Long Time, No Blog

Dear Friends and Family,

I know this is a long update…so if you are looking for the Cliff Notes version, here you go:

I’m doing OK, I’m on new (experimental) meds, and I’m getting CT/Chest and MRI/Brain scans TODAY (Thursday, December 10), so please pray! Hoping to get results back within the next week…

😊 As for the longer version…

It feels like forever since I updated my blog. When Covid-19 hit last March, I pulled back from writing and posting. I figured everyone had enough to deal with scrounging for TP and dodging human contact… so I’d just wait to post again until this “Corona thing” passed over.

Little did I know that the weeks would turn into months and the months would stretch toward a year. So much has happened … to all of us, I’m sure. What a crazy year it’s been.

To give you an update on my health …

First and foremost, I get scans today, on Thursday, December 10. I’d humbly appreciate your prayers and any good vibes sent my way for positive results!

I’ve been on a clinical trial at UC Health for the last several months and I’m super excited and anxious to find out how the new treatment is working!

So what is this clinical trial stuff all about? It’s kind of a long story….but basically, I’m a guniea pig!

I’m part of a test group taking a new drug…hopefully one that will not only work for me, but for many others in the future!

Why am I doing it?!? As a reminder, things seemed to be going well as of last February when scans showed that all of my tumors and spots were shrinking. Unfortunately, in June I starting having back pain again and in July, scans found the cancer had started growing again.

My oncologist decided the best course of action was to seek out a clinical trial …but in the meanwhile, while I underwent testing and waited to get approved, I went back on the “big guns” for a month (hence my hair loss), and also underwent radiation for spots on my spine and a new small spot they found on my brain.

According to my radiologist, the treatment did its job to zap the spot in my brain…and my back pain did get slightly better, so that was considered a success. Between us, radiation is NO JOKE, from having a full face-mold made to after effects including severe sore throat and heartburn from hell…but that’s a story for another day, I’m just glad that’s over.

After a loooong summer of waiting (and if you’re from Colorado, you know we were already living through a foreboding, char-skied, ashy and total funky summer) I was finally accepted into the clinical trial! Yay! Yay! Finally good news!!

I find it super amazing that a matching trial was open for me AND so close, tat the University of Colorado Hospital, in Aurora. The stars aligned for me on that one, all praise and thanks to God and to the collaboration of my radiologist, Dr. King and my oncologists Dr. Swink and Dr. Patil for making it happen.

As it turns out I have a unique cancer mutation. The chemo I was previously on did not work effectively on my cancer cells because the shape of the medicine, on a molecular level, did not match my cancer’s uniquely mutated receptors. The medication I’m taking now as part of the trial is genetically engineered and shaped to enter my cancer cell’s receptors more successfully. It’s both easy and mind-blowingly complicated to understand.

It’s been a journey…for six weeks Brad and I drove to Denver for weekly appointments that consisted of a full day (6:45am-8:30pm) of hourly blood and EKG tests followed by a short office visit the next day. We’d leave Grand Junction Wednesday afternoon and head back Friday late morning. I’m super thankful to my mom for taking care of the boys while we went through that.

Going forward, we still have to go to Denver, but just once every three weeks, and we’ll be gone just one night. It feels like a piece of cake in comparison!

And today…SCANS! The day we have been waiting for.

I truly appreciate you keeping me in your prayers as we hope and pray for good news. We should get results in about a week from today and I’ll keep you posted.

So what ELSE has been going on? We’ve been plenty busy…

Well, during a global pandemic, instead of hunkering down, we decided to pack up and sell our home of nearly 16 years and move to a bigger house just a mile north. Thank goodness we did…because further down the road, Brad was blessed with an exciting new job opportunity with Xcel Energy. The kicker is that it requires him to work from home (until Covid-19 blows over) so thank goodness for a little extra space! Between Brad working from home and the kids also doing remote learning on and off … we’d have been pretty cramped in the old house.

In other news, Keifer got his driver’s license in July. It is both exciting yet nerve-wracking being the mom of a new driver! He’s driving his Great-Grandpa Keith’s old truck, so that’s kinda special. This year he chose to forego football and wrestling and just focus on baseball and he’s looking at getting a job after winter semester is over. He is saving for his upcoming school trip to Costa Rica, hopefully still happening next March. (Please go away, Covid!!) He’s doing 100% remote learning which is rough on such a social kiddo…but he’s hanging in there. He misses First Pres youth group and Young Life…and can’t wait for life to get started again.

Kennan started middle school and got accepted into the Challenge Program at East Middle School…we are so proud of him! It’s definitely more work than he’s used to but he’s doing OK. He enjoyed almost a full season of football with the Grand Valley Rebels (thanks to Coach Webber and our other awesome coaches) until Covid finally shut us down just before our last big tournament. Bummer but better to have most of a season than none! He also shot his first buck this fall, and donated half of the harvest to “Farmers & Hunters Feeding the Hungry.” A very proud moment for Dad and Kennan alike!

Brad is settling into his new job like a champ. He’s going to do so well. I’m so proud of him and feel lucky to have such an incredible life partner. He holds me together in these rough times and reassures me that there truly is light at the end of the tunnel. Thank God for him, my mom and my sister. They are all my rocks.

And the best news yet…my sister and her family moved home from Florida and are here to stay. This makes my heart ABUNDANTLY happy. Words can’t even describe it…

2020 has had its challenges, but in so many ways, it has been a year full of blessings for our family.

So, I apologize for falling off the blog-spere for so long, but it’s been a busy year. Moving, settling into a new house, keeping up with the kids, catching up with my sister…not to mention meds that make me feel like Sleepy Dwarf. Thank you for your understanding.

I hope you are all doing GREAT and I sincerely thank each and every one for your ongoing kindness and well wishes.

If we don’t cross paths before… I wish you the Merriest Christmas and a New Year full of love and laughter!!

Be kind to each other, be kind to yourself!!

Love always, 

Jammie

P.S. A special shout out to my mom, Sylvia for holding down the fort during our hard weeks and for always being there for me when my spirit needs a lift or my butt needs a kick. And yes, she is The Dog Whisperer!! They all like her best. She swears it’s not all about the doggie treats…