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Chemo cycle #5 of 6 - and more good test results!

I started the 5th chemo cycle on 5/25. All of my labs looked good including my white blood cell count. They also tested my CEA level again, and in the two weeks it went down another 40% - from 9.5 to 5.7. From the beginning of my treatment this is a 92% decrease. Yea Baby! It really helps to see this when "in the suck" of chemo, and I really look forward to completing the 6th cycle. It looks like I'll have surgery in late July which will give me and the family a nice break from chemo and a chance to recover physically and mentally.

I saw this picture from the Tour of Italy on a extraordinarily difficult stage climbing up Monte Zoncalon with an average grade of 12% with portions at 18-22%! Like this racer, I am supported and propelled forward by those around me - my friends and family. Thank you all.

More progress

Another encouraging test result. They tested my CEA levels again on Wednesday the 11th, and after two additional weeks of treatment it went from 15.1 to 9.5 - a 37% decrease in the two weeks. In the six weeks from starting treatment, it has gone from 73 to 9.5 - a 87% drop! Yea baby!!

Life-Giving Poison

I was thinking about chemo the other day and this phrase struck me - life-giving poison - as that is truly what it is. I'm about to start the 4th chemo cycle and as it approaches I have more trepidation because I know what it will bring. But then as I recognize that I feel poorly only because of the treatment. So I'm working on changing my attitude from that of worry about the chemo to acceptance (grudgingly so) and some measure of peace.

Pathology update - good

It took a while but we finally got a pathology determination on whether the tumor has mutations that are sometimes seen with colon cancer. They are KRAS and BRAF, and both were negative. This means in the future we can use another new medication (if necessary) called Erbitux (a EGFR inhibitor), and not having the BRAF mutation is good because it is a poor prognostic factor.

Both of these are good.