Chuck Update - Adding a Second Medication

Did you know there are a lot of different doctors when dealing with cancer? There's the Skin Oncologist and the Surgical Oncologist and the Medical Oncologist... I had no idea we'd be seeing so many different people on this journey. They all talk to each other and share information and updates, and sometimes it's hard to keep them all straight.

We met with the Skin Oncologist last week and have decided to add a second medication to Chuck's treatment. The original medication has stopped the growth of the cancer but it's not shrinking it.  

The Medical Oncologist said Chuck could live with this (continuing with the original treatment) for many years but also said he was a good candidate for this new treatment. Chuck said he didn't want to live with cancer for many years, he wants it gone.

So now Chuck will go in every 6 weeks for the infusion and every 2 weeks for an injection that will go directly into the tumor. So far with just the infusions he hasn't had any side affects and he feels really good. I'm concerned that adding the second medication will cause side affects and change his quality of life. Right now the doctor is checking to make sure our insurance will pay for it and once he finds out, then Chuck will start getting the injections.

They also did a biopsy on one of the areas to see if the cancer is still there or if it's just leftover pigment. We're hoping for pigment!

Would you pray with me that adding this second medication doesn't cause any side affects? It needs to kill the cancer while allowing Chuck to go on living like he has been. Thank you!

A Few Random Things

 I'm looking through my pictures and trying to remember what I haven't told you about yet.

 Beth's boyfriend lives about 20-30 minutes from us, depending on traffic so his parents and I met half way and let the kids see each other again. It's the first time since February! We went out for lunch then the two of them walked around the mall for a while.

While we were in Denver with Chuck's sister we took a day and drove about 2 hours south to see my sister. They live in the middle of nowhere and are in the process of building a house. They're literally 22 miles off the main road and there are very few houses around them!

Then you come up to their driveway

My sister said that on a clear day they can see Pikes Peak! 

 

Beth and I took part in our church's Trunk or Treat as Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. We usually have a huge Harvest Party with about 1300 people going through the hallways and classrooms playing games, bobbing for apples and sliding down giant inflatables set up in our gym. Obviously we couldn't do that this year so we did a drive-by trunk or treat and it was so much fun! Everyone thanked us for doing it. The community was so grateful there was someplace for their kids to go that night. And we had fun doing it! There were so many cute ideas!

I hope you had a wonderful week!

Sparkle!

 I bought Beth a new mask this week.

On Sunday she came upstairs ready for church.

A perfect match!

Long Distance Celebration and a Big Ooops

We celebrated Beth and Sharaya's birthday's before we left for Denver and I ended up buying Sharaya something she already had (a membership to an art museum.) Ooops! I should have known better! She loves art! And the art museum actually contacted me to tell me she already had a membership. So they refunded my money and now I'm looking for another gift for her.

We were in Denver on Beth's actual birthday. We got a text from Diana while we were at the hotel and she wanted to have some donuts delivered for her. Beth ended up eating a donut for breakfast every day we were there! She loved it!

She turned around to show me what she got!

Here she's saying, "Thank you Chickenbutt!"

 

We went to Red Robin for dinner but they didn't sing, no candle or anything but that was okay. We all wished her a Happy Birthday and she got her sundae!

What do you do to celebrate birthdays? 

Are you low-key or a big party person?

Took The Pressure Off

Diana sent me a text today reminding me how long it's been since I've posted. I know it's been a while. I keep thinking about it. But honestly I took the pressure to post off my plate and it was so nice! I thought about the blog - and all of you - a lot but realizing it was okay not to write was so freeing. Many of you are posting about your quarantined lives and how you've slowed way down... but that's not how it is here.

I've been at work 6 out of the last 7 days. We have so many events coming up.

We have to get the Mason out here to fix our chimney. The weather is already getting cold and wet! And the gutters too! I've got to get up there and clean the gutters.

I'm trying to plan a time to go to San Diego to help my sister sort through our dads things.

Chuck has another scan this week to see how the cancer is doing. Personally I don't see good progress... but, I guess I'll wait until we get the results on Thursday.

Denver! I forgot that we were in Denver. We didn't get as much 'work' done as I thought we would. First because the girls and Chuck did so much before we went. But also we found Rose just wanted to sit and talk. I think she really misses the companionship. She lived with her mom her whole life and now mom has been in a convalescent home for many years.

But! We were able to schedule an outdoor visit! At first mom didn't want to get out of bed (she's been bedridden for a year!) but the doctor's and nurses insisted. It was only 15 minutes but it was good to hear her voice and spend time with her. That's Rose in the wheelchair.

 

At Rose's we cleared out part of the back bedroom, finished up the living room, we bought lights and hung them in the laundry room, we put a clock in her bedroom, we gathered all the receipts we could from around the house and she spent days shredding them. We'd empty the shredder and she'd start again. But mostly we sat on the couch and talked about game shows, what she likes to eat, we went through old family photos and she and Chuck relived some of their childhood. One night we were headed back to the hotel and as I was going out the back door she was still talking... I think she really enjoyed the company.

There's a lot more to tell you but I'll close for now. It's good to be back and to read about what you've been up to! Take care! 

HD, DSW, OMG

I'm not even sure where to begin. I feel bad that I'm not commenting on your blogs or even posting on mine. We leave tomorrow for Denver. We're going back to Chuck's sister's place to hopefully finish her house and all the work that Diana, Sharaya and Chuck did earlier this year. Not sure about the weather in Denver; we're basically spending every day cleaning except for two days that we're going out... so I'm really not sure how to pack. We've tried to cover all the bases!

I took Beth to DSW for new shoes. She tried on a few pair before finding some black sparkly ones.

 We took back the damaged refrigerator and brought home a better one. I say better because the second one had a scratch on the front and one broken shelf. But Home Depot gave us a discount so we were happy with that. We'll be able to order the new shelf on-line, and she just covered the scratch with a magnet. 😁 This fridge will be SO much better for her!

 

 

Tonight we're celebrating both Sharaya and Beth. Their birthdays are 2 years and 4 days apart so we usually let them choose a restaurant and then we come back here for cake and presents. 

Beth

Sharaya

I hope you're all doing well. We're into fall and headed toward all the holidays... I can't believe we're close to the end of this year! Who else is ready for it to be over?!

Shows You How Often We Go Out

The last week has been so crazy:

A family in our church had a small house fire that did a lot of damage and the house won't be livable again for about a year

A school near us went into lock down on Friday so our schools went into a partial lock down out of precaution

The mom of one of our pastors died

On Sunday I stepped into the building and was met with questions, texts, and emails: 

Can you please print this out and give it to pastor asap?

Do you know where I can find the other part to this wheel chair?

Do you know who moved the sound equipment in the Sanctuary?

There's a moth in the drum cage. Can you help?

Nothing like a quiet, holy morning to usher you into the presence of the Lord! 😇

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Today Beth and I ran some errands when I got off work. I finally mailed off my Legacy Box! Movies of my mom when she was growing up, me and my sisters at Disneyland in the 1960's... I hope to get it back before Diana and Peter come out for Christmas!

I asked Beth if she wanted to go to Starbucks and she reminded me that she had a gift card. "Maybe I buy yours too?" Well sure! Thanks Beth!

 

From there we headed to the mall to return a shirt I bought before covid. We hadn't been there in probably over a year. Wandered all around but didn't see anything we wanted so we headed over to Kohls. I bought a few face towels and 3 big bed pillows. It was fun getting those down the escalator!

Beth mentioned going to Wendy's for dinner but she wanted to eat it in the car so we drove through and listened to The Greatest Showman CD - for the second time - while we ate. 🎵And we will come back home, and we will come back home! Hoomme again!!🎵

By the time we did head home the sun was setting and she came up with a clever way to hide her eyes from the glare. 😄

We pulled into the driveway, I turned off the engine and Beth says, "That was like a road trip!"

Thankful Thursday - So Blessed

 

Time for some more gratefulness

This week finds me so thankful for:

Much needed rain

A new fireplace!

Family game night

Ordering in for dinner

 Seeing old friends

Appreciation gifts

Sunflowers

Fall

Chocolate chip cookies

My husband

My home

I pray you've had many things to be thankful for this week!

Saturday Snippets - BZZZ, Smile, Waiting

The pest control guy came out this week. I saw a few bees flying back and forth under one of our eves and when he got here we saw about 15-20 bees flying around. He said for every bee outside, there are about 10 inside. Eewww!! 

Beth bought a new refrigerator that has a separate freezer. She's kind of outgrown the small fridge / freezer she has now and was so excited when this was delivered! And then we opened it up. 

It was dented in a few places and many of the shelves were cracked and broken. We told Beth she could still use it and we would order new shelves or we could send it back and wait for a new one. Of course now this one is on back order so it's going to be a while until it comes. But she wants to wait for a new one. You can see the stainless and black one she's using now just to the right. This one is going to be so much better for her. But for now, we wait.  

 

Allie came over today and helped me paint part of the fireplace. The red area was behind our old insert and needed to be painted before they put in the new one. It'll be installed on Wednesday!

 Then we painted pumpkins. 😊

 

Beth and I went to the grocery store this week and she put in The Greatest Showman CD. We sat in the driveway listening to the end of one of the songs and she was really rocking out! I'd pull up my phone to take a picture and she'd stop moving and quietly sing. I put my phone down and she'd bop her shoulders and jam! She's so shy, this is as crazy as she gets when she's being watched!

Are you shy or are you comfortable in front of the camera? Do you always carve pumpkins or do you draw or paint on them?