Couch Potatoes

Brain cancer is...

...spending the day on the couch.

We spent the day eating treats from the Mayfields and resting up. Plus art. 

"Good Bye" and "Hello"

Brain cancer is...

...great at saying "goodbye" and "hello."

Today's conference was too wonderful for words.  I would need to give 200 shout outs.  Instead, here's just one image to capture the spirit of the day:

What a grand finale for Andi's CSUF adventures through fall 2017/intersession 2018.

Tonight I discovered why Darrell kept smiling and delivering pizzas:  Because every pizza brought us one step closer to....

 ...Andi's family medical leave for spring 2018.

With that selfie kiss, we said "goodbye" to every good Titan thing until August 2018.  Special projects continue, but regular duties are on hiatus.

"Hello" to the next (unknown) chapter of this story!



PS...Really Mayfields?  Darrell lives for football, but I need to watch the play offs with no Packers?

Thanks for the delicious reminder that it's not all about me.  I'll watch any team but the Patriots.


Photo credits:  Cindy Davis, Darrell Guillaume

All (Conference) Systems Go!

Brain cancer is...

...relentlessly supportive.

Today and into the night was conference prep.  The Titan student volunteers met for training for the big event and made these terrific pieces:

Darrell did the pizza pick up and delivery. I am so grateful for Darrell’s relentless support.  I am almost certain he thinks I'm certifiably crazy, and yet he just keeps smiling, just keeps delivering pizza.  I know what a fortunate woman I am.

Another reason I am fortunate? My best friend from sixth grade surprised me and flew in from Utah to help with the conference. Leslie was great at the 2016 conference, and here she is to work her magic again.  Hurrah! 

Here’s to good partners and good friends:  the greatest of fortunes.

Arts Ed Conference Preparations

Brain cancer is...

 

...always give, give, give.

Above you see Darrell testing a photo booth frame with LuAnn then Gordon. All seems in order.

Saturday is the CSUF third Arts at the Center of 21st Century Education Conference.

We are in the final stages of preparation.  

Thanks, Darrell, for giving! Hope to see you Saturday, Friends, at the photo booth!

(Historical side note: The second CSUF Arts Education Conference was at the end of January, 2016. Darrell had GBM, and we didn’t yet know it. What a difference the space between two conferences makes.)

"Stable Appearance of the Brain"

Brain cancer is...

 

stable.

Darrell's MRI results were posted this evening.  Great news from the preliminary report:  No changes at the tumor site, and no changes to the mucky bone pancake.  Hurrah!

We see Dr. Cloughesy in a few days.  He is always very thorough in examining the MRI with us and sharing his expert opinion.  Then we really relax about the MRI results.

Thanks for waiting with us, Team D!

In Other News

1.  Darrell's 23-month anniversary came and went unobserved on Monday.  We slept through it with this cold.  Happy 23 months, Darrell! 

2.  We finally made it back to the park today to walk a bit.  Good thing we did, or we would have missed these tippy birds.  The video, below, bottom, gives the full tippy effect.

Onward, Team D!

Speed MRI

Brain cancer is...

...speed scanned!

No results yet (post time:  5:45 p.m.), but today's MRI experience was speedy and smooth.  They took Darrell in early, they scanned him quickly, and they burned the CD in less than five minutes.  We were home in just over an hour. Amazing. 

Also amazing:  Darrell was able to stifle a coughing spell during the scan.  That's an important accomplishment because (a) his head was bolted to the table so movement would be difficult, and (b) if he needed to cough or otherwise move, they would have needed to rescan to replace the blurry images.

The most painful part of the scan experience for Darrell was drinking the plain (gasp!), warm (eek!) bottled water post scan:

And the bottle, as you see, was huge! Poor, poor Darrell.  

Thank goodness diet Coke is also wet.

Well done, Darrell!

We hope to post tomorrow with the radiologist's initial impressions.

MRI Fun Facts

• Thus far, Darrell always has two MRI's:  One without contrast and one with contrast.
• The contrast is a substance injected into an IV in Darrell's arm after the tech completes the first scan.
• The contrast makes some things like tumors and blood vessels more visible, which allows for more accurate interpretation. (Click here for a helpful website on MRIs with contrast.)
• The contrast contains gadolinium, a rare earth metal.  It also contains "chelating" materials to which the gadolinium bonds in order to render it non-toxic while allowing it to maintain its contrast properties.
• Apparently only about 1 in 3 MRI's uses contrast.
• Drinking plenty of fluids for a couple days post MRI allows Darrell's body to flush the contrast out of his system, through his kidneys.

Still Staying Still

Brain cancer is...

 ...enjoying the rain.

We welcomed today's rain both because the region needs it and because it gave us a good excuse to spend an additional day holding still, looking out the window, and encouraging Darrell to rest a bit more before his scan.

Check in time is 8:30 a.m.  The MRI is scheduled for 9:00. Darrell's coming for you, 3T machine!