As I write this, summer has officially come to a close with back to school in full swing and sweatshirt weather arriving. The girls and I had the best possible summer together, all possible because of my new treatment. God’s timing has been right on queue throughout my journey, with all things happening just as they should and exactly how they should. With chemo no longer working, June was the best possible time to pivot to my new treatment, Zeno. A target therapy for my NRG-1 mutation, Zeno is a kind of wonder drug. Saying goodbye to chemo meant saying goodbye to nausea, fatigue, 72hr infusions and a whole lot of negative. Zeno has allowed a better quality of life with minimal side effects and there was no better time to make the switch than the start of summer.

I spent my summer soaking up every moment I could with my family. Zeno allowed me to bounce back from treatment the very same day and that meant more time with my girls. From beach trips, library days, gymnastics classes, swim lessons and beyond, we were busy! We did family day trips on the weekend to Sesame Place, Legoland, Point Pleasant, the Bronx Zoo and so much more. We got to pick strawberries in June and Peaches in August. The girls held their very first lemonade stand and Emilia rode her big girl bike for the first time. It’s been a summer to remember and none of it would have been possible without my husband. While the girls and I were out having fun on the weekdays, he spent many days at home working- and I can’t thank him enough for allowing me to have the best summer ever with our girls.

But more important, some may argue, than the quality of life Zeno has offered, is the fact that it is working and working well. My CT at the end of August showed an overall reduction in my liver tumors, and a pretty drastic reduction of about 40%. My CA 19-9 is down to 6, the lowest it has ever been, and I have never felt better. So the path forward is an obvious one, Zeno for as long as it will work. The path forward after Zeno is a bit unknown, but I have faith that Zeno is not the end and come June I will be once again planning another summer to remember.