Belated life updates and radiation plans

 Apparently I skipped my blog update last week--sorry all!  We've been busy with all sorts of things around here.

1.  Scarlett's volleyball is keeping us very busy on the weekends with tournaments and a fair amount of travel--luckily the rest of her games are within 30ish minutes of home! 
2. We bought a "new" to us car!  It was purchased specifically for Tom to travel back and forth to Mayo for radiation and future appointments for just him or the 2 of us.  It's a 2021 Jeep Compass that gets much better gas mileage than our current cars and has significantly less miles.  It will also transition to Vivian's car for college when Scarlett inherits my old Ford Explorer.  The neighbor boys think it looks like a stormtrooper 😁



3. I cut off a whole bunch of hair to donate, which makes it much easier to take care of.  The picture below is from when she styled it, but it's much curlier without all the extra hair as well.  
                     



4. Viv has started her CNA course this semester and was quizzing me on medical abbreviations--so fun to have her learn more about the world of healthcare.

Cancer updates:
Tom finished his "last" dose of chemo today--for the 2nd time!  His weight continues to be stable around 150lbs and his appetite overall remains good.  His CA 19-9 is so close to normal, but not quite there yet this week.  It dropped to 55 last week--that I failed to share--and was 45 this week.  Normal is 35 or below.  Fingers crossed this dose he took today will drop it more.

Next Monday 2/9, Tom has an appointment for his radiation simulation--they'll provide him education on the procedure, have him get into positions on the table, take imaging, and then reposition to get the best and safest angle for his radiation.  He'll get 2 pinpoint tattoos so they can be sure they get the exact spot each time.  Assuming all goes well, he'll return on Monday 2/16 to have bloodwork drawn, including a CA 19-9 level again prior to starting radiation that day.  He also will take chemo pills twice daily along with receiving radiation Monday-Friday for 3 weeks at Mayo.  Last day would be Friday March 6th and then 4-6 weeks off of treatment before next steps.  We are ready to get things started.  

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