New phase New game New attitude!

To my tremendous support team,

Well as many of you know (thank you elizabeth for your unbelievable work keeping the blog up, you're the woman!) I am down in Houston now for my tests, scans, meetings with doctors, and now round 7 of chemo! I just got home from day 1- they had to squeeze me in late today because it wasn't scheduled, so its kind of fun to be reporting to you on a full day 1 of chemo (which i liken to drunk dialing a little bit!) haha. Back to business, I had my scans and tests all day yesterday which was a full day from 9 til 5 testing my heart, chest, lungs, blood, and the full body pet scan. Its becoming pretty routine now for me, so all those tests don't bother me at all. Today was the big day to meet with Dr. Araujo. We went over the exam results and all the news was once again positive and moving in the right direction! The spot in the liver isn't showing up on the scans which is great news, the spots in the abdomen and pelvic area are really shrinking down in size and are either very small, or are deemed "inactive". Not all the small spots are inactive yet in the abdomen, but we really have cut a huge chunk into the problem thru 6 rounds.

I think today was a good grounding time for me. I have been pretty anxious over the last month, and in part waiting for this day and what was going to happen, but also just trying to predict what was going to happen or plan out what was going to happen, etc. All very normal things to want to do. I realized today that this process of healing may take a little longer then I thought in my own mind, but that's ok with me. I truly feel great about the hospital I am at, and also the doctor that I have. Most importantly I really can feel the power of prayers/positive thoughts lifting me up from around the world. There is so many people praying daily, texting, calling, facebooking, emailing, writing hand written notes saying that they are thinking about me. I can't tell you how much each note lifts me up because I think of a time when me and that person have had a great time, great laugh, or great experience and it guides me forward in a positive way. I am truly touched with the outpour of help, and compassion from each and every person out there thinking about me. After we complete the next two rounds of chemo, hopefully the next step is more chemo, but at a lighter pace, and different regimen. We will get into that more as we get closer to that time. For now, very excited to be where I am at. One step at a time. Dr. Araujo is really excited with how I have done so far, and been able to handle the chemo just fine, thus doing the rounds 7, and 8 at this level. We want to stay as aggressive as possible on these lil suckers! I realize so much every day when I'm here at MD Anderson. I am walking around today with tumors that are shrinking, not invading my vital organs at this time, and I'm able to walk and talk just fine....all things such a blessing as I see people who are way worse off then me here struggling every day to be as normal as possible with bags in them, lost limbs, brain issues, etc. My heart goes out to those folks fighting as hard as they can. It just can keep you grounded in your own little cancer fight to be so thankful and grateful for how well you are doing, and for the tremendous family, and friends that I have running side by side with me! I will be done with round 7 of chemo on Monday! I hope everyone is doing awesome and has a sweet weekend!!!!

Andrew

ps. Dr. Araujo cleared me to run/play hoops again energy permitting.....I may have to ease into that after 5 months of inactivity!!! hahaha