I have always loved my birthday and this year it has extra special meaning.  I've gotten to celebrate with friends and our family over the last week and am so thankful that I feel well enough to truly enjoy the each experience.  

To cap off birthday week, we decided to try a new restaurant tonight.  For those of you who know me, you know I love food, so much so that a very special birthday present belt may need to be exchanged for a larger size - LOL!

Anyway, long story short, my dinner wasn't great, which is sad because I do love a good meal.  Matt knows this and felt bad but I just shrugged it off and said "It's just tacos.  In the grand scheme of things we now have the forced gift of perspective".  With that statement I realized that we'll never see the world the same as someone who hasn't gone through this journey, and for that I am thankful.  So many things in life are just tacos.  Why worry about it when you get to go home and crush a carvel ice cream cake!

Okay, onto my cancer update. First, I am so sorry for leaving you all hanging after the last round.  I am happy to report that it might have been the smoothest round yet.  We were nervous because we had to change my pain medication.  The last one was I was on was wonderful but strong and it was dropping my blood pressure too low and I maaaaay have passed out a few times.  Luckily one of the times I passed out  was at the hospital after surgery so the nurses added that medication to the "not so good for Monica" list.  

Anyway, I am not sure if it's because the tumors have all been removed or we just had a good handle on the schedule and pain management but it went really smoothly and while it stinks that my hair is falling out again, I know we're almost to the end of chemo and the active treatment part of this journey.

Only two more chemo's left. The next round is this Friday 2/28 and then 3/21, we believe that I'll stay on schedule now that I am back to getting the Neulasta shot after each treatment which keeps my white blood cell count up.

I had an appt on Friday and I am healing well from my surgery.  I got the clearance to return to normal activity and was even able to sneak in some tennis last week.  The PA was excited to share that my CA-125 marker is at 11, well within the normal range and the lowest it has been since my diagnosis!

Right now the plan is that I'll get a PET scan done on 3/31 and a follow up appt with Dr. Yap on 4/1 where we'll discuss my scan results.  If there is No Evidence of Disease (NED) then I'll start the PARP inhibitor and move into an active maintenance / surveillance stage of treatment.

My prayer requests are that my care team continues to make the best decisions for my plan, that I am able to stay on the current chemo schedule, that my body continues to stay strong and rebound after treatments and that I don't have any nerve damage as I've been experiencing some numbness in my hands / fingers, which can happen with chemo.

Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support.  We couldn't do this without your love, prayers, support and words of encouragement.  They brighten our dark days and we are so very thankful.  

I promise to post a more timely update after Fridays round of chemo.

Cheers to another 45 years!  We Got This 🩵