We live in California now (& other facts about us)
It has been over a year since our last update…This was because life was returning to a new normal and there was nothing worth noting in our journey. Alas, all good things eventually end and we have made a transition in the last month.
It started with a PET scan a month ago that showed two new lesions in Rachel’s liver as well as a potential spot on her right ovary. This kicked off a flurry of activity, planning, processing, some tears, and a lot of reflection. We had a wonderful year and a half in remission and now we were returning to the cancer world we had become so accustomed to and yet felt so distanced from. As the great philosopher and theologian once said “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” (Dr. Suess). We decided to make no decisions in the first week and to just spend time processing, praying, and fellowshiping with those we love.
But then it was time to plan…to research…to make decisions. Our first goal was to make changes to Rachel’s environment to shift what had become pro-cancer into an aggressively anti-cancer landscape. We started with a few specific changes we could make immediately while we considered more aggressive options:
We immediately began a clean therapeutic ketogenic diet with low to no dairy. The goal is to starve the cancer by cutting off it’s glucose supply and also reducing inflammation in the body.
We tripled our frequency of high-dose vitamin C drips and added a number of daily supplements to support Rachel’s immune system.
We began mistletoe therapy. Mistletoe causes a mild systemic allergic reaction that flares the immune system and puts Rachel’s body on “high alert”. It causes a low-grade fever and has been pretty uncomfortable as we try to find an effective dose.
Once we made those changes, we turned to our more aggressive options. Dr. Chen (Rachel’s primary Oncologist in Seattle) at first wanted a full 12 rounds of FOLFIRI chemotherapy. In many ways, this was harder to process than the diagnosis…but he was open to other options. Primarily, we discussed with him taking 3-4 months to try less aggressive forms of treatment and reassess before diving in with the big guns. That’s when things started falling into place.
The Plan begins to take form
We had heard about a treatment called Hyperthermia in our initial research a couple years ago, but had not considered it at the time because we were already doing an aggressive 18 weeks of chemo and needed to choose how we spend our time. It came back to the surface 3 weeks ago when we had a number of providential conversations that all pointed to Hyperthermia as a viable option for treatment.
Santa Monica houses one of the only Hyperthermia treatment facilities in the US. They use ultrasound energy to locally heat up to 10cm under the skin to approx. 109 degrees. The goal is to focus this heating power on Rachel’s liver and right ovary to accomplish two things: 1. increase blood flow and intake of immune cells into the liver, and 2. destabilize the tumors and begin the cell-death cycle.
The facility has a history of success with liver lesions and notes little to no side effects. If we could make it work, this was a really intriguing alternative to aggressive chemo.
We had a lot to figure out if we were going to consider this treatment option:
Housing
My work
Kids schooling
Treatment cost and coverage
Getting Dr. Chen’s sign off on this mode of treatment
Within three days God had providentially resolved each of these questions and we were making plans to leave!
Close friends of ours, who have consistently and generously blessed us over the past two years, offered to put the whole family up in a beautiful 3 bedroom apartment in San Pedro, CA.
Tecology (my employer) has been behind us from the beginning and I received approval from the owner to work remotely from CA for as long as needed.
After hearing about our tentative plans, a relative of mine reached out. She and her husband have started a small Christian preschool and elementary school in the LA area, about 10 minutes from where we would be living. They use the same curriculum we had already planned for our homeschooling and she offered to school our children for the time we will be here.
Hyperthermia costs between $1,000-8,000 per treatment. At treatments 6 days a week for 10 weeks, this is exorbitantly expensive. We were working with Kaiser to get approval, but after much effort they denied the treatment. We then turned to new potential insurance options as new California residents and we are currently working through that process. God has provided everything above and beyond our needs to this point, we are confident He will see us through this process!
Finally, Dr. Chen signed off, with the adjustment that Rachel receive a single chemo treatment in Seattle in the middle of the 10 weeks of Hyperthermia. We agreed…so the plan was set!
We live in California now
With all that in place, Rachel and I booked flights to CA and left on 9/1. We planned a week for just the two of us to get our new home ready, meet with doctors, and prepare for moving the kids. Rachel even got to experience a Hyperthermia treatment, only to find it to be quite mild and no residual side effects afterwards!
Today is the last day of our setup week, we are flying back to WA to pack up the kids and start driving down Monday!
We are excited and nervous about this new chapter in our story, but we know the one who wrote the book…so we are in good hands.
Will you pray with us that:
This treatment would be successful and Rachel will once again move towards cancer-free
This would be a time of rest and peace for our family as we relocate and adjust to a number of new norms
And for safety and protection as Rachel drives the crazy LA freeways to and from hyperthemia 6 days a week?
“Psalm 27:13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!”