My recovery from my gastrectomy went extremely well. However, I continued to have a lingering bad feeling about the spot identified on my liver before starting the pre-surgery treatment. The spot disappeared with chemotherapy, but it still concerned me. Unfortunately, at my first post surgery scan in April of 2025, there were 8 small tumors on my liver. Because the tumors were so small, I was given 8 more weeks to recover from surgery before beginning systemic chemo treatment again. This time, I was put on a drug combination called FOLFIRI and it was combined with an immunotherapy drug. After three months of being on this treatment, a second scan indicated that the cancer had progressed. It was time to switch to my last FDA approved drug line. It's super stressful when you are told you are on your last medication, but I kept trusting God that this was what needed to happen. The new treatment line was much gentler than the one before and it was nice to have moments of feeling like myself again. I was supposed to lose my hair with both treatments, but luckily I didn't lose it with either. It's funny how fast and slow three months can pass by when you are a cancer patient. The individual days seem long when you feel tired or let your mind run with thoughts of not knowing what's happening inside your body. But, at the same time, it seems like that three months scan (and all of the scanxiety that comes with it) arrive so incredibly quick. The nerves walking into this scan were probably the worst I have experienced, but I just kept praying for peace no matter what the results were. We were super excited to learn that I had gone from 15 to 10 tumors on my liver. And, in addition, 9 of the remaining tumors had shrunk in size. This was the best news we could have received for the Christmas holiday. To my surprise, my oncologist wasn't as pleased with the results as we were. He said he really wanted a complete response and was concerned that the one tumor had grown. I'm not a candidate for clinical trials because my cancer does not have any biomarkers to target. However, a clinical trial had just opened up that didn't require any biomarkers, so we decided to apply for the trial and in the mean time, radiate the stubborn spot that wasn't responding to treatment. Luckily, my treatment schedule worked out to allow us to enjoy Christmas with family and then begin the New Year with radiation. Radiation was quite the beast. I was not prepared for the fatigue that would set in after completing all three radiation treatments. Little things like walking up the stairs to get to my bedroom quickly became daunting tasks in my day. The fatigue lasted approximately two weeks and was accompanied by what felt like uncomfortable swelling of my liver and spleen. Eating became uncomfortable and during this time my body weight dropped to a whopping 96 pounds which wasn't helping my fatigue one bit. On my last day of radiation, I received a call from the clinical trial coordinator stating I was eligible to move on to the next steps of the the application process and testing. So, most of late January was filled with appointments, I finished all the necessary steps by the end of January and am currently in my last week of my chemo washout to start the trial on February 9th. I'm nervous about the trial, but I am trusting God that this trial opened up at the right time because it is the right decision for me. It is a bit of a risk to stop a drug that is working and participate in a phase 1 trial, but I'm moving forward with confidence. Hopefully, in the future, I will be able to return to the drug that was working, if it's needed. Or, better yet, maybe an even better treatment or trial will become available. So, I'm going to enjoy this week with my family and pray that everything goes smoothly next week when I start the trial. I will unfortunately have to be at Mayo way more often that I am now because I will need to be strictly monitored for reactions. I'm trusting this sacrifice will be worth it because I love a God who can heal and I believe that He will continue to carry me through this. So, that's where we are at. As always, thank you for all of the encouragement and prayers.

James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working".