Round Six of Chemo

First a quick update on how the fifth round of Chemo went. Vann has been feeling better and her energy level continues to improve. We now realize the Cancer was taking a lot of Vann's energy away before she was diagnosed. So far it seems the toughest rounds of Chemo were when Vann was recovering from surgery and was limited to a liquid only diet. We are hoping Vann can maintain her energy level and minimize the side effects on the future rounds of Chemo. We still can not figure out the hives and some other skin irritations, but this round was better than the fourth round.

We just got her blood tumor marker results back yesterday while the sixth round of Chemo was being administered. This cycle will be the fourth round that Vann also receives the Avastin. We are very happy to let everyone know the Cancer Antigen CA 19-9 and Carcinoembryonic CEA markers have been cut in half once again! The tumor marker numbers are actually lower now than they were when Vann was first diagnosed. We feel very fortunate for the response we are getting and are doing everything we can to ensure Vann keeps on track.

We also want to express how much we appreciate all the support from everybody. A lot of Vann's success during her treatments have been made possible by all the help from our families, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Its amazing how helpful the delivery of the meals have been and have enabled us to keep up with all the appointments and to have quality time with the family. Thank you to everyone for the outpouring of support and love!!

5th Round of Chemo

Vann tolerated her fourth round of Chemo very well and has been able to enjoy more time with our family. During this round there was no more fever and Vann's energy level was definitely up compared to the previous rounds. A couple new side effects have been hives and nausea. We are trying to pinpoint the cause of the hives, but it has proven difficult. We were able to enjoy July 4th as a family which was a great feeling! Thank you to our family and friends for making that all happen. Attached is a great picture of Ryley visiting Big Bear with her friend Luke.

Today we got the tumor marker results back from Vann's blood draw. We are extremely happy to say that the Cancer Antigen CA 19-9 and the Carcinoembryonic CEA numbers were cut in half from the last blood draw. We have not discussed anything with our Oncologist yet, but at least we know the Chemo is doing exactly what it is designed to do. We hope this trend continues and ultimately pray for surgery later this year.

Thank very much to all our family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers for all the help and support. We really appreciate what everyone has been doing for us and want everyone to know how much it has helped.

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!

Quick Thanks To All

We want to say thank you to everyone who has been supporting us, in one way or another. Vann's second family at Costco has been such a help to us. With Vann's treatment schedule and taking care of our girls, we are finding very little time for our normal routine. The meals being delivered and the supplies being brought by have made things a lot easier on the whole family and we really appreciate the support.

To all our neighbors, thank you for constantly watching our girls and helping out whenever needed. We are very lucky to have such great neighbors to help us out in this time of need. It is such a comfort knowing the girls are in good hands when we are not able to be with them.

Also, Vann and I, are very thankful for the support from LACoFD. We can't imagine how it would have been without them. They have helped give me so much needed time to be with Vann and our girls, Ryley and Taylor. It has been a huge relief for both of us. We could not have done this without all of you stepping up to help us out! In addition, The Firefighter Cancer Support Network has helped Mark and Vann through this tough time.

Lastly, we must mention our beloved friends, The Watson's for all their support and help. Gordon and I have been friends since the third grade and have experienced a lot in life together. Although we never ended up working on the same Fire Department, we truly are brothers! Thank you Gordon and Heather for the tremendous support!

Vann's Spirits

After reading the posts we realized we needed to give some insight into how Vann is doing. As most of you already know, Vann may be on the petite side but is a very strong girl. We have been fortunate throughout this to find a extremely good team of Doctors to help navigate Vann's treatment. We have a lot of confidence in this team and feel we could not be in any better hands. Vann has tolerated the surgery and treatments with a very positive outlook and has been extremely strong on wanting to exercise when she can. Surprisingly the Chemo Cycles have gotten a little more tolerable each time and we are trying to figure out how to keep this going. We need to keep Vann eating small portions throughout the day and keep up her strength for the Chemo Cycles ahead. We also have turned to acupuncture and massage therapy to give Vann as much comfort as possible.

Third Round of Chemo

Vann started her third round of FOL FOX Chemotherapy on June 15th. Since we had to wait for Vann to recover from her surgery we were not able to start the drug called Avastin until this round of Chemo. Avastin is not actually a form of Chemotherapy, it is called a tumor starving therapy since it literally starves the tumor of what it needs in order to grow and spread.

On Vann's last meeting with her Oncologist we received some good news from her physical examination. Vann's left lobe of her liver is no longer enlarged and her right lobe of her liver is not as enlarged. In addition, Vann's abdominal wall is now soft and no longer distended. Our Oncologist is very happy with Vann's progress and with how well she has been handling the Chemo cycles. We need to focus on keeping strong in order to remain on a 14 day Chemo cycle and hit this cancer hard before it realizes what is going on.

Positve News From Genetic Mapping

In the middle of May, after recovering from her Colostomy Surgery, Vann began FOL FOX Chemotherapy on a 14 day cycle. During Vann's 2nd round of Chemo, the genetic mapping results came back. Without getting too technical, the results that came back were the first piece of positive news we had since the diagnosis. Vann's particular cancer showed it was not a hereditary type of cancer and that it should be very responsive to the FOL FOX Chemotherapy. Our Oncologist went over the results and every part of the genetic mapping pointed in the right direction to fight the cancer. This was quite a joyous moment for us knowing we now have a good chance and also a relief for our girls Ryley, 5 years old and Taylor, 3 years old.