My Thoughts - My Journey

My July 9th Blog Update was so packed with information, therefore, if you want to get even more information, you can go back and read my post prior to this one. As I shared in my last post, Dr. Bondly, my Oncologist, was in full agreement with me that I did not need to go a full 3 weeks after my treatments without having my blood panels ran. It is just too risky. Therefore, on July 14 th , I went back to the Bruno Cancer Center and had more bloodwork ran to see where my numbers were following my July 8 th chemo treatments. They took 10 vials of blood! Well, sadly, they had plummeted again. My White Blood Count was below ZERO. My Red Blood Count was at a mere 2.61. My Hemoglobin was very low at 8.8. There are a lot of numbers involved in testing, but those give you the general perspective. I also had a Peripheral Blood Smear. It was for the purpose of checking to see if I had developed an autoimmune such as Lupus that might help explain my Red Blood Count being so aggressively at

  As most of you already know, I had a Liver Biopsy, a PET Scan, and a Bloodwork Profile and I have waited to get all results prior to writing a blog post update. I also had a lengthy consultation with my Oncologist, Dr. Bondly, yesterday.  First, I want to start off with a Super Praise God moment! My Liver Biopsy confirmed that my cancer has not changed to Her2-. It remains ER+ Her2+. That means we have been on the right treatment path. There is a strong possibility, however, that the Femara, Letrozole, that I took for 18 months did not work. It is a hormone based chemotherapy taken orally. It was to help lower my hormone and estrogen levels which in-turn was to help fight my cancer. We will find out more about that from the genetic portion of the Liver Biopsy when the results come back in about 3 weeks. The Liver Biopsy did show, according to Dr. Martin, that some of my cancerous lesions had got larger.   Because of the tremendous set-back that I had with my last treatment on May 28t

Tomorrow is a big day for me and my family. We are to get the results of my PET Scan that I had on July 5th….plus more information from my Liver Biopsy. My appointment is at 8:15. I will have bloodwork and a consultation with my Oncologist, Dr Bondly. I pray that my numbers will be good enough for me to have a chemo treatment. I have only had 2 treatments since my cancer changed to Metastatic Breast Cancer in my Bones and Liver. My last treatment put me in the hospital for 2 weeks and the doctors said if I had not gone to the ER when I did. I most likely would not have been alive the next day. Dr Bondly had already told us that I am facing that possibility again; however, if I can’t take treatments….well, I don’t even want to go there.  I am praying that God is going to bring me through this. I am praying with conviction that my cancer has not and will not spread further. I am believing that Dr Bondly will get me on a plan that I can stay on and that God will use the treatments and all

I went to the Bruno Cancer Center today and had bloodwork and a long consultation with Dr. Bondly. There are still a lot of unanswered questions and not all of the preliminary results are in from the liver biopsy… plus it will be three weeks before we get the genetic testing results from the liver biopsy.  We discussed a lot of potentials and what ifs, but at this point we don’t have any definite direction. Some of my numbers are still low and some or high, therefore; I was not able to do any type of treatment today… it would be very dangerous… plus I did not need to do a treatment before finding out if my cancer has changed types. We do know my cancer is aggressive and getting the appropriate treatment started as soon as possible is imperative.  I am going to have a PET Scan Tuesday morning at 8:00 and then I will meet with Dr Bondly again on Thursday morning at 8:15.  Please keep lifting your prayers on my behalf.  Love to you all. 💕

 UPDATE: - Liver Biopsies  I left the hospital around 3:00. I feel so good to have the liver biopsy behind me. They told me to take pain medicine when I got home to get ahead of the pain. I felt a little pain and pressure during the procedure, but nothing serious.  The same doctor, Dr Martin, who did my bone biopsies also did the 3 liver biopsies today. He used one of my larger cancerous lesions to take the biopsies from. It was great having a doctor and staff who remembered me. They were all so sweet, yet very professional.  Dr Martin said that Dr Bondly should have the preliminary results of the liver biopsies by my appointment with her Friday at 11:00. I will have thorough bloodwork tests Friday plus a consultation with Dr Bondly.  Praying that we can get me started on a pathway for proper treatments and success right away. YAY! It will still take around 3 weeks to get the genetic testing results. But, in the meantime, the preliminary bio tests should all me to get on a treatment pl

I had to have a COVID test at MD Anderson in the 22nd. Even though I just had one in the hospital, they require a test to be taken there. Then, you must wait for the results.  June 24th Right now all I know is that a liver biopsy is being ordered. A biopsy done here or in Birmingham; however, takes approximately the same time so we will wait to Birmingham to do the liver biopsy. Kimberly Koenig, MD, my MD Anderson Breast Cancer Specialist, wasn’t sure if she agreed completely with Dr. Bondly’s conclusions or not. They will have a conversation tomorrow to discuss my treatment plan moving forward.  Continued prayers are appreciated.  💕 June 25th I can’t really comment about my MD Anderson experience yet. It left us with a lot of questions and with decisions that have to be made. I have been very emotional. I will have a liver biopsy on June 30th and on July 2nd I will have blood tests and a consultation with Dr. Bondly.  I appreciate all prayers and love y’all. 💕 June 27th We left our

  Ashleigh, Michael, and I are leaving tomorrow for MD Anderson. We will stop half way to spend the night and finish the trip on Monday.  Please lift us up for safe travel. Also, please pray that I can get some direction with my treatments that will keep me from having to go to the hospital. It puts me in a life/death situation. I am so thankful to God for this opportunity! 🙌🏻  Please also continue to remember Larry in your prayers. He has barely been able to get out of the recliner this week. The swelling in his left leg and foot is unbelievable! He is in severe and constant pain most of the time. We have had 3 vascular surgeons tell us that there is nothing that can be done. It is a result of the Cryovein surgery he had in September.  Love to you all. 💕 GoFundMe Account: https://gofund.me/f7ec7292

  Update:  This morning I had lab work done at the Bruno Cancer Center. My Oncologist had planned on giving me a blood transfusion and platelet transfusion. While in the hospital for two weeks, I had two blood transfusions and one platelet transgusion. Dr. Bondly wanted my numbers to be good for me to make the trip to MD Anderson in Houston.  Well, to everyone’s surprise my White Blood Count was up from zero to 4,000. My platelet count is up to 44,000....still not where they need to be at 60,000, but much improved. My Bilirubin was at 0.9 which is in normal range. Therefore, no transfusions today!!! Thank You Jesus!!! 🙌🏻 Well, to say the least, I left the Cancer Center very happy, blessed, and thankful.  Ashleigh and I were talking on the phone, as Michael took me today, she had just mentioned to me that nothing was mentioned in my Portal about my Liver Enzyme numbers. So, we thought they must not have checked them today. Right after that conversation, I received a call from one of