Today is round 2 of chemo and immunotherapy. Right now I’m feeling pretty good. I had a relatively symptom/side effect free weekend and I’m feeling prepared for the shit that’s coming my way over the next couple of weeks. Basically, I’m feeling optimistic again.

But here’s the full deal. When we originally got the diagnosis back in January, the hope was that the cancer was contained to its point of origin, the breast. The tests I had in early February determined that this was not the case. The cancer had already spread to my liver. For those of you who may not know, this is what is known as stage 4. It’s a scary diagnosis to hear, especially the first time a doctor looks you in the eyes and says that number and you realize she’s talking to and about you.

So what does this mean? For the most part, my treatment plan is the same. After a few more treatments they’ll do some more scans to determine how many of these fucking cancer cells we’re killing and we’ll go from there. But again, after talking to my care team and doing lots of research, I remain optimistic that this is going to make the rest of my life’s road bumpy, not that it will be the end of my road. And if there’s one thing Mainers know how it handle it’s a bumpy road.

In the meantime, I want to thank everyone again, on behalf of my entire family, for your support. It means so much to have so many amazing peeps on our side.