAT Scan, by our Oncologist and the Radiologist, it appears the tumors in the liver are responding by shrinking. In addition, the CAT Scan did not show any spread of the Cancer in any other areas. According to our Oncologist the CEA numbers are elevated at this point due to the Cancer actually being cut off from its blood supply and ultimately dying. Of course the discussion about this was explained in much more detail, but for most of us we just want the bottom line.

Vann received the same Fol Fox Chemotherapy treatment after the meeting with the Oncologist and will be receiving Avastin this week. We also got some very encouraging news in all of Vann's liver enzyme numbers. All the liver enzyme numbers have been roughly cut in half since Vann's diagnosis. Her liver is functioning better now than it was when she was diagnosed in early May.

The game plan from here will be to focus on gaining some weight and doing some mild exercise. Vann needs to keep on a two week cycle for the Chemotherapy to be most effective. Hopefully we can get the liver tumors and colon tumor to shrink enough to make surgery a possibility. At this point everything is pointing in the right direction to accomplish this.

Thank you for all the prayers, love, and support!