Tough as Spider Silk

 Michelle had been as tough as spider silk this week. Because of the nationwide shortage of the chemotherapy drugs, the oncologist substituted Michelle’s regiment with a similar more accessible drug and adjusted the dosages appropriately. Michelle was in the office for 6 hours on day one. There were pump issues and more medicine with this regiment. There was nobody left in the infusion seats when we left that day, so it was very late. Day two went well and the infusion only lasted 2 hours which is typical for day two. Michelle started feeling nauseous around dinner time. I gave her some anti-nausea medicine with hopes it would disappear. Unfortunately, the nausea did not subside, and she went to bed feeling nauseous. I gave her some stronger meds and some a THC gummy hoping this would settle her tummy. She woke up several times to use the restroom that evening. Each time she said her nausea had gone away. This was a relief; I was afraid the nausea would persist. On her 3rd and final infusion day, they gave her additional anti-nausea meds through her port as well as additional fluids. The oncologist ordered a bag of IV fluids to close out the week, so she spent 4 of the 5 days at the doctor’s office this week. “I’m feeling great” she said when we took the elevator up to get the IV fluids. She is one tough cookie. I read her this week’s deep thoughts below and she cried. Happy yet fearful tears.

Highlight of the week This week’s highlight was a trip to Hobby Lobby followed by dinner at Chuy’s. We walked around Hobby Lobby for about 30 minutes looking for the right craft piece for a Christmas project we are doing for one of our grandchildren. When we got done shopping, we decided we worked up a hunger for some TexMex. We have not eaten at Chuy’s in well over a year, so it hit the spot!

Random Fact of the Week Spider silk is a wonder material that, weight for weight, is stronger than steel, tougher than Kevlar and can be more elastic than rubber. It's also flexible and antimicrobial. Scientists have used silk to make bulletproof armor, violin strings, medical bandages, optical fiber cables and even extravagant clothing.

Did you know?  Michelle worked as an admin for a Lutheran church after she retired. She was bored and wanted to pay her car off with money she earned.

Throwback Love Story I am going back to the Panama City trip in 2010 for this one.  We went to the rental car desk to return the keys and waited behind some lady telling the rental car employee about her cats, her dogs, where she lives, alligators and who knows what else. 30 minutes later and it is finally my turn. The rental agreement was wrong, so this had to be fixed. We head off to the Southwest ticket counter with a case of wine, 2 suitcases and a cooler with some freshly caught Red Snapper. We bought some bubble wrap for the wine and put that in our luggage. I thought I could have just used the bubble wrap and tape the box shut, but the airlines did not like that idea. We found room in our suitcases. We decided to carry the fish on. We were issued our tickets and off to our next obstacle, security.  TSA spent more time checking our IDs than it takes you to finish one of Brian Luck's stories. I felt a light tap on my shoulder and heard, "Sir, please step over to our secure area here, you have been randomly selected to be screened". Knowing we were cutting it close, I screamed out to Michelle “go catch the flight, I will meet you there shortly.” Michelle smiled and softly said, "as soon as I get done with this body search". She always gets searched when she wears her summer dresses. "Sir, is this your cooler?" I hear another man say. I was frisked and after a quick inspection I figured I would lose my fish for sure, this time to a bigger Dolphin that was in the Gulf (True but different story, no time to explain right now).

Michelle finishes well before me and has already boarded the plane by the time I get to the gate. "Hurry sir, they are about to shut the doors" was the last thing I heard before feeling the relief of boarding the plane. Not too unusual in today's times, the plane was completely full. I saw Michelle as I boarded and she mouthed, "no available seats next to each other, sorry". I asked the steward if there was any room in the overhead bins, he checked for me. We found some room, so I hiked up the suitcase and was unsuccessful in my attempts to make it fit. The steward suggested removing the contents of a bulging pocket on the outside of the suitcase. Liking the idea, I unzipped the pocket of the suitcase while it rested half in and half out of the bin. I grabbed the miscellaneous clothes from the pocket and out came bright red lacy panties, which fell on the poor soul sitting below the bin I was working on. Being the last person on the plane and the only passenger still standing, all eyes were on me when this happened. The steward stared blankly at me then said, "Wow, we know what's under your jeans don't we!" The entire plane roared in laughter. Ready to sit down immediately, I looked for an open seat, but I didn't see any.  I finally found a middle seat between 2 large men hogging the arm rests. Wishing it was tomorrow, yesterday or any time but now, I was happy that Michelle was comfortable and smiling, that is all that mattered to me.

Deep Thoughts We continue our journey and I learn how important it is to stop questioning why this is all happening. We are living for today with hope for tomorrow. Michelle always wins at rummy. Right now, she was dealt a crummy hand of rummy, only Michelle knows how to play out a poor hand well and win.

Spidey Daytime TV “The Rookie” (HULU), “The Lincoln Lawyer” (Netflix)

Web Primetime TV “Special Ops: Lioness” (Paramount +) Joe attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA's spear in the war on terror; the Lioness Program enlists Cruz to operate undercover alongside Joe among the power brokers of State terrorism.

“The Unit” (HULU), “The Cube” (YouTube TV)

“Joe Pickett” (Paramount +) We started season 2 over. Michelle forgot what happened in the first 2 episodes and we forgot to get back to watching the show.

“America’s Got Talent” (YouTube TV)

“Spiderweb Obsidian”

The Menu

Crystal Starters

Dark Chocolate Bars

Assorted Fruit Slices

The Grounding

Salmon Teriyaki

Dirty Rice

Filet Mignon

Fried Shrimp

Sloppy Joes

Chicken Fajitas

BBQ Chicken

 The Side Balance

Carrots

Peas

Tots

Potatoes

Final Healing

Ice Cream

Cookie Dough Blizzard

Mint Cookies

Dranks

Lemonade

Water

Fruit Juice

 

Love you

Brian

www.SpidersDecorateTheirWebs-ForReal.edu