Scan Came and Went Without Fanfare… For the Most-Part…

I guess it is a good sign when an interval scan has come and gone without scan-ziety or fanfare.  Last week I had a CT scan of my chest. The results showed no signs of cancer, so this marks that I am officially 4 years No Evidence of Disease - We love NED!!!  I was impressed that I was not nervous this time. I was confident that this scan would not show cancer.  I have come a long way, and I am eternally grateful for this level of confidence in my health!  

Unfortunately, my scan results were not 100% good. You may recall that the last several scans have showed some areas of  inflammation in my lungs that have been thus far unexplained. This most recent scan showed that one such area of inflammation had resolved only for two more inflammatory spots to have developed in another area of the lung. In an effort to learn what may be causing this issue, I mentioned to my oncologist that I sometimes choke on liquids and explained that I was concerned that I may not have the best of swallow reflex (a lingering side effect from chemotherapy). My oncologist ordered a swallow study that revealed that sometimes when I drink liquids, a little bit of the liquid goes down the wrong way (into my airway instead of into my stomach). Normally this makes someone cough to protect them from aspirating liquid (or food) into their lungs.  I did not cough putting me at risk for introducing infectious material into my lungs. The technician felt that I had reduced sensation in my throat and airway causing repeated mini-aspirations into my lungs.  This could explain the inflammatory changes seen on my previous several scans. I will take this diagnostic information to a pulmonologist to discuss if there is anyway to prevent further insults to my lungs. At a minimum it is helpful to know the probable cause of these previously unexplained finding on my lung scans.

Big News in Colorectal Cancer Screening

In case you missed it, the American Cancer Society(ACS) has lowed the recommended screening age to 45, due to the trending down of age of CRC diagnosis and increase in overall cases or CRC. Read about it here:  http://time.com/5295525/colorectal-cancer-screenings/ .

For the 3rd year in a row, I am sponsoring an ACS Relay for Life team. The “Love Your Butt” team will walk for in the 24 hour event July 14-15 in Campbell. Now more than ever ACS’s needs our help to prevent all forms of cancer!!!

Please help me meet my fundraising goals with any size donation:

Click here to visit my PERSONAL page.

If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=36418653&pg=personal&fr_id=85546&s_locale=en_US&et=SphoPtmgfo9Wa7PHT7pqKQ&s_tafId=2059458

Your support is greatly appreciated!

How is the Plant Based Diet Going? 

Since January Craig and I have been eating a whole food plant based diet (essentially vegan with an emphasis on unprocessed or minimally processed foods).  So far so good!  We are both feeling great and enjoying the food. We are still working on the logistics for eating out, but if we occasionally eat fish or other healthy meets once in a while - that is okay. We are doing this for overall health, not for moral reasons.  Craig has lost 16 pounds (the brat!), and I have lost only 3. My back injury has hampered my workout efforts, so I think once my ability to move is back to baseline, the weight will come off.  My back is getting better, but testing my patience.  I am confident that I will be back to playing tennis in the coming months!

Life Update:

The elusive home remodel is finally looking like a reality.  We should be starting demo later in June. We will build a new kitchen, replace the single paned windows and floors in the front of the house, redo the deck, add AC, move the front door, and replace the roof. The project will take 6-8 months, so I may be asking to borrow your kitchen from time to time 😉.  

Kayla graduates from UW next week and is looking forward to   explore Europe in celebration. Woohoo!!!  In July, Elyse moves to Chicago for a 4 year adventure at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Jenna is enjoying a summer at home and soon begins work at ID Tech camp before returning to LMU in the fall.  Craig and I are very proud of our girls!!!

Cheers To Life!

Jacki