Good morning,
I had treatment this week and all went well. It feels good to be back on track and at least think and hope that I’m back to fighting cancer again. One has to keep that beast at bay, at least. I continue to be in awe of how quickly and easily treatment is with Keytruda compared to my chemos. I waltz in and I waltz out; easy peasy! I'll have 3 or 4 more treatments and then a scan. My next treatment is on October 26, Betty's birthday.

When I saw Dr. Kaplan we were both pretty speechless in regard to the ridiculousness of the detour we’d just been through. I reminded him that I had wondered about the coils when the pain first started in March. He acknowledged that, he remembered. I got the credit I wanted. I told him when I was done with all of this I was planning to be a doctor, so I needed that credit! But the fact is this is a very, very rare situation. It really just does not happen, hardly ever! And I wonder, if we’d figured it out what could have been done? The coil was traveling in my artery. Maybe they could have gone up and retrieved it the same way they put it in but there is a good deal of risk to try and dislodge something that is supposed to be stuck in your artery. It definitely would have helped to have known the cause of all the pain and I probably could have managed the pain better, knowing what it was. I would not have had to jump through hoops of theories with a variety of treatments/approaches. But that is all water under the bridge now. I’m relieved to know what caused the pain, delighted to be pain free (for nearly a month now!) and happy to be visualizing my tiny precious pearl forming in the wall of my duodenum.

I’m heading to Colorado on Thursday. I’m meeting my mom and brother there and we are hanging out with the Gilroys for 5 days. We get in the day before Kathy’s birthday. Then mom and Matt are joining me on my return flight to Seattle and they will be here for a week. I’m looking forward to lots of family time here and there.

That puts the Gastric Cancer Trivia Night Fundraiser right around the corner, November 20. I’ll attach the evite again, at the end of this post. I’m wondering if anyone has connections for donations of beer or wine? Please let me know if you think you can get some donated for our good cause. We are a mini fundraiser with the donations going to Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Institute. Since it is a small organic fundraiser we do not have a tax number, so we just need donations from the goodness of people’s hearts! Please let me know if you might help us procure some beverages for our event. Also, try to join us! We’ll have pasta and salad and desserts followed by trivia games. My friend Gaby, in her former career, was a caterer and she is a fabulous chef, so, we’ll be in for some tasty treats that evening! Bring your own trivia team or join up with others that night. It should be a grand time!

http://evite.me/5JN9ZJYjKj

Lots of love,
Janet