The Story Is Still Unfolding

I wanted to share an update from our time at MD Anderson.

We met with the liver surgeon today, and while surgery is not the best next step right now, there is still so much to be hopeful about.

The biggest thing the surgeon wants to see is more shrinkage in some of the surrounding lymph nodes before moving forward with such a major operation. The encouraging part is that Chandler’s scans have continued to improve every single time. Things keep getting smaller, treatment keeps working, and that continued response is exactly why the surgeon wants to revisit the conversation again in 3–6 months.

So this is not the end of the surgery conversation.

It is simply not yet.

And there’s another possibility we’re holding onto, too: maybe Chandler ultimately won’t even need surgery!! 

This treatment has already done something incredible.. the rectal tumor is no longer visible  and it continues to work on the disease in her liver and lymph nodes. So while surgery is still something we may revisit down the road, there is also hope that the treatment could continue doing exactly what it has been doing: shrinking what remains, scan after scan.

We don’t know yet what the final path to NED will look like. It may involve surgery. It may involve continued treatment. It may be some combination of different approaches. But what we do know is that Chandler has continued to respond, and that gives us every reason to keep believing that there are still multiple paths forward.

For now, Dr. Semrad is going to connect with Dr. Morris, the medical oncologist at MD Anderson, so they can review Chandler’s case together and decide what gives her the best chance at an even deeper response. That may mean continuing the same treatment that has already worked so well, or there may be another option they feel could help push things even further.

And Chandler is going to keep doing everything she can on her end, too.

Alongside her medical treatment, she’ll keep leaning into the things that help her feel strong, grounded, and like herself. PEMF, red light therapy, sauna, her hyperbaric chamber, lifting weights, eating clean, and getting outside for lots of hiking. These routines have become such an important part of how she takes care of her body and mind through all of this.

We know these things don’t replace her oncology treatment, but they are part of the bigger picture of how Chandler chooses to move through this season: staying active, nourishing her body, protecting her mindset, and continuing to build strength for whatever comes next.

And if you know Chandler, you know she is not someone who sits around waiting for the next scan.

She is going to keep living.

She is going to keep getting stronger.

She is going to keep hiking mountains, lifting weights, eating well, taking care of herself, praying + meditating, and showing up every day with the same determination she has had from the beginning.

We are incredibly grateful to have such thoughtful doctors looking at every possible option and continuing to think several steps ahead.

Of course, we came to Houston hoping surgery might be the next chapter. But we are leaving with something just as important: a plan, continued progress, and more than one possible road ahead.

Every scan has shown us progress.

Every scan has given us another reason to believe.

The rectal tumor is gone from view. The liver spots have gotten smaller. The lymph nodes have gotten smaller. And the treatment is still doing its job.

So we keep going. We keep praying. We keep believing.

We keep praying for more shrinkage, more progress, and for the right path to become clearer with every scan.

Maybe surgery will be part of Chandler’s story.

Maybe treatment will keep working so well that the story looks completely different than we ever imagined.

Either way, we still believe with everything in us that NED is ahead.

There is so much hope here. This is not a closed door. It is another chapter in a story that is still moving in the right direction.

She Chan. She Will. She is.