6/7/18 And I don't even own cowboy boots or hat!

Dear family and friends,

This last few weeks have been quite a whirlwind.  Daniel graduated from medical school on May 25^th at Benaroya Hall.  The ceremony was made extra poignant by the fact that Steve was also dressed in his UW faculty doctoral regalia and he was the one to present Daniel with his doctoral hood.  So proud of both my Dudley docs!

The very next morning we flew to Maui for a nine-night stay.  We had a big group, including Steve, Renée, Riley, Daniel, Adrienne, my aunt and uncle, Julianne and Oliver, and me.  The weather was lovely, the fish and turtles happy to let us snorkel above them each morning, and each night we enjoyed the most delicious dinners, made by Renée, Riley, Daniel, and Adrienne, out on the deck as the sun was setting over the sea. 

The trip would have been perfect if we could erase the last night.  The evening before flying out, I had severe abdominal pain in the upper right quadrant, just below the ribs there.  We had to go to the ER in the town of Kahului, about half an hour away.  They did a CT scan and discovered that the cancer in my liver is growing like crazy.  There are more tumors now, and they are bigger than ever before.  The ER gave me a host of pain meds, then sent me back to our rental home.  After 30 minutes at home, it became clear that the pain was worsening again and we had to return to the ER.  I have never before been to an ER twice in one night!  More pain meds were given and then I was sent home to sleep for two hours before needing to arise and head to the airport.  I conked out as soon as my head hit the pillow and when I was awakened, I was told that my family had already packed for me and that I just needed to dress, brush my teeth, and get in the car.  I had received so many pain meds during the night that I needed assistance just to walk to the bathroom, and once there, I immediately threw up!  After some extra assistance with dressing and teeth, I was led to the car and somehow we made it to the airport, where a wheelchair awaited me, and thanks be to God—I got on that plane!  There is nowhere you want to be when you are sick but home in your own bed. 

The very next morning Steve and I met with my oncologist and discussed with her an interesting clinical research trial that Daniel found when researching trials open in the U.S. for people with my exact kind of cancer.  What he found is a brand new trial in Houston, Texas at the MD Anderson Cancer Center.  In the past two days we have discussed it with my oncologist and each other, have prayed about it, and I have been screened over the phone for admittance to the trial.  It will involve going to Houston many times over the next six months, and then about every three months for check backs over the next three years.  My longest stay in Houston will be around six weeks and will begin the week of June 18.  The study does not use a chemotherapy drug.  It will take out a piece of my cancer and take out some of the lymphocytes in my immune system and test to be sure my own lymphocytes can kill the cancer cells in a petri dish.  If so, they will then grow me millions of new matching lymphocytes in the lab.  When the lymphocytes are ready, they will knock out my immune system with a huge dose of chemo drugs, then re-inject me with the millions of new lymphocytes in the hope that they will seek out and attack all the ovarian cancer cells in my body. 

This “tumor infiltrating lymphocyte” (TIL) research has worked amazingly well on many types of cancer, such as breast cancer and melanoma, and now they want to see if it will work on ovarian cancer.  There are many risks in entering this trial, but there are also  risks if I don’t enter it and just stay in Seattle trying the same old drugs, which one by one have been failing me.  Please join us in prayer, as we have a lot of travel and housing arrangements to make in a short period of time.  I have no technology skills whatsoever, but I may try to figure out how to make a "go fund me" page to help us pay for this.  The trial itself is covered, but all the plane trips to Houston, housing for the family member or friend who will be with me during my time there, and meals for that person are on us.  Not exactly something we saw coming or budgeted for!  

Oh--and please pray that I will pass all the screening tests to be admitted to the trial once I get to Houston (scans, blood work, psychological fitness, treadmill test, etc.).

Thanks to all of you for your love, prayers, and support over this 5-1/2 year journey.  As we prepare to leave for Texas, there will be no cowboy hats on our heads, nor boots on our feet, but our eyes will be firmly fixed on Jesus, who helps us each step of the way.  

Love,

Gabrielle

 

Graduation day smiles on our deck!

Julianne and Olive at the Iao Valley State Park in Maui.

Dinner on the deck!

Riley, Renée, Daniel, and Adrienne.

Lappert's hot fudge sundae in Maui.

Selfie by the Sea.

Turtles on beach, resting in sun!

Pair of docs on Big Beach.

Your kids are never too old to want to bury each other in the sand, or in this case, pebbles.

Adrienne and Daniel by the Sea.

Poster we had made for Daniel's graduation!

Two handsome hooded docs!