Not to worry, I’m still here. Life has been busy, and that means my pet projects such as my blog get sidelined while I handle the busy life of a mom, wife, full-time realtor, and ALKie.

So much has been going on. Chris and I have sold 2 of our 3 properties and completely changed our lives financially. My friends laugh because I have completely drunk the Kool-Aid that is Dave Ramsey. We have learned how to budget, paid off 90% of our debt, and fully funded our emergency fund. I am going to make a whole post about this soon because it really is one of the things I am most proud of right now.

The babes are almost 19 months. Time is a thief, they say, and you don’t realize it until you look at what a year and a half looks like in your children. Jack is doing incredible. He has joined his school’s track and field team and had his first meet last weekend. He is running a mile in less than half the time it takes me. He is getting straight A’s in school and made the honor roll. He is in band and opts to take the early 0 period music class on top of everything else. He is a star player on his elite soccer team. The kid is amazing, and to be his parents, we are filled with pride. Let me just say, this is not what my 7th-grade year looked like. There wasn’t a lot of pride I was giving to my parents.

Last month I had my quarterly PET scan, it was mostly the same with a slight uptick in my lower left lobe, where my original primary tumor was/is. I have been campaigning for a lower left lobe removal/resection for about a year. Dr. Andan suggested I talk to some of the people in my FB group who have had it done. I have done my research. Here are the links to the 2 papers I cited when I made my case:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-22957-9

https://cardiothoracicsurgery.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13019-023-02310-5

With this uptick, I decided to push harder. Dr. Andan agreed and presented me to the tumor board. Last week they discussed my case for 30 minutes, reviewing every scan I’ve had since diagnosis from every different angle. They decided to give me a referral to the theoretical surgeon. I met with him today at 10 am. We will decide together if this surgery is best for me. The research shows that the overall survival of patients who have this surgery AND the TKI (the type of pills I take) vs just taking the TKI is statistically significant. If I am able to get the surgery with minimal risk, I think it will give me the best possible chance at a long life. This surgery is not currently the standard course of care, but I know several people in my FB group who have gotten it. I think in the coming years, this will be the standard course of care for stage 4 patients. Currently, the people I know living the longest with a stage 4 diagnosis are those that have had a version of this surgery. I will keep everyone posted about the outcome of our meeting.

I am looking forward to more regular posts in the coming weeks!