When you put your friends off long enough....

Lately, Brian has begun to have a few more issues. He is having some memory lapses. He doesn't remember things that have happened in the last couple of days. Then the next day he remembers them and doesn't remember that he didn't remember them and then it all happens again. He has little to no appetite and has been vomiting some more. He is incredibly sleepy. He has almost no energy. He has been having an issue with his hearing in the left ear (side of the tumor) where he will suddenly hear a strange noise, all other noises sound tunnel-like and then he doesn't remember that it happened a few moments later. I am assuming this is seizure-ish activity, but I can't be sure. Are these things related to chemo or are they as a result of cancer progression? We have no idea. He goes back in for the next dose of Avastin on Monday. He has an MRI on Feb 2 with results given to us by the surgeon on Feb 3. He is scheduled for chemo again on Feb 9. We will see how it all goes in the next few weeks.

So things are getting somewhat harder around here. Brian is kind of out of it more. He is walking with a cane, so he lost his only free hand making it difficult to do much of anything around the house, not that he was able to do much anyway. We have had extreme cold and more and more snow, so getting around town is complicated, too.

Also, we are having issues with radiology insurance claims from over a year ago. I have been on the phone a lot trying to handle that. I am now trying to appeal to the radiology practice itself to reduce the claims to a reasonable and customary amount so we can just pay them out of pocket since they have been denied by insurance despite our constant appeals. This one is very frustrating to us. We did not order the tests. They were ordered by specialists in the field. Brian just endured the tests. To have them denied for a reason of "unproven" is beyond frustrating. We would have assumed that if they were ordered by professionals who treat brain tumors for a living they would be "proven." Regardless, I am tired of fighting. I give up. I just pray we can get the amount reduced.

Grant was sick yesterday with a stomach bug. He is fine today.

Many of my friends have asked what they can do. Nothing yet. I really have meant it. Just support and love and company. I DID finally ask a friend to come over and help me clean my house tomorrow. So, today, I have to pick up and organize so they can help me clean, dust, vacuum, empty bedroom garbage, etc. I do need that help. But, mostly, I don't even know what it is that I could use help with.

So, today, at my church Mom's group, my table surprised me with some things. First, one girl came in and said she had dinner for me.

bbq pulled pork on buns, healthy chips and Caribbean Cole Slaw.

Then another girl came in and said she had something for me in her car.

Chicken and Rice with Hawaiian Rolls.

Then another girl asked me when I was leaving because she had a frozen dinner for me in her car.

Lasagna with salad and French Bread

Then one more girl asked me when I was leaving because she had just a "few" breakfast items for me in her car to help with the mornings.

blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, bagels, 30 small boxes of cereal, 24 cookies, 15 double packages of muffins, 12 breakfast biscuit sandwiches, 10 coffee cakes, 6 English muffins, 6 bagels, 1 bottle of wine, and a partridge in a pear tree (only not really.)

My favorite part: the bottle of wine since the theme of these "few" items is to help with the mornings. Now, THAT is a good friend!

Aren't these girls beautiful? Inside and Out?

KEEP BELIEVING