On Wednesday, June 24, Lois had Chemo Infusion #25 and the fourth one since we started the new the new regimen, Folfiri. We arrived in Iowa City on Tuesday evening so we could be at the hospital for lab work at 6:30 am followed by a CT Scan. We met with Dr. Halfdanarson at 10:30 am and learned that the CT Scan showed no change; the tumors in the liver haven’t changed at all since the first of May. In fact, when the radiologist’s report came through later in the day, he thought a few of the tumors may be slightly larger.

The CEA number, that tumor marker we keep track of, went from 13.8 to 15.4. The Dr. waved that off saying a one point change is not unusual and he wasn’t overly concerned with that. We will continue on the Folfiri regimen and plan to do three more infusions before another full set of labs and a CT Scan.

Once again, the drugs they give Lois to mitigate side effects enabled her to sleep for most the infusion time. Because she is tolerating the chemo so well, they were able to speed up the delivery so that the entire infusion was a little more than three hours. I really appreciate the Ethernet connection in the room which helps me use the wait to be productive.

Lois is feeling well enough this morning that we went over to Joy and Tony’s house for a few minutes to be with Broc who is celebrating his 5^th birthday today!

Thanks for praying!

Lois is doing quite well and we rejoice in answered prayer! First of all, the ankle she sprained so badly is healing and she is able is walk. Being mobile and not having to wait for Jim or someone else to do everything is a great improvement! This is God at work.

In addition, the lab work on Wednesday included the CEA number – the “tumor marker” which is used as one of the methods for measuring whether or not the cancer is advancing. The first part of May the CEA number was 18.4 and now it’s 13.8. Obviously, God is at work either using the new Chemo cocktail or any other supernatural means to slow the advance of the tumors in Lois’ liver. Again, this is God at work.

Finally, Lois had infusion #24 without incident. No severe diarrhea, no vomiting, no reactions. Yes, she is still dealing with neuropathy in her hands and feet (the feet are much worse than her hands) but that is really a minor side effect. Two weeks ago the infusion produced some light nausea from day 2 thru day 5 but Lois only vomited once. Lois’ appetite is OK but we know the next few days she will not be very hungry. Those are side effects we can deal with. We recognize this is God at work.

Your phone calls and cards and emails are a great encouragement to us and remind us often of the debt we owe for your friendship and partnership. Thank you for praying with us and for us!