Bonus Days 2 & 3 (December 14th-15th)

We had a pretty uneventful rest of our cruise.  We got back to L.A.  We were going to do a little sight seeing, have a nice dinner, then an early morning flight so we could get back to Texas and pick up the dogs.  Connie never got out of the hotel bed from noon till the next morning save for about an hour in the recliner.

The sight seeing turned out being me walking across the street to an AM/PM to buy a couple of beers, stopping at McDonald's on the way back for Nuggets and Fries.  Watched the Army/Navy game, then the President's Cup.

The flight back was uneventful to Sacramento where we picked up our connection to Austin.  The plane had started boarding when we got to the gate, so we couldn't preboard and got seated five rows from the front.

Mid flight, she had to use the restroom.  It took about 4 minutes for her to go those 5 rows.  While she was in the restroom, a couple in the front row offered to give up their seats.  "We thought we had it bad.  But after seeing her, we know there are people who have it worse."  It mirrored what we had seen the entire trip.  Nothing but kindness and offers of help (except for the driver of the Holiday Inn shuttle bus.  I got a real thoughtful "be careful" as I loaded and unloaded her wheelchair, our checked bag, my computer bag and my wife."  Thanks, Dick -- sure that was his name.  To contrast, the shuttle drivers going and coming from the Parking Spot wouldn't let me touch a thing and helped anchor my wife.  They were compensated.  Dick wasn't.  Don't be like Dick.)

She rallied for the ride back, and I thought we were going in the right direction.

Bonus Days Begin (December 12th)

We went on a 3N cruise from Long Beach that was an inaugural for the Carnival Panorama.  Connie didn't handle any part of it well.  As usual, she was a trooper, but she probably spent more time in bed than out of it.  We both lost weight.  On a cruise.  Let that sink in.

I kidded her earlier in the week, that I didn't want her going all Titanic on me.  Today, it happened.  She said she had to use the bathroom, but had no use of her legs.  I quasi carried her to the bathroom, but she couldn't hold herself up to get on the toilet.  Then, she did what she went into the bathroom for.

I got her cleaned up and carried to the couch where she gave one big inhale, then a groan.  She was gone.  Then, she came back.  It was a matter of 3-5 seconds at most.  You would think passing away at sea for a cruise addict would be romantic.  It was freaking terrifying.

We got her back into bed, and she went to sleep.  I didn't know if it was the end or just another chapter.  Having done this 3 previous times, I knew that a ship's doctor couldn't do anything.  She either needed to sleep, or she was going to pass.  If I called in the Doctor, she was going to get off loaded in Mexico.  She would NOT have been happy.  I texted my daughter.  We both made the decision to ride it out.

It was the right call in the end.  And so, every day from here forward, is a Bonus Day with my wife.

Update on Connie, part whatever

A week ago Monday (October 14th), Connie had a treatment scheduled along with a visit with the Oncologist to discuss her two scans from the previous week of her full body and her brain.

As we've talked about before, chemo only works on the disease that's below the neck.  The scans showed very little progression, not enough to be concerned.  So the chemo has been working.  In the race for cancer to gain traction on my wife's body, right now the brain has taken the lead again.

The brain scans, however, showed "significant" progression.  His opinion was that the brain needed to be evaluated and we needed to go over things with our neuro oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic.  We got a "virtual visit" scheduled with them for today, Friday, the 25th.  He gave Connie the option of going through with the treatment or waiting till we've heard from the neuro surgeon.  She chose to skip the treatment on the 14th and 21st.  Basically, while keeping the body under check is necessary, if the brain gets too far ahead, it trumps the body.

It's really no different than the position we were in this past January, or the March the year before.

Met with the Neuro surgeon today via "virtual visit", and, similar to the last time, he can't tell if it's progression of the lesion or if it's radiation necrosis from past treatments.  We're going to do a month of steroids to reduce the swelling.  After that, around the week of Thanksgiving, we'll shoot new pictures of the brain.  We'll send those to Cleveland Clinic for assessment and do another virtual visit probably in the first two weeks of December.

Got Connie back on the chemo schedule a week from Monday, so she'll be resuming those.  We appreciate all the love and support.  While I don't answer everyone, please know that we're feeling the love.

Weekend in review and week ahead

This past Wednesday, we went to our first Whacky Wednesday at the Back Porch.  Connie didn't last too long in the heat, but she hung in there. 

We went to a new bar Thursday night (Lelo's, the former Wild Horse Saloon and Grill) for the Parrotheads of Port Aransas Fourth Thursday Happy Hour and Connie was a trooper.  Liked Lelo's.  The burgers/buns were fantastic.  It was a huge turnout.

Friday was a big test for us.  I went to play golf while Connie stayed home with the girls.  She got along famously.  First time I've done that since June 4th.  Always worried in Amherst since there were so few people there during the week.  That night, I had committed to work on the food committee for the Wings Party of the PHC and I helped at the beach party, while Connie stayed back.






Saturday night, I helped on the food committee at the Gala while keeping tabs on Connie at home.  Again, she did great -- there was even a beer or two missing when I got back.

This week is going to suck for her.  Last treatment, her port couldn't be accessed (as was the case towards the end at the Cleveland Clinic), and she had to go through her arm.  Made the decision to get her port replaced.  This week she's got a treatment on Monday (through her arm again), pre-op appointment at Shoreline Hospital Tuesday, the actual procedure on Wednesday, then a brain CT for the neurosurgeon in Cleveland gets done on Thursday.

Can you have too much pumpkin?

Even though, the temperatures haven't been out of the 80's here, I've been feeling a little fall-ish.  What better way than to make some Pumpkin-y things.

Last year, I waited forever for the stores here in Texas to stock the shelves with some pumpkin cream cheese spread to put on my morning bagels.  Never happened.  So this year, I decided to make a

Bread Machine Pumpkin Yeast Bread

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk (5 ounces)
• 1 cup mashed pumpkin (or canned pumpkin puree)
• 4 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1. Add all of the ingredients according to your bread machine manufacturer's suggested order, with the default being the order listed in the ingredient list above.
   
2. Use white bread setting, light crust.  I used a 2 lb loaf.
   
3. Let your machine do its thing and enjoy the loaf when it is ready.
   
   

   

   
   

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread

 

1 package (8 oz) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened

1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

3 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

(Can’t get enough cinnamon? Add 1 teaspoon of it to the mix in addition to the pumpkin pie spice for more cinnamon flavor.)

• In large bowl, beat ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. Pour spread into serving dish.
• Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour to blend flavors.
• Serve spread with breads, crackers or apple slices. Store in refrigerator. 

  
  

  

Week 4 CFB Viewing Schedule

I completely forgot to post week 3.  For those of you hanging there, waiting for me to publish it, I apologize.

Thursday:

Houston at Tulane 7p  CT ESPN

Friday:

Main Game: 
 Utah at USC 8p CT FS1

Commercial Game: 
Air Force at Boise St.  8p CT ESPN2

Saturday:

Noon slot
Main game:
Michigan at Wisconsin 11a CT FOX

Commercial Games: 
MSU at Northwestern 11a ABC
Tennessee at Florida 11a ESPN

3:30p slot
Main game:
Miami (OH) at Ohio State 2:30p BTN

Commercial games:
Auburn at A&M 2:30p CBS
UK at Mississippi State 3:00p SECN

7:30p slot
Main game:
ND at UGA 7:00p CBS

Commercial Games
Ok. State at Texas 6:30p ABC
Oregon at Stanford 6:00p ESPN

In Bed Game:
UCLA at Wazzou 9:30p ESPN

Last stops before Port A

We pulled into Ray Roberts Lake State Park on Thursday to spend a long weekend with our friends Fred and Vickie Porter.  Mentioned them a couple of times in our blog, but haven't given the full "how we met" story.

We started full timing at the end of December, 2010.  We spent our first winter in Tucson.  In December of 2011, we decided to stay in the Coastal Bend of Texas at Sea Breeze RV Park in Portland, TX.  They advertised in the flyers they had a Happy Hour on the porch of the Clubhouse at 4p.  Connie and I went up there early with a cooler full of beer.  Nobody there.  Decided to go inside.  Nobody.  Waited till 4:15p and made the call to leave.  Here comes this couple with a cooler and a bottle of wine.  This should be interesting.  We went inside and talked, drank and laughed until 8:30p or 9 that night.  We've been hanging out together ever since.  We've met in different places around the country.  We've met their family.  They've met ours.   We've always kept in touch, and hope we do for a long time.  Really treasure their friendship.

They're currently park hosts at this State Park north of Fort Worth along I-35.

We never have to have "something to do".  Just our company and conversation is plenty. 

Our dogs get along great with their dog ("Izzy").





We turned them on to College Football a few years ago when we took them to Ole Miss and the Grove to tailgate.  Put out a spread for Saturday's RV Tailgate that included BBQ Ranch Dip (using some of the BBQ sauce from Kansas City), Salsa dip (using some of our Salsa from Sioux Falls), Crockpot Tailgate Sandwiches, Bugles Mix, and cocktail wienies.  Snacked all day, it was great.

Pulled out around 9:30a from the State Park and drove down to New Braunfels (Hill Country Cottages and RV Park).  Monday, should have about 200 miles to get to our winter home of Pioneer RV Park in Port Aransas.