A Stupid Cancer Update: Thanksgiving Edition

Hello Friends,

It's been a while since I've had time to sit down and write out an update about my cancer journey. It's been a really busy few months - lots of changes going on with my treatment.

So let's get to it:

• I had to pause treatment for about 6 weeks due to heart issues - In September, I had an echocardiogram, an ultrasonic imaging of my heart. As part of the scan, it was discovered that my Ejection Fraction (EF) - the amount of volume the heart pumps on each beat - was well below normal. Normal EF should be about 50-60%, but mine was hovering at around 40%. While I wasn't experiencing any symptoms, having an EF so low meant that I needed to take a break from having infusions, take a new medication, and give my heart time to heal. Luckily both my cardiologist and my oncologist do not think there is any permanent damage to my heart muscles. I'll continue to take the heart medicine while I'm going through infusions and hopefully, when it's all done, my heart will be perfectly fine again.

• My treatment will not be ending at the end of the year - While we were very hopeful that my treatment would be wrapping up at the end of this year, my oncologist has now said that treatment will go on "for the foreseeable future". We're not sure if this means 6 more months or longer, but at least for the time being, I'll continue to do treatment every 3 weeks or so. This also assumes that there aren't any more hiccups.

• I continue to have stomach issues with my medication - I have still been having quite a few stomach related issues. While it doesn't appear to be getting worse per say, it is perhaps the least predictable of all the symptoms I manage. There are certain foods that I avoid eating and it has really cut into my love for spicy, acidic, and vinegary foods. While it's not expected that this will have life-long consequences, it does make this particular period more challenging than I would like.

• My hair is starting to grow back so that's cool - My hair is coming in slowly but surely. It's still very gray but it is very soft. It's giving peach fuzz meets kiwi fur! I've been thinking about how the last time my hair was growing out previously, and it teams that this time it's going much smoother than I would have expected.

So yeah, that's kind of where we're at right now - one step at a time, slowly progressing forward and trying not to take too many steps backward. I knew that this journey would be long - and honestly some days feel like a never-ending slog - but I'll keep moving forward with my family, my husband, and good vibes from the universe. And maybe just a little bit of hard-headedness.

In the meantime, I hope that you take some time off during this Thanksgiving week to spend it with your loved ones and taking a moment to give some gratitude to the universe for your health, life, and peace.

I know that I'm extremely grateful

TALK TO YOU SOON,

OLIVIA