A New Pancreatic Cancer Treatment on the Horizon

Lynparza is the newest pancreatic cancer treatment to be approved for the fight!

Still in the early stages, but showing promise for those with terminal progression, Lynparza is a non-chemotherapy oral treatment developed by AstraZeneca and the Merck Research Lab and approved by the FDA for advanced pancreatic cancer patients.

Lynparza is limited in its treatment scope for pancreatic cancer, but is giving Hope to the many who may benefit from its novel approach.

"We are excited to have another treatment option available for pancreatic cancer patients.  While only approved for a small group, this treatment emphasizes the importance of treating patients based on their biology and their tumor's biology - the foundation of precision medicine." 
                                                             ~ the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

Lynparza is a first-in-class PARP Inhibitor.  And like me, you may ask, What the heck is that??

Well, in plain-speak (and very general terms), PARP is an enzyme in our body, in our cells.

It stands for poly-ADP ribose polymerase. Right.  Let's just call it PARP.   Deal?!

So, PARP helps cells repair damaged DNA.  And in cancer cells, PARP helps the cancer repair DNA so it can keep growing and multiplying.

A PARP inhibitor is a substance or chemical that blocks the PARP enzyme so it can't repair the damaged DNA.  And if you happen to be a cancer cell and your PARP enzyme is turned off, then you can't repair damaged DNA and you die.

That's a Yay for cancer death!  So we like PARP Inhibitors!  Right?!  Well, yes... and no...

Remember, all our cells have the PARP enzyme.  So what happens when we take a PARP inhibitor?

Well, for starters it affects the fast growing cancer cells, no PARP enzyme for you... and that's good.  But then none of the other growth cells in our body can turn on their PARP enzyme and repair damaged DNA either... not so good.

These fast growing cells in our bodies include our hair follicles, our skin, the cells that line our digestive tract and our bone marrow.  And that's why patients on PARP inhibitors can experience:

- hair loss

- skin rashes

- nausea, vomiting and diarrhea

- low red blood cell and white blood cell counts.

While most experience just mild side effects, there are some who can experience life threatening bone marrow problems, like Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) or Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

Nothing about cancer treatment is easy or good...

Except that every new discovery brings us closer to the cure.  And that is the Prayer and Hope for every one of our cancer-fighting loved ones!

For more information on Lynparza and to see if it's a fit for your cancer treatment plan, be sure to talk to your oncology team.  As of now, the FDA has approved Lynparza for pancreatic cancer patients who have:

- Stage IV pancreatic adenocarcinoma (the most common form)

- Germline (inherited) mutations of BRCA (testing available through PanCan's Know Your Tumor profiling as well as through your oncology team.)

- Stable disease (no tumor progression) after treatment with a first-line platinum-based chemotherapy (like Gemzar)... According to AstraZeneca, Lynparza may be used as a maintenance treatment after your cancer has not progressed on at least 16 weeks of treatment with platinum-based chemotherpay.

Lynparza... another bit of Hope for the Journey!

I Get To Choose...

What to Do When Our Hearts are Breaking...

Our world has suffered so much these past weeks.

The tremors of hurt and anger seem to be cracking our very foundations.

And the message carries many faces...

Not one of us has truly walked in another's shoes, we strive for understanding, for justice, and the process becomes as unique as our very fingerprint.

Some walk in protest, there are riots, there is also peace.

Many retreat into quiet, grappling with issues, heavy and uncomfortable.  Some proclaim with voice, strong and sure.

And while the process may look different in each life, that message is never as clear as the photo board over my desk that inspires me every. single. day.

Sweet smiles shine out to the world. Each grandbaby a delight to this Memaw, loved deeply, fiercely and more than the breath in my lungs.

These innocent faces have yet to feel the cruelty of a nation bent on tearing itself apart.  They love generously and without reserve... unsullied by the ugliness all around.

This, This is what I want for our brokeness.  That pure love, a child's trust, an endless hope in all that is good in each other.

"Love one another with brotherly affection.

Out do one another in showing honor."

                                        Romans 12:10 (ESV)

So, when our hearts are breaking over a world that is broken, take me back to the kind of love that bears one another's burdens, honors others above ourselves, and loves without reserve.

That is worth fighting for.  Always.

A Step of Faith...

Did you know that before Memorial Day was a day of remembering, there was another day, a way of honoring our fallen called Decoration Day?

The origins of our Memorial Day tradition only make the honoring more poignant...

Decoration Day began in the years following the Civil War which ended in the spring of 1865.  The death toll was unimaginable... claiming more lives than any conflict in United States history.  Families were torn apart.  The divide between the North and South a wound that ran deep.

As the war came to a close, Congress established the national cemetery system to lay our fallen soldiers to rest, both Union and Confederate.

In the years following the Civil War, people began holding rituals in the spring to lay flowers and pray over the graves in tribute to the many, many fallen soldiers.  Thus, Decoration Day became a way to remember the service of the brave and loved.

In 1868, General John A. Logan set aside the 30th of May "for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land."

Can you imagine the pain and visceral grief those families experienced as they laid flowers at the graves of husbands, sons, friends... and enemies... for the Union and Confederate soldiers often lay side by side in the cemeteries as nearby fields still bore the scars of the too recent battles, soaked in the blood that nearly tore our country in two.

It was a monumental step of faith to ask the people to decorate all the graves.  For the loved and for the enemy.

Some were brothers... Some were strangers.

But for the sake of unity.  For the enduring of a nation... the memorials were laid for all who fought.

It humbles me to think of the strength it took for those families to lay aside their deep hurt and choose to honor all the fallen.

Those steps of faith walk us through history.  Decoration Day became Memorial Day soon after World War I when as a nation we honored all our fallen, both those here and those on foreign soil.

And that faith can be a model to each of us.  When we choose to set aside our differences, our pain, our heartbreak and walk out love right where we are.  And not just this Memorial Day... it is a way of living life well and gifting Grace far and wide.

"We ought always to thank God for you,

brothers and sisters, and rightly so,

because your faith is growing more and more,

and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.

Therefore, among God's churches we boast about

your perseverance and faith

in all the persecutions and trials

you are enduring."

                           II Thess 1:3.4

Faith in who we are and whose we are... this Memorial Day I am reminded that the most holy of Love comes from a God who did not neglect to share it with us through the gift and sacrifice of Christ.

For surely, in Christ that love overflowed and covered this unworthy heart with an unmerited tenderness.  And it is in Christ that faith finds a foothold and the strength to persevere during the storms and sufferings of this life...

... giving us the strength to decorate the grave of our enemy and move forward in faith as forgiveness frees our wounded souls.

Graced to Remember this day,
In Love, Always,
Jane

Taking the Leap

We were just babies...

40 years ago we took a leap into the grandest of adventures!  And we were just babies... look at the stars in our eyes!

{love}

Life has a way of smoothing the edges... and God has a way of gifting grace. There's a richness in the years we've walked together.  

So, today is filled with memories and dreams and hopes of the adventures to come. Blessed to share each day with the one I love.

Happiest of Days...  So glad we took the leap now 40 years ago!

Happy Anniversary Love!

The Way of the Bee...

We love our honey bees!

And the sweet gift from each hive!

That delicious elixir is the result of very focused, very hard work.  Here's a little Bee Trivia for you... Throughout their entire lifespan of 6-8 weeks, a single worker bee will only produce about 1/12th teaspoon of honey.  And they work night and day for those precious drops of golden sweetness!

Every hive has an amazing hierarchy, starting with the Queen Bee.  She runs the roost, and in an average hive, she will have between 20,000 and 80,000 worker bees at her command.

Some guard the entrance of the hive, some attend to the queen's needs, others clean the honeycomb cells for the queen to deposit new eggs, still others become the nurse bee workers to raise the larvae, feeding them the honey and pollen stored up in the hive and some even work as the hive pallbearers, removing dead bees from the hive when necessary.

But the vast majority of the worker bees are foragers.  They are the breadwinners of each hive.  They are bringing home the bacon (uhhh, nectar) for their queen.

The foragers will fly up to 3-5 miles from the hive searching for nectar and pollen.  Once they find it, they load up all they can carry and take it back to the hive and drop it off.  Then the worker bee turns around, flies out of the hive and begins the hunt all over again...

It has been estimated that it takes over 500 bees gathering nectar and pollen from upwards of 2 million flowers to make one pound of honey... Crazy!!

The foragers will fly hundreds of miles per day, every day, seeking nourishment for their hive, until their wings are torn and tattered.  Each worker bee will forage until they collapse from sheer exhaustion. It is a single-minded pursuit.

They are working to lay up food and provisions for the next generation.  Every mile the honey bee flies, every load they haul back, every precious bit of nectar they turn to honey is laid up for the ones that follow behind...

Pure Heart... Such Truth... So much to learn from these little bees!  Every thing that a worker bee does is for the future and hope of the hive.  

Each little honey bee has a God-gifted, God-directed need to complete their mission. And nothing can deter them... We call it the way of the Bee. 

And we might learn a thing or two from those sweet honey bees... here are some of the lessons we've been applying to our lives lately...

1.  Stay in your lane and do your one thing well.

2.  Commit to your work no matter how big or how small.

3.  Step up for the good of the team, knowing that Working Together sustains one another.

4.  Choose to leave a legacy of Hope for those who follow behind.

5.  Spread Kindness wherever you go and Blessings will blossom as a sweet reward.

6.  Never doubt the importance of your One Life.

In Grace Today,

My Love, Always,

Jane

This Mother's Day...

Falling somewhere into the in-between today...

Celebrating with joy a mother's day that finds my heart full, watching our family grow and flourish... a son and daughter who bring delight to this mama and the grand-babies that absolutely light up my days.

And in the middle of the joy, a quiet tug pulls me to the world of remembrance, an ache in the same full heart, a missing for Mom that draws my attention to the memories that fight for the joy on a day like today...

Her generous kindnesses. her contagious laugh, her mouth-watering pot roast dinners, those crazy-perfect girls-getaway trips, the warmth of her hug, her very presence in a room, that smile, her hand on mine... oh, my heart...

She is still so missed.  And I'm learning that days like today are okay.  We're somehow falling into the in-between.

A sweet celebration that's quieter now, a joy that is richer for the love we've known, a day of remembering the moms that are no longer with us, tears mingling with the smiles..

We're living this Mother's Day with a foot in the past and a heart tugging us into the future.

It is our new normal... our life in-between... the deep heritage of our past mixed with the legacy-living work of the now, pointing us surely into the overwhelming beauty of our tomorrows.

May you feel held close this day... no matter where you are in this journey.

Happy Mother's Day with Love,

Always,

Jane