Today's chemo has been postponed a week...

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. 

Picture from today.

It was a relief to be sure he was really okay. That hard head of his... Works for and against, amiright? 😜

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!

Biff and Bopper.

Yes, we allow our dogs on the furniture,

but seriously?

Before discovery of the bugs...

First good pic of these two together

looking longingly out

one of the "dog windows."

Their ears in the same positions. 🥰

(Bopper's sleeping on the

couch across the room.

Which is where I'm sleeping these days.)

Second to last chemo cycle in progress...

So, Biff's got the latest chemo grenade attached. Fatigue has been tough. But he's hanging in there. And he's still steadier on his feet than he was when he had those falls and ended up in the hospital back in May. Not a single fall since that horrible month.

Wiggles, our new pup, continues to become a beloved member of our family more and more. Totally bonded with Bopper, and more and more affectionate with us humans, too. She is a real character, so energetic and wiggly (until she passes out for a nap!). Still shocks us - we really had forgotten how exhausting a puppy can be. But entertaining, too.

Working together to protect the backyard

from squirrels.

LOL

Have also had fun visiting with my brother, Dana, and his girlfriend, Jenny, and their big dogs, Tank and Soda Pop (I have to remember to take some pictures next visit - Soda Pop and Wiggles LOVE to play and run!). They've recently relocated to L.A. from New York. So nice to have them closer. (Shout out to their cat, Fife, too - he tends to stay out of sight while the dogs take over during our visits.)

Generally, I think the relentless stress has worn us out, with the impact hitting hard recently. We had considered taking a trip this month but had to accept it's not feasible with chemo treatments still in progress. I've also been dealing with dental problems, which, at least for me, are never fun. 😜

Anyway, we keep on keeping on, as best we can. Some days are harder than others. Letting our life keep pretty quiet and mellow for now. As we gather our energy and focus again (slowly but steadily), we'll be getting back to house projects and engagement with life outside our little bubble. And I'll get back to more postings here...

For now, we just try to allow ourselves some grace, accepting that we are doing our best during this difficult year. 

Always so grateful we have each other to share this life - in sickness and in health, and all the rest of it. ❤️

From our brief visit to San Diego last month.

I have so many pics of the pups - 

perhaps I'll do a post with a bunch of those sometime...

Best wishes to everyone! Happy Autumn! XOXO 

Cancer has stabilized...

Sorry again for the gap in updates recently. New pup is exhausting (super sweet) & quick trip to San Diego & I was under the weather (and fighting my own demons, not to mention dental issues)...🙄🤪 

Anyway, Biff has tolerated the latest chemo cycle better, although still some mouth stuff and plenty of fatigue. 

After a CT scan earlier this week, we met with the Oncologist this morning. Looks like chemo has stabilized the cancer - no spread to abdomen! And lungs basically the same. Okay, it's more complicated than that, but that's the bottom line. 

Plan now is for two more chemo cycles (original plan was always to do 6 total if he could tolerate it), and then shifting to just the immuno therapy going forward, with regular monitoring to determine if a new plan is needed.

Basically, good news. Wish it would have shown dramatic reduction of the cancer in his lungs but no significant changes is good.

Now hoping we can get him more active physically, build more strength, since the heat has subsided here in L.A. - although he is already much more steady on his feet than he had been for so long. 

His weight has also basically stabilized, although he still struggles with having any appetite and with things tasting strange. Perhaps when he gets a real break from chemo, that will have a chance to get better. 🤞

With the Fall season bringing flu, uptick in COVID, etc., we'll be being careful, as usual. But he's holding strong as the battle continues.

We were pretty nervous about today's appointment. We left feeling more relieved than I thought would be possible. And onward we go! ❤️

Stealth chemo grenade has been detached...

Pump removal was so fast today, Biff was already done by the time I had parked and walked to the building, signed in, and made it to the Infusion Center!

He's feeling a lot of fatigue this time around and generally a little yucky. Chose not to do the walk this morning, but was sturdy walking with only his cane in and out of V.A. (although I dropped him off and picked him up at front rather than have him walk from/to parking lot). But he had a hearty lunch of breakfast food, which pleased me. He wasn't too interested in eating last night.

Mouth is doing pretty well so far. A little goopy, but so far, so good.

Tomorrow we head down to Bell Gardens to meet a potential furry pal...!!!! Otherwise, we're prepared to hunker down for whatever Hurricane Hilary sends our way the rest of the weekend!

❤️❤️❤️

Tossing another "chemo grenade"...

Another shirt received from a fan.

"One size fits all" - it's a little big,

but that leaves room to hide his latest "chemo grenade" - 

whoa: stealth! ✌

Yesterday's infusions and the attachment of the new pump went very well. Biff even enjoyed the lunch they provided! And so far, he's feeling good. His mouth is dry, but, of course, that is an ongoing issue we do battle with constantly. Just keep it more "front and center" during treatments. Helps to prevent the dreaded mucositis from developing.

In case I never mentioned it before, Biff needs to keep the pump ("stealth chemo grenade") out from under blankets when he sleeps. They don't want his body heat to warm it up too much. Which can get a little tricky, keeping it outside the blankets when it's attached to your chest, you know? Well, he got creative last night. Check this out:

The little "fanny pack" he uses as a crossbody bag to carry it when he's up and about is that black thing on the table. Left of that, Biff took an old box, cut a hole, placed a little glass sauce cup in the hole, allowing him to rest the pump there when he is sleeping (or resting, as he is here) in his recliner. Which is where he sleeps most of the time. When he does sleep in the bed, he has to manage it differently.

Pretty clever, eh?

Otherwise, in order to not leave Bopper home alone (yesterday's session was 8am to 1pm), he came along for the ride to drop Biff off and again when I picked him up. Bopper does enjoy a car ride. Especially yesterday, when I couldn't get him out for his morning walk because we had to get things together and be on the road by 7am to get Biff there on time (rush hourS of traffic that early), so the car rides help make up for missing the walk.

Just cause, here's a picture of the little guy I took the other day. He's SO CUTE!!

But he looks so lonely and sad to me...

Anyway, back to yesterday. Of course, he hadn't had a chance to take care of his "business," so after we'd dropped Biff off, I drove around the facility and parked near the Radiation building where we used to go every day back in January and February. There's an accessible bit of grassy area near there. Bopper enjoyed that little adventure, and he took care of what he needed to take care of, if you catch my drift. I managed not to take any pictures of him, but I couldn't resist taking this picture of the bark of a tree at that spot:

Such a pretty natural phenomenon.

Otherwise, Biff is doing well. Still dealing with fatigue but mostly recovered from the relatively minor side effects from the last cycle. He's using a cane most of the time when he's out and about these days, quite steady on his feet.

That said, the last week had it's ups and downs. If you feel like reading more about that, click on the "Read more" below. Otherwise, the pump will be removed on Friday, so I'll definitely update after that - if I haven't already dropped other updates in the meantime. Most likely though, I won't be updating unless something dramatic comes up until late Friday (or maybe Saturday - when we might have some good news to share - more on that in the "Read more" - yep, a bit of a lure, a tease... tee hee).

Hope everyone is well and safe. It's a crazy world out there.

Oncologist was pleased...

Oncologist was pleased with how well Biff is doing this round - says mouth looks better today than it did last Friday. So, next treatment will proceed as scheduled (August 14th, a week from Monday) at the same dosage. If all goes well, 3rd round will proceed on September 11 (week after Labor Day week), and they'll do a new CT scan, with contrast this time, the week after that and see how well the treatment is working.

Tomorrow he has an appointment with his new Primary Care doc (we have a list of other random things for that) and a quick check in with the Audiologist for his swallow function (he hasn't been having any issues there).

He walked with me and Bopper this morning, then only used his cane to go to the doc and then the bank and then we went to Costco for lunch, and he bought new shorts - that actually fit his new svelte physique without suspenders needed to hold them up!! He was steadier on his feet than he has been in a long time.

It's always a mixed bag for these appointments, but the news seemed generally good today, all things considered. 🤗❤️😘

Another catching up post...

Relatively speaking, Biff is doing well this go round. It isn't all peaches and cream but compared to last round, it's going MUCH better. I know a lot of folks have likely seen his "chemo grenade" picture posted on Facebook. I played with putting some backgrounds behind him, too, just for fun:

He such a great subject - all that experience getting his picture taken over the years. I never had the knack that he does. Although sometimes, well, here's a picture I took yesterday:

That pained expression on his face! I took the picture to show him how crooked his shoulders are, but he wasn't into it. LOL (His right shoulder has been bothering him for quite a while now, and I hadn't noticed before how uneven he's carrying them until yesterday. This is now on the list to discuss with his new Primary Care Physician when we finally meet her on Friday.)

As the picture implies, he's still eating and drinking! He had a piece of salmon and sweet potato fries. His appetite isn't always great but no nausea or anything. He is, unfortunately, having some mouth pain, and his lips are burning, too - but there doesn't seem to be the swelling that happened last time. By this point in the cycle last time, though, he hadn't been able to eat or drink for a couple of days - and he fell the next day and ended up in the hospital for over a month.

This time around, he's holding onto his strength a lot more, even though he does get fatigued. And he's able to eat and drink in spite of the relatively minor pain in his mouth. Not sure he is yet past the worst of that in this cycle, but he should start to get past the side effects soon. As it was explained to us initially, they expect the nadir (the worst days) to be in the week after he wears the chemo grenade, so we are still learning how that will go this time. Hopefully he'll feel much better and free from any mouth burning/pain next week.

Only to start the cycle again the week after that. Deep breath.

Last week, the worst day was Wednesday, July 26th, when he felt horrible all day. Turns out he forgot to take his usual morning medications, which didnt help. We cancelled his PT that day, and he didn't try to walk with me and Bopper. Luckily, taking his usual meds the next day, he felt much better. He was still sleeping when I took Bopper for his walk early in the morning (gets too hot to wait until later), and I let him sleep. He felt restless later on, so we all took a drive around the area, going through a local park twice:

Bopper does not like to be left alone and loves car rides!

We are seeing more trembling in his hands recently. He's been fully off that medication for about a month now, and hopefully it is helping with the dry mouth issues (we also have a humidifier going non-stop again), but the trembling can be frustrating for him. Still, all things considered, nothing too dramatic. As he puts it, he feels "achy and shaky" at times. No surprise, I suppose. Chemo is brutal to the body - bound to have some reaction.

On Friday, July 28th, Biff was up and took the walk again.

He only took one rest break: Click here to see a short video of a couple of cuties! (I could not get videos to load on the blog today after hours of trying, so links instead!)

Then we headed back to the Infusion Center to have the pump removed. Although I couldn't hang with him inside, sitting in the hall every time the door opened, we could see each other. He texted me to let me know. That's him sitting in the chair under the window.

I took this picture through the window in the door.

While I waited in the hall, a guy arrived with his dog - no dogs allowed inside the Infusion Center, but they were prepared, parking the dog in the hallway with his mat and stuffed dog toy (he was obviously used to it):

Such a good dog!

A few minutes later, the guy came back out to give him water: Click here to see short video - so sweet!

Biff and I had to wait a little extra because the Oncologist wanted to check Biff's mouth, and he was in a meeting when we arrived. Got a bit of their encounter on video: Click here to see a very short clip of doc checking Biff's mouth - before the door closed on me.

I wish I'd gone ahead and gone in for the conversation. Biff told me later the doctor said if we can't control the impact on his mouth, he may not be able to continue this treatment. Biff was left uncertain what that means exactly. The doctor ordered a prescription "magic mouthwash" that we picked up before we headed back home. It does help, and certainly the mouth problem is much reduced this time. We'll find out more about what the doctor thinks about the situation when we go in to see him tomorrow.

Biff had physical therapy the next day, and he took the walk in the morning the day after that. He continues to eat and drink pretty well. He's having some trouble sleeping at night, but his strength is holding up.

Monday, July 31st, he was pretty active. He helped me assemble a storage box we got for the pool deck out back (so I could clear "outdoor" stuff from inside the house in the ongoing project to purge and reorganize). I was so proud of both of us! It was too hot to do the work outside - hell, it was too hot to do it inside, but at least we had A/C and a fan.

Before.

After. Bopper supervised throughout.

AND... the new washer and dryer were finally installed. And I'm thrilled to announce they are working beautifully!

He had his last session of physical therapy yesterday. And we went out to lunch and then hit Menchie's for a little dessert. Very refreshing!

Tomorrow we'll find out what the Oncologist is thinking about how this cycle is going. And we finally see his new PCP on Friday - where we have a list of questions, including whether he can get more PT and if there is anything they can do to help with the shoulder, etc.

So, more news soon. In the meantime, step by step, onward and onward. The battle is engaged again, but we are better prepared this time, and it seems to be tolerable (easy for me to say). I'd say my main worry at the moment is whether his mouth will "heal" back up fast enough to do the next chemo round as scheduled... We'll see.

That, and my concerns about Bopper when he has to be left home alone. Honestly, I'm not quite sure I'm ready for a new dog just yet, but it breaks my heart to see Bopper get so upset when we both go out without him. He's dashed out the door to the car twice, refusing to come back in. We've had to let him go ahead and get in the car to catch hold of him and carry him back in the house - which kills me! And, oh man, the lecture he gives us when we get back... He's quite "verbal" when he's excited, makes some crazy sounds at times. But it's a whole new level for those "lectures' when he's been left home alone these days. So, yeah. Looking for a rescue, preferably no more than 25 lbs., 8 months to a couple years old... We've actually checked out the shelter where we got both Snookie and Bopper, but all the dogs are too big for us. I love big dog, seriously, but we can only handle so much and have to be smart about this.

Now for a funny story (although gross for some, I'm sure). Bopper often will back his butt up to a bush or something to do his poop dance. This week, he left a couple of piles in strategic spots that I just had to capture.

If you want to see, click "Read more" below. For those brave enough to face pictures of poop, there is also one other cool thing (totally unrelated to Biff or Bopper)...