2024 Shave Purchase Sabbatical - The Year of MacGyver

[ruckin]

I am back in. I went out (of town) in the beginning of may. OTOH, I was never really in this annual endeavor so I guess my ultimate status remains unchanged. I just found out about the 365 challenge... since I am not in that challenge either, hypothetically what happens when you travel and cross the date line and a day goes poof? it is possible to leave friday evening and then land early sunday morning? In theory you can get your day back if you travel the reverse on the way home, but if you keep heading west for meetings in Europe on the "way home" the day goes missing.

Ruckin - still in the decade sabbatical, but seem to forget to sign up to other challenges along the way.

 

[Guido75]

hypothetically what happens when you travel and cross the date line and a day goes poof?

If you go back and forth within 24 hours you get to Treewhale without anybody noticing!!

 

[ruckin]

If you go back and forth within 24 hours you get to Treewhale without anybody noticing!!

Awesome, next time I will try to not be so jet lagged to take advantage of the situation.

 

[linty1]

I am back in. I went out (of town) in the beginning of may. OTOH, I was never really in this annual endeavor so I guess my ultimate status remains unchanged. I just found out about the 365 challenge... since I am not in that challenge either, hypothetically what happens when you travel and cross the date line and a day goes poof? it is possible to leave friday evening and then land early sunday morning? In theory you can get your day back if you travel the reverse on the way home, but if you keep heading west for meetings in Europe on the "way home" the day goes missing.

Ruckin - still in the decade sabbatical, but seem to forget to sign up to other challenges along the way.

So... you can sorta buy stuff, air travel, go "back in time", and come back with new stuff... yet technically have purchased nothing during that time? Intriguing lol

Still in, a three day weekend here in Canada, and a lazy morning at that after lots of festivities/fireworkd the night before:

I wish these came in a longer handle, with a little more aggressive knurling.. 2 pass wtg shave. Hope everyone has a lovely Monday.

 

[ruckin]

So... you can sorta buy stuff, air travel, go "back in time",

I wasn't really worried about the "buy stuff" part. I wanted to know if you head west and cross the date line and keep going you will lose a day so getting 365/365 (366/366 in leap years) shaves in would be challenging when you lose the day crossing the date line. The solution of course is to go east... and then have an extra day

Yes I know you get the "day" back one hour at a time crossing those other time zones.

Ruckin - mostly here for the cookies

 

[Berwick12]

So... you can sorta buy stuff, air travel, go "back in time", and come back with new stuff... yet technically have purchased nothing during that time? Intriguing lol

Still in, a three day weekend here in Canada, and a lazy morning at that after lots of festivities/fireworkd the night before:

View attachment 1849243

I wish these came in a longer handle, with a little more aggressive knurling.. 2 pass wtg shave. Hope everyone has a lovely Monday

Razorock has one but I think that would defeat the purpose of the sabbatical

 

[Messygoon]

Still in. Look closely and you will see only a sliver of the ARKO! stick remains. Eking out the shave supplies to make it through 2024.

 

[LJBraaten]

Just out of curiosity, how much stropping (in a machine) does it take too get to this many shaves?
Or don't you do anything to that blade and just brave it until it no longer cuts any hairs?

Sorry for the delay, I haven’t been checking B&B lately. These days I strop the blade 20+ times before and after each shave and a 50+ times between shaves. This goes fairly quickly on the TwinPlex. I also use the Allegro sharpener every 5 or so shaves. It has three different densities on the element, I do 50+ on each ( the last one is leather). The Allegro makes a noticeable difference.

 

[LJBraaten]

Still on. Once on a while I do some looking for my exception (vintage razor), but it’s not consuming me.

 

[JKaboom]

Still in and going strong!!

04.21.24
4 days growth
Shane Nation Chubby razor
Astra green SP
Custom boar in elk antler
TOBS Oud
Gentleman Jack Sandalwood post shave

This was an interesting shave. I started shaving and halfway through I realized next to nothing was coming off. I thought the 4th use Nacet was too dull so I put a brand new Astra SP in. Same thing happened. I thought surely my razor was assembled correctly and it wasn’t the base plate was backwards. That’s the first time that happened since I started wet shaving a year and a half ago. Hopefully that never happens again.

After that was sorted I had an easy WTG ATG shave. I love the TOBS Oud, it’s about a 7 on the strength scale. I like the Shave Nation Chubby it does all the work weighing in at 160 grams, I have to even lighten the touch some. The fresh Astra was great as well.

No alum feedback

9/10 DFS

 

[Guido75]

Date	23.05.2024
366 daily shaves	144/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Razorine Flatboy	Gillette Nacet (1/2)	Razorock 400 Butterscotch
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Hampshire Wool Fat (10)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality	Blade Sharpness
9.75/10 (Mostly Clean)	4/10 (Sharp Edge)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
9.25/10 (BBS+)	9/10 (Buttery Smooth)

Notes:

An absolutely smashing shave! Super close and nice comfort.

For extended shave notes click here.

Enjoy your shave today!

 

[Berwick12]

The nacet only got 4 out of 10?

 

[midwestshaver71]

Well gents, I am out and in quite spectacular fashion at that. I was gifted this brush by the Mrs. a short time ago and was quite speechless when it was presented to me. It was one purchased during the final days of Rudy's configurator, and while at the time she was ribbing me that I was out of luck(she saw the email) she had ordered one on her own. As it turns out she does pay attention to my small collection of brushes. When I asked her how she arrived at the handle design, she told me how she knew my Simpsons 57 was a favorite and decided to wing it.

The bottom reads in white letters "With Love, (her first name)"

I realize this does not likely put me out, but I've already put in an order for a few Ethos soaps as I've lost my will power at this point in the game.

A little back story is in order, if nothing else for the purpose of some mild cathartic time. There may be a few gents in this restraint who might recall back in the Sep GRUME when I had mentioned the Mrs. was dealing with a terminal cancer, leptomeningeal disease...it's one with no cure and terminal in all cases, typically in short order. You see, it's a cancer that floats around in your cerebrospinal fluid and gets in the brain lining and other places. We are fearfully and wonderfully made with a blood brain barrier to keep the bad stuff out, but this includes most drugs that need to get inside that space when things arise.

In a nutshell, after having issues with mild double vision 3 months prior(it had already started we know now)her original dx was in late June of 2022 after a MRI revealed significant spread up there and other spots on the spine(less concerning), with a prognosis of 3 or 4 months. We were completely blindsided, having never heard of this cancer before anywhere. She's a survivor of MBC from 2013 and after multiple operations/chemo/radiation, has been clear since. Unfortunately as cancer survivors are living longer, other cancers like this are a bit more common if the cancer comes back.

Whole brain radiation ensued early July, there was not time to waste and this was to be done at that time as a strictly palliative measure and perhaps add a few months of quality life. What we, nor the staff at the cancer center expected was that the first follow up MRI a month later would show for the most part nothing detectable in the brain lining.
Another thing we didn't expect was her remarkable response to some fairly new to the scene targeted therapy meds that had some good efficacy to her mutation and did cross the blood brain barrier to a degree.
After the first regimen lost effectiveness last July 2023, the switch was made to another one. That one quit working this past February when a 3 month MRI showed things acting up again, and in a last ditch effort the third one that showed some promise was started. The follow up MRI a few weeks ago revealed it was having no effect at all.

We've known this was terminal from day one and each month was one more milestone, with the medical team always encouraged and somewhat amazed how she kept moving on. She's been working full time, being a mom/wife/new grandma and we've just made all these trips for treatments/scans our "normal".

All this said, we knew in Feb her walk on earth was nearing an end and were told this 3rd drug did not show as much promise and little data was out there. When your oncologist tells you "I'll support you whatever you decide" and doesn't have the excitement as in the past....we knew. So to say the last follow up MRI a few weeks ago was a shock is not true at all. That said it was a bit of a bummer since she's broken the mold numerous times since this began almost two years ago and exceeded everyone's expectations. To say we've been blessed would be the understatement of the year.

For now we will just try to enjoy what time is left together, likely a matter of 3 or 4 months.
One thing I did get permission for was to buy a few more sets of whatever, and at this point in life am not going to argue with the Mrs. about that!
I'll still lurk about this fine community and thread, just not in the same capacity as I had hoped to.
Good day gents!

 

[Guido75]

The nacet only got 4 out of 10?

Yeah, but that’s actually quite good. I had to come up with some sort of scoring so usually I don’t go over 6 for razor sharp - but today might have been a 5 too. But up from 7 I can only envision Feather or BIC going there.

 

[KQY61]

Well gents, I am out and in quite spectacular fashion at that. I was gifted this brush by the Mrs. a short time ago and was quite speechless when it was presented to me. It was one purchased during the final days of Rudy's configurator, and while at the time she was ribbing me that I was out of luck(she saw the email) she had ordered one on her own. As it turns out she does pay attention to my small collection of brushes. When I asked her how she arrived at the handle design, she told me how she knew my Simpsons 57 was a favorite and decided to wing it.

The bottom reads in white letters "With Love, (her first name)"

I realize this does not likely put me out, but I've already put in an order for a few Ethos soaps as I've lost my will power at this point in the game.

A little back story is in order, if nothing else for the purpose of some mild cathartic time. There may be a few gents in this restraint who might recall back in the Sep GRUME when I had mentioned the Mrs. was dealing with a terminal cancer, leptomeningeal disease...it's one with no cure and terminal in all cases, typically in short order. You see, it's a cancer that floats around in your cerebrospinal fluid and gets in the brain lining and other places. We are fearfully and wonderfully made with a blood brain barrier to keep the bad stuff out, but this includes most drugs that need to get inside that space when things arise.

In a nutshell, after having issues with mild double vision 3 months prior(it had already started we know now)her original dx was in late June of 2022 after a MRI revealed significant spread up there and other spots on the spine(less concerning), with a prognosis of 3 or 4 months. We were completely blindsided, having never heard of this cancer before anywhere. She's a survivor of MBC from 2013 and after multiple operations/chemo/radiation, has been clear since. Unfortunately as cancer survivors are living longer, other cancers like this are a bit more common if the cancer comes back.

Whole brain radiation ensued early July, there was not time to waste and this was to be done at that time as a strictly palliative measure and perhaps add a few months of quality life. What we, nor the staff at the cancer center expected was that the first follow up MRI a month later would show for the most part nothing detectable in the brain lining.
Another thing we didn't expect was her remarkable response to some fairly new to the scene targeted therapy meds that had some good efficacy to her mutation and did cross the blood brain barrier to a degree.
After the first regimen lost effectiveness last July 2023, the switch was made to another one. That one quit working this past February when a 3 month MRI showed things acting up again, and in a last ditch effort the third one that showed some promise was started. The follow up MRI a few weeks ago revealed it was having no effect at all.

We've known this was terminal from day one and each month was one more milestone, with the medical team always encouraged and somewhat amazed how she kept moving on. She's been working full time, being a mom/wife/new grandma and we've just made all these trips for treatments/scans our "normal".

All this said, we knew in Feb her walk on earth was nearing an end and were told this 3rd drug did not show as much promise and little data was out there. When your oncologist tells you "I'll support you whatever you decide" and doesn't have the excitement as in the past....we knew. So to say the last follow up MRI a few weeks ago was a shock is not true at all. That said it was a bit of a bummer since she's broken the mold numerous times since this began almost two years ago and exceeded everyone's expectations. To say we've been blessed would be the understatement of the year.

For now we will just try to enjoy what time is left together, likely a matter of 3 or 4 months.
One thing I did get permission for was to buy a few more sets of whatever, and at this point in life am not going to argue with the Mrs. about that!
I'll still lurk about this fine community and thread, just not in the same capacity as I had hoped to.
Good day gents!


View attachment 1850814

Hi,

Nice brush. I hate the circumstances which led to your getting it.

Enjoy, and I mean really enjoy, the time you have left with her.

Stan

 

[Rico Suave]

Well gents, I am out and in quite spectacular fashion at that. I was gifted this brush by the Mrs. a short time ago and was quite speechless when it was presented to me. It was one purchased during the final days of Rudy's configurator, and while at the time she was ribbing me that I was out of luck(she saw the email) she had ordered one on her own. As it turns out she does pay attention to my small collection of brushes. When I asked her how she arrived at the handle design, she told me how she knew my Simpsons 57 was a favorite and decided to wing it.

The bottom reads in white letters "With Love, (her first name)"

I realize this does not likely put me out, but I've already put in an order for a few Ethos soaps as I've lost my will power at this point in the game.

A little back story is in order, if nothing else for the purpose of some mild cathartic time. There may be a few gents in this restraint who might recall back in the Sep GRUME when I had mentioned the Mrs. was dealing with a terminal cancer, leptomeningeal disease...it's one with no cure and terminal in all cases, typically in short order. You see, it's a cancer that floats around in your cerebrospinal fluid and gets in the brain lining and other places. We are fearfully and wonderfully made with a blood brain barrier to keep the bad stuff out, but this includes most drugs that need to get inside that space when things arise.

In a nutshell, after having issues with mild double vision 3 months prior(it had already started we know now)her original dx was in late June of 2022 after a MRI revealed significant spread up there and other spots on the spine(less concerning), with a prognosis of 3 or 4 months. We were completely blindsided, having never heard of this cancer before anywhere. She's a survivor of MBC from 2013 and after multiple operations/chemo/radiation, has been clear since. Unfortunately as cancer survivors are living longer, other cancers like this are a bit more common if the cancer comes back.

Whole brain radiation ensued early July, there was not time to waste and this was to be done at that time as a strictly palliative measure and perhaps add a few months of quality life. What we, nor the staff at the cancer center expected was that the first follow up MRI a month later would show for the most part nothing detectable in the brain lining.
Another thing we didn't expect was her remarkable response to some fairly new to the scene targeted therapy meds that had some good efficacy to her mutation and did cross the blood brain barrier to a degree.
After the first regimen lost effectiveness last July 2023, the switch was made to another one. That one quit working this past February when a 3 month MRI showed things acting up again, and in a last ditch effort the third one that showed some promise was started. The follow up MRI a few weeks ago revealed it was having no effect at all.

We've known this was terminal from day one and each month was one more milestone, with the medical team always encouraged and somewhat amazed how she kept moving on. She's been working full time, being a mom/wife/new grandma and we've just made all these trips for treatments/scans our "normal".

All this said, we knew in Feb her walk on earth was nearing an end and were told this 3rd drug did not show as much promise and little data was out there. When your oncologist tells you "I'll support you whatever you decide" and doesn't have the excitement as in the past....we knew. So to say the last follow up MRI a few weeks ago was a shock is not true at all. That said it was a bit of a bummer since she's broken the mold numerous times since this began almost two years ago and exceeded everyone's expectations. To say we've been blessed would be the understatement of the year.

For now we will just try to enjoy what time is left together, likely a matter of 3 or 4 months.
One thing I did get permission for was to buy a few more sets of whatever, and at this point in life am not going to argue with the Mrs. about that!
I'll still lurk about this fine community and thread, just not in the same capacity as I had hoped to.
Good day gents!


View attachment 1850814

That was hard to read. My thoughts and prayers to both of you.

 

[RAD patient]

Well gents, I am out and in quite spectacular fashion at that. I was gifted this brush by the Mrs. a short time ago and was quite speechless when it was presented to me. It was one purchased during the final days of Rudy's configurator, and while at the time she was ribbing me that I was out of luck(she saw the email) she had ordered one on her own. As it turns out she does pay attention to my small collection of brushes. When I asked her how she arrived at the handle design, she told me how she knew my Simpsons 57 was a favorite and decided to wing it.

The bottom reads in white letters "With Love, (her first name)"

I realize this does not likely put me out, but I've already put in an order for a few Ethos soaps as I've lost my will power at this point in the game.

A little back story is in order, if nothing else for the purpose of some mild cathartic time. There may be a few gents in this restraint who might recall back in the Sep GRUME when I had mentioned the Mrs. was dealing with a terminal cancer, leptomeningeal disease...it's one with no cure and terminal in all cases, typically in short order. You see, it's a cancer that floats around in your cerebrospinal fluid and gets in the brain lining and other places. We are fearfully and wonderfully made with a blood brain barrier to keep the bad stuff out, but this includes most drugs that need to get inside that space when things arise.

In a nutshell, after having issues with mild double vision 3 months prior(it had already started we know now)her original dx was in late June of 2022 after a MRI revealed significant spread up there and other spots on the spine(less concerning), with a prognosis of 3 or 4 months. We were completely blindsided, having never heard of this cancer before anywhere. She's a survivor of MBC from 2013 and after multiple operations/chemo/radiation, has been clear since. Unfortunately as cancer survivors are living longer, other cancers like this are a bit more common if the cancer comes back.

Whole brain radiation ensued early July, there was not time to waste and this was to be done at that time as a strictly palliative measure and perhaps add a few months of quality life. What we, nor the staff at the cancer center expected was that the first follow up MRI a month later would show for the most part nothing detectable in the brain lining.
Another thing we didn't expect was her remarkable response to some fairly new to the scene targeted therapy meds that had some good efficacy to her mutation and did cross the blood brain barrier to a degree.
After the first regimen lost effectiveness last July 2023, the switch was made to another one. That one quit working this past February when a 3 month MRI showed things acting up again, and in a last ditch effort the third one that showed some promise was started. The follow up MRI a few weeks ago revealed it was having no effect at all.

We've known this was terminal from day one and each month was one more milestone, with the medical team always encouraged and somewhat amazed how she kept moving on. She's been working full time, being a mom/wife/new grandma and we've just made all these trips for treatments/scans our "normal".

All this said, we knew in Feb her walk on earth was nearing an end and were told this 3rd drug did not show as much promise and little data was out there. When your oncologist tells you "I'll support you whatever you decide" and doesn't have the excitement as in the past....we knew. So to say the last follow up MRI a few weeks ago was a shock is not true at all. That said it was a bit of a bummer since she's broken the mold numerous times since this began almost two years ago and exceeded everyone's expectations. To say we've been blessed would be the understatement of the year.

For now we will just try to enjoy what time is left together, likely a matter of 3 or 4 months.
One thing I did get permission for was to buy a few more sets of whatever, and at this point in life am not going to argue with the Mrs. about that!
I'll still lurk about this fine community and thread, just not in the same capacity as I had hoped to.
Good day gents!


View attachment 1850814

Wow, enjoy all precious moments now it is still possible.

 

[Guido75]

Well gents, I am out and in quite spectacular fashion at that.

My man. I have read your back story and it took me some time to process that. You can’t make this up! My prayers are with you. Joy is not the right word in this context but I do feel joy in how your LOTH is carrying her love for you especially with that one of a kind spectacular brush. You have a special lady there!

You cannot change the cards you have been dealt with. But we can change your exception which is what I did - in or out of GRUYERE is of total insignificance. And I think I can speak for the group, or at least I permit myself to do so, that you are both in our hearts. Enjoy all the precious moments together and store them in your heart.

As far as I’m concerned you’re still in. If nothing, because of sheer bravery and being there for your lovely bride.

MacGyvers (52)

1. @Guido75 - Razor
2. @KQY61 - No Exception
3. @Jayson74 : Karve Overlander
6. @Bsamps - OneBlade Razor
9. @cryhavoc - Brush
10. @LJBraaten - vintage razor
11. @Berwick12 - hardware to build shaving box w/mirror. Copy of put the captain donated during the this year's auction.
12. @Pepin - exception vintage razor
13. @reformedshavr - exception Myrsol Antesol in groovy 'old style' glass bottle
14. @JKaboom - No exception
15. @Tulsa1977 - gift for SO
16. @martym - no exception
17. @Cafebarian - No exception
18. @Jim99 - exception: aftershave
20. @Galaktus - Canada Shave Soap
21. @Messygoon - exception
22. @The Blackadder - exception: preshave or blades (if I run out)
24. @The Roof Seal - exception: Single bottle of rosewater
28. @tjsgarden - exception: antique razor
30. @BrandX - no exception
32. @JAHE - exception: a razor
34. @iver- no exception
35. @Jack Goossen - No exception
37. @deafficianado - razor
38. @linty1 - no exceptions
39. @La Malice - Soap purchased in a brick and mortar store out of state.
42. @ChriWilson - No exception
43. @Dodger59 - exception: Cream (if and only if I run out of either Speick or Jack Black, whichever comes first)
45. @RAD patient - exception: Blackland Blackbird razor
47. @byDoms - no exception
48. @Rico Suave - no exception
50. @snowman - no exception
51. @InkStainedWretch - no exception
52. @midwestshaver71 -exception: anything joy related for the mrs
53. @Silky Glide - No Exceptions
57. @hopper_64 - exception: Brush
58. @kingfisher - no exception
59. @Gaspare - exception: blades
60. @JeffJ - No Exception
61. @brucered - Brush
62. @JWCowboy - No exception
63. @bjm - lather bowl
64. @Sotiris_A - no exception
65. @Picja - no exception
67. @Whisky - no exceptions.
68. @PersistentlyBlunt - No exception
71. @flask28 - no exceptions
72. @AZBronco - after shave if mine runs out
73. @kjbarth - no exceptions
74. @mgweatherly - likely no exceptions or one balm
75. @muzichead - exception STF XL brush knot

MacMissings (5)
5. @abj - No exception
46. @PurpuraPuer - exception: Blades
49. @BobbyB - Soap
55. @Contact_vs_Feedback - No Exceptions

MacFlyBy’s (playing from home)
xx. @ruckin - here for the cookies.
xx. @GaryTha - thought he was in, otherwise he is not
xx. @OldSaw - not in, but why take a chance
xx. @MuhleShaver - all good

MacGrubers (20)

41. @gurdygurds- re-Tech’d himself [04.01.24]
19. @Markdad2 - lusted for a brush [05.01.24]
36. @Shaun asleep - tripped over a buying button. Yaqi bah! [08.01.24]
23. @Manye - went peanuts over Swedish steel [17.01.24]
70. @phdezra - unwittingly brushed himself off the list [18.01.24]
66. @Jens - Slanted his way to the exit [18.01.24]
4. @ewk - CircumVeyEd his exception and got brushed off [02.02.24]
8. @kaufdrop27 - Forgot his exception and Overlanded two razors [04.02.24]
31. @Noodles - Configured his way to the exit [11.02.24]
26. @Goblin - Didn’t want to cut himself in the fingers by shortage of blades [11.02.24]
27. @Omega48 - Got fruity chills from ordering Vetiver splashes [20.02.24]
44. @Gururajan - couldn’t handle himself [22.02.24]
56. @Halfbeard - Ran into a Bayonetta [22.02.24]
25. @Lil Cooties - Suddenly woke up to a preorder..Yates!! [09.03.24]
69. @Trollky - got spritzed by a minted Grapefruit at the Mill [29.03.24]
33. @awk_m4 - went with “happy wife is a happy life” [14.04.24]
7. @Calyshaver - had a triple failure [20.04.24]
40. @den fly- decided to become New and Improved [22.04.24]
54. @Ribitski23 - Karved himself a nice Simpson brush [06.05.24]
29. @Hannah's Dad - Got high on menthol and went down the Glacier [10.05.24]

Current status: 68% still in and potentially 74%.

 

[JAHE]

Well gents, I am out and in quite spectacular fashion at that. I was gifted this brush by the Mrs. a short time ago and was quite speechless when it was presented to me. It was one purchased during the final days of Rudy's configurator, and while at the time she was ribbing me that I was out of luck(she saw the email) she had ordered one on her own. As it turns out she does pay attention to my small collection of brushes. When I asked her how she arrived at the handle design, she told me how she knew my Simpsons 57 was a favorite and decided to wing it.

The bottom reads in white letters "With Love, (her first name)"

I realize this does not likely put me out, but I've already put in an order for a few Ethos soaps as I've lost my will power at this point in the game.

A little back story is in order, if nothing else for the purpose of some mild cathartic time. There may be a few gents in this restraint who might recall back in the Sep GRUME when I had mentioned the Mrs. was dealing with a terminal cancer, leptomeningeal disease...it's one with no cure and terminal in all cases, typically in short order. You see, it's a cancer that floats around in your cerebrospinal fluid and gets in the brain lining and other places. We are fearfully and wonderfully made with a blood brain barrier to keep the bad stuff out, but this includes most drugs that need to get inside that space when things arise.

In a nutshell, after having issues with mild double vision 3 months prior(it had already started we know now)her original dx was in late June of 2022 after a MRI revealed significant spread up there and other spots on the spine(less concerning), with a prognosis of 3 or 4 months. We were completely blindsided, having never heard of this cancer before anywhere. She's a survivor of MBC from 2013 and after multiple operations/chemo/radiation, has been clear since. Unfortunately as cancer survivors are living longer, other cancers like this are a bit more common if the cancer comes back.

Whole brain radiation ensued early July, there was not time to waste and this was to be done at that time as a strictly palliative measure and perhaps add a few months of quality life. What we, nor the staff at the cancer center expected was that the first follow up MRI a month later would show for the most part nothing detectable in the brain lining.
Another thing we didn't expect was her remarkable response to some fairly new to the scene targeted therapy meds that had some good efficacy to her mutation and did cross the blood brain barrier to a degree.
After the first regimen lost effectiveness last July 2023, the switch was made to another one. That one quit working this past February when a 3 month MRI showed things acting up again, and in a last ditch effort the third one that showed some promise was started. The follow up MRI a few weeks ago revealed it was having no effect at all.

We've known this was terminal from day one and each month was one more milestone, with the medical team always encouraged and somewhat amazed how she kept moving on. She's been working full time, being a mom/wife/new grandma and we've just made all these trips for treatments/scans our "normal".

All this said, we knew in Feb her walk on earth was nearing an end and were told this 3rd drug did not show as much promise and little data was out there. When your oncologist tells you "I'll support you whatever you decide" and doesn't have the excitement as in the past....we knew. So to say the last follow up MRI a few weeks ago was a shock is not true at all. That said it was a bit of a bummer since she's broken the mold numerous times since this began almost two years ago and exceeded everyone's expectations. To say we've been blessed would be the understatement of the year.

For now we will just try to enjoy what time is left together, likely a matter of 3 or 4 months.
One thing I did get permission for was to buy a few more sets of whatever, and at this point in life am not going to argue with the Mrs. about that!
I'll still lurk about this fine community and thread, just not in the same capacity as I had hoped to.
Good day gents!


View attachment 1850814

None of us can imagine what you, your wife and your family must be going through. At least I can't.

So the only thing I would add to my fellow namesake's statement is that if anyone deserves carte blanche to buy a few things without breaking a GRUYERE rule, it is you.
Feel free to stick with us whenever you are in need of some distraction.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Guido

PS:
What a thoughful gift this brush is. Wow. It's such a beauty!

 

[geneaut]

Non-participant dropping in to say, "Keep up the good work!"