Deb has finished her second round of Cisplatin.  She is extremely fatigued and is feeling the effects of the chemo.  It will take her a few days until she starts to feel better.  
We received some positive news from the doctor.  Her bloodwork shows significant lowering of her liver enzymes, which is an indicator that the chemo is having some effect it appears.  The BRACA1 gene test came back negative which is a relief for us as this means that the girls won't be at a high risk for breast cancer.   We are thankful for  all the cards, flowers and phone calls from all of our friends and family.  It gives Deb strength and joy to hear from you.  Debbie will get to go on vacation with Adrianne and her family in Florida in a couple of weeks, which is a real blessing.  When she gets back, she'll have another PET scan to see what's happening with her cancer levels.  We are so thankful that our God is surrounding us with His presence and mercy as we remain faithful for the journey on which He is leading us.

BW

Dear friends and familly,

As you have noticed, this is on our family website but hope it will be easy for you to keep up.

Since I wrote last, Samuel Chase Evans was born in Murfreesboro TN July 26 th.  I was able to spend the week before and after he was born.  What a joy! Of course, he is adorable (see more info on the website).

During the summer I took the chemo, Gemzar, 9 rounds . I had a PET scan on 8/26 and had a follow-up appt. with Dr. Reddy on 8/28.  I had been noticing more pain in my liver so I was not surprised to find out that the Gemzar had been ineffective and that the tumors were all over my liver.

Dr. Reddy said there was one more chemo, Sysplatin , that we could try .   It is more toxic, similar to what I took when I first had cancer.  Because it is very strong, the doses would be divided up into 2 days in a row of chemo and then off 3 weeks.
He thought it would be good to go into the hospital for the first 2 so that they could monitor my fluids and nausea so I went int the hospital on 9/3 and 9/4. It took 10 hours each day and then I 
left around noon on Thurs.  I have been very fatigued since the hospital, but no nausea and am hoping I'll start getting my strength back.  I was able to do things before the chemo. I am wearing a pain patch so I am feeling little pain.

I will go in each week for blood tests and they will monitor my liver enzyme count .  The enzyme levels have been very high (600) but did go down some after chemo so that is positive.  If the  enzymes keep going up, it will not be effective for me to take the sysplatin chemo.  It will be a week-by-week evaluation.  I will take it at the Cancer Center and will be two - eight hour days.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  You are all so important to me.  

I asked God at the beginning of this journey to teach me what he wanted me to learn from this.  He has taught me the power of His presence and how much I can trust Him in each step.  Because of Jesus Christ, I have hope and life everlasting.

God bless all of you.
Debbie

The results of Deb's latest PET scan shows that the summer rounds of chemo have had no effect on the cancer cells growing in her liver.  The scans showed that most of her liver contains rapidly growing cancer tumors and the scan also showed some areas in her ovaries and chest.  We are doing one last test to see if Deb has a gene that has been linked to triple negative breast cancer and if so there is one other chemo drug that has shown to be effective in knocking it down.  If she doesn't have the gene, then at this point there is nothing else that can be done but manage her pain and cherish the time we have together until the time she gets to go home.  She is in good spirits and feels confident and confortable in her walk the our God on this journey into forever.  Thank you to all the wonderful people He has placed in our lives that give us comfort and joy, caring and support, love and concern.                        Bart