Voted at a nearby high school for the
California Primaries
He had an appointment with a Neurologist from the VA, and we asked about getting Occupational Therapy specifically for his hands, and the doctor said she'd order. Haven't heard back on that yet, but we'll ask the nurse doing the evaluation for PT tomorrow - they might be able to put in that request from their end, too. His hands are getting more and more nimble, but he still struggles with the fine motor skills (he hates writing anything by hand because his hand gets tired so quickly). Figure it can't hurt for him to get some specific therapy to build that functionality back up faster.
His appetite is still better than it had been, so he's eating pretty well. His weight is hovering around 150 lbs. He'd like to add some more muscle to his arms and legs, get his weight up to hover around 155 or so. We've bought him some new clothes for his new size finally. Now we just have to cull and purge some of the clothes that are way too big now!
His week working on "Night Court" was wonderful. I wish now I'd gone with him into the Stage more, rather than hang out in his dressing room (which was quite nice), just so I could have taken more pictures throughout the week. As it was, I really only took pictures on the day of taping. Here's a selection...
Quick view of his dressing room taken on the first day. Otherwise, the pictures below are from the final day.
They had pictures of him from when he was last on the show, and they basically recreated his beard to match up!
The actor prepares... "Places!" With Melissa Rauch, (Biff in the center), Nyambi Nyambi, John Larroquette, and assorted extras.
I'm happy to report the crew/staff were quite diverse. This pic is of some of the costume/make up/hair folks - great to see fun off-camera "characters," too!
These are the chairs the costume/make up/hair folks used (with me in the VIP section). They each brought in their own and rearranged as necessary, with their "stuff" in the pockets and on the little tables and cup holders... At this particular moment, they were all off working on the actors/extras between takes.
Quick anecdote: I overheard a couple of the make up/hair women talking about how funny Biff is, so I butted into the conversation (they were sitting right next to me). We talked about how they recreated his beard and offered to give me the contact info for someone who could build one for Biff to have for whenever he needs it. They said they couldn't give him the one they'd created (which they built on his face with multiple pieces) because they needed to keep it for when Biff comes back again!
Fingers crossed they get picked up for another season. This season is basically done, with only two more episodes to air. A short season, I imagine due to the Writers and Actors strikes...
I hadn't realized how long it had been since I'd gone to a sitcom taping until I saw the cameras! No longer those huge, black film cameras I remember from the last millennium. LOL And they use four now, instead of three!
This was my actual view for most of it. That's John Larroquette, India de Beaufort (both main cast), and David Foley, a Guest Star for the episode.
Fixing a light issue between takes.
My view of the main audience bleachers. The "warm up" guy worked really hard all the way through the taping, entertaining the audience between every take, not just warming them up at the top.
I wandered forward and grabbed this shot between takes. (Honestly, it was freezing at my seat, so I started getting up to stand in different spots...) I thought this was funny, John Larroquette standing a head taller than those surrounding him.
Last pic on our way out after the taping wrapped. Biff, sans recreated beard, with the Director, Kelly Park.
You can catch the episode Tuesday, March 19th, on NBC!
The cast and crew were so nice. They love Biff, and they took pretty good care of him, too. I won't lie, it took a few days to recover after the taping day. That day was long (the rest of the week, he only worked a few hours each day), and he was on his feet a lot (he'd leave the cane just offstage when he was in the scene), and we hadn't anticipated the chaotic schedule in terms of him eating (we'll do better with that next time). But he was a trooper and did an excellent job!
He's had some auditions, too, although nothing booked yet. Here is a clip of one brief "scene" he had to do (NSFW - DO NOT SHARE! - raw take I'm sharing for fun):
They might cast him for this part, although they've had him do another audition video for a bigger part since, and we're waiting to hear (they have checked his availability, so we're hopeful).
In the meantime, life feels a little more normal lately. Still a slog and still rough at times, but Biff is much less of an invalid now. It's heartening.
His latest immuno therapy infusion treatment on March 6th was the easiest yet. We were able to go in at 10am instead of 8am, which made a huge difference in terms of how early we had to get up to crawl through morning commute traffic. And it was the first time Biff didn't sleep the rest of the day afterward! He didn't even take a nap. So nice that the fatigue didn't knock him down.
He gets a new scan this coming week, and we'll see the Oncologist after that to find out how well the treatment is working on the cancer. I'm optimistic. He's doing so well, his color is good, appetite better, energy better. Hoping for good news!
Other than that, I've been trying to keep myself moving forward, slow as it can be some days. Have made it a daily priority to work on digital art (learning, experimenting, webinars, etc.) and I continue to add Zentangles to my beautiful book. At least a little bit every day! Really does help ease some of the relentless stress while I work out how to find balance in our new reality. I'm so grateful to have such an abundance of tools and resources available!
Oh, as for my Jury Duty Summons, I was not called in until the last day of the week, last Friday, and all of us called that day were put into the one trial they were working to fill. As there was no way I could actually serve on the trial (they anticipated it would be up to 3 weeks long), I explained our situation and was dismissed. I felt remarkably guilty. So hard to not do what was being asked by the court, my country - crazy as it sounds... I truly felt torn. It can really suck to be a hopeless people pleaser. Ridiculous. But I was truly grateful the Judge said, "Go home and take care of your husband."
Otherwise, here are just a few more pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy!
We've had so much rain!
It even looks like we have a great lawn in our front yard...
Our puppies continue to bond.
We celebrated Bopper's 10th birthday, too!
Had a nice visit with our pal, "Uncle Gibby!"
As you can tell from the floor, the dogs had strewn toy guts about...
(LOL - he has clothes that fit much better now.)
Hope everyone is having a great Spring. I'll be in touch with more news soon. Thanks again for all the support. It means more than I can say. XOXO
