A third of the way there....

Tonight will be Brad's 11th treatment, with 22 left.  We again feel fortunate for so many reasons- the weather has been great for the drives to Ft. Collins, he has felt really good ( although the fatigue set in on Saturday), and we have the amazing support of our family and friends!  He and Curt continue to work, with a some big projects on the horizon, so we really pray that his (Brads) energy and (Curts) patience hold out.  Our week began with a very long night following his Monday radiation treatment (with the machine breaking down), but the remainder of the treatments went smoothly.  It seems to be the Monday thing....The kids brought dinner Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday which was unbelievably helpful as well as enjoyable, having someone else' cooking.

Great news this week for Meredith, with a call from McKee Hospital (Loveland) requesting an interview with her on Friday. She will have the opportunity to choose one of five positions if one is a good fit for her, and will go through a shadowing process to determine that.  Luckily, she has plenty of time to make that decision, so we know she will ultimately be happy with whatever is in her future.

The weekend was  filled with dancing!  Friday night was the Father/Daughter dance at the rec center, and it was Sophie's first time, although  Emma and Steven have gone several years in a row.  Saturday night was the annual hospital Gala, and Carrie and Spencer had a great time, as did all the couples!

 Carrie, Amie and I had planned on going to a scrapbooking crop on Saturday, but decided to have it at my house instead, saving time on getting everything loaded/unloaded, and money.  Unfortunately, Amie was sick Saturday, but Carrie and I got a lot of scrapbooking done.  Brad slept a good part of the day, probably out of boredom more than anything.

He and I went to Sam's early Sunday morning to pick up a pork loin for Sunday dinner.  Thankfully, the recipe  was written down!  It is one of the family favorites and went together fine with a little assistance from moi! Heather came from Denver Saturday night and surprised Curt and Amie with a night out to dinner while she babysat.  Such a thoughtful young woman!  She came and had dinner with us Sunday.  The kids played downstairs and, in the theme for the weekend, had a dance-a-thon.  Grayson ended the day with an exceptionally large bowl of ice cream!

Kisses for Grandpa

To & Fro- Week one, finished!

We officially survived the first week of chemo and radiation with our five visits to Ft. Collins every evening after work.
The first night was, thankfully, not an indicator of how the week would go, as we didn't get home until 9:00!  The actual treatment only takes about 15 minutes and the drive isn't bad as long as the weather stays decent.  He is feeling good, but we are told that at the end of 2 weeks, the fatigue will kick in.  He was able to work 4 days this week with Curt and did ok. I know that I am grateful having my job as a diversion right now, and I'm sure it is the same for Brad.  We ended the week with dinner after treatment with Beth and Fred McGregor.  It felt great to be out dining and conversing with friends!  She asked if I would play bridge with her on Saturday, and I was more than willing!  Wow, bridge 2 weeks in a row!!!! I may start remembering how to play again.  Friday morning, Grayson came for a visit and the weather was so nice that we went outside and he rode in the little car that we've had in the garage forever. Boy, did he love it! 

The Frost family arrived home Friday evening (thanks, Meredith for the picking them up at the airport!) and we had to wait until Saturday morning to hear about their trip. The kids came over for a visit (and to give Mom and Dad a short reprieve) and were FULL of stories about their adventure.  Non stop talking for the first half hour!  Great to hear their excitement!  Favorite memories?  Kissing and swimming with the dolphins was at the top of the list.  They snorkeled with sea turtles- Corbin loved the turtles, but didn't care for the salt water up his nose!







  Gabi wanted to "craft" with me and had her agenda ready.  We turned a shoebox into a princess apartment, complete with little lamps made from wine corks! (Of which I have a never ending supply!)

Saturday night, Amie and Curt went out to dinner and the kids came to have dinner with us. Brad made some cube steaks and mashed potatoes and gravy.  Grayson ate like I've never seen him eat before!  And  of course, Rory in his current growing spurt loved the food as well!  Sophie had a huge case of the giggles over most everything and her laugh is contagious!

Sunday dinner was fajitas(chicken and beef) which turned out to be a hit as well as a chili relleno casserole made from a recipe on Pinterest.  THAT was yummy!  Meredith brought some "turtle brownies" (caramel infused) which were right up on the top of the favorite list.  Rory said that if he could have a pan of those, a bag of sour cream chips, and a hammock to lie in, that would be heaven!

Drivin' me crazy

How is it possible that obtaining a drug that should be delivered in diamond studded bottles by limo (for the price they ask) could be so difficult to get?  Filling Brad's chemo prescription has taken over my week, to say nothing of all of the patience (or lack of) I could muster up!  (Really, who uses the word "muster"?)  What was supposed  to take a few hours to process, turned into a 5 day ordeal.  The trial run radiation appointment that was scheduled for Wednesday had to be postponed to Friday (getting there meant driving in a blizzard!), and his new start date for treatment will be Monday, January 14.  The drug finally arrived Friday night by UPS after 7:00pm (and after 2 calls to them and much pacing), so we are good to go! (Interestingly enough, they only sent half of the prescription...more calls on Monday?)

We were saddened by Meredith's loss of her job effective Tuesday morning after her position was cut. She will get a decent severance package and the timing is good for us (to help with driving to and from Ft. Collins for daily radiation) as well as for her, since she is just a few months away from getting her Masters degree, which is time consuming.  We know for certain that this was meant to be, and that she is destined to find something bigger and better as well as something she will be passionate about! 

On the bright side (yep, thank goodness there IS one), the Frost family left Thursday to enjoy a family Disney cruise with Spencers' Mom and sisters' family.  They started the trip with a flight to Huston where they stayed with a cousin and his family.  The kids as always are enjoying being together!

 

Saturday, after taking Gramma to get her hair done, and after getting groceries, I played bridge for the first time since October with Ramona.  It was really nice to play again even if I was pretty rusty.  Afterwards, Brad and I were invited to watch the Bronco game and have dinner with the Mastersons.  Had a great time, despite the fact that the Broncos lost.  Jeff made chili rellenos with green chili topping- scrumptious!

 

Sunday dinner....found a recipe for some Dijon/maple coated chicken thighs and made the always-a-winner crock pot mac-n-cheese.  Sophie called early in the afternoon and wanted to come over and play (with me!).  We spent a few hours in the craft room while she worked on a scrapbook of her own.  Ah, another girl after my own heart!  Grayson had an ear infection, but rallied once the ibuprofen kicked in.  Emma got a new cake pop maker and brought red velvet cake pops which Grayson especially enjoyed!

 

 

Looking forward to a new year....

 

Wow, lots of news since last weeks post. We've celebrated Christmas, Elijah's birthday and now we bring in the new year.  Instead of having dinner here on Sunday, we decided to combine the New Years celebration with the birthday boy's dinner.  I asked him if that would be ok and that I was going to cook a turkey with his choice of side dishes.  "Sure", he said, "I'd like shrimp, mashed potatoes and some good green beans". Brad got a big laugh out of that!  I think he could eat shrimp with every meal!  In a few hours of posting this, the house will be filled with the luscious smell of turkey roasting.  It sounds especially nice, considering how cold and frosty it is as I write this.  It is currently 3 degrees and this is how it looks out my back door...BRRRR....
This week we had two appointments with Brad's two new doctors, Dr. Douglas Ney at University Hospital and Dr. Petit in Ft. Collins.  They were both amazing doctors (of course, we were referred to them by Dr. Amazing himself, Dr. Wazari!)  Dr. Ney was so interesting (he is the neuro-oncologist) in that he has tourettes syndrome, which in the beginning, we found somewhat distracting.  He informed us that the pathology came back on the tumor, and of the two basic types that this could have been, Brad's was fortunately the type that responds well to chemo and radiation.  He then lined out what the treatment would consist of and wrote the prescriptions for the chemo drug.  Our kids were so thoughtful, and gave us a Christmas gift of a "date night" at the downtown Denver Embassy Suites, with a meal at the Chop House. We had a lovely evening (even though we got a call from Carrie regarding the cost of the chemo drug-$18,000 for a 30 day supply!!!!!...before insurance) and decided that we would use our dinner gift when Brad was finished with his treatment and when we really will celebrate!  Yesterday, we saw Dr. Petit (the radiation-oncologist)...a very long appointment, (at which he confirmed the positive diagnosis of the type of tumor)
 made doubly long as Brad was suffering a horrible headache.  As soon as we got out to the parking lot, he threw up.  We were all really concerned for him, but he did seem better by the end of the evening.  Needless to say, we didn't have a wild New Years Eve!

We've had a great week with the family.  Sunday night the girls (Emma, Sophie and Gabi) had a slumber party here as I had promised them they could do that over the Christmas break.  Emma is unbelievably patient and is so good with the girls.  She brought over makeup, nail polish and hair stuff. They ate lots of snacks, determined to make it until midnight to sleep.  At about 11:15, Emma came into our bedroom to let us know that Sophie wanted to go home, so Amie came and picked her up.  The other two were asleep about a minute later!

They looked beautiful in their makeup!
 



Gabi had to go to daycare the following morning, so Emma did her hair and makeup!

On Saturday, Elijah had his birthday party at the Laser Tag in Loveland (the second year in a row for that location!  I can see why, though, because the kids really do have a great time there).  Some of his school friends were there as well as his cousins.

The whole group in the Laser Tag

As I close, I just feel the need to add one more picture.  This was taken Saturday, when we returned from Elijah's party!  Pretty self explanatory!
Happy 2013!