One in million

 First of all, sorry that I have been slacking on keeping everyone updated! It has been a busy time with family, work, and the holidays. 

Since taking the oral chemo we have experienced some bumps in the road. My first Echo (ultrasound of my heart) shows my heart structures were all good but my heart rate was really low. Normal is 60-100 and mine at the time of the exam was 42. Looking back at my Garmin watch, my heart rate was dropping in the upper 30's and low 40's. 

My oncologist, Dr. Skinner, had me stop the medication for a week. My pharmacist and whole team did a lot of research and I was able to reach out to Johns Hopkins as well. Dr. Armstrong at JH only had one patient that had this same issue but was only after being on the medication for 2 years. She agreed with Dr. Skinner's plan to go back on the oral chemo at a lower dose then do a heart monitor to make sure that my heart rate was safe. 

My heart rate has been stable since decreasing the dose. THEN, I started having issues with my mouth. It was super painful, cracked and bled, and had ulcers on it. It was so bad that it was keeping me from sleeping and making it difficult to eat and drink. So I had to come off of it for another week to let my tongue have a break. I still have an ulcer on my tongue and am trying another medicated mouthwash to see if that can help as well (I've tried 2 others already). 

Since posting, my cancer markers went up and then back down. We will be doing more labs and another CT scan on 2/3 then seeing Dr. Skinner on 2/8 to go over the results. 

Here are some specific prayer requests: 

1. Praise that my heart rate is stable on the lower dose. 

2. Pray for my tongue to heal and the new mouthwash to help heal the current ulcer. 

3. Pray that my cancer markers decrease and CT scan shows evidence of disease regression. 

4. Pray for peace in the waiting and in God's timing for all things.