Michelle grabbed the bull by the balls this week. 2 successful surgeries, 2 MRIs, poking and prodding for labs, an appointment with the neurologist and a spinal tap. That’s enough to put a lot of people in a loony bin, Michelle took it head on. Each day she was tired but mentally strong, weak but not weary. 4 of the past 7 days were filled with appointments, some days she had multiple doctors demanding her attention.
The results of the MRIs were not as good as we wanted. There was another new cancer “spot” in the brain. The neurologist wasn’t sure if this was something that went undetected because it was microscopic or if it is truly new. It is something she wants to keep an eye on. There have been some other areas that have shown growth in the brain. The lumbar MRI appeared to be unchanged. Dr. Gosling has ordered another brain MRI in 6 weeks instead of waiting 12 and this is when she will see Michelle again.
The
chemotherapy is definitely showing wear and tear on Michelle. She needs
assistance walking significant distances. She gets tired quickly and sleeps a
lot. She has exercises and stretches she does while not being mobile that help
with her strength. Her brain is telling her she can, when she does, she gets
tired quickly, then takes a break.
Highlight
of the week Michelle has had a rough time getting around lately. We
have been using her wheelchair more often than not, it stays in the car instead
of the garage like it used to. This week she was throwing away a dead flower
arrangement that was on the counter. Instead of throwing them in the trash, she
decided to take them outside and throw them in the pasture. I talked her into
letting me walk with her and we used the driveway instead of the bumpy pasture.
It’s very difficult to describe how this small feat was such a big highlight.
Random
Fact of the Week The “Rocky Mountain Oyster” is a bit of misdirection, as the
delicacy is actually not an oyster at all, but testicles from sheep, bulls, or
pigs that can be prepared in a variety of ways. (Breaded and fried might be the
most popular.) Why the oysters label? Because testicles are rather slimy when
raw. And probably don't sound as tempting when written on a menu. Many of you
know that Bruce’s Bar in Severance, Colorado has carved out a niche as the
premier place to try a plate. Michelle’s mom lives about 10 minutes away from
Bruce’s bar.
Did
you know? Michelle doesn’t
like Sushi. She loves fish and seafood but does not care for Sushi. After
digging deeper, I learned that this was not a taste thing for her. The pieces
are too big for her to eat, and it is difficult to cut.
Throwback Love Story From 2002 through 2005, Michelle and I lived in the Austin city limits. The raised ranch house was not too close to downtown. The house was built in the late 70’s so we were always doing upgrades it seemed. I added a storage area onto the back of the garage that we used for Christmas decorations and other things you might store in the attic but hate going up there to get. I also removed 2 tall evergreen bushes that grew 20 foot tall. They completely masked the view of the front windows and were starting to mask the view of our bedroom windows upstairs as well. I replaced the bushes with a concrete pad we used as a patio to enjoy cool evenings when we had them. This really brightened the living room up a lot. Michelle learned how to install laminate flooring at this house. I remember us working together on this flooring project and at some point, at the beginning Michelle saying “Ok look, this is not going to work. This is NOT going to be a 2-person job, so one of us must sit this one out” Hearing the passion in her voice, I knew what this meant. She did great! We also remodeled our kitchen. Michelle taught me how to tile floors at this house. She never ceases to amaze me.
After all these upgrades, one sticks out. The master bathroom remodel. We never take baths and have always wanted a walk-in shower. Knowing we could handle this job together; Michelle and I were aggressive with our approach. We tore out the tub and stripped everything down to the studs. We took all the cabinets out and removed the toilet. Starting now with a shell, we slowly pieced together our dream bathroom. One Sunday night, I almost burned the house down, trying to sweat a pipe in the attic leading into the bathroom’s soon to be shower. Needing a copper water fitting 5 minutes AFTER closing time, I snuck in the out door at Lowes, so we could get the water turned back on that night. No showers for the pre-teens before school could prove to be disastrous.
Getting the
shower pan perfect was the hardest part of the walk-in shower project. Of
course, I left this to Michelle. She did an absolute perfect job
– both times. Forming the shower pan with concrete takes patience and great
attention to detail. After 45 minutes of the perfectionist working, she finally
got it perfect. Now it was my turn. I needed to get the electricity wired
properly. The outlet was inside the shower area, so I was reaching around,
squeezing wire nuts together, methodically working my electrical magic. One
last thing to check I thought, let me look quick and “SPALT” size 10 footprint right
in the concrete pan. My heart sank. My face turned red, and I
could feel my body temperature rise. I stood there for a second not
believing what I just did. Michelle was not in the room at the time. I slowly
removed my shoe, hoping the concrete would magically move back into place. It
didn’t. I tried to cover up my mistake. I couldn’t. “MICHELLE” “Yea, um, you
know how great of a job you did on that shower pan? Do you think you could do
it again?” I slept on the couch for a week after that. Everything turned out
okay, but it was never as good as the first time. I never heard the end of it
either.
Deep
Thoughts If you had to give a speech
detailing all the knowledge you have right now about cancer, how long do you
think the speech would be? What would you say? Could you inspire change in “Big
Pharma”? There is a shortage in chemotherapy drugs right now and Michelle's
treatment was recently changed from carboplatin to cisplatin. We were told the
companies that make the drugs do not make a profit on them. Who cares about the
cancer patients, right?
Cowbell
Daytime “Big Brother” (Paramount +), “The
Challenge” (HULU), “Halloween Baking Championship” (Food Network), “The
Rookie” (HULU), “Farm Life”
Primetime
Heifers “The Challenging” (Apple TV) 4 out of 5 (★★★★) Michelle stars. Apollo and Emma's love story
is a fairy tale, until Emma mysteriously vanishes; bereft, Apollo finds himself
on a death-defying odyssey through a New York City he didn't know existed.
“The
Rental” (Netflix) 2 out of 5 (★★)
Michelle stars. Two couples on an oceanside getaway grow suspicious that the
host of their seemingly perfect rental house may be spying on them. Before
long, what should have been a celebratory weekend trip turns into something far
more sinister.
“Jessica Jones” (Disney +), “Bad Sisters” (Apple TV), “The Unit” (Hulu), “Volleyball” (YouTube TV), “NFL Football” (Multiple Channels)
“Rocky Mountain Café”
The Menu
Delightful Starters
Dark Chocolate Bars
Fruit Slices
Mint Cookies
Kahoonas
Teriyaki
Chicken
Honey
Garlic Chicken
Casa Garcia
Chicken Enchiladas
Jambalaya
Chicken and
Rice
Fried
Shrimp
Pizza
Mixes
French
Fries
Green Beans
Veggie Mix
Cottage
Cheese Parfait
Fried Corn
Mac and
Cheese
Munchies
Cookie
Dough Blizzard
Ice Cream
Fluids
Gatorade
Water
Love you,
Brian
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