Just completed day four of five of my new chemo drug, Topotecan. This is the first time I have had to get chemo five days in a row, off two weeks, then five days again. It has definitely affected my lifestyle - have had to go in an hour earlier to school each day during treatment to make up for the hour early that I leave school in the afternoon in order to get to the Shaw Clinic in time to get finished before they close at 5 P.M. It has also necessitated finding someone to cover part of my last class each day - not really long enough to warrant getting a "sub", so different people have stepped in to help me out this week. I don't know that I can ask them to continue to do that. I'll have to make other arrangements. The good news is that so far my body has tolerated the drug well with no adverse side effects, for which I am truly grateful! The plan is to have another treatment followed by a CT scan a few weeks later to determine how effective this drug is. At that time we will assess what other options might be available. I would hope to schedule a consultation visit at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale or at MD Anderson in Houston in the near future to see what they recommend in trying to keep the cancer at bay, keep it from spreading, and maintain a long-term maintenance treatment that would afford me a normal lifestyle for as long as possible. I feel certain if there was a "magic bullet" to shrink the tumors dramatically, we would know about it.
I trust that I am getting very good care here, but it never hurts to get another opinion. Thank you for your prayers and continued support and interest in how I am doing. It means so much to all of us. You can pray for Bob's speedy recovery as well - he just had hernia surgery today but seems to be ahead of the curve again. Will keep you posted as new info worth sharing comes up.

After consulting with my oncologist on Thursday, he would like to try another chemo that has been successful with ovarian cancer patients rather than go back to the chemo I had been on previously for a year that was successful, but can have detrimental effects on the heart. So, we will probably begin that regimen on Monday, Sept. 27th. If it becomes necessary to go back to the old one, we would have to monitor the heart activity very closely. In the meantime, we will hold off draining the ascites until we see how well I do on this new drug. I forgot to have my doctor write it down for me, so I don't remember the name, not that you would even want to know! I feel well and do not notice any change in my level of energy or sleep pattern. I am in very little pain, except for the hernia in my navel, but I can certainly live with it. Please keep me in your prayers and I will keep you informed as I continue with my treatment.

My recent CT scan revealed bad news and good news. The bad news is that there is a new spot on my liver. The good news is that the multiple tumors in my abdominal cavity seem to be stable. My oncologist recommends that we drain the fluid in my belly as soon as possible and try to fix the hernia in my navel that is the size of a golf ball. I am waiting to hear if the procedures will be done here or at Presbyterian St.Luke's in Denver where I have had the procedure to drain the ascides done before. I am very disappointed that the cancer has been extremely agressive in the last few months, but we hope to stop it by returning to the old chemo regimen temporarily until we can come up with another one to try. Because the old chemo is hard on my heart, we will have to have a echocardiogram done before every treatment and monitor things very closely. In the big picture, every day that I have been given since I was sent home from the hospital last December to die has been a gift. I am so grateful for every day, the wonderful summer I had, and the great start to another school year! We will continue to treat my cancer as any other chronic disease by being proactive in every way - spiritually, physically, and emotionally. I'm not giving up, nor should you - please continue to pray for discernment and Divine guidence throughout this time when we will have to make important decisions regarding the quality of life that I have while I am still on this planet. God is soverign in my life, and He has indeed been so merciful and good to me. I have never taken for granted your faithfulness in remembering me in your prayers. It is such a blessing knowing that I have your loving support. I'll continue to post updates as I have them.

I received the second dose of Doxal on Monday and all went well. I'm feeling a little tired today after the first day back with children at school, but so are the majority of teachers, many of whom are a lot younger than I am, so I'm not to worried about it. I just might have to go home and take a nap! The kids seem to like my new "hairdo", which is short but a bit different from last year - light brown with gold highlights so I won't look as old as I feel! I'm back full time as long as I have the energy to do my job with enthusiasm. If I have to drop to part-time, a lady who has worked in the library with me for years will job share with me. So far everything is going well, PRAISE GOD! I will get a CT scan next Thursday to determine the growth, or lack of growth, in size and number of tumors, and after reviewing the results, the oncologist will decide whether to stick with this drug or move on to something else. The homeopathic physician is going to the clinic in Germany that he is affiliated with in the latter part of September and will take the disk with my most recent CT scan images to the team of cancer specialists there to see what they recommend. So far we have been unsuccessful in shrinking the tumors significantly. They haven't gotten bigger, but they haven't gotten significantly smaller, either. I am experiencing more fluid accumulating in my abdomenal area as well in that I can't zip up pants that I could wear at the beginning of the summer. That's usually not a good sign either. Sarah is off to Washington, D.C. this week and so is hurricane Earl - hope it misses her and everyone else! Bob is back doing any and all exercise that he feels up to. He is training for a century ride in Boulder in 2 weeks, so he has been spending time in the saddle. I'm so grateful that I feel better than I did at this time last year. I feel that I am making progress and that I am able to enjoy my "normal" life. Your continuing prayers are always needed and cherished. Will give another update after getting the results of the scan.