Our news today was not quite what we hoped for. Right now we are sitting on the 2nd floor of Huntsman looking out over Salt Lake valley, thankful for what we do have, and that is so much.
Unfortunately, Tony's tumor has had significant growth. We are nearing the end of our options but are thankful and hopeful that we can still fight. Tonight he will take a new regimen of chemotherapy (orally) and will continue Avastin infusions every other week. His next scan will be in 6 weeks, and we are hoping the new added chemo will help the Avastin to keep any growth at bay for awhile. In the meantime, our medical team is working on getting a drug that will target specific mutations in his tumor, which we will begin as soon as we have clearance from insurance. These infusions will be every 3 weeks.
Tony's doctors were impressed with Tony's physical and mental capacities as they were expecting less function solely based off the MRI images. Although he has experienced an increase of weakness in his left leg (namely his ankle, hip, and knee) we are thankful that he has so much movement and abilities. The next couple of weeks he will be resting in preparation for a trip we are taking to Florida as a family (made possible by the generous donations of the Dream Foundation) to visit the Elephant Conservation and a couple of theme parks. We are really looking forward to such a wonderful trip and will be taking it easy until then and shortly after so that Tony can rest.
As a final thought, "Strength is not something you have, it's something you find" (Emma Smith). We are continually learning that we do not have our own strength but that it is only found through Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. I know there is no other way to find the peace and joy that we have found other than through gaining faith in our Creator and our Savior, and it is a continual and constant process. I am so thankful for the joy we have and that we can live together as a family and with our God.
