Archive | July 2015

New Hair Style

Hoping that everyone is finding this new site! I just love it. It’s much better than the other one and more user friendly.

After about 6 weeks of my hair thinning out, I was finally ready to shave it. It wasn’t an easy decision. It was one I struggled with from the moment my hair started to thin. Initially it wasn’t too bad. Then I decided to cut it short and my wonderful hairdresser Ann gave me a cute short cut. That worked for a while, but the thinning continued. My hair had stopped growing! Anyone that knows me knows that’s the strangest thing because my hair grows very fast. Anyway, it stopped growing, it continued to thin out and then it began to look unhealthy. I kept hanging on.

Then, we got the wonderful news that the tumors had shrunk tremendously! That was my turning point. Once I heard t Continue reading →

New Blog Site and CA19-9 Number

Jul14

Hi everyone, Welcome to my new blog – beastrong.com. This is thanks to my wonderful daughter Julie. All new postings will be at this site and no longer at the carepages.com site.

Bea, Ray and Julie

New CA19-9 number from blood test taken July 2nd is 25. So I went from 242 to 36 to 25. This is a great sign that the tumors are shrinking. We’re excited about this number and it gave us another reason to celebrate while we’re at the beach.

The beach has been wonderful – some clouds and rain here and there, but for the most part sun and great temperatures. Of course, it goes without saying great food, great fun with family and friends.

We will be going back to Boston July 30th. We’re into going there only once a month now, except when I’m having a CT scan done.

Heather and Jay

Bea Strong Supporters – Photos

Jul7

Austin

CT Scan Tumor Shrinkage

Jul2

View from the Healing Garden at Mass General

Got back from Boston around 5 pm tonight. Long day! Had my eyes examined, EKG and blood work. All is good. As you all know, Dr. Zhu told me last week there was “dramatic shrinkage”. Julie has calculated the percentage of shrinkage for the 3 areas where there are tumors.

Shrinkage in the lungs is 48%
Shrinkage in the lymph nodes (chest) is 33.3%
Shrinkage in the liver is 24.6%
Overall shrinkage is 30%

We are so excited about these numbers! Dr. Zhu is excited too!

The liver mass was 15 cm when I was diagnosed. It was down to 14 cm in April when Mass General needed a benchmark for the trial. 15 cm is 5.9 inches. 14 cm is 5.5 inches. The liver mass is now 11 cm, which is 4.3 inches. This means that with the initial 10 months of chemo the mass in my liver reduced in size by .4 inches. And with just 2 months (or 42 days) of the clinical trial drug, the large mass went from 5.5 inches to 4.3 inches. That’s a 1.2 inch decrease in size!! This is just amazing! We are now calling this pill the Magic Pill !!

Please note that I’ve updated the Picture Gallery with pictures of the finished kitchen and porch and my new hair cut.

I continue to lose hair, but it’s shedding slowly so I still have not shaved it off. With the above numbers I don’t feel so bad anymore about losing my hair. Mouth sores are gone for the time being except one small one in my throat. Muscles are still aching, especially my hips and my nails are starting to hurt, but not all the time. These are all side effects of the drug.

We head to Misquamicut on Saturday for 2 weeks with much to celebrate!

Thank you for all your prayers, support and love! Couldn’t have done this without you! You are my strength!

Love to all,
Bea