Tucked in at Tiverton

Brain cancer is...

...ready for tomorrow.

Above we anticipate our typical epic lunch at Napa Valley Grille. It did not disappoint.

Our Tiverton room is new to us: first floor, interior patio view.

Let’s go (Brain cancer) Defense! Defense let’s go!

Blood Tests and Whatnot

Brain cancer is...

 ...studying new blood test results.  And whatnot.

Darrell is right more than 50% of the time.  At one time, those might have been hard words for me to say.  Now they are easy, and today is one of those days that Darrell is right again.  Darrell and I had a playful word fight when he introduced his new favorite word, whatnot, in January.  (Click here if you'd like the play-by-play.)  I didn't think the word would be very useful.  Today is the fourth post in which we're using "whatnot."  Right again, Big D.

Above you see that the results of yesterday's additional blood tests are rolling in.  When we look up the reference ranges, Darrell's scores all appear to be in the normal range.  Sometimes they are low normal, sometimes high normal, but always within range.  We don't yet have Dr. Park's evaluation of the results.

And Whatnot.

We had a great Saturday at home.  We accomplished a lot.  And we felt thankful.  Here are some of the things for which we feel grateful today.

• Magic Porch Mayfields

• Rainstorm.  Plus thunder and lightning. A quarter inch of rain never felt so good.

• Pink.  Who said So Cal doesn't have trees that change with the seasons? Ours are just different.

• New purple shirt for Darrell.  It's been so long!

Happy Saturday, Everyone!

A Whole New Ballgame

Brain cancer is...

...entering a whole new ballgame.

First:  Shout out to Andi's brave husband, Darrell, who has (above) learned to sit patiently during the wait for Dr. Park.  (This is in contrast to earlier days. Click here for the post of Dr. Park wait pain.)  About one minute before Andi took the above photo, Darrell said, "The wait is worth it."  That's cool.

Second:  Today Dr. Park affirmed that Darrell's brain doesn't seem to be morphing in any scary way.  Yay! 

Third:  A Whole New Ballgame:  Today Dr. Park did see the same "low" blood counts that Darrell and Andi have reported earlier (as in here).  Dr. Park decided to do additional testing (urine and blood) today.  Why?  Because maybe Big D's blood counts could perhaps be rising faster than they are.  

Dr. Park exclaimed that Darrell is now entering the "long-term survival" territory.  Now we enter a whole new ballgame.  (To ourselves:  "Long term survival?  What better ballgame?"  What better problem?)

Dr. Park told us that most doctors wouldn't be concerned about Darrell's blood levels.  The current  levels might be "Darrell's new normal." Darrell's new normal is definitely what Darrell and Andi have been thinking, as you know.  But now the blood levels might be problematic?  New ballgame.

Today we learned that long-term GBM survival means...We need to look at the long-term effects of Darrell's chemotherapy.   (Click here for Darrell's recognition of how the hero [chemotherapy] is also...potentially...the enemy.  It's a poison.  What else could fight the lethal killer, GBM?)

Now that Darrell is a GBM marathoner, Dr. Park told us today that we need to think differently. Temozolomide, Darrell's chemo agent, might have long term effects, such as bone barrow compromise, which might account for Darrell's blood results.

Dr. Park pointed out that not much is known about the long term effects of temozolomide because people who use it...don't last long term...because they have GBM.

Alex reminded us that Dr. Park is not only a board certified oncologist, he's a board certified hematologist.  (Thanks Alex.)  No blood test results are posted yet. And even if they were, we are not the people to interpret them.  We'll wait until the hematologist weighs in.

Fourth:  New Ballgame=Back to Routine Body Maintenance.    Since diagnosis, Darrell hasn't been required to x-ray his teeth or do other routine body maintenance (...that the rest of us have done! Here's Darrell giving Andi care for her colonoscopy.).  New ballgame=script for a real colonoscopy, not that smear test, which Darrell has done.

Also Dr. Park proclaimed that Darrell is now so far from his diagnosis that he should pursue regular maintenance items such as the flu shot.

Really?  Now?  Okay.  We're in.  We headed to Ralph's after Darrell's blood draw.

Above you see Darrell's blood draw bandage and Darrell's and Andi's flu shot bandages.  

Maintenance is heck. We have the best problems in the world.

Speaking of Whole New Ballgames... 

Melanie sighted Vince Skully on the couch last night.

You notice the cap and the remote control?  Melanie explained both items when she said that 

Vince was watching the Dodgers win their way to a championship series. Vince was very excited that his Boys in Blue started the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers today.  Go Vince, Go!

Home Town

Brain cancer is...

...at home in Fullerton.

Thursdays always start early, as sleep is hard to come by on teaching days.  After Darrell helped with Block 4 set up, after Block 4 rocked it, and after Darrell helped with Block 4 tear down, we headed to lunch at Fullerton Brewing Company (FBC, formerly Stadium Tavern) for lunch with a cool breeze and live guitar. Above is an image of Darrell in one of his favorite locations: on the patio at FBC

It took a while for Andi's brain to stop rattling (thanks for your patience, Darrell), but when it did, we shared stories set in what feels like our home town, Fullerton.

The story about this restaurant?  We started hanging out on this patio when our kids were teens, going through confirmation classes at our United Methodist Church.  The minister walked by and commented on our wine selection.  Oops.

We told other home town stories today too.  For instance, my husband Darrell is the only person I can state affirmatively has been punched by a cat.  It happened while we walked our local streets.  We'll just let that settle.  Feel free to ask. Punched by a cat.

It's good to be home, Team D.

Hangin' at Home

Brain cancer is...

...satisfied with a day at home.

We feel recovered from the tumult that came with the scan yesterday.  Oh, did we mention the scan suggests that Darrell's cancer is stable? No findings for new or recurrent disease?

Yes, we know we mentioned it.  But it's worth a second mention, right?  We see Dr. Park Friday for his confirmation and Dr. Cloughesy on Monday for the final word.

Today was a home work day.  We got lots done.  We were glad to be at home because:

Magic Porch!  Barb brought homemade pumpkin cream cheese  muffins.  Delicious!  And a dinosaur plate? It just doesn't get any better.

Also we were glad to be home for another Skelly sighting:

 He's kind of creepy, but at least he's a loyal Packer Backer, even after last week's fiasco.

Thanks for seeing us through a tough day yesterday, Friends!

Time Is Relative. (Preliminary results? No change! Yay!)

Brain cancer is...

Second Diet Mountain Dew (DMD) of the Morning, Post Scan, after 17 Hours of DMD Abstinence

...well caffeinated, and it is...

...hairy.

We pushed the array change an extra day, knowing we'd need to remove arrays for the scan today.  There is so much ponytail potential here!

Dear Team D.,

Today's MRI scan went very well. The medical team was on time, fascinated by Optune, and efficient.  It was perfect.  After arriving at 7:20 am, we were out, cd in hand, by 8:30.

Yesterday afternoon and last night?  Not so much "very well."

What Darrell and Andi learned last night when we hit the sack early is...
   ...Abstaining from Diet Mountain Dew at 4:30 p.m. isn't early enough.
   ...Maybe wine would have been a good idea.
   ...Don't start reading a new book at bedtime, pre-scan,
   ...and if you do start reading a new book, don't let it be this one: Just Mercy. 
   ...But if you don't listen to our advice and do start Just Mercy, certainly don't ready 75% of it that    pre-scan night.  It's harrowing.

Of all things Andi and Darrell worried about until we gave up and got out of bed at 5 am, including...
   ...3T machine (Not 1.5T machine as in those early, amateur months post diagnosis. Nervous eye roll.)
   …grading candidate work (How do all those assignments build up so fast?)
   ...MRI slice size (Remember to tell the tech:  1 mm slice size. Just replicate the last scan's settings.)
   ...corrupt prison system  (Feeling sick.  What to do?)
   ...warm blankets (One = enough; two = not necessary.)
   ...winter temperatures in Greeley (Remember the summer hailstorm.  Holy...)
   ...Kavanaugh
   ...grading candidate work (How do all those assignments build up so fast?)
   ...cd burners
   ...Little Burro, unattached
   ...MRI results...

...not one of those things we worried about was..."Are we loved?"  The only two things we knew for certain were that (1) we love each other and that (2) you and we love each other.  Maybe that's enough.

Time Is...Relative.

Yesterday 32 months felt so long. 

Today 32 months feel so short.

It's 2:30 pm.  Even without MRI results, we are calling it quits.

Wait!  The preliminary results are in at 3:43 pm. Stable.  No change.  Yay! Awaiting final confirmation from Drs. Park and Cloughesy.

32 Months

Brain cancer is...

...32 months old today.

That's two years, eight months since our drive down the mountain to the Emergency Department.  That's amazing.

We celebrated by starting the day at the park.

We discovered it took more than 100 minutes to reach 11,000 steps.  One hundred minutes is about 30 minutes more than the time it takes for Darrell's feet to hurt. Sore feet?  What a great problem to have!    

Darrell's MRI is scheduled for 8 a.m. tomorrow.  He has some scanxiety, mostly nervous that all the pieces will come together so that the scan happens on schedule.  Mostly but not entirely.  Thanks for your good thoughts.

And thanks for staying on the team for the next months too.  You're the best, Team D.