Next up - Sunday Funday-ish

Hi all. Wish we had something exciting to report, but this is just a check in. Just kickin’ it like the 11th floor OG’s that we are. Other than one other couple (ironically our age), I think we are the longest residents on the floor as of right now. So there are those bragging rights. 🙋🏼‍♀ What we did find out this week is that we technically aren’t even supposed to be on this floor. Apparently we came to the BMT (bone marrow transplant) floor upon admittance bc C was in pretty bad shape (internally - looked like the flu on the outside) and then should have been transferred to a different floor once he was stable. But they liked us so much, they kept us. Or so the story goes. 🤥 Mind you, this was told to us by one of our faves so could she have just said it to make us feel good......? Naaaaahhh. I think they saw the potential in our comedic contribution and decided to give us a shot. So we are the only chemo/not yet BMT patient on the floor. C is such an overachiever. Downside - OG status comes from not leaving. They transplant and go home. And we remain. We keep being held back - we learned about Spot and Jane, we did our times tables, we know what a past participle is, we did pre-Algebra, WTH!?! We are ready for high school, damnit! 👨🏼‍🎓👊🏼

It‘s a gorgeous weekend in Dallas so we did ask for a pass to go downstairs tomorrow for a quick vitamin D soak. This hospital is a ghost town on the weekends. So bewildering to us. Packed during the week. You’d think with people at work during the week, the weekends would mean higher volumes. Think again. Sunday’s especially. It’s supposed to be 67/sunny. C needs it - first time since the Sunday of TG weekend. We will mask up, I’ll decline elevator entry if someone is foolish enough to miss my unwelcoming expression (y’all know the one😠), and we will delight in the south tower parking lot view. 😎

As mentioned in the previous post, we are doing another BM biopsy in the next few days. This will determine our next steps. I have to believe that the third time will be a charm. On paper, the last one produced significant results compared to C’s initial biopsy and labs (flow cytometry, CBC differential, cytogenetics, etc). Trust me, from where we started, we’ve made a dent! From a doctor’s perspective, we still need better results, but we are getting closer. Man, you ask cancer cells to take one for the team, and they’re like a willful child. But with enough timeouts (or spankings if you were born before 1990 ✋🏼), I’m sure they will step in line.

C is recovering remarkably fast from his brain surgery/craniotomy. We like to refer to it as “brain surgery light” since it was a subdural. I’m not sure that “light” is really the best description, but humor helps to lighten the seriousness of our daily health reel. He has a mildly detectable limp on his left side (the large hematoma was on right side so left is weakened), but it’s getting better each day. Full disclosure - he had it already from overcompensating for an ongoing nerve pinch, but with the muscle atrophy it’s a little more pronounced. Since he was less active in his days leading up to the CT discovery, he has lost a decent amount of muscle mass. So he is walking around 1 mile/day and doing his PT and OT 3x/day (3 sets,10 reps). Surgery was a week ago yesterday. So all in all, pretty great! Staples should come out next Friday 🤞🏼. He hasn’t taken any pain meds other than what was given during surgery, but he does say the staples are pretty annoying and feels like his skin is quite taut. And it’s not like there is a lot of saggy skin on one’s noggin from the start. 😬

Homeward bound, you ask? At some point. I think I might have misled y’all somehow in the last post as I have received countless congratulations about heading home. It’s an agreed upon goal on the horizon. Could be 2, 3, 4 weeks. We have no idea. Just a request we are working toward fulfilling. And frankly, just knowing it’s out there is mental therapy. 💆🏼‍♂️💆🏼‍♀️

That’s it for now! Posting a pic of C’s scar for your viewing pleasure. 😉

Hope this finds you all well,

C & A