Some Tricks and Lots of Treats

Brain cancer is...

(Click here for Halloween slideshow.)

...celebrating the spookiest day of the year.

Thanks for all your tricks and treats this season, Team D.  You definitely lifted our spirits for the holiday.

Good news from Dr. Noblett, the surgeon, today.  He concurs with all other conclusions that the mucky pancake does not require surgery at this time.  He also agrees that the plan for a "thinner slice" MRI (coming in November!) is the best way to get additional information on said pancake.  We'll see Dr. Noblett again after visiting Dr. Cloughesy post-MRI.  Finally, Dr. Noblett's impression is that if surgery is required in the future, the surgery would not be difficult because the pancake is superficial (on or near the surface).  He said that this surgery would be a "no brainer."  (Yes, he did say that.)

It was exciting to again reflect on Darrell's progress captured in MRIs, this time through Dr. Noblett's eyes.  To the left, below, is the tumor, before resection (2/8/16).  The measurement markings on it indicate that it was 40 mm by 40 mm.  (That's 1.67 inches in both directions!)  The right image, below is the most recent scan (9/17/17).    The tumor and site are even difficult to find in that image.

That's the best disappearing trick/Halloween treat ever.

Cheerio, SLO!

Brain cancer is...

(Click here for slide show link.)

...heading south.

Today was lovely. We spent lots of time holding hands. Tomorrow we have an appointment with Darrell's surgeon at 10:30.  Maybe we should stay on the train instead. 

Monday hugs.

Never too Late for the Madonna Inn!

Brain cancer is...

...enjoying local sites.

We got our steps in at SLO's Laguna Lake.  But first: 

We had breakfast at the Madonna Inn.  We have lived in California for 50 plus years, 33 of them married, and we have never set foot on the property of the local conversation piece, the Madonna Inn...until today.  Darrell recommends the Eggs Benedict.

The decor?  You be the judge.

Hell! O!! SLO!

Brain cancer is...

...enjoying life north of Santa Barbara.

Small Goodbye, Huge Hello!

Brain cancer is...

...saying goodbye...

Above you see Block One saying farewell to Andi and Darrell (Darrell, who has more fans than anyone I know).  Block One knows GBM and other hardships firsthand, and they are teachers driven by passion and a sense of what is right.  Block One has a place in my heart foreva. 
Saying goodbye to Block One also meant saying goodbye to my face-to-face classes for the year. 

...but mostly, Darrell and I said...

 ...hello! 

Welcome (some more!) to the family, Summer!

Zach and Summer went to mountains for the weekend, Zach proposed, and Summer said yes.

Our hearts are full.

Boys with Toys

Brain cancer is...

...enjoying simple pleasures.

Darrell's day started on a high note when he found the above spooky pleasures on the porch this morning.

Later he received the kink free hose.

What's better, one-click shopping at Amazon.com OR the kink-free hose?  It's a toss up.  But the clear winner, according to Mousse, is...

the box! 

Boys with toys.  The simple pleasures.

Farewell Block Four

Brain cancer is...

 

...saying, "Farewell, Block Four!"

On August 22, 2017 (click here), Darrell helped me set up my classroom to teach Block 4 Math Methods at a school site in Yorba Linda.  Today, while he was setting up my computer for the last day of class, I took the shot, above.  It's our last playground view from Glenknoll School. 

In August, we knew that Darrell's efforts would be worth it.  Everyone works.  We knew that Block 4 would be awesome.  But I didn't know how they would be so great.  Now I know that block 4, too, is battling cancer in their lives. They, too, are dealing with death.  They are struggling to pay the bills. 

...And all the while they are living life out loud.  Together we learned that "if we aren't struggling, we aren't learning."  We learned that making mistakes is "failing forward."  We learned that, in the end, all we have is each other.

But MOSTLY we learned that Wednesday 1:30 p.m. = Islands.

Block Four ROCKS! 

Promising Practices in GBM Treatment

A recent study  (click here) found that the Zika virus, which is horribly cruel to unborn children, is equally cruel to GBM cells in mice.  Human trials are years away, but Big D can just hang tough until then, right Team D?

Excesive Heat Warning

Brain cancer is...

 ...actively avoiding the heat.

Currently, at 8:28 pm, it's 91 degrees.  Today at 4:30 pm, it was 104 degrees.  At least that's what my phone said, above. I was at Work Station 1 all day, but I trust Darrell's confirmation. He said he stood in the shade while pumping gas today and still his Optune system went crazy with heat alarms.

Tonight we had a power outage, no doubt caused by thousands of overworked air conditioners!

Fortunately, Darrell keeps plenty of charged Optune batteries on hand.  And also fortunately the heat should break soon.

We hope everyone is staying safe...and cool!

Sly Guy

Brain cancer is...

...celebrating the last monolithic Monday.

Welcome to Semester Week 10, Team D!  Credential courses end Week 10.  Above, Darrell is feeling pretty sly at Computer Station 1, knowing that we'll be spending much less time at computer stations somewhere in the not-so-distant future. 

We hope you have some reason to feel sly too!

Grown Kids Are [Still!] Cool

Brain cancer is...

 

...happy to be with the kids.

Today was lots of time separated with Andi chained to Work Station 1.  Combine that with a sad Packers game and the day didn't have many bright spots.  

However...all the brightness was brought by the kids.  We noted the koolness of grown kids on April8 (click here.)  The kids are still cool.   It was great to shake our heads over the game with Zachary and Summer.  Then Alex and Tiana swung by for a Stubriks dinner before heading back to the Inland Empire for morning shifts.

Grown kids are [so!] cool.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Brain cancer is...

 

...very happy to be celebrating LuAnn's birthday.

Click here for the slideshow link. 

There is no better day than one with family to celebrate an occasion like LuAnn's birthday!  Big D plus all four kids plus Aunt Roene plus 79 years?  A winning combination.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Freaky Friday

Brain cancer is...

...freaked out by Friday!

Team D!  Thanks for every single thing you do!  Twenty months post diagnosis and you're still going strong?  We know how busy your lives are, and yet here you are, still thinking about Darrell!

In case you're wondering...whatever you drop off, we dig into within 5 minutes:  fingernail polish, decorations, doughnuts...We are voracious omnivores.  Make sure your family knows how awesome you are, okay?

Another awesome thing about you?  You saved us from Fratellino's Friday.

Usually we are "one and done" with our photos for the blog, but tonight for date night we just could not get it right.  Here are the outtakes from Fratellino's Friday:

Although every day this week was great, Friday was a loooong time coming.  We are so glad it ended freakily. 

Happy Freaky Friday!

So this Is the Park!

Brain cancer is...

 ...so patient!

We have foregone our walks in favor of class preparation and grading in the past week.  Today we headed back to Craig Park and remembered why we need to be there.

 The day had a nice start when Hallie and Ruth treated me to coffee and breakfast in our continued coffee quest.

Photo by Hallie

They introduced me to Wings, at the Fullerton Airport. How pleasant to catch up while we watched helicopters, planes, and trains all on the move.

Oh, also, Big D scored another 98% compliance for Optune. 

Yet another great day.  No Big Deal.

Sunrises

Brain cancer is...

...catching our fair share of sunrises.

With many early mornings, we are witnessing some beautiful skies.  Above was yesterday's sunrise, out our front door.

Here is Yorba Linda on the way to class today:

We hope your skies are beautiful too, just not so early.

Professor X or a Cat?

Brain cancer is...

 ...multifaceted.

As we began the array change process today, Zach mistook Darrell for Professor X, as in Professor Xavier from the X Men? You remember:

But then, when I starting oiling his scalp, which we do to relieve the dryness, Darrell started purring like a cat.

One man, many identities!

Ice Socks and Much Love

Brain cancer is...

...so innovative!

I walked four miles during class today, some in my cute shoes.  When I returned home, Darrell the engineer devised ice socks (patent pending), which allowed me to elevate and ice my sore feet simultaneously.  Ice socks:  You heard it here first!

Also at class:

Much love to Christine from Block 24.  It feels pretty nice to be helping people send back some of that love you so freely give, Christine.  Much love.

A Sad Day in Packer Nation

Brain cancer is...

 ...making the best of a very bad [football] day.

We had the pleasure of great company--first the Szabos and then Summer and Zach--to take the sting off this very bad day.  No doubt you've heard the news that quarterback of the universe, Packer Aaron Rodgers, broke a collarbone today.  He's probably out for the season.  Sigh.

Skelly had a great day messing with people.  First he (she now, dressed as Andi) gave Zach and Summer a scare when she greeted them with a grin as they returned from Carpinteria.

Then she nearly took off for a joy ride in the purple van.

 We hope you made some happiness in your Sunday!

Saturday!

Brain cancer is...

...loving Saturday!

What the...? The morning was so scary and delicious with today's surprises: Crashed witches and Zombee doughnuts.

We enjoyed Temecula wine country with Beth and Geoff.

Yay for Saturday!

Lucky Enough

Brain cancer is...

...forever reminding us that we are fortunate.

When we walked the Oxnard beaches with Brady and Linda last weekend, we read all the plaques on the benches (remember doing that, Beth and Geoff?).  One plaque really stuck with us.  It said, "If you are lucky enough to be at the beach, you are lucky enough."  We aren't at the beach, but we are lucky enough.

If I am lucky enough to have my husband sitting on the bench waiting for me after class...

...I am lucky enough.

If we are lucky enough to have lunch out on a Friday afternoon...

...we are lucky enough.

Happy Lucky Friday the 13th!

[Another!] Thursday Threepeat

Brain cancer is...

...spending  [another!] day in gratitude. 

Today was a great balance of all life has to offer.

• We enjoyed breakfast al fresco with Gordon, hearing about his next train adventure.
• With LuAnn and Roene, we solved all the world's problems over lunch at Max's.
• We worked and worked and then...
• ...We ended up at Islands (above) for our second Thursday Threepeat (all meals out).

We saw things that made us smile along the way too.  LuAnn's fish always make us happy:

And it makes us happy when Skelly stops impersonating Darrell and takes back his own quirky personality:

If only he would stop eating the cookies!

Love you, Team D.

Will the Real Darrell Please Stand Up?

Brain cancer is...

...still tricky. 

Which is the real Darrell?  The one drinking a Dew with the remote in his hand...

...OR the one eating a tuna sandwich at Panera for lunch?

The one at Panera!  You can tell by the wedding ring!

Today we enjoyed tuna and Zachary and Summer's first harvest:

Delish!  However, do you see that tiny red pepper?  We cut it into fourths to share it, and even one fourth of that tiny pepper makes the nose run.  Hijole!  (Yes, they bought it for that reason.)

Mousse Weighs in on Skelly

Brain cancer is...

 ...too tricky for Mousse.

Darrell dressed up the skeleton in his favorite shirt and black hat.  Mousse thought it was a very bad idea, as you see in this video:

 You Tube Alternate Link

 Now we know we are safe from suspicious skeletons who may perch upon our furniture.  Phew.

The Canyon Fire 2 is now 25% contained.

All our best to you today.

Brush Fires in California

Brain cancer is...

 ...watching Orange County burn.

Today's news is the Canyon Fire 2, found in Anaheim Hills.  Fueled by high winds, the brush fire is moving quickly, and at least 1000 people have been evacuated. 

Darrell and I climbed to Panorama Park to understand the fire.  In one direction the air looked like this:

In another direction, it looked like this:

Please stay safe, OC friends!

Chewing Up the Months

Brain cancer is...

 ...20 months old.

This month's anniversary is important because ... Q: Who measures life in months? (A: new couples, new parents, and cancer warriors), and because ... 20 months is the median OS (overall survival) for GBM fighters using Optune.

That means Darrell has chewed up and spit out all these months: 

• PFS (progression free survival) rate for general GBM patients using standard of care (5-7 months)
• PFS rates for GBM patients with standard of care and Optune (16 months)
• OS (overall survival) for general GBM patients (15 months)
• OS for Optune patients (20 months)

Just keep chewing, Darrell!

Also: Here's how life happened today.

Morning walk with Brady and Linda

Melanie leaves for flight training tomorrow.

The Packers win AND we see T and A!

 Also the view from the train. 

Half mast.  Still grieving.

All life's things. All at once.