On December 17, 2020, Texas resident of 25 years, and native Minnesotan, Todd Edward Bender, died at his home in Taylor, Texas, […]

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Monday, 11/9, despite the fact that Todd has been feeling terrible for over a week, his lab results were strong enough to […]

As another week goes by between treatments, Todd’s been having some really bad days this week. Fatigue, BP up and down, vomiting, […]

First appointment of the day was with Dr. Khan, Todd’s oncologist. The original plan was to meet with her, get test results, […]

10/24/20   Apologies for not keeping everybody up to date. The last month has been a continuous stream of data, tests, consultations, treatment, […]

Fashion redemption!

On Monday, Todd began his new 5-day chemo treatments. Side effects, so far, have been limited to a 24 hr. stretch of […]

Todd has had a busy week. He had a PET scan, lab test, dermatological removal of a potential skin cancer and an […]

Todd visited Dr. Khan this morning, before his immuno infusion. She was thrilled with the results from his lab tests. All of […]

I’ve tried to find things to write about but without events caused by chemo, and, the total uneventful-ness of isolation, there isn’t […]

Todd had an in-person visit with Dr. Khan yesterday, Wednesday, 7/29, to discuss current lab reports and short-term treatment plan. Everything on […]

Todays theme is “Save the Memories – Erase the Years”. Today is Todd’s first day of living every day like there’s no […]

Todd’s been off of chemotherapy for 40+ days and has experienced less, but more productive, coughing. Sodium and bp stayed in the […]

Todd’s teleconference with Dr. Kahn was AWESOME! Results from his PET scan were “VERY good” she said. There was no luminous light […]

Have y’all been able to find any sani wipes since the world became so scary? It’s been over 90 days since I […]

Todd finished the current round of treatment yesterday without issues. Blood pressure, wbc, oxygen and sodium are all reasonably close to normal. […]

You know what they say about “no news”. Until about 4 days ago it was all good and there was nothing to […]

They say a picture can speak a thousand words. In this case, 2 pictures will leave you speechless. It’s been an identical […]

Good News!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PET scan shows reduction in size of liver and lymph tumors and reduction in lung mass. Not large reductions but […]

9:15 a.m.:   Just had the radioactive dye injected with an IV. Now sit for an hour waiting for it to circulate. No […]

Doppelgänger???      

Through a variety of excuses and days of fatigue, Todd finally sat down to have his head and beard shaved. I think […]

Sorry y’all. I’ve been lolling by the pool, reading dirty books and meditating with the BeeGees. — HaaaHaaaaaaa. The BeeGees??? I couldn’t […]

LIVE!  BREATHTAKING!  non-ACTION PHOTOCAM. See Todd perform amazing feats as he wrestles the monster to the mat.

GOOD NEWS:  Today was a new blood draw with good results. Todd beat neutropenia and has the green light to start his […]

Todd told Dr. Khan about his only side effects, fatique and shallow breathing. She relates these to his blood lab results from […]

Round 2 of immuno and chemo treatments are scheduled to begin next Wednesday 4/15. Prep includes a blood draw at the Taylor […]

Here we are, 10 days post chemo, and the major side effects haven’t happened. No nausea, no real potty problems and no […]

Finished three days of chemo and infusions on Friday.  Had a pretty decent weekend, feeling pretty good today although only got about […]

“Any idea when you will receive the PET scan results and how often are chemo treatments given?” Sorry, everybody. I dropped the […]

Forgot to mention that Todd has finally been classified correctly. He’s now a toxic waste container. Toxic Todd. Seriously. I’m just jokifying […]

  Yesterday evening Todd was pretty mopey, pretty grumpy and a whole lot pitiful. He thought his schedule was Wednesday-3/25/20-8a.m.-TORTURE. Fortunately he […]

(Photos on Next Page) Everything’s popping into place. Scott & White is phenomenal! Every department and every person we encountered knew about […]

Todd maintained 125 sodium level for over 24 hours and was released Sunday 3/22. Throughout his stay, people from all departments worked […]

This evening we were informed by Todd’s nurse that his sodium levels have gone up to 125 and he’ll probably get to […]

Todd had a better night than expected. They only woke him every 2 hours for blood thinner shots, blood pulls and vitals. […]

Made arrangements for the cleaning girls to come & do the heavy cleaning – provided they promised to wear full gear; masks […]

8:30a   Went to Imaging Dept to prep for Port installation. After they wired him up, started oxygen and stuck him for several […]

Today, I bartered for an onion. I was only able to get a half of an onion, but I took it. Some […]

Met with Dr. Kahn, hematalogic oncology; Valerie, BSN, RN, OCN, Patient Navigator. A lot was learned; a lot was planned; most testing […]

****March 1-16, 2020**** March 3, Scott & White, Round Rock, appt. with Dr. Goraya. He began with the words that I think […]

****February, 2020**** In February, Todd had what he assumed was bronchitis with a cough that became a thunderous, ear-splitting, explosion of sound. […]