Travel Plans

Hello Everyone - Jaime here.
Wanted to update you on the current plans to relocate our boy back to his family in Missouri. Chester will fly back this Tuesday, October 3, accompanied by the wonderful Bean, who's flying down from Seattle on Saturday in order to travel with and settle him into his new surroundings. Chester will be living with his brother Dan and wife Nancy while the family oversees the building of his permanent living space close to the house.
As you can imagine, the pace here has picked up - what with packing, visiting doctors for a check-in before his departure, refilling Rx's for the transition time...
We (Chrys, Chester and I) had a final visit with his neuro-surgeon, Dr. Tang, this past Friday, as we wanted his input re: the latest MRI. Sadly, he concurred completely with Dr. Chang - that the tumor has indeed doubled in growth and is now compressing most of the healthy tissue in the brain, which has resulted in a growing inability to speak without great effort, as well as a decrease in his motor functions. Dr Tang also gave a "3-6 month window" - and recommended that Chester seriously consider one of the alternate chemotherapies (though there is no guarantee that any will be more than 50% effective and all of which carry a great risk of depleting his current state of ability with deleterious side effects). While this may buy him some more time, the risk of losing his current "quality of life" is quite great - so the decision is a weighty one.
It is for this reason - second only to his lack of companion care - that we decided to relocate him to Missouri more quickly than we'd originally planned. His doctors feel that - should he want to give another chemotherapy a try - it needs to be done immediately, and in a place where he is "settled" enough to endure whatever side effects may occur.
So, we have six days left of California time.
Chester wants to spend some of that time visiting some of his favorite places for a last look-see and I've asked him to put together a list for this.
He has also asked that he not be inundated with requests for a "final visit or phone call" from friends and well-wishers. "They've had time. It's too late now," he's said - as visitors and speaking, no matter how well-intentioned, deplete his energy quickly, which he needs now to bear up under the strain of packing and relocating.
Emails, however, are most welcome.
My personal request is for all of you reading this to support Chester and his team again energetically during these next few weeks. Just as you all contributed mightily to his successful (outstanding!) recovery from his initial surgery, we need your loving, supportive web of intention for this next phase. Please pray that things move as smoothly as possible. (I'm already seeing the results of this, but never take it for granted. "Angels on Our Shoulder" has been our motto throughout this past year, and we need now, more than ever, for that maxim to continue!)
On that note, I'll sign off and head over to the loft - where we're sorting, packing, stuffing, boxing, consigning, bequeathing, and just generally getting down to essentials for the move.
A million thanks, in advance, from everyone on Chester's Calfornia Team...

Reality Bites!

As you might expect from the title, Chester got some bad news from his neuro-oncologist at UCSF yesterday. Dr Chang compared the MRI done last week with the previous one (done last June) and found that his brain tumor has doubled in size and is making new inroads into healthy tissue, despite two rounds of chemo inbetween.
Unfortunately, this is not particularly unexpected - my own reading on the subject revealed that the Temodar has an efficacy average of 7 months, so Chester has - again - beat the odds as far as timing goes, but has also "hit the wall" as far as it controlling the tumor growth.
The worse news is that medicine has very little to offer him now. There are two further chemo possibilities, but both have serious side-effects and both have been shown to be less than 50% effective in combatting the cancer. As Dr Chang said, his decision now is whether to opt for quality of life in the time remaining by doing nothing and letting the disease run its course, or to chance the other chemotherapies and (most likely) lose quality while buying a bit of time in a further depleted state.
So our Cheeky One has to weigh these factors and make his choice.
Please be aware that he has asked that you do NOT try to advise him in this matter. It is fully HIS decision and we all need to respect whatever that choice will be.
As you can imagine, this has thrown our plans of relocation to Missouri into an even bigger tornado than the one that was forming prior to the appointment yesterday. We'd set a target date of October 15 to send him back (even though his new home won't be ready for another 8-12 weeks), but Dr Chang has recommended that he go even sooner in order to accomodate his choice (connect with a new Oncologist who can provide the chemo or connect with a local Hospice to provide support and palliative care to keep him comfortable until he passes).
Sister Dawn has scoped out handicapped-friendly apartments for him to occupy in the interim and we are waiting until Monday (when she views 2 more choices) to make that decision. The family wants to go ahead with the new permanent home on the farm site regardless of how much time he has left, which is good since we are already $3000 into it and would lose that down payment were we to cancel the deal.
However, we are operating under the assumption of a sooner departure to Missouri, no matter what decisions are made as to his treatment or living space. He wants to return home where his family can care for him since we're no longer able to provide companionship for him here in California. (And THANK YOU to those of you who did that work - you'll never know what a contribution you've made!)
So there you have it. The clock is ticking more deliberately now and it's our job to make sure his remaining days are as optimal and comfortable as we can make him.
Please send your prayers and energy his way as we try to make these final weeks move smoothly. Keep in mind that he needs your support now in a most crucial way - and does NOT need to hear about your pain/heartache/disappointment at his status. He needs every bit of energy for himself as he readies for this final test of his mettle.
Just LOVE HIM unconditionally. It's the most any of us can ask. xox Jaime

Birthday Pic and Relocation Plans

Hello everyone - Jaime here.
The California Team of care-givers for our favorite Upstart met this afternoon for a conference call with Chester's sister, Dawn, to gauge the progress of Chester's relocation.
Because we have no more companions after October 15, Chester will be moving back to Holden, Missouri as of that date. His housing on the family farm will not be completed by then, so Dawn is looking into handicapped-friendly apartment units in town in which to install Chester until his place on the farm is completed (we're hoping by mid-November or early December). This struck us as the most easily accomplished of our limited options (nursing home here). Cross your collective fingers that she'll be able to find an appropriate landing place for the Cheeky One.
This will also be your last opportunity to visit with Chester in California - so if you've been holding out for a visit, please step up and let us know. We have one big hole in his companion care (this Saturday, 3pm to Thursday at 2pm) which we're desperately trying to fill. Naturally, we'd prefer an "overnighter" since he most needs assistance dressing in the morning and undressing at night - but we'll take shorter visits if you're able. Or perhaps you'd like to prepare and share a meal with Cheeky, or just spend a morning, afternoon or evening getting in a final visit with the boy before he returns to Missouri... Whatever you're able to offer, we'll do our best to accomodate you! Please call or email ASAP if you've got some time available!
We'll also need volunteers to help with packing up his apartment the first weeks in October, so if you're good at that and have some time and energy, please give a shout!
While we don't particularly want to send him back to family, it's become clear that it is our only viable option, short of a nursing home - which he definitely does not want to inhabit! So our plans continue apace to build a place for him at the family farm (and for which we are accepting donations!!) and relocate him into safe hands for the interim...
As he has said: the adventure takes a new turn - and Life continues!
As always - thanks to everyone who holds our best interests forefront in their intentions!Bi

Another Milestone

Hello All -
Just a reminder that today is The Cheeky One's 53rd Birthday!
We'll be celebrating tonight at Chester's with a small gathering of friends... By all means, send an email or give a call - Good Wishes are always welcome!
xox Jaime