Overdue Update

So sorry for the delay in updating the blog!  We have some great news to share today.  Natalie and Stephen met with Dr. Khurshid yesterday.  He did an exam and was not able to feel the tumor at all.... AMAZING news!!!!  He continues to be very pleased with how her body is responding to treatment so far.  She had blood work done and her liver numbers look great as well.  Another huge praise!  He is positive that the cause of her liver inflammation was the chemo drug that he discontinued after her first round so he will definitely not be using that again. 

Round 3 of chemo starts next Monday, 3/26.  Dr. Khurshid said he was going to hit her hard with another aggressive dosage this time.  About 3-4 weeks after this round Natalie will have her surgery.  She is going to meet with her surgeon soon and discuss whether they will proceed with a single or double mastectomy.  Ultimately she will have both, but they might choose to do two separate surgeries.  The reason behind that is that Dr. Khurshid wants her to start back to chemo and begin radiation within 2 weeks of the surgery.  He wants to be sure that she recovers quickly enough so that there are no delays with those treatments.  Sometimes when they do a double mastectomy there are more complications and he does not want that to happen.  Natalie, Stephen and her surgeon will discuss her options and decide what they think is best. 

After surgery the game plan is for Natalie to have three more rounds of chemotherapy coupled with radiation.  At that point our prayer is that she will be declared cancer free!  Thank you all for your continued prayers.  Natalie is feeling really good after having a rough chemo week a couple weeks ago.  Her spirits are really high and she is thrilled that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and a good plan in place.  Even though she is still going to have some rough patches ahead she said knowing that there is an end in sight will be great motivation on rough days. 

Quick side note... Somebody told me the other day that they had spoken with Natalie and were blown away by how positive she was being about everything.  They said it seemed like she was really being genuine, but they couldn't believe that she would have such a great attitude and they asked me if that was how she really feels about it.  I've said it so many times already, this whole situation really stinks and she certainly has moments where that weighs heavily, but she is totally FOR REAL when you talk to her.  She really is that positive, amazing and inspirational!  I am so proud that she is my sister-in-law and I just love being able to assure people that she is 100% as amazing as she seems if not more so.