Final radiation session: done and done!

They even gave him the creepy mask to bring home!

Along with this really classy "certificate of completion." LOL

Also, on a completely unrelated note, Everything Everywhere All At Once won all the SAG awards it was nominated for last night, including Best Ensemble Cast - meaning Biff has won his first SAG award!!! Double celebration 🥳🥳🎉🎉🎊🎊🎊

Okay, back to the health stuff... Here's a picture with Biff and the team of technicians that handled his radiation treatments - all of them are so nice!!

And, just cause it's amazing, here's a bit of video showing how the machine moves around to hit the mark precisely for his treatment:

When we met with the Radiation Oncologist for the weekly check in last Friday, he said the prognosis looks great. We will see him again on March 29th for a follow-up, one month out. 

In the meantime, Biff will need to continue to use the oral/rinse medications at home to help alleviate the burning in his mouth and combat the potential for fungus developing in his mouth and throat. It turns out that radiation continues to work for a bit after the sessions end, so although some side effects will begin to heal immediately, it will take some time before he's past that impact. Luckily, the doctor believes Biff will recover relatively quickly since he's worked so hard to alleviate the impact of side effects throughout. 

Honestly, getting his taste and appetite back are the main concerns for us. It is so rough, and he's lost a good amount of weight along the way. It's brutal, but he has pushed hard - and he was able to avoid the worst-case scenario side effects (like a feeding tube being inserted into his side...?!?!). 

We'll take all positive thoughts, prayers, wishes - whatever, in support of a quick recovery!

In the meantime, he has a chest scan on Wednesday (part of his regular health care), along with follow ups with the Dietician and Speech/Swallow specialists over the course of the next couple of weeks. Then a follow up with the surgery team on March 16th.

The week of March 27th, he'll have the follow up with Radiation Oncology, an Optometry appointment, and an appointment with Dermatology to check out a mole on his neck, just to be extra careful (he's had a melanoma removed before, several years ago).

We anticipate appointments for more tests and scans over the course of the next few months. Then, the "3-months out" PET scan is scheduled for May 30th, with a follow-up with the Chemotherapy Oncologist already scheduled for June 1st... They need three months of healing from the treatments to happen before the scans and tests will be able to tell them/us exactly where things stand with the cancer itself.

We look forward to refocusing our attention to building strength and exercising instead of all the daily treatment appointments and continuing to do everything possible to encourage healing. 

Not sure how often I'll be posting new updates here over the next few months, but I'll try to post at least once a week. And maybe I'll even finally get around to posting some of the other stories from these difficult weeks on the treatment journey. Of course, we also hope to be able to start getting back to life, maybe take a trip (after a few weeks at least), etc. 

Onward and onward!!