Laurie
I heart Leonard
It is with a sad heart I share the latest Lisa news. The results of her latest CT Scan were not good. Lisa's lung tumor has grown, her chest nodes are again swollen, and her breast cancer has spread now to her liver and kidneys.
What that means is the chemotherapy she's been receiving is not working. Her doctor has recommended a different chemotherapy drug--and also has asked her to be part of a triple negative breast cancer study.
Obviously this is not the news we wanted to hear.
The truth is statistically speaking once brain mets are found the typical life span is about 10 months. Lisa was diagnosed Stage IV on August 1st--so we have had many months.
Lisa is still wanting treatment, as is our family wanting her to continue treatment.
However the two drugs Lisa was receiving were the very best in the fight against breast cancer.
Hopefully many of you know by now triple negative is the most aggressive form of breast cancer and therefore incredibly difficult to treat. It's aggression is quite obvious as it is still spreading throughout Lisa's body despite the fact she received chemotherapy every week for 3 weeks with one week off.
The new chemo will be 2 weeks on 1 week off--pretty much the same side effects with one big difference. The chemo she had been receiving caused numbness in her hands and feet which is why she had no sense of touch, the side effects of the new chemo drug and severe pain and redness in the the hands and feet. For numbness they don't discontinue using chemo, for the severe pain they would--so if she is in fact someone who suffers the side effect they would no longer treat with that chemo.
Lisa has taken this news very hard--I know a part of her still believed even with the terminal diagnosis that her cancer would go away. We got the news yesterday and for the first time discussed funeral and burial arrangements--who would take Sassy her cat and who Eric her son would live with. She is not angry with God, but struggles a bit with her faith as hers is not as strong as mine. She said she feels a bit hypocritical that she wants to find God now--and I told her it is often in the darkest moments we look for and find God--and then I told her just because he was lost to her did not mean she was lost to him.
As a family we continue to support Lisa and LOVE LISA, we all continue to pray.
My many thanks to many of you who daily ask me about Lisa--thank you for thinking of my beautiful sister and keeping her close to your hearts and in your prayers.
What that means is the chemotherapy she's been receiving is not working. Her doctor has recommended a different chemotherapy drug--and also has asked her to be part of a triple negative breast cancer study.
Obviously this is not the news we wanted to hear.
The truth is statistically speaking once brain mets are found the typical life span is about 10 months. Lisa was diagnosed Stage IV on August 1st--so we have had many months.
Lisa is still wanting treatment, as is our family wanting her to continue treatment.
However the two drugs Lisa was receiving were the very best in the fight against breast cancer.
Hopefully many of you know by now triple negative is the most aggressive form of breast cancer and therefore incredibly difficult to treat. It's aggression is quite obvious as it is still spreading throughout Lisa's body despite the fact she received chemotherapy every week for 3 weeks with one week off.
The new chemo will be 2 weeks on 1 week off--pretty much the same side effects with one big difference. The chemo she had been receiving caused numbness in her hands and feet which is why she had no sense of touch, the side effects of the new chemo drug and severe pain and redness in the the hands and feet. For numbness they don't discontinue using chemo, for the severe pain they would--so if she is in fact someone who suffers the side effect they would no longer treat with that chemo.
Lisa has taken this news very hard--I know a part of her still believed even with the terminal diagnosis that her cancer would go away. We got the news yesterday and for the first time discussed funeral and burial arrangements--who would take Sassy her cat and who Eric her son would live with. She is not angry with God, but struggles a bit with her faith as hers is not as strong as mine. She said she feels a bit hypocritical that she wants to find God now--and I told her it is often in the darkest moments we look for and find God--and then I told her just because he was lost to her did not mean she was lost to him.
As a family we continue to support Lisa and LOVE LISA, we all continue to pray.
My many thanks to many of you who daily ask me about Lisa--thank you for thinking of my beautiful sister and keeping her close to your hearts and in your prayers.
Words cannot express what I want to say. i am crying that anyone has to go through something like this, let alone Lisa, you, and the rest of such a wonderful close knit family. I am so sorry.
