February 2026 Update

Hello Friends!

It's my turn to share an update on how the last six weeks have been going and what's coming up next. Overall, I'm doing really well! As Ben shared last month, my surgery was on January 13th and involved a reverse total shoulder replacement with a metal implant in my upper humerus bone where a new tumor was growing. Pathology results came back and confirmed clear margins, so my surgeon was able to remove the nearly 10 cm tumor completely. Praise God! After the initial week of pain management and doing my best to sleep comfortably, I was feeling pretty good and could already tell this was going to be a much easier recovery than my knee replacement/femur implant in 2024. The fact that I could walk around and even use my left hand while my left arm was in a sling was a huge relief. I started PT at 3 weeks post-surgery and again was pleasantly surprised that my shoulder was moving and stretching well already. I gradually stopped using the sling while being cautious not to move my elbow behind my back, since I'll still be at risk of dislocating my shoulder for a while until all of the muscles and scar tissue builds up a bit more.

A couple tips for anyone facing a joint replacement surgery anytime soon - if it's an option to get a nerve block, get the nerve block!! I mostly share that from the experience of not having one for both of my leg surgeries, which led to a rather painful wake-up from anesthesia. So for my shoulder surgery, I asked in advance if that was an option and was told "oh sure, that's fine!". It still kills me that a patient would need to ask for something like that going into surgery, but this is your friendly reminder to advocate for yourself always, my friends. My second tip is to ask for a cooling machine - it's usually covered by insurance, and it works so much better than ice packs!

Before I move on to what's coming up next, I'll briefly share an update from some follow-up x-rays I had this morning with my surgeon's office. This was a 6 week post-op of my arm and re-scan of my right leg where there's a new small tumor on my femur implant. The good news is my shoulder and arm implant look solid and exactly as my surgeon expected, so no concerns there. The bad news is the tumor in my leg has grown slightly since November, but is still contained in the bone surrounding the implant. Knowing that I'll be pursuing some treatment starting in early March, my surgeon has been supportive of us waiting on another surgery on my leg until after my next PET scan at the end of May. Additionally, I had a chest CT a couple weeks ago that showed my lungs are still 100% clear! The support from both of my doctors at the U of I has been a huge blessing, as bracing yourself for a fight with any aspect of the conventional medical system is not a fun roller coaster to ride while battling cancer. If you know, you know.

Ok friends, here's the plan or as much as we know of it starting next week. And I want to mention first that our goal with sharing these updates is always a couple things - we know so many of our family and friends care and want to know how our family is doing without constantly reaching out. We also choose to share most of our experience just in case it could benefit someone else in some way because the reality of our world is that cancer is becoming less rare - especially in Iowa. There are SO many different types, treatment options, and opinions to say the least - do your research, advocate for your own health and the health of your family, and be confident in the medical team you choose to trust with all of the above. All of that being said, Ben and I will be heading down to Arizona next week for a consultation with a precision cancer center called Envita in Scottsdale. I've been in frequent communication with a team at Envita since mid-December and completed some extensive lab work they were able to ship directly to our house in late January. That lab work allows them to take a deeper look at what is happening in my body - any toxicities, deficiencies, etc. that could be contributing to an environment that allowed circulating cancer cells to grow and plant their smart little selves into my bones. We don't know quite yet what all treatments I'll be doing at Envita, but it will be some combination of infusions, oxygen therapies and potentially some targeted chemo to treat the new tumor on my leg. We're also still waiting to learn how long this treatment process will take, but we're prepared for anywhere from 6 weeks to 12-15 weeks. Considering my six cycles of chemo in 2024 took 9 months, this really isn't as long as it sounds. However, the time apart will be hard on our family since Ben and the girls will mostly be home in Iowa. Ben will come home later next week, and I will stay in AZ to begin treatment.

The hard facts about metastatic cancer, and specifically osteosarcoma in my situation, is that survivability drops and it becomes harder to control or completely destroy without also destroying your body and immune system. Full-body chemo isn't an option again because I already had high-dose chemo in 2024, and it technically failed if the cancer returned only 14 months later (probably less). Cancer cells are smart and can build resistance to drugs no different than our bodies can build resistance to antibiotics. Radiation doesn't usually work well for bone cancers, or at least not well enough to destroy the cancer completely. That leaves more surgery if it's in an operable location or alternative options like immunotherapy drugs. We did test some of my biopsy tissue from my arm to see if an immunotherapy drug would be an option for treatment, but it didn't come back favorable. So this is why we're pursuing an integrative approach - to get to the root of my overall health and hopefully strengthen my God-given immune system enough to kill the cancer cells on its own. We feel hopeful and dare I say even a little excited about the opportunity to experience this kind of cancer treatment. I will continue to share as we learn more for those who are interested!

Friends, this has been a lot to process and make decisions about the second time around. More research and seeking out resources, which is overwhelming and sometimes defeating. We've already received SO much support from people bringing us meals throughout my surgery recovery these last six weeks, donations that continue to humble us in ways I can't even describe, and people reaching out just to check in. I would be lying if I said we're not nervous about what is coming next week and over the next few months. There are still a lot of unknowns, and our girls are processing some big emotions about their mom being away for several weeks. And even bigger emotions about how and why this cancer came back.

I'm going to reshare our meal train for anyone who feels moved to help in this way - it truly means so much to us!

‍https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/m3r94l‍

Finally I'll just mention that getting to be home for the month of February has been such a joy - a weekend visit from cousins who don't live nearby, celebrating my 40th birthday with family, celebrating two of our girls turning 13 and 16 last week, and a whole lot of show choir, movie-watching and even some time outside when Iowa randomly blessed us with some 60+ degree days in the middle of winter. God is still good and showing up in ways we can't explain!

Thank you for loving our family, checking in on and praying for us. We don't take it for granted and couldn't face this battle again without the support from so many wonderful family members and friends.