Sunday, August 30, 2026

Time to switch it up

It has been awhile since I've done a blog update and we have had a lot of changes since February. 

We started the summer with buying the house right next door to us. We have been in our house for 15 years and have loved it but the downside was no first floor master. With my neuropathy, stairs are getting harder to navigate safely. We took godly counsel and looked at other houses on the market but nothing fit exactly what we wanted. We love the area where we live, having the privacy of mature trees, storage space, etc. 

God lined it all up that we were able to buy the house before it went on the market. It needed updating and lot of painting. We had a great General Contractor (Josh Tucker) and Wil who managed a lot as well. We moved in two weeks ago and are working on getting settled in. 


This summer we had a week at Holden Beach with Wil's side of the family. This is our happy place and love going here every year. 

The boys also had a fishing trip to Canada. Wil, Wilson, GranTed (Wil's dad), and Pop Pop (my dad) all went. They went to the fishing lodge in Canada that they have been to before but it was Wilson's first time. Needless to say, they had blast. 

Now onto the medical update: 
My neuropathy has been getting worse. This is the numbness and tingling/burning pain in my feet. This has caused me to have balance issues so I have been using a cane for awhile now. I did fall (in the new house no less) and ended up breaking my right pointer finger. 
I hadn't had a scan since February and I've been having more bladder symptoms (tightness, feeling like my bladder couldn't hold as much) so it was time for a PET scan. 
The scan showed another chest wall tumor, close to the same area the one that was removed last year was. There was a new tumor on my left abdomen wall and the one below my belly button got bigger. The tumors around my bladder got bigger as well. 

Dr. Skinner went through a variety of different treatment options. Our first step is to see the breast oncologist that removed my chest wall tumor last year to see if this new one can be removed surgically. If she thinks it can be removed, then surgery is an option. They would remove all of the tumors that are outside my abdominal cavity. Then go in laparoscopically to see if the tumors around my bladder can be removed. Dr. Skinner said she may have to do an open incision but won't know until she gets in there. 

The huge praise is that I have a lot of treatment options (hormone blockers, immunotherapy, chemo) and some that weren't even options when I started this cancer journey. 

Our prayer requests moving forward:
1. Wisdom and guidance for us and my whole medical team as we decide what to do next. 
2. For peace in the waiting (sometimes the hardest part)
3. For my neuropathy pain to lessen now that I'm on a chemo holiday
4. For our kids as we transition to a new house and new treatments for me