Parents Are a Privilege.

 Brain cancer is...

...fully recognizing how fortunate we are for family.

Now that I'm back to work, I flip my Friday schedule and spend the second eight hours in front of the computer.  The first eight belong to family.  You perhaps know how privileged we feel for so many aspects of our lives.

Today we added Parent Day as a privilege.  Of course we always love being with our parents.  See?

But this afternoon, we really realized what a privilege it is to have our parents.  We have so many advantages in many ways because we have the gift of our parents' experiences, good health care, generosity, and the myriad of other things they share with us.

Cheers to Parents, Team D!

 

Today's Blooms

 

LuAnn's water lily

 

Ryan and Charlene's sunflower has a friend.  Hang on, lil' praying mantis.  Love the imagery too.

Birthday Month Day 20: One Big Party!

 Brain cancer is...

 ...partying with Alex and Nova on Day 20.

I am back at work, teaching at CSUF for the fall semester.  It goes without saying that much is different in our attempts to educate teachers in the days of COVID.  I'll teach classes like math methods and science methods--which have never been online at CSUF before--and I will virtually coach student teachers who are virtually teaching their students.  

 

It would be easy to be discouraged, but I feel very optimistic.  I work with great people, and I am excited to be part of what's good and forward looking in the world these days.

 

That was a long way of saying that I'm working daily, but we party on as well.   Day 20 of Birthday Month was one big party.

Dear friend Ginger came by with a wonderful art journaling birthday present. I have missed you, Ginger!

Nova gave Ginger two enthusiastic thumbs up.  Here's how Nova partied all afternoon.

1.  Milk party with GPops.

2.  Jewelry party.  Kitchen floor.  Be there.

3.  Nap party with GMama.

3.  Tupperware party.

And so the next generation enjoys a Tupperware cabinet.  My heart!

4.  Napkin shredding party.  Nothing says "party" like shredded paper.

5.  Rocking horse party.
 

My Uncle George, Roene's husband, made this rocking horse decades ago.  It finally has a rider! My heart.

6. Combined monster truck, pool, and dance party.  If you really know how to party, you're invited. No water required.

It was hard to let the party end! Good thing there are 11 days left in Birthday Month.

More good news:  The St. Jude radiologist posted a report, also with the conclusion that Darrell's tumor is stable.

Party on, Team D!

Today's Bloom

Even the backyard hibiscus screamed "party" today.

 

The Pants Look Much Better Today: Clear Scan

 Brain cancer is...

 ...stable!

Above you see Dr. Cloughesy and Darrell examining the good news today:  A stable scan!  See the magenta circle near the arrow, top left?  That's yesterday's scan.  The magenta circle, below, is in the scan from late April.  The circles mark the tumor/surgical site.  No change.  Phew!  He also took us through the rest of the images to show no other troublesome areas.

Today we learned that the images on the right are the FLAIR images.  (More on that acronym here, for another day.)

 

These images show stable scarring, with yesterday's image again on top.

Dr. Cloughesy says some of the scarring could be surgical, but it's probably primarily radiation related.

 

"Hey, Wait!  What?" you ask.  "Don't you always see Dr. Cloughesy on Monday?"  Yes!  We always do! It's the only day he takes appointments.

 

Last night Dr. Cloughesy emailed us directly with a link to upload the MRI images.  Today he confirmed that he had the images from us and asked when we'd like to meet on Zoom.  

 

We told him that we had a Monday morning appointment on the books, but that we were ready anytime, and anxious because we still had no results from the St. Jude radiologist.  (We still don't by the way.)

 

Dr. Cloughesy said, "Let's meet now."  He sent us a Zoom link and we were off and running.  He led the appointment with no minions today, so he did the medications list and neuro exam by himself (another first).  Here's what it looks like when a world renowned neuro-oncologist does a neuro exam.

 

Darrell said, "Man, he's tough!"  He even had us move the web cam to follow Darrell down the hallway in a series of walking tests.  

 

More good news:  Darrell had no time to study up for the neuro exam.  Usually he practices the date and spelling things backward, for instance.  He passed, no practice, no problem.  Wahoo.

Darrell is so relieved. We went from no news to the final word in a matter of hours.

Four more months!  Four more months!  Christmas, here we come.

Last thing:  Dr. Tim Cloughesy today modeled the kind of human we aspire to be when we grow up.  He paid attention to someone's worry as his first priority.  He had the ability to solve a problem with his humanity and expertise, and he solved it.  We told him we will be grateful forever.  He's so humble he just demurred.  Of course.

Team D., you were really positive about those scan pants.  Today we are much more able to agree with you about their good points.  Darrell liked Roene's idea of pairing puffy pants with pointy shoes for elf attire.

Thanks for waiting with us, Team D.  Your pants look even better today.

Today's Bloom

Today's bloom is Darrell's choice of the five finalists for the new Mississippi state flag. (Mississippians are replacing their former flag, with its Confederate image.)  

 

Three of the five finalists have a magnolia blossom.  Mississippi was the 20th state, but it has 21 stars.  The gold star is for its Choctaw and other indigenous people.  We got the image and learned about the flags at this site.  That's where we learned that the words "In God we Trust" must be included, and that the Confederate image must not be.  Isn't it amazing to watch (and participate in, really) history being made all around us?

"I Don't Like My Pants."

 Brain cancer is...

 ...pretty clear about the pants.

Darrell's MRI was this morning.  The pants pretty much set the stage for our day.

We both had tough nights last night.  In Darrell's dreams, he couldn't manage masks, distancing, and driving in our own car all at the same time.  In my dreams, I lost Darrell in the desert somewhere and had to admit it to myself.

Fortunately, the scan process was very smooth.  Thanks for your good wishes and prayers.

We still don't have the radiologist's report.  And we had to change the face-to-face doctors' appointments we scheduled four long months ago to telehealth appointments.  And we don't have an upload link to get the scan images to UCLA yet.  

We do not like our pants.

Fortunately that's our biggest problem today.

Team D., we'd like you to know that your pants look fabulous!

 

Today's Bloom 

 

Ryan and Charlene grew this beauty with their other sunflowers. Wow!

 Always be yellow.  Unless you can be red.  Then be red.

Fairy Rings?

Readers Note: Darrell is the chief blogger again today.

Brain cancer is...

 ...investigating strange mushroom patterns at Craig Park. 

Above, you see me in basically a semicircle of mushrooms.  This time of year, Craig Park is full of this pattern of mushrooms known as a fairy ring.

 

A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or rangelands.  Fairy rings are caused by many different soil-inhabiting fungi. According to the Britannica site, rings form because the mushroom spawn spreads out evenly in all directions from its location in the center. 

If you have mushrooms in your yard, Team D., we hope they form interesting patterns.

Andi's take:  ...And speaking of interesting patterns...

Today seemed like a good day to try to create art in my coffee cream.  I was going for something simple like a heart or leaf, but instead I got...

 ...a cormorant!  No, I won't try to repeat it tomorrow.  One and done.

Today's Blooms

After finding yellow at the park yesterday, I watched extra carefully today.  There was indeed yellow...

...but not only yellow. We are enjoying the hardy, hot summer souls that keep blooming.