Well, shoot.
Biff's white blood cell count was too low to start the final chemo cycle (of the original plan) today after all. They told him "sometimes it takes a little longer to recover." No shit.
But he has been weaker from the last cycle, so I'm glad they decided to postpone. I was worried about how weak he might get going forward with this next cycle, because he had another fall last week.
It was a tough week, that's for sure...
He fell just before midnight last Monday. He'd gotten up to go to the bathroom, pausing at a doorway to steady himself, but his head "went swirly" and his "legs just gave out."
He hadn't been using his cane or walker, feeling steady on his feet in spite of the extreme fatigue. He's been using the walker and cane more since, to be safer.
Unfortunately, he bashed his forehead into a framed picture, breaking the glass. Sliced his forehead up real nice, and his eyeglasses cut the bridge of his nose (but the eyeglasses didn't break!). He never lost consciousness or showed any neurological impairment though. And he really did not want to go to the ER.
I heard the crash from the bedroom (I was awake reading) and came running. Had been so long since the last fall at home, I forgot my rule about putting on footwear before the adrenaline-fueled charge out to help him. And there was broken glass. I was lucky and managed to avoid the glass before I dashed back to get something on my feet. And I was able to quickly clear the bulk of the broken glass while he waited on the floor with a wet cloth to his bloody wound, before helping him up and back to his recliner just a couple feet away.
Cleaned him up a bit and put an ice pack on his head, then cleaned up the rest of the glass and the blood on the floor, the wall, his glasses I found in the mess.
Then I set a timer to come check on him in an hour. And another hour to check again. I couldn't sleep, playing a game on my phone, my mind racing the whole time.
Around 4am, I decided to reorganize my pillows and lay down, try to sleep, only to get another adrenaline jolt when I discovered bugs...
Bedbugs... UGH! We've never had that problem before. I started to detail that craziness here, but it's too much. The gist: lots of work (big thanks to my brother for major help getting the bed out of the house and other clean up!) and very gross. And still a work in progress. Official exterminator inspection happening this afternoon, and we'll find out what's next for fully resolving the problem. I'm pretty convinced it's contained in the one bedroom, so if they say heat treatment is needed, hopefully it can be just for that one room and not the entire house, but TBD...
In the meantime, the new bed has arrived, waiting in boxes to be assembled, and I'm still sleeping (more or less) on the couch. Lots of fun, dontcha know.
And, back to Biff!
On Wednesday, he finally caved to my nagging, and we went to the ER to get him checked out. We expected to be there for hours and hours, but he was moved through relatively quickly. They did a CT scan, which came back clear, no sign of brain bleed from the latest fall. Physical exam showed no neurological issues either. They cleaned up and dressed the cuts on his head and sent him home with antibiotics.
So, we continue to slog through. Bedbugs. For fucks sake. (I'll focus there - not as scary as dealing with another fall after all this time.)
So, I've been too overwhelmed to post updates "in real time" but the big news of the moment for his cancer treatment is the delay of the next chemo cycle for a week.
Oh, and by the way, Biff's 75th birthday is tomorrow. He's not into any major celebrating but sending him some Happy would, I know, be much appreciated.
And, to cleanse the palate a little, here are some pictures with the dogs. Enjoy!
