The good news? I
didn’t have to have any chemo this morning!
The even better news?? I’m going
to be feeling great for this next week’s trip to Utah!! And the BEST news???? My kids get to come
with me!!! We are on the plane as I
write!
Though today has been a little hectic (it’s 10pm and I still
have 6 hours to go before I can get to bed) everything has come together
surprisingly well! Initially I was
planning on flying out alone for Saturday’s big Hoorah- the really amazing,
blow-me-away event my USU Ambassador friends are putting on for me and my
family, “Colors for Tessa.” My super
awesome friends were able to get a plane ticket from Jet Blue donated! After enjoying all the fun this Saturday I was
going to relax at my parent’s home for a week while I recuperated from chemo
effects. Then, when I found out I wasn’t
even going to get chemo today to need recuperating, my dear friend Natalie went
into overdrive and arranged two more donated tickets for my kids! Isn’t that amazing?!? Thank you Nat and thank you Jet Blue!! I’m seriously overwhelmed with the goodness
of people and so grateful for everyone’s generosity!
It was a little crazy getting those last two tickets all
arranged… I was packed and ready to
leave the house by 4:00, BUT was still on the phone getting details and unsure of
whether my kids could even come! So,
Adam threw some kid’s clothes in a small piece of luggage and we jumped in the
car at 4:20 while I was on the phone with Jet Blue. 20 minutes later we had the tickets set and
the three of us were heading to Utah!
Adam and I decided to wait to tell Mykee and Evan they were coming with
me until we got out at the airport and could film them being sad and saying
goodbye to me. Then we would give in and film their excitement – we thought it
would be fun! Unfortunately traffic was
a beast and a drive that would only take 1 hour with no delays took 3 ½
hours! So we weren’t going to have time
to film at the airport and the kids were starting to throw fits from being
cooped up for so long in the car. So we
sprang the good news on them while we were driving! Mykelle and Evan have been ecstatic knowing they get to see
ALL of their grandparents and ALL of their cousins over the next week! And even their newest cousin, Baby Mason, who
was born last week on Mykelle’s birthday!!
The timing of this trip really couldn’t be better! I’ve been looking forward to this week for
the past month and can’t wait to see everyone.
It’s really going to be so awesome and the only thing that would make it
better would be if Adam could be with us too L The kids were sad to say goodbye at the
airport and blew him lots of kisses but were still too excited at the prospect
of going to Utah to throw a fit (thankfully!).
Adam would have LOVED to come and wishes he could enjoy Saturday and see
everyone but he really needs to be at work- especially since it’s finals week where he works!
We’ll miss him a ton and I’m sure he’ll miss us, but I bet he loves
getting his work done while we’re not there to distract him J
Even though I’m super excited about heading to Utah and I
don’t want to dwell on the not-so-good news I figure I should cover those
details anyway. So here it is: You remember that miracle drug Adcetris (Brentuximab
Vedotin or SGN 35) that I went on and on about?
Well, as you probably guessed, it’s not a miracle for me!
I’m in that small percentage- 25% of people for whom the drug doesn’t
work. Dang. It’s not a huge surprise, but it’s
disappointing all the same. From the scan results it looks like Adcetris
kept most of the tumors from growing but they didn’t shrink much and in one
area the tumor actually grew a little.
Fortunately there are other options. And as Doc Mato put it, we were hopeful the
“easy” drug would work, but I can still go the more difficult route. Which is called, Hyper CVAD A. I will be heading into the hospital on Sunday
the 6th of May for inpatient chemo over 5 days. I hate inpatient chemo. I am going to try to figure out a way to take
my Play Station 3 into the hospital so I don’t get too bored!
The new chemo has all the traditional chemo side effects,
including losing my hair! I will go
through two cycles, three weeks apart, followed by another PET/CT scan to see
if it’s working. It’s supposedly very
similar to ICE which I had during Cancer Fight #2. If I’m in remission after two cycles I’ll
proceed to transplant, if not in remission but the chemo is working I’ll do
another cycle or two in the hope of achieving full remission. If it’s NOT working then we’ll try a
different option, of which there are supposedly 5 or so more to try, if need be. Doc Mato was of course very optimistic and
because the tumors have generally responded well to stronger chemo he thinks
this one will work. If things work out I
will be going through the transplant in 3 months. Wow, a lot of “if’s” in this paragraph
huh? I wish I could give Zack a more
definite time frame for the transplant so he could plan his life a little
better! Sorry Zack!
