Health Update & Picking Weeds

Hi there. Hope this finds you and yours enjoying some spring starting to show up. It's a rare moment in Austin when the weather is not too hot AND the mosquitos aren't yet a problem. That's made for some good back porch hang-out's and hammock time.

I was at MD Anderson this week to get a CT scan, labs, etc. and then to review those with my oncologist there. Of all the possible outcomes for that conversation, we were happy to get some good news!

There is no evidence of any new metastatic spread in my body, which indicates the chemo plus all the other efforts at healing have currently got the systematic spread under a good degree of control. Oversimplifying a bit, the tumors in the lung now appear to be stable and contained.

My oncologist, who is deeply researched in my disease (which we appreciate so much!) shared that with the stable lung nodules that I have, there are still live cells on the outer edges in 90-95% of cases. All this points to a next phase of treatment which is localized to the specific areas where we see the cancer. If operable, the preferred approach would be lung surgery to remove the affected area of the lung, though there are additional options too. My oncologist is consulting with the thoracic surgeon, interventional radiologist, etc. to gather consensus on a recommended path forward.

Maybe the best news is that I get a break from chemo! While I love chatting with all the nurses and patients in the infusion room, I'll enjoy some time to more fully recover. For a potential lung surgery, we need at least 6 weeks off of the chemo drugs.

In the conversation with the oncologist, we also are reminded that we are still dealing with metastatic colon cancer. Essentially, there will be some sort of treatment, even beyond surgery, for quite some time, if not indefinitely. AND, that doesn't at all take away from celebrating some good news!

Stacey and I were picking some weeds this morning for a short bit. Picking weeds isn't my favorite thing in the world, but it didn't feel too bad today. I felt like I was in less of a fight with the weeds, instead just moving through them as they are. Having my hands in the dirt, Stacey nearby, a slight breeze...it sure beats chemo. Here's to some more of that over the coming weeks while I do some healing.

As always, thanks for your support, prayers, kind words, and good energy. We have felt it moving through us during this whole experience.

Much love to you...

Matt

Adding in some recent photos:

A great visit with my friend, Drew, who was in town!

Back patio ready for relaxing

A selfie Stacey and I sent to the kids while we were down at MD Anderson