Sunday, Sunday....

Blingdaddy and I are home from our Iowa Road Trip.  He'd stayed home again on Friday, and went for a visit with Dr. Bayer, because he's just not been feeling well at all....lots of abdominal pain and such.  Dr. Bayer ordered another scan, which will be done on Monday night.  Hopefully, Blingdaddy can go to work tomorrow, but at this point, it's not looking like such a good possibility, as he's been running a fever tonight.  Dr. Bayer is concerned that there might be some sort of small intestine blockage going on.  Hopefully he's wrong about that.  He also seems to have changed his tune regarding what comes next.....both Blingdaddy and I are sure that when he ordered the original biopsy several weeks ago, he said that there were two different ways to go regarding the next chemo drug to try.  One would be used if the biopsy showed the tumor to have remained the same, and another would be used if the tumor (a 20% chance) had mutated back to its original form.  On our Friday visit, though, he said that if the tumor had not mutated back to its original form, the next step will be to see a doctor whose name I do not recall at the University of Chicago med center, to see if Blingdaddy would qualify for experimental treatment, or, if that is not possible, to basically beg said doctor to give him a treatment anyway, for free, on 'compassionate grounds'.  Sounds like we might need more prayers.  In any event, the scan will be done tomorrow night, and I believe Blingdaddy is scheduled to see Dr. Bayer again on Thursday for the results of the scan.  And maybe the new biopsy results will have arrived as well.....

We did have a nice visit with Tom, though.  We left Friday after the Dr. Bayer visit, and arrived in Ames around 5:00 PM.  Originally we were going to leave on Saturday morning, but Blingdaddy decided we might as well drive on Friday, so we did.  We checked into the hotel, and then I went off to get TommyBoy.  We did a bit of Target and WalMart shopping, and now The Boy is stocked with victuals for a while again.  Blingdaddy opted to stay at the hotel, and asked us to bring him back some egg drop soup, as Tom and I had decided to go the the Chinese place we like.  I have to tell you, we both had a lesson in how quickly life can change, as I nearly choked to death on a shrimp.  I will NEVER, EVER eat shrimp again.  Never.  Ever.  Slap it out of my hand if you EVER see me even THINK about putting one in my mouth.  Thank God a woman ran over and did the Heimlich on me, as I don't think the 911 call the waitress made would have summoned help quickly enough.  Poor Tom.  I only pray that he is not scarred for life, having to witness that.  All I could think was, 'Please don't let me die in front of Tom.'  Thank heavens, my prayer was answered, and the shrimp made its way back out of my airway. :)  And that is all I'm going to say about that.

Tom is now the proud owner of a comfy chair in his room, as there was really nothing to sit on save his desk chair.  When the bed is lofted nearly six feet off the floor, clambering up there to study is not really an option.  The chair folds flat, so it should be pretty easy to take home in the spring.  It's kind of furry and very cozy.  Tom's roommate brought a loveseat, but as it's on Brian's side of the room, Tom has not felt that he could ever sit on it.  And Brian is a bit of a messy boy.  Well, I'm just being nice.  He's a huge slob.  Poor Tom has to look at a very nasty other side of the room.  But oh, well, could be worse! ;)  

Jon McLaughlin is coming to ISU on Thursday night, and Katie is driving to go to the concert with Tom.  Should be a good night, I think. :)  And closer to Katie's birthday, Bill Cosby is coming to campus, so Tom bought tickets as a birthday gift.  Katie just loves Bill Cosby, so it should be another good night. :)

The weather was glorious, with not even a hint of the rain that was supposed to appear.  I don't know why I love the fall so much, as it is the time of the year that the family is plagued by Allergies From Hell, and all around us, things are withering up and turning brown, but I still love Autumn. :)  And I always will.

Julie's Chicago visit is nearly here!  Two weeks from now, we will be getting to spend time with Julie, Scott, Hunter, and Stella!  Yay!

Hoping to hear from Kelly tomorrow about the wedding on Saturday.  Matt was Best man for his friend Tony.  

Also hoping that Matt's back is not bothering him from the rear-ending he received last week.  

I am looking at the moon right now.  It's a lovely spot in the night sky, and tonight, I actually am seeing two eyes, a well-defined nose, and a smiling mouth!!! OMG, really!  I've never, ever seen the moon look the way it does tonight!  It's almost a Mona Lisa moon.

Not the Best Day...

So Blingdaddy had his new biopsy today - turns out that not enough tissue was taken last time.  All went well this time, but he's been quite groggy today since we got home at 1:30 this afternoon.  He must go to work tomorrow, as boss Jack was nasty over the phone yesterday about his missing so much work.  Hopefully he gets a reeeeeally good night's sleep tonight so that he's snappy at work tomorrow. :)

Poor Matt was rear-ended today on his way to work!  Aimee said it happened in Geneva, but didn't know anything else when we talked.  She said the car was driveable, but that Matt's back was already hurting!  When does it end?????

Just chatted with TommyBoy.  Did I tell you all yesterday that we discovered last night that the Carlson boy from down the block is also at Iowa State?  Small world. He's studying Construction Engineering.  Isn't that what Matt's brother's degree is in?  For some reason, that major is sounding familiar to me.

In any event, Tom's excited about our visit this weekend, as he wants his classical guitar, as well as a trip to the grocery store. :)  I KNEW we were good for something!  We also talked about the Jon McLaughlin concert he's going to a week from today!  Isn't it neat that Jon M is visiting Iowa State?  Katie is coming to the concert, too.  Bonus. :)

Update......

So, some of you may know that Blingdaddy was supposed to meet with Dr. Bayer tomorrow morning to hear the results of the biopsy taken two weeks ago to see whether 'the tumor' had mutated back to its original form, thus leading the way to a different chemo regime.  Imagine our surprise when the phone rang a few minutes ago and it was the hospital calling to schedule ANOTHER biopsy for tomorrow morning.  No explanation given, other than "Dr. Bayer is aware of this".....so we are guessing: a.  biopsy was contaminated; b. biopsy was taken of wrong tissue; c. biopsy was lost somewhere; or d.  biopsy was abducted by alien life forms.  Whatever the case, Blingdaddy is NOT happy about having to have another biopsy in the morning, waiting an additional two weeks to hear the results, and suspending chemo for what will be more than a month's time!

And the beat goes on......

Apologies.....

I do feel quite awful about having ignored my poor little blog here for so long, and am going to try to report in more often.  It's fun to write about the comings and goings of our wonderful family, and equally important, I think, to have this as a record of our lives for future reference.  To that end, I hope that writing will just be oozing out of my pores (okay, not the nicest image...) and that every little thing will be detailed here on these pages. :)  Aren't you just so looking forward to that?  Thought so!

In case anyone is wanting to send a package to our College Student, here's the address, as given to me by TommyBoy himself:

3429 Friley Spinney
Ames, Iowa 50012

I know that he would probably get a kick out of receiving a package or two, and since I am notoriously bad at sending things, maybe the rest of you would like to step up to the bat! ;)

Speaking of College Boy, my cellphone rang last night at 11:45 PM, and, when my little heart stopped pounding at the thought of some horrible calamity making itself known in the (nearly) middle of the night, I answered it, only to find my dear son on the other end, wanting to know if leaving jelly out of the refrigerator for an hour and a half would necessitate tossing said jelly in to the trash!  Whew!  Easy One! :)  I LOVE when that happens!

And I am happy to report that BlingDaddy is going to give golfing a try tomorrow morning with Miss A and Mr. M, and possibly Mr. P as well, if he is not going for a visit to Bad Dad..........in any event, it is really happy news, and I am hoping the day goes well.  I will be spending the time with Miss J, which is always a treat.

Kelly and Matt are expecting weekend guests from Champaign, and are looking forward to a wedding the following weekend.  Kelly reports that Matt did a splendid job of sorting things in the apartment when she had a few long days at school, and she can now actually COOK something in the kitchen!  BlingDaddy and I saw said apartment recently, and it's very nice, if a tad smaller than perfect.  It's neat for them to have a fireplace, although Matt discovered that said fireplace was the source of their air-conditioning 'problem'!  The apartment air conditioning did not appear to be working at all, as Kelly told me that it got to be nearly 90 degrees in the place recently, and the 'repair men' in the complex said that everything was working exactly as it should be.  Matt solved the mystery when he discovered that some PREVIOUS TENANT left the flue of the fireplace OPEN, and all of the hot air was coming in from the outside through that avenue!  Yikes!  

We had a visit from Miss KK recently, when she stopped by with a tube of 'itch cream' lent to her by BlingDaddy.  She thinks that she had a case of poison ivy, but I'm thinking it was good old chigger bites, as I think that poison ivy would have been more widespread and not so neatly shaped, but who knows?  The good thing is that the itching is finally gone, vanquished by the wonders of pharmaceutical research. :)

Speaking of pharmaceutical research, I spoke with Aunt Corinne today, and she is going to have her first chemo treatment on Tuesday.  She might be undergoing some sort of experimental hormone treatment as well as the more traditional chemo, as she consulted with doctors at the University of Chicago who recommended it.  It was good to talk with her and hear that she has things under control and is beginning treatment.  I had written an email to her this morning, as I was not sure if she'd want to talk about all of this yet again, and she called me immediately upon receiving the message.  She will be having her treatments at Edwards, even though the treatments will be ones recommended by U of C, which is nice.  I guess that Uncle Ken was a bit concerned about having to go into the city for each treatment.  Heaven knows, it is NOT fun to drive into the city all of the time!  So all appears to be under control, and hopefully a year from now we can all say that this is firmly behind them.  

On a happier note, Payton says he really likes his teacher, and Josie also seems to be loving preschool as well.  I saw a darling picture on FB of Hunter holding up his 'first day of preschool' sign, and he looked pretty jolly, so I'm guessing all is well in Boston, too! :)

Speaking of Boston, I just had a call from Grandma M, and she and Auntie Renee are about five miles from Tom and Ashley's right now (3:35 PM on Friday), so that's good.  She's going to give Julie a call as well, and they will all be spending some time together this weekend.  I believe that Grandma and Auntie are going to have dinner at Julie and Scott's on Saturday, but I'm not sure if Tom and Ashley and Shane will be there as well.  Sometimes details get lost in translation! ;)

Next weekend, BlingDaddy and I will be travelling to Ames to visit TommyBoy.  We were going to go tomorrow, but there is a HUGE football game this weekend in Ames (I guess Iowa State and University of Iowa kind of have a rivalry going....hahaha) and there was not a hotel room to be had.  Kate is going to visit Tom instead - no need for hotel room.  

Tom reports that he and his roommate are getting along quite well, and the food has been better ever since the Almond Milk Incident several weekends ago.  Now, if only he didn't have to worry about getting good grades, Tom might actually be having a bit of fun in his first semester as College Boy!

Last weekend, BlingDaddy helped Auntie Renee buy a baby grand piano!  She should have it in a few weeks, and she's looking forward to hosting future holiday gatherings and having lots of music in the house.  Her place looks wonderful with all of the horrible wallpaper removed and gorgeous colors on the walls, and she is loving every single second of her retirement.  May we all be so lucky as to do the same one day!

TTFN!

Happy Birthday, BlingDaddy!

Well, a bit belated, but today most of the family enjoyed a birthday dinner for BlingDaddy at El Taco Grande in Batavia.  Josie was napping and had a bit of a difficult time waking up for the event, but eventually she perked up to eat some beans and rice, and a good time was had by all. :)

Payton and Aimee told us all about their wonderful adventure last night attending the Bruno Mars concert at the United Center!  What a surprise for him to be treated to this by Aimee and Matt.

Kelly talked a little about an apartment she and Matt found today, which might very well be their new residence for the coming year, as well as mentioning the date of her next surgery - August 12th.  She will be undergoing an hour-long procedure to remove the pin, wire, and suture that might be the cause of her continued wrist pain.

And on the topic of surgery, Josie will be having her tonsils and adenoids removed on July 27th.....no, wait, that is a Saturday....guess I have the date wrong....stay tuned for a corrected version!

And I, Blingmama, will be having a tooth extracted some time in the coming week - unfortunately a back molar cracked vertically and, according to the dentist, cannot be saved.  Looks like I might be trying out the oral surgeon so that Kelly and Tom can follow in my footsteps - maybe Kate as well - as I believe they all need to have their wisdom teeth removed!

The April Fool

Well, April Fool's Day was on Monday, but yesterday kind of felt like it might have been playing a joke on us.....not a funny one, of course!

Blingdaddy arrived at the oncologist's office all ready to begin his new IV chemo, and after only a few minutes of having the meds flowing into his port, suddenly realized that something was amiss.  Thankfully, chemo nurse Ted figured out immediately that the port had 'blown' and stopped the meds flowing.  Blingdaddy had to have the rest of the initial part of the treatment through an IV in his arm, and Dr. Bayer made sure that a surgeon was standing by so that Blingdaddy could have the port 'tested' (which consisted of  shooting IVP dye through the thing and looking at the live X-ray to see what was wrong) and repaired/replaced soon afterward.

Happily, the entire port did not have to be replaced.  There were two problems with it, though.  One of the catheter tubes was crimped, and another was crimped and had sprung a leak.  Both parts were repaired in short order, and I am VERY happy to report that Blingdaddy is feeling great today.  The pains that he'd been experiencing the past month or so appear to have abated, and he is truly feeling better than he's felt in months.  It's wonderful to see a smile on his face again.

In other news, it is not long before Hunter turns three!  I still remember the wonderful time we all had in Boston celebrating his first birthday two years ago, and can't believe it's been that long!

TommyBoy will be appearing in at least one act of the Geneva High School talent show (or whatever it is called....maybe not that exactly!) with the Jazz Band, and, hopefully, Mrs. Curtis will see fit to include him in something else.  Not entirely hopeful, though, as he auditioned last year for several different spots and did not make the cut.  It would be nice for his senior year, though, so fingers crossed!

The grass outside is still brown, but we did get to see lots of nice greenery last week in and on our way to Florida!  Yippee!!! Spring is coming!  Okay, it's already here, but what I meant was that GREEN is coming!  :)

Happy Thursday!

Well, it's sunny today, and that's a happy thing!  The frost has disappeared...I wonder if that means it's warmer than it was yesterday?  BlingDaddy has told me that it's only going to be five degrees tomorrow, but perhaps it's not quite at that level today.......

I know that there was something I was bursting to tell you all, which is why I started this post, but now I cannot for the life of me recall what it was........

So I will tell you this:  yesterday TommyBoy had his most difficult finals, which included Psychology and Physics,  and I am happy to tell you that he will be receiving all A's this semester, except for Physics, which will be a B.  Of course, it's Physics, and he's thrilled to be getting a B in that class, since on the first day of the class, the teacher told the kids that they should feel good about receiving a C in the class, as even though C is considered 'average', in Physics, 'average' is doing well.

On other fronts, Kelly has told me that Matt's found a new apartment building going up about two minutes from Kelly's schools, and it is likely that she and Matt will be re-locating to Orland when their current lease is up, barring her finding a job closer to St. Charles.  Of course, while I will be sad to have them so 'far' away, I will be sooo relieved to have her not having to drive two hours a day on the horrible roads to get to and from work.

I am hoping that no other Kauffman family member has come down with what Hunter had recently, as one person vomiting is enough vomiting to last an entire year, IMO.  Why, oh why can't vomit smell like peaches or something yummy like that?  A Question for the Ages.....

TommyBoy will be traveling to Disney at the end of February with the Wind Symphony...or is it the Marching Band?  Probably Marching Band.  In any event, BlingDaddy is toying with the idea of a short trip to Orlando to see the band perform there.......not sure about that.  TommyBoy will leave the Monday after Miss Stella's Birthday Bash here the weekend of the 22nd, but the performance is later in the week.  We shall see.

We are all so excited about Stella's first birthday party!!!!  What a great idea Miss Julie had to hold it in St. Charles so that everyone here could attend.  I know that Grandma Lois is practically peeing in her pants over it. :)

BlingDaddy had been holding his own on the Stivarga, but today has had some very bad blisters break out on his feet.  He did go to work, but he needed to take a cab from the train station rather than his usual bus, as the line for the bus was just too long for him to stand in.  The bad thing is that even once he's in the office, just getting from the elevators to his office, or from his office to the men's room involves quite a long walk, as the Company Which Shall Not Be Named occupies an entire city block for each floor.  Hopefully his feet will get a chance to recover over the weekend.  He's come to the conclusion that walking is what aggravates the feet, and that if he could sit around with his feet up, and not have to walk much, the blisters would not appear.  Oh, to be a Trust Fund Baby!