Sorry for delaying this update. We've been busy. Teresa is doing well with Chemo. Kudo's to the treatment team at Texas Oncology. They have done an outstanding job at keeping the side effects of chemo at bay. Her third chemotherapy session went well. She's been a little more physically challenged and tired after this round of chemo. The biggest side effect this time other than that is the ongoing issues with cold sensitivity. She's not able to handle cold items or drinks. She also has is...

This update is coming after Teresa started her 3nd chemotherapy treatment. The first treatment went well, and while she is constantly tired, she had minimal side effects so far. She is regularly tired now, which is a side-effect of the chemotherapy. She hasn't let it slow her down much, but she's having to learn that she cannot be SuperMom and SuperWife. That's really tough for her. We were able to celebrate my birthday with all the kids home, and that was really good. Then we were able to...

Today is Chemo day. Finally started this part of the battle against Teresa's cancer. More on that later. Last Saturday, Teresa and I were privileged to go to Holy Archangel's Monastery in Kendalia. We were blessed to be able to spend a few hours with Father Ephraim. Father Ephraim blessed us and prayed for healing for Teresa, as well as annointing her with myrrh from the Iveron icon. He also gave us prayer ropes, and we bought a few things from the Bookstore. Afterwards, we headed home an...

This will be a shorter update. A number of things have happened in the last week. We've had record cold in Texas that has led to snow, sleet, and freezing rain. We were fortunate that we were able to go shopping before all this hit us, so we've had plenty of food. We had a few hours of no power the first night but power returned pretty quickly. Unfortunately at some point in spite of our best efforts the pipes into the hot water heater froze. We put a lamp and an electric space heater ne...

I hope everyone is staying warm in the unusually cold weather. As I write this in the hill country of Texas, we aren't expected to get above freezing, and the lows over the next few days will be in single digits. Last week we got the chemotherapy regimen explained, and yet more tests. The latest tests were to see if this is a genetic cancer or what they call a sporadic cancer. The latter (and I will stand correction on this) means that' it's just something that happened. The genetic testing...

So, we talked to the new oncologist today and got the definitive diagnosis. It iss hard to hear, and hard for me to type. Teresa has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. This is tough. There is no cure for this. There are treatments that will extend her life, but not for terribly long. The doctor was honest and compassionate in her explanation, but there is no sugar coating this. Most people don't last a year with this. This was a hammerblow to my heart. Teresa is tough, and she is going to fig...

Teresa came home today. She's in good spirits but also a good bit of pain. The kids (Aidan and Ginny) were both glad to see her along with the pets. The challenge will be to keep them from jumping on her. The next big step will be getting the pathology results and the surgical followup. In about 4 weeks (enough time to heal just enough) she'll likely start chemotherapy. That will be a new challenge on this journey. Teresa wanted everyone to know how much she appreciates your love, suppo...

So, Teresa had not been feeling well. She'd lost some weight but noticed that her abdomen was getting bigger. She also had some abdominal pain. So she decied to go to the doctor. He immediately sent her for some blood tests and a CT (Computed Tomography) imaging scan. The radiologist immediately recognized signs of possible ovarian cancer. Our doctor called her and asked her to come in immediately and explained what had been found. He told her he would get with an oncologist immediately....

So, Teresa came through the surgery fine. Her oncologist confirmed that it is definitely cancer. She's waiting on the pathology report to verify what kind. She was able to get every cancerous bit she saw, along with a rather large tumor and about 1 liter of excess fluids built up around it. They also removed her appendix while she was there, in case it was involved (and seriously, who needs an appendix?) Now for the harder knews. The cancer is stage 3, and will require a good bit of chemot...