Just a quick update between my sleeping times :)
I had chemo #9 yesterday. The major prayer was for cycle #8 to be last; but insurance company vs PET scan costs got in the way. My Doctor had to really push (and call the 3rd party decision doc) to let me get a 3rd PET scan which will most likely be next week. Dr NP also suggested I just go with the 12 rounds of Chemo that is the standard of care...I really love and trust Dr NP, so I will take the the last 3 rounds. This means (because of Holiday breaks) that I will have my final chemo January 8th. I say my final because we have been having serious conversations with Dr NP that (if all the cancer is gone or has shrunk very small) that I would like to transition to a more alternative cancer treatment of repurposed drugs and killing of the stems cells of cancer.
As background, chemotherapy is very successful with destroying the fast-growing cancer cells (and all other fast-growing cells like hair, stomach flora, top layers of hands and feet and mouth cells). This is the reason for most chemo side-effects. What happens is the chemo kills these fast-growing cancer cells but almost always leaves some internal stem cells of cancer floating around in a person's body. Cancer stem cells are very smart and mutate (often) into cells that are immune to the first type of chemo a patient used. These stem cells float around a persons' body until they land in a new area and build a new, chemo-resistant clump of fast-growing cells. "Remission" means just that - a temporary recovery or "until next time."
When doctors find a new, second location of cancer growth (sometimes years later), this is called a recurrence and the patient must go through treatment again - often with a stronger or new chemotherapy/immunotherapy because these cells are now immune to the chemo that worked at first.
Recurrence is what most cancer patients die from. Colorectal cancer patients almost always die from the spread of the cancer; liver failure, lung failure, or colon failure (they basically starve to death), or they just decide that the first fight was hard enough and they let go.
Because colorectal cancer is seeing a huge "outbreak" in young patients (under 50), there has been a lot of recent research into this type of cancer but it is very far behind breast cancer or childhood cancers which have huge survival rates (some types). Another relatively new surge in cancer treatment is using drugs that are already FDA approved for treating other chronic conditions. These "repurposed drugs" are being found adept at fighting "cancer metabolic pathways" (killing off those pesky stem cells or "starving them"). The leading voice in this research is Jane McClelland who wrote the book How to Starve Cancer. She is basically a 20+ year breast cancer survivor. In her early 30's, she had very aggressive Breast Cancer (with a 3 month prognosis) and had a background in bio research, so she went and found how to starve her cancer cells. She (and many other people) are living a long life using a host of repurposed drugs that have kept the cancer at bay. Many people following her protocol live with "the chronic condition of cancer" but it does not grow or spread. She treats hers similarly to diabetes or HIV where the disease is "controlled if not cured."
After serious prayer and consideration, Shawn and I decided to bring all of this research to Dr NP and ask if she would still be my consulting physician (watching my blood work and ordering my scans) if I stopped the chemo cycles after #12 and switched to these (sometimes prescription) drugs. She said a tentative yes yesterday (because I will still be open to her suggestions and recommendations). Now, Shawn and I just need to clamp down on the research in getting the correct supplements and drugs (the list can be different for each type of cancer). There are some clinics that already use these drugs and other IV protocols for alternative cancer treatment, so we will reach out to the highly recommended places and search out their wisdom.
The best news is that I will hopefully never have anything (but possibly low-dose) chemo again after January. We still plan on totally fighting but taking in account all of the recent alternatives. Also, I really do believe that God is already healing me. That He has taken the worst of it from me and I leave it all at the Cross of Jesus. I trust in Him and all that he has done and is doing. Everything has been so peaceful and clearly led (including finding the best oncologist I could have asked for).
Cancer is terrible but I believe it can be tamed somewhat. We don't need to be terrified if we choose to fight well. Fear is a liar. Fear takes our fight by holding us captive. I will not be a girl standing in a dark corridor staring at a closed door. I have opened the door and I'll keep walking through this dark valley because "I fear no evil." God has led us from the first moment. And I'm excited to live forever with Him (and everyone I love) someday. But I still have a lot to do in this life. So ima gonna do it :)
Thanks for reading.
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