Good Number

A good reason to be positive!  Johnny’s latest CEA (Carcinoembryonic Antigen) number was 2.4.  He is now considered to be in the “normal” range and this is the lowest his biomarker has been since November.  It’s a great sign that all his hard work is paying off.  We’ll know more when he has his abdominal scan, but due to some scheduling changes at the Zangmeister Center the scan has been moved from July to August.

Nausea continues to be a constant foe.  Dr. Segal, his Oncologist prescribed a new drug Merinol (THC gel cap) for Johnny’s latest chemo treatment.  The drug is manufactured right down the road from our house at Roxane Labs.  We had high hopes for this drug, but while it might have been a bit better that the others, Johnny still struggled all week.  And that is obviously not what we had hoped for.  The side effects of Merinol can be depression and psychosis – so we’ll keep trying until we figure this piece of the puzzle out.

We did manage a one night get-away to Lake Hope State Park.  The park is in Vinton County and entirely surrounded by the Zaleski State Forest.  It’s a beautiful place for hiking and walking- curvy roads and steep hills.  We were definitely reminded that we’re flatlanders!  Takeout dinner from the Lake Hope Lodge was amazing and we highly recommend it!

Along with that we spent time with the family this week and have Mary Jo and Brian coming soon.  Thanks again for the calls, emails cards and so on.  Every little bit matters and keeps us going.  Love you all.

at Lake Hope