Update

from Beth Justice Sauerbrun

Please continue to keep Mary and her family in your prayers.

Knowledge is power and we learned a lot from the consult with the Medical Oncologist today. Mom and I both really liked her. She was patient, gentle but also direct. Above all else she was positive, supportive and encouraging while also being 100% honest.

Mom officially diagnosed with Adenocarinoma of the lung. While this is stage 4 and has aggressive tendencies, it's very responsive to chemo and immunotherapy. PET scan was a little concerning because her spine was a bit lit up which indicated possible cancer in the bone.

The doctor put in a referral for a STAT liver biopsy to determine if the liver spots are indeed lung cancer that has traveled or if it's a separate cancer altogether. If the results are it's lung cancer, then my understanding is that's how they will handle the bone as well. IF the liver comes back as something else, then they will have to go in and scrape the bone to biopsy it.

We are still waiting on results from Caris testing which was part of the original lung biospy. This will determine if the main cause of the cancer is gene mutation. If so, she can be treated with immunotherapy only. If the driving factor is something else, then she will have a treatment plan of both chemo and immunotherapy

She did more blood work today to rule out leukemia lymphoma due to her white blood count being elevated.

We go back in 3 weeks to find out the exact treatment plan. We need to wait for a few tests to come back as well as complete the Gamma Knife procure next Thursday as that takes immediate precedent and the other therapy cannot be done at the same time.

All in all, while the Dr says a cure cannot be guaranteed due to the cancer having spread from the initial affected area, it can be treated/managed as a chronic disease such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

The only restriction mom was placed on was no driving. This is temporary, approx 3 months, while we perform the Gamma Knife and have the 3 month follow up MRI to check the status of the brain mass.

We consider today's appt a win and are confidently walking forward in the knowledge we gained. Our specific prayer is that the liver biospy confirms its lung cancer that has spread and that the Caris results confirm driving factor is gene mutation.