Renee Gentzel

Good News First! Not that there is bad news in Renee’s world today. Second CT since chemo started – still NED! *happy dance* My oncologist has scheduled a tumor board meeting for Monday, and they will discuss options moving forward. I have completed 9 out of 12 FOLFOX treatments so far, and one option may be to have surgery to remove the lymph nodes where the cancer had been. A PET-CT would be conducted prior to the surgery, but if the PET-CT is also clear, I’m thinking they may suggest no surgery and a close monitoring approach.

If that is the case, I will push for a Signatera test. *Really cool science alert* https://www.natera.com/oncology/signatera-advanced-cancer-detection. Similar to the fetal DNA tests they now perform during pregnancies (thus lessening the need for conducting an amniocentesis), this detects DNA from mutated cancer cells that may be present in blood. It can detect reoccurrence of one’s cancer before it shows up on a CT or PET, therefore helping to guide treatment and monitoring decisions. So nice!

Update on the carrots: Yep, a wild teenage bunny living under the neighbor’s shed ate the plants. We’ll try again with the rest of the seeds we have – this time fencing with chicken-wire.

Update on Coronavirus Musings: *Warning: Spoilers for a Television Show from 10+ years ago*

“Lost” is hands-down my hubby’s favorite show ever (which, by the way, is EXCELLENT to binge watch. If you have not seen it, read no more. Go watch. Now is the time, after all.) We watched it together while dating, and I loved the character of Desmond on the show. His introduction, linked below, had me trying to figure out what the hell was going on for days. It was wonderfully crafted. Here’s a guy, living in the bunker (HE WAS WHAT WAS IN THE BUNKER! *fans of the show know what I mean*) for 3+ years, injecting himself with a vaccine every 9 days and hitting a button every 108 minutes. On a belief that if he doesn’t the world will end. With the Mamas and the Papas playing the most perfect song for this scenario. Like so much of “Lost”, even his name has layers, as it is a reference to David Hume, a philosopher who studied human nature and the science of man.

At the time, I remember thinking how crazy such an existence like that would be – like, how could you stay sane with a sleep schedule like that? (This was before kids. Now I know. You kinda don’t, but you function.)

I was also like, “How could you stay in one place and do these same things over and over again on a tenuous belief that if you don’t, the world will crash and burn?” Now that Covid-19 has swept across the world, and we’re trying to save people by staying at home as much as possible, I have a deeper understanding for why he lived how he did. So that’s my pop-culture two cents. Here’s to everyone living in their own personal bunker and making their own kind of music.