Weekend Update 4/24

Happy Easter to all!!! We had a GREAT day and it was nice for us to take the day to worship and be with family. As many of you all know, we have been church hunting. Today we joined my Mom and Wally with them at their church. While this church wasn't the 'one', we know that the 'one' is out there and most importantly we were together on this special day. Here are a few pictures that we took... I would have taken more but the boys are not very patient these days, LOL..

Me, G-Mom and Tyler

The 3 of us

Todd and Tyler


Me and Tyler

Me and Todd

This long weekend took a toll on Todd and by Sunday I could tell he wasn't feeling all that well. He complained most of the week of feeling 'off'...not really sick but not really great either. On Friday he told me that his double vision seemed to be coming back, not sure if it was because he had pushed himself too much or if... Again on Saturday and Sunday, he noticed double vision. This scares me because last time it meant we had growth! He also complained of a headache most of Sunday and all he really wanted to do was lay around. I feel bad because there is nothing I can do for him. So...

On a positive note, all his labwork came back pretty good. He had a few levels that were a bit low but nothing that was alarming. He will have labs done again this Thursday and next Wednesday he is off for a scan. The Dr. also reminded us to becareful of our surroundings because Todd's immune system is not strong and to push him/to allow him to rest. I feel like I am coming down with some type of cold but hoping for allergies. If it is a cold, I will be summons to another part of the house and we will be on a disinfecting spree.

So there you go... we are still trucking along. I will post again next weekend after his bloodwork. Thanks for all the prayers and the well wishes. I am very thankful for our family and dear friends who continually show support.

Weekend update...

Just a quick update... Nothing too new but I have many people checking daily so I thought I would drop a few lines.

Todd had his labs done on Thursday and when they called they said all was 'looking' good. First thought... Yeah!!! Second thought... Ut Oh. Last 3 month cycle all was well and come to find out tumor had grown. Anywho, we have no choice but to trust in our doctors. He is still feeling a bit blah but not sick. So I guess as long as he is not sick, all is well.

Ty is having a sleepover tonight for his birthday and we went to the Melting Pot for his Birthday. (Tomorrow is his 11th birthday) Sorry for the bad picture but I took this from my phone. We had a great time... Todd stayed home because he wasn't feeling fabulous and he is trying to watch his diet while on chemo.

Tomorrow for Tyler's actual birthday we are going to try a new church with friends-Fountain City Presbyterian Church, lunch and then to surprise Tyler with his basketball goal. I'm sure I will take pictures of Tyler 'hooping it up."

Lastly, my Aunt Marianne passed away this week. Although I haven't seen her in years, the news was very sad. It reminded me that life is short and we need to make the most of it!!! Please add my cousin, Dianne Garofalo in your prayers as she is dealing with the loss of her mother. Also, many of you know that my mother in law, Bonnie, has been dealing with cancer for many many years. This week her tumor markers skyrocketed and within the next few weeks, she will start chemo again. Us Bloomfield's can't catch a break!!!

See you all next week sometime!!!

MRI Results and stuff

Todd had a baseline MRI last week-April 7th and Dr. Desjardins emailed to say that the tumor was stable based on the one from March 14th... Good news, I guess (always wishing for the best tho). At least she now has a baseline so they can accurately see the results at the 1 month mark.

Everyone keeps asking.. How is Todd? He is medium, as I say. He is not in horrible shape and he is not in excellent shape. :) Like I have said in previous posts, he is super tired and is off and on nauseous. He says his stomach is just 'off'. My main goal is to keep him healthy... we've been given the lecture of 'only healthy people should be around him'. Thats hard to control however anyone who is comes in to our house is going to be sanitized. The last thing we need is him to catch a cold or the stomach bug!!!

His mobility has declined. He is definitely having an issue using his arm/hand. I think he has gotten used to using one arm/hand. I push him to use it but it just doesn't work. His walking is a bit slow and he has a limp. Ty and I have to remind ourselves to slow down when he is with us. Other than that, he's trucking along.

I will have to say that I did not know how I would do with him being at home. I work 9-6 and its a long day when I don't get home until 6:30-7ish... At that point, I still have to kick into mom mode. Todd everyday musters up the energy to do some sort of cleaning-mostly downstairs so if you come over, you can't go upstairs. :) Our downstairs is pretty much company ready now. In addition, dinner is made. Nothing fancy but it's better than NOTHING. I will secretly say that I'm kinda liking him at home... shhhh.

Ty is turning 11 this weekend. I am having a hard time grasping it. The classic phrase "I can't believe my baby is turning 11" is playing over and over in my head. Are we really old enough to have an 11 year old? LOL.

We are good... Just continue to say prayers for us. Also, if I could add.. One of my friends, Christy Garrison's, mother was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer and is having a double mastectomy within the next 2 weeks and a friend of mine at work, Lindsay Seal's, Papaw died today. He was 92 years old. It sure seems that everyone around us has something going on.

Thanks everyone. Will post again when I have something to say.

Happy Birthday Todd!

Today is Todd's birthday... We have a pretty low key day planned-Church, lunch, and him sitting on the couch to watch the Masters golf tournament. Ty and I will probably just piddle around. They say its going to be close to 90 today so I'm not sure I'm going to far today.

As far as Todd's treatments go... today will be day 5. He's much more tired than last time but he really has nothing to do so he can focus on resting. I do believe this will be a long.... 28 day cycle. The wonderful part about Temodar (if there is a wonderful part, lol) is there is very little nausea associated with this pill, he battled an upset stomach on Friday but thats it. The fatigue is the biggie. He went grocery shopping with me last week (not even on the pills) and he was beat when he got back home.

I wish I had more to post but we are really quiet. We had friends over last night for a cookout. We are reminded every day about the wonderful friends/neighbors we have!!!

Tuesday's phone call

Dr. Desjardins called today to say the reviewed the scan and ..... there is no chance it can be biopsied without paralysis. Although I knew this was the case, part of us was hoping for a small miracle.

Plan B... Todd will start chemo again tonight. It will still be Temodar however it will be a 28 day dose vs a 5 day dose. Dr. has advised that Todd will be weak and tired. Temodar is typically pretty good with nausea and hair loss but we were told to expect the worst. I have the arsenal of all sorts of nausea medicine so he should be good for this go around. Dr. said that his energy level would be the pits and not to expect much out of him once the chemo was fully in his system. I know that on Saturday when we went to Krogers, he was tired after that so no telling what the next few weeks will bring. Good news is... he has nothing to do but take care of himself over the next couple of weeks! He will do a baseline scan AGAIN on Thursday for the Duke crew and then another one during the first week of May. In May, she will decide based on the scan whether to stay on plan or bump it up with another chemo concoction.

Last thing... Todd called his Oncologist in Knoxville and he spoke to the nurse. She told us that Dr. Avery has been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma... sheesh... he just started chemo as well and is getting ready for a bone marrow transplant. She told us that he hopes to be back in a few weeks however I'm guessing we need to be on the lookout for a new Oncologist. Any suggestions??? For the next few weeks, we need the nurses for blood work so all should be good.

Our roller coaster continues... We are good and don't need anything. Just continued support and prayers. Not sure when I will update again... maybe over the weekend after a few days of chemo. Thanks everyone!!!

Done at Duke

We got to Duke at 930 and appt was at 1030... I was excited because maybe we would be in and out quickly but boy was I wrong....

We finally saw the dr at 1215. We saw Dr. Desjardins and I will honestly say that I was a bit nervous since she was a young woman BUT we absolutely loved her. She is the same type of physician as Dr. Moots @ Vandy. The difference between them was night and day. She was very warm and compassionate, not that he's not compassionate but... She explained to us that without a tissue sample, biopsy, no one would be able to do any clinical trials. Which made sense after talking... However since the tumor has grown, She was going to have Alan Friedman, neuro surgeon, look at the scan to see if there is any chance to biopsy. So... She said she would call us on Tuesday after their meeting. Not really sure what outcome I want because either way could be dangerous. Guess it's not in our hands!!!

The new plan: wait until Tuesday, if it can't be biopsied then Todd will go back on temodar but an everyday dose not a 5 days/month dose. Then from there they will watch him and if needed they can add another chemo to the mix.

So all and all not a bad day... Not a great day but we have another plan! Eventually one of our plans have to work, right???!?!

Thanks to everyone who called or texted the last 24 hours... And thanks for the prayers!

At Duke... Waiting...

We made it an hour early, got checked in, have been seen by the nurse and now we are WAITING. Really not a surprise but we had wishful thinking. This time here we are at the Robert Preston Tisch Brain Tumor Center. I asked what the difference was and she said where we went last time was he surgical side and this side is he medical side... Hum...not sure I really care which side just as long as they have some sort of solution.

Todd and I are both playing on our phones while waiting. Amazing how technology has changed. Last time we were here we had flip phones, lol!

Will update as soon as I can! If you read this within the next few minutes, a quick prayer would be helpful! Thanks!!!