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!

 



Merry Christmas!

 

We were expecting a few inches of snow this week, but the only "white" arrival was the " Elephant" on Saturday!  The forecast is for snow on Christmas day, but we will believe that when it happens! We can hope though.
The Frost family got home safely on Tuesday night and were glad to be back. (And we were glad to have them back.)
Brad went with Curt to look at a job that same day and felt good about being partially back in the work force and seeing some familiar faces.  He is still very tired and continues to take naps nearly every afternoon.  We are hoping that when we see Dr Nye next week (the neuro-oncologist) he will reduce the amount of anti-seizure meds.
Friday night brought Sarah and Travis to us for our hair appointments and for them to take our tickets for the Bronco game.  They left their kids with the two grandmothers, whom I imagine had a great time with them.

power ball ticket (2 years old)

Saturday brought our first real seasonal entertaining with the White Elephant party.  We made a huge pot of pasole and some guacamole and were ready.  Pam and John and Alex and Laura (his girlfriend) arrived first... (we decided it had been at least a couple of years since we had seen Alex), with John coming from Iowa.  Great seeing all of them!

Sunday was spent initially with Amie and Curt having their family Christmas celebration with Susan, Roger, Heather and Matt, and Eli and Ashley.  We had an amazing brunch with enough food for twice the number of guests.

Later, Carrie & Spencer, Sarah and Travis left for the Bronco game.  The weather was awesome and apparently so was the game.  Gabi and Corbin stayed with us and we caught up on some "crafting".


DIY doilie



Alex and Laura (BTW, those are Cheetos she's snacking on)




what the heck is that green stuff on their tongues?

stolen gift
 



Sophie's puzzle  book from Grandma Susan



 

("Santa Claus bring me truck")
 



At the Bronco game

 

craft project

















Now we are cooking!

Today, Sunday, marks the end of the first two weeks following surgery.  Dr Waziri said they would be the most difficult, but I was struggling to believe that anything would change until yesterday when I saw some improvement in Brad.  He wasn't nearly as sleepy, partly due to taking less narcotics. It's one day at a time. A curious week.....
 On Tuesday, he wanted to get a few things at the grocery store, so I flew home on my lunch hour and away we went to WalMart (his first outing since surgery). He had no trouble finding his way around the store, only with labels that he was unfamiliar with. We finished up and headed to the checkout when he glanced over at a woman entering the store and asked me, "Is that Ruth Barsch?" (Ruth was the wife of our boss when we got our first jobs the week of our wedding in 1969). Crazy that he remember her, but didn't know the word for pasta! The brain is a strange thing!

Thursday night I got home from work and Brad had not only cleaned up the kitchen, but wanted to make some dinner. Hooray! I asked what he was making and he said it was a pasta/chicken dish. He proceeded to cut up the chicken, some green peppers and onions and had the pasta cooking, but that was where he faltered, not remembering what was next. I made some suggestions, but nothing was satisfactory. Eventually I took over, added some roux and white wine and had it simmering when he came over to the stove, looked at what was cooking and said, "that's not what I had in mind". Never did come up with what exactly that was. He was frustrated.
Thursday morning Spencer, Gabi and Corbin went to California to see Nana (Nancy) and to attend the annual Santa Party which has been a tradition since Spencer and Sarah were little. They came to say goodbye the night before.  I miss them, but am glad they can spend time with Nana. Unfortunately, Great Grandma Doris is very ill, hospitalized and Nana has had to spend much of her time with her Mother.  They will come home Tuesday.  Carrie has decided that as much as she craves some "alone" time, she doesn't really like being alone! She has used this time to finish Christmas shopping, clean her house and get caught up on laundry!

Here's an excerpt from dinner Friday night...Gramma, "Boy, bridge was fun today except that we had to play with 7 instead of 8 (people). I had a hand with 8 hearts and the Ace, king of spades. I made a slam but didn't bid it. It sure seems like Saturday today. But I go get my head washed tomorrow and it needs it cuz it itches. The hostess today who is 97, (but plays bridge real good), brought some brownies and sparkling grape juice. I asked her if the brownies were "laced". She said she didn't think so and I told her it was too bad about all those people getting sick on brownies." Mercy!!!!!! I am grateful for dishes to load in the dishwasher and a full glass of wine!

Saturday Carrie and I shopped, hopefully finishing up with Christmas gifts.  We were invited to a cookie swap Saturday night and I thoroughly enjoyed getting out.  Such a wonderful group of young women! (Including of course, Meredith, Carrie and Amie).

Brad and I had a long conversation about how he really wants to get back to work.  I truly hope that he can do that, although I worry that he isn't ready yet.  And the fact that he still had trouble reading makes me apprehensive about  the workplace.

Sunday...I'm exhausted!  I spent five hours wrapping gifts (oh my aching back!)
with Grandma's assistance until her arthritis got the best of her and she had to quit!
I think it's good for her to do something.  This week she has unloaded the
dishwasher a couple of times, which I appreciate.

We went to WalMart to get groceries for Sunday dinner.  Such a trip going to the store with Brad!  He wanted to go along to get a couple of things (things which he had forgotten the names for), one being something we were out of that came in a red package.  Hmmmmmmm. Anyway, it turned out to be a package of au jus. We decided to have spaghetti and meatballs, for which he located the recipe on his own.  It took him quite awhile to read the recipe, but he did it and made the sauce and the meatballs without my help.  And it was delicious!

Grayson and Elijah

 The kids definitely missed their cousins with the Frosts in California and Rory with his Mom, but Grayson attached himself to Elijah and Sophie to Emma and they had their usual fun Sunday.

The crafty girls made this

 

 

"Have Patience"

 

Hard to believe that we are now 10 days out on Brad's surgery.  The brain is certainly a mysterious thing!  He's still sleeping a lot- at least two long naps a day with a few "chair naps" as well.  On Friday, we saw Dr. Waziri for the post-op appointment and had oodles of questions for him, and his answer was usually something involving patience.  He told Brad that he needed to "weather the storm" for the first two weeks, that they would be the hardest.  Much of his cognition problems are related to the number of anti-seizure and steroid drugs that he is on.  It will take time to adjust.  We were given referrals for radiation treatment in Ft Collins with Dr. Petit, and chemo/meds monitoring with Dr. Nye at University Hospital.  The radiation treatment (daily) will last 6 weeks, and he will take the oral chemo in conjunction with it.  He got his staples removed, which surprisingly didn't hurt at all.

One of the hardest things about this surgery is that he looks perfectly fine and actually says he feels physically okay, but has problems reading and finding words.  So, just to illustrate, Friday night he said he would like some of that food from that place where we get food sometimes.  I did the  twenty questions, "Is it Chinese, is it a grocery store, is it a fast-food place ? etc." until finally I asked if he could get us there if I drove, so off we went on our destination unknown!  We ended up at Noodles & Co, where we ordered something after we both stared at the pictures of the options.  I wonder what the young woman taking the order was thinking!  It all turned out to be just what he wanted, anyway!

 

Emma ready for her band concert

This week both Rory and Emma had their end of the semester band concerts (on the same night at 2 different places) and we were sorry we weren't able to attend...maybe next year.  Friday night Rory went to his school dance and I picked him up afterward. "It was amazing!"  He and three of his friends entertained by singing/playing instruments to songs from a popular teen band, One Direction.  Wish I could've been a fly on the wall to witness that!  Speaking of wishing I could've been there, Carrie shared one of  their conversations this week. It went something like this: Gabi: "a girl at school used a bad word today that started with the letter A".  Carrie:, (not asking WHAT word that might've been) "I'm glad you don't use bad words".  Gabi:( awhile later, displaying her renowned attitude, including major eye rolling is told to go to her room for disobeying) says, "Well, I guess I'll get off my ASS then!"  (Spencer is laughing while Carrie tries to discipline....)

Grayson

Meredith birthday (a watch for timing her runs and laps)

Carrie and Brad "chillaxing"



 

Corbin, Rock Star



 

 

Sunday morning Curt and his family came by so I could take their annual family Christmas picture, which Curt equates to getting a root canal, I'm sure.  Our friends, the Mastersons also dropped by for a visit. Sunday dinner rolled around and Meredith had requested that Brad make some green chili for her belated birthday celebration.  He agreed to do it, but unfortunately (for me) he didn't remember how!  He did make some guacamole , though, without assistance.  I felt very inadequate making something that he did so well! I doubt anyone went hungry though! Carrie bought a (10 lb.) carrot cake for the birthday girl, just in case.