July 13, 2025
Hi all – it occurred to me I haven’t shared an update in a while so here we go.
It’s been a busy spring and summer. Maddy graduated in May and had dance commitments through June (she’s actually still dancing in July. Evelyn finished her junior year and started a summer research internship at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (studying lobular breast cancer). Both the girls are studying engineering in college.
I’ve been trying to keep up with it all. In May I started doing Pilates regularly in addition to my daily walking. So far it’s been helpful with gaining back some strength, especially in my core.
Overall, I’ve been feeling quite good. I have some pain occasionally between my shoulder blades in my thoracic spine but that could be how I sit at my computer, or the Pilates, or the cancer, or something else. It’s manageable and isn’t persistent so I don’t give it much more thought.
I was having some vertigo on and off in May and so an MRI of my brain was ordered. (That’s the thing about metastatic cancer, any small thing could be something big – or not.) Fortunately the brain MRI came back clear – yay! (Note: previously I thought that there was new progression on my C1, however, my oncologist confirmed it’s not new, it’s been there or quite some time. This is good!)
I was due for my 3-month PET scan and had that in mid-June. (Read more about PET scans here and how they are used to monitor my disease.)
The results of the PET scans were mixed. Some of the lesions in my spine showed healing, others showed active cancer.
So, what do we do with that?
Since I’ve been feeling fine and I have a very good quality of life on Enhertu, we stay the course. I’ll continue taking Enhertu until we get solid evidence of significant progression.
My (very reliable) blood work tumor marker numbers are climbing high. For now we will just keep an eye on things since it’s not clear the cancer is significantly active.
It’s counterintuitive that the treatment is working in some areas and not in others. You’d think it would be one or the other – but that is what makes metastatic breast cancer treatment a bit of an art. The oncologist has to weigh all these different factors and decide what the smartest path forward is.
My plans for the rest of the summer (besides work) will mainly be going for walks, doing Pilates, water color, some crocheting, maybe some gardening and trying to connect with friends for lunch.
I hope you are soaking up all the hours of daylight we have this season and are living the hell out of life!
Onward!
Life As I Know It 