Hi everyone,

Since our last post, Chi has had an excellent recovery from surgery and is nearly back to 100%. With not having a chemo treatment since January, she has felt her best the past two months. We really took advantage of that and enjoyed visiting with family in Miami and seeing Mama Bui over spring break, going to some Braves, Savannah Bananas and Atlanta United games and watching lots of Austin and Nora’s baseball and soccer games.

She completed her first week of radiation last week. She receives radiation 5 days a week for 5 weeks. The appointments are quick - about 15 minutes - and she has nearly all of hers scheduled in the early morning. Because of the proximity to her heart and lungs, she uses a breathing tube and has to hold her breath while the radiation is being administered. The side effects of radiation should be manageable and less severe than chemo if she follows preventative care steps multiple times a day to prevent skin burns and exhaustion that can gradually accumulate.  

We learned a few weeks ago that another phase had been added to her recovery plan. Once radiation is complete, she will start another form of chemo in the form of the drug Kadcyla. This was added because while the initial chemotherapy did its job in significantly shrinking the tumor, it did not completely eliminate it. The drug will be administered every 3 weeks for 42 weeks, so her expected treatment end date has been extended from October 2024 to March 2025. We’re told that the side effects of Kadcyla should be less severe than with her first treatments of Taxotere and Carboplatin which we hope is the case. 

While we are very thankful for the excellent treatment she is receiving, the lengthening of the finish line was a disappointment. But despite the news, Chi has remained a trooper and continues with her upbeat and positive attitude. While her weekly schedule is filled with doctor’s appointments and naps when she can get them, she continues to be very involved in Austin and Nora’s lives and stays connected with friends, all while working. She’s been an awesome example of cancer not keeping her down, which I hope others can draw inspiration from.

Since chemo ended in January, her hair started growing back…and quickly! She is still wearing her wig out of the house, but her hair has grown so fast that she has scheduled her first post-chemo haircut to get it trimmed so she can start wearing her shorter natural hair.

All of the love and support you’ve extended toward our family continues to make it much easier to navigate this journey - thank you!

Brent, Chi, Austin and Nora