Welcome to the Bob and Cancer Show.
Hi, I'm Bob Kevoian.
Had to get that in there.
And I hate my partner, cancer.
And I'm going to kill him.
Joining me with our, I guess our third edition of the Bob and Cancer Show.
My co-hosts, one happens to be one that I sleep with, the other not.
And that's your wife.
See, she said she was going to be writing jokes for this one.
Wow.
That was strong to open with honey.
Yes, it is.
Yes, my wife, Becky Lou, the very funny Becky Lou Kavoyan.
And also my best buddy, Whit Grayson.
Hey Bob.
Heidi Ho.
Here we are.
We're going to help you kill this guy.
Oh man.
It's been an interesting week.
A few changes to me.
Week three.
We've completed that.
It's done.
It's a weird thing.
But look at you with all your curls and your thick mustache.
Yes, I have side effects from the radiation, but no side effects yet from the chemotherapy.
Good, good, good, good.
So I have not lost any hair or anything.
You look so great.
So I'm actually gaining weight and that's thanks to the person I sleep with, my wife.
Who is also the kitchen manager here.
Yeah.
And she's just been feeding me.
Part of the fight of this disease is to stay hydrated and fat.
Fed.
Fat.
Well, not fat.
I actually looked in the mirror and noticed that I am heavier than when we started this.
Probably than you've ever been.
I am pretty heavy.
Yeah.
He's my heavy honey.
I'm doing a lot of protein and a lot of calories.
That's the full time job of Becky Lou.
And Becky asked me the other day, you think you're losing weight?
And I said, well, hell yeah, I'm losing weight.
I can't even see my junk.
You mean you're gaining weight.
Gaining weight.
Might want to edit that.
I was gaining weight because I can't see any.
So I have a belly now.
And are you doing okay munching every three or four hours?
Yeah, it's kind of a two to three hour.
Okay.
So you have something to eat and it's protein and calories is the name of the game right now.
Yep.
I'm doing a lot of research on high calorie and just delicious things.
Not just like, oh, let's stuff him full of protein powder that tastes like crap, you know.
Protein powder.
We found one that's tasteless.
Then actually it works.
And now I'm stirring this taste free, tasteless, whatever, protein powder into his coffee even in the morning.
So it doesn't have any effect?
Meaning it doesn't taste?
I get protein but I can't taste any difference.
You have to really stir it so it doesn't have little particles.
Nobody wants, no.
No one wants that.
No one wants grainy coffee.
And we also cool his coffee down.
So I put two ice cubes in his coffee, then put in the protein powder and then he's able to drink it and get six grams of protein.
One of the side effects for the radiation right now is my throat is very sore.
It's difficult to swallow at times.
Oh really?
I'm sorry.
This is his first symptom.
First symptom.
And it's increased through the week.
But I'm still able to swallow.
I don't need any medication to get food down my gullet.
You do have the option of medication if that time comes, when he needs it.
Right now it's amazing.
I think it's just amazing what he's done in three weeks that he's gotten to this point.
Yeah.
It's really something.
And apparently following doctor's orders it's helping the side effects stay away for now.
Good for you.
And we were told by maybe the nurse practitioner, I can't remember who it was that told us, that your condition at the time you start treatment is the guide for how well you're going to do at the end.
Well, he started with no symptoms, no weight loss, nothing.
He had nothing.
He was perfectly fine and healthy, other than that monster in his belly.
So we're hoping that by keeping him fat and happy and well fed and hydrated that he will make it through without that drastic weight loss.
Well, I wondered psychologically, you finished three weeks now out of five.
Right.
So you have two more.
How do you feel about going in tomorrow?
Fine.
Actually, Mondays I look forward to because I get steroids as part of my chemo treatment.
And the last couple of weeks, the last few weeks when I get home from there, I have great energy.
I can do anything.
I'll go, go, go.
He's been golfing or painting the house.
And then come Thursday, everything starts sliding away and I get tired again.
So I'm looking forward to Monday and getting a new dose.
In fact, I have a treatment tunes playlist.
I don't know if I mentioned that last week.
No, you did not.
I didn't mention that.
So I have this playlist because I sit there with my little earbuds in and stuff waiting on him in the waiting room or whatever.
What's the number one requested song on that playlist?
Well, right now I'm working on my Monday songs.
Oh, you have a Monday.
So I'm guessing you can guess.
Monday, Monday, Monday.
Those go without saying.
And now the one went out of my head.
Oh, darn it, because it has the best lyrics.
Is it Fats Domino?
Blue Monday.
It is.
Yep, that is Fats Domino.
And he talks about the weekend coming and then he rests up on Sunday.
Because Monday's a mess.
Monday's a mess.
One of the best lyrics ever.
And isn't it a great song for what we're doing that you rest up.
We got on Sunday, I rest because Monday's a mess.
And ain't that the truth?
It truly is.
We have to give them four hours of our life.
Well, Mondays are longer because and luckily we have switched schedules.
We are now on the early shift.
We start at 9 a.m. for our radiation and then chemo will follow at 930.
So it makes my day a little easier.
You can't eat or drink, right?
I can't eat before the radiation so now I can actually sleep till 8, do a quick shower and get to the hospital, which is luckily very close to us.
Traffic wasn't bad?
You were worried about that.
No, it's good.
It depends on when you leave.
Okay.
Like if we left at 8, bad.
It's amazing.
A five minute difference from the time we leave is a huge difference at the traffic light.
It's amazing.
Yeah, we really only have.
I never knew this as a, I never was a morning commuter.
I was already at work.
He was on the air before everybody commuted.
Yep.
So he didn't ever sit in traffic.
And now if we left 10 minutes before we do, we'd probably sit there at Walgreens at that corner.
But as it is, we just go, hello, zoom on down and it takes us.
It's beautiful.
Less than 15 minutes from our door to the treatment room.
I mean, but we park, we get in the building and it's less than 15 minutes.
That's so nice.
We're so fortunate.
That's very lucky.
We, so many people, I've probably have mentioned this, but I think it's worth mentioning every week how grateful we are that we don't have to drive an hour or two every day back and forth.
Yep.
We're just very lucky.
You know, we have things that we are grateful for in the midst of this.
See, now I'm fixated on her playlist.
I know, it's pretty good.
Well, she brought it up and she hasn't mentioned any song on that playlist.
I just said the Monday.
No, that's the, you said that's a Monday playlist.
You also said you had a.
No, I, no.
Okay.
I'll keep talking amongst yourselves.
Okay.
So she's going to get the playlist from, I'm guessing her iPad or computer.
I am not, I have not put together a playlist.
Have you, have you benefited from the playlist yet?
No, I don't think I've heard any of the playlist.
It's really a me playlist.
So she listens to it while I'm going through.
Yeah, while you're in there and I've got the headphones on or when he's, when he goes in for.
Radiation.
Radiation, which is the first thing we do.
I don't go back there with him because of, you know, beep beep.
What are the noises you were making?
I don't remember.
What you thought radiation was going to sound like.
Oh yeah, right.
The old 50s sci-fi noise.
Well, I'm just out in the waiting room.
Sometimes I'm cutting up and laughing with the girls behind the counter and stuff.
You know, they're so friendly and cheerful, but sometimes I'm sitting there turned away from the other people because I don't really want to interact with the other patients or loved ones because it's awkward.
So I just kind of listen to music and some of these are helpful to me.
And on your playlist, which playlist is this?
Treatment tunes.
It's called treatment tunes.
Just keeping me company during treatment.
What's the top song?
What's the number one song?
Amy Grant.
What's she singing?
Trees Will Never See.
It's great lyrics.
We'll never see or we'll never see.
Trees will never see.
That seems like an obvious statement.
Potatoes will see.
They have eyes.
Corn can hear.
It's a new song and our friends, Sharon Dick told us about it.
It's beautiful.
It's just a great song about persevering and loving your people and planting trees that you'll never see.
When you're having chemo, can you listen to music in the chair?
Sure.
Yeah, they allow that, right?
So in chemo, I was going to mention when he goes in for chemo, they do give him the steroids, but they also give him a pretty healthy dose of Benadryl and he doses off for an hour.
It's only like 20 minutes.
It's about three hours.
Is it really?
No, I don't know how long it is.
Wow.
No wonder it goes so fast.
But anyhow, I'm just sitting there.
And the first week I brought our portable Bluetooth speaker thinking, and we did eventually turn that on and listen to music together, but I can't play that while Bob's dozing.
I don't want to bother him.
And you can hear the other rooms.
It's just a glass door between.
You don't want to blast music while the other guy's getting his chemo and probably having a very bad time.
Right.
But you know, he doesn't want to hear about trees being not seen or no, no.
But the Monday thing, maybe people would appreciate.
So, oh, let's see what other one I got.
I got John Prine.
I've got Vince Gill.
I got Robert Earl Keene.
You know, there's some.
All right.
There's some good artists on the list.
There's really good stuff on here.
Ingrid Michaelson.
You remember her.
I like Ingrid a lot.
Ingrid was on the show.
OK.
She's the ukulele darling girl.
Oh, yeah.
And she has this song called Be OK.
Yeah.
Good song.
All right.
Be OK.
So it's encouraging.
It's just songs to encourage us to keep right on being OK.
All righty.
We are OK.
Yeah.
This week.
Don't make fun of me for that.
I'm not making fun of you.
I thought you were making a playlist for Bob, like a cheer up Bob or.
Oh, he would do nothing.
He would mock me if I tried to make a playlist just for him.
Yeah.
Well, because you would miss the mark.
We have different.
We both listen to the same music together often, but I do tend to be more in the folk or
she's a really heavy singer songwriter.
Message songs.
Message.
Yes.
She likes a message.
I like a beat.
Yes.
The first album I thought that was totally for women.
Genesis.
No.
Oh.
Carole King sitting in the window with that cat.
Oh, I knew that was not going to be a head banging album when I saw that.
That's tapestry.
Yeah.
I know what it is.
It seemed to me that.
That's a good one.
It's OK.
But that's when things got a little bit namby pamby in my book.
Did you see that Broadway?
I did not see the.
Marvelous.
What's it called?
It's got a.
Beautiful.
Yeah.
It was beautiful.
So there.
That was a good show.
That's a good, good record.
I just didn't.
I figured you were going to.
It's not your real party tune.
You know, speaking of.
Yes.
I used to go home for lunch in high school because we lived across the street.
My brother Rex and I would walk home, eat and put on records.
And sometimes we put on Janice Ian.
At 17.
Well, any of the various songs.
We were moody kids, man.
I guess that is the most depressing.
That doesn't cheer anyone up.
Well, you know, you're in high school.
Get this.
No, she did not open.
He opened for her.
Billy Joel opened for Janice Ian.
One of those horrible concert things together.
Wow.
And he put on a heck of a show.
And then when she came out, it was like, oh, we've got to leave.
And we did.
OK.
Whoa.
Oh, depression.
So, OK, we got our Janice Ian pumped in.
You know what?
There's nothing like talking about Janice Ian and cancer.
I don't think that's inadvertent, quite frankly.
This is depressing.
Yeah, let's move on to something.
Let's talk about our Monday was nice.
Yes, it was.
We got to go in early and we went to chemo.
We were on the dumpster side of the street again for this dose.
But it was OK.
It went fast.
It goes fast when you sleep through it.
Well, yeah, it does.
But it's not something that I'm afraid of.
That's why I was asking.
You haven't gotten to the point where it's, oh, God, I got to get up and do that again
tomorrow.
No.
I do that during the week with the radiation because it's every day.
Right.
Maybe Friday.
Thursday and Friday.
He's tired.
But no, it's I'm not afraid to go get my treatment because it doesn't hurt.
It apparently is working.
I mean, 24 hours a day, I'm killing cancer inside my body.
That's what's remarkable.
Just walking around.
I remember saying that to Deb at the time that even when you're reading a book or a
magazine at home, you're burning calories, man.
You are working.
The treatment is working.
Yeah, it is working.
And she got toward the end of week three, which you just finished, a little bit fatigued.
I feel that towards the end of the week.
I'm a little tired today.
Where where the next week she was kind of like, do we have to do this again?
Right.
It's not dread.
You just are tired.
Sure.
And I'm guessing that's what's going to happen the next couple of weeks for me.
Weeks four and five of treatment.
It'll probably be difficult to get up and go to.
Well, we saw our doctor, the radiologist that's working on the radiation treatment.
And Bob had said last week in week two, well, I know next week's the one you've.
Yeah, he told me week three, you're going to hate me.
And I went through week three and I don't hate him yet.
That's great.
And he said that to him on Thursday.
He said, I remember you saying week three, I'm going to hate you.
But you know what?
Yeah, I don't.
And he just kind of looked at us like, no, I can't.
And he goes, you haven't seen week four, have you?
Yeah.
So I'm guessing week four is going to have some.
But you know what?
Bob makes them laugh.
They make him laugh.
Everybody has such a positive attitude in there.
You know, that's the thing about people bring up the word cancer and the mood changes.
Totally.
And it's, you know what?
I still want people to be funny.
Tell them about your friend.
That's from my friend, Dave, who lives down near Louisville.
He sent me a text and we always, when we send each other a text, it's always a smegma breath
or something.
Something inappropriate.
Something horrible that guys do.
And he said, you know, are you available to golf this summer?
Blah, blah, blah.
And I told him that I'm having some health problems.
He goes, can I call you?
I said, sure.
And when he called me, the whole tone had changed to serious concern and concern.
And it's, I understand that and that's wonderful, but still I, I'd like to hear a joke.
Yeah.
I mean, I've been writing them.
Wow.
That is a, I think a sign of the apocalypse.
I have a very funny wife.
You are very good.
The problem is God has a girlfriend who writes jokes.
Yoko.
I know exactly what you mean, Bob.
And I get, I don't know if you do and I haven't asked you, do you get a lot of texts checking
in?
I get texts from a handful of folks and I just give them a quick sentence.
You know, quick sentence.
I'm doing fine.
We're pushing on.
So yeah, I get a lot almost every day and I have not replied every time.
Maybe I've mentioned this before, but it makes me.
It makes me feel guilty for not replying every time, but I think you said to me, don't worry
about that.
You guys have the ultimate hall pass right now.
Yeah.
Until it's right behind you.
You really do.
Yep.
And I'll text Bob maybe once a week, like my little 14 out of 25, just encouragement
because you want to be focused.
You want to stay focused.
You guys are making a great team with the eating and staying positive.
Sometimes a text I guess can be a good happy thing.
Thank you for thinking of me, but let's get through this.
Well, normally I do reply eventually after a day or two because there's nothing to report
most of the time except well, Bob put on a pound.
Woo.
Let's all say it is kind of boring through the week.
You know, I go have radiation and nothing is changing.
We're living our lives.
It's not like he's in some kind of injury rehab where there's improvement every day
and yay, let me tell you how great it's going.
No, it's most likely the other direction.
So I don't really have much to say.
So this is Sunday.
How did you do Friday and Saturday?
How was your energy the last couple of days?
Well, actually I had kind of a blue period on Thursday.
Thursday.
He got the blues.
Okay.
I went in and had some fluids.
They suggested I go in and just throw some fluids in me.
Okay.
Just to keep him super hydrated.
Okay.
And I just kind of got the blues.
It took longer than I thought.
It was an hour and a half, which was kind of a pain in the butt because we've already
done treatment.
Oh, so you mean they gave you a bag of fluids.
Yeah.
Like IV.
Okay.
I misunderstood.
Okay.
Yes.
So we sit there in the chair waiting for that.
It's not medicine or anything.
It's just fluids.
And I just kind of got the blues and then when we were done, they were gone.
Good.
That's good.
No, not that.
Not right away.
Friday, you still had a little bit.
A little bit, but I mean, they're gone.
It's not done.
It's gone now.
He just had a mood.
You know, there's just a lot to ponder sometimes if you sit there and think about it.
And there's a lot in our minds.
Oh yeah.
And so, and I completely understand.
And he gets to have that, like you said, the ultimate hall pass.
Yep.
Like you had said before, Debbie had some mood times and.
It's just hard because you and I are, well, you're his wife, I'm his buddy, we're supporting
him, but he has to do the work.
Yeah.
And so, in those days, that can be strenuous or.
It's a pain in the ass.
Pain in the ass.
Yeah.
That's a good way to say it.
Yeah.
But that's great that you're going into week four.
Can you believe it?
No, I can't.
No, I cannot.
That's really remarkable.
The first three weeks were, I guess, the way I imagined them are completely different.
As good as we could imagine.
As best that it could have been without any major side effects.
We didn't expect that.
We thought by now he would be bald, no mustache.
He would be not able to eat solid foods.
He would have lost 10 pounds, but it's none of the above.
No.
So, maybe next Sunday when we see you, it will be all different, but right now we feel
very positive.
Yeah, but I mean, Deb's first go round, she didn't lose her hair.
I mean, they said you could.
Yeah.
And many do, but she didn't.
Yeah.
Okay.
So, we're holding onto that.
It's just so individual.
Yeah.
Yeah, and everyone has, that's the thing about what we're going through and what we're trying
to explain to you is completely different than other cancers that people have.
Right.
Each drug is different.
Yeah.
For some, they'll have chemo, you know, three solid weeks in a row to attack something where
I have it once a week.
Plained out, yes.
And it's, all cancers, I'm sure, are treated in a different way and it affects everyone
differently.
Well, the Cancer Center.
And so far, I've been fortunate that it has not been horrible.
Even within your cancer, it's completely individualized.
And so, when they take Bob's blood, first thing, tomorrow morning, they'll do a blood
draw.
And then they send it to their lab, which is just across the hall, and they look at
all of his numbers and they make his medicine completely individualized for him, not just
for him, but for him that week.
Yep, yes.
It's amazing what they're able to do.
That's great.
I remember the last time I pictured one of those old newspaper movies where there's a
boy, run this across the hall.
Yes, exactly.
Throwing those suction tubes.
That's somebody's job to do that, right?
Yeah, it must be.
It must be.
Yes, indeed.
That's cool.
Well, that's great.
You're still feeling well.
Yeah.
I feel very positive.
And, I mean, my brain is, I'm a ruminator, I'm a heavy thinker, I'm an over thinker,
and this really works for me, because I have to spend a lot of time calculating and thinking
and researching food.
She's loving this.
There's a lot of math involved, but I had no idea.
Gives you something to do.
Well, we found out this week, in fact, we met with the dietitian, and I didn't think
we needed the dietitian, because I had been doing great guns here.
Yes, indeed.
But I got a couple tips from her, and one of them, because I said, I'm counting every
gram of protein that Bob puts in his bod, man.
And she said, well, I want you to count calories now.
And he needs to be bare minimum, 2,500 calories a day.
Holy cow.
I know.
I told you, I'm plumping up.
I saw myself in the mirror, and I'm fat.
Well.
And I'm like, cheesecake, honey?
Would you like some cheesecake?
Sure.
And you can't turn that down.
No.
And then late at night, you know, he has an enormous bowl of ice cream with nuts and-
Bless your heart, that's good.
And hot fudge and-
Why not?
Yeah.
Every bit counts.
And I have to say, let me get my kitchen scale out, and I weigh the portion so I can write
it down accurately.
And she'll break down portions, figure out how much calories and the extra spoon I took.
Because I want to make sure he gets minimum of 2,500 calories.
That's a big day.
Problem is-
Right?
That's a huge day.
Yeah.
That's a lot of food.
And he's not a runner.
You know, he's not burning that off.
Well, we don't want him to burn it off anyhow.
Problem is, I'm eating along with him.
So he's having a giant bowl of ice cream.
I'm like, well, I need to have a little bowl of ice cream, right?
Yes.
That's right.
Well, you're having cheesecake.
I need to have a little cheesecake.
You need to sample it to make sure it's okay.
Well, I got to taste the batter.
I got to taste it after it comes out of the oven.
I got to make sure everything's delicious.
And it is.
I happen to have my physical this week.
Oh boy.
Here we go.
Boy, oh boy.
Exactly.
You know my doctor.
Yep.
She didn't scold me or anything, but you know, she is very aware that I'm not doing my best
for my blood sugar right now.
It's sympathy snacking.
It is.
Right?
It's also stress.
I'm a stress eater.
I feed my sorrow with food.
And you know what?
It's worth it right now.
I don't even care.
I'll deal with it this summer after Bob's head is surgery.
Then we'll go back to a normal life and I'll go back to eating a lot more broccoli and vegetables
and you know, right now.
You know what?
Too bad.
Yeah.
So makes me happy.
Plenty of time.
Yeah.
All the time in the world.
Yeah.
I guess.
But anyway, the one thing that was weird was going to my physical was the first time I
didn't go with Bob to treatment.
I had to drive myself.
Okay.
Poor guy.
It's easy.
It's quick.
And you know, after you have the treatment, you're not paralyzed.
So you can actually drive a car.
There are a lot of people who do this going on their way to work, go and have radiation
and then continue on driving to their jobs.
And you know, it's their daily routine.
Well I think there are a lot of people that know of you through the show.
And I think this might be of interest.
Assuming you do have hair loss.
Yes.
How long have you had your mustache?
June 18th, 1969.
That's incredible.
No one we know.
Was that when you graduated high school?
Yep.
You couldn't have facial hair when I was in school.
Nor could you when I was there.
No one we know has ever seen Bob without a mustache.
Correct.
So.
I've seen when we do slide shows for parties and stuff, you see him in that era pre mustache
high school.
Yeah.
The old high school days.
Right.
If you went to the principal and had whiskers, he'd make you shave them off in his office
with a dry razor.
Oh, that's rough.
That's painful.
That's not good.
Oh, that's painful.
Wow.
Yeah.
That's child torture now.
Yeah.
You know, those are the days.
Well, we're hoping he doesn't lose it.
But if he does, it'll come back.
I'm going to knock on wood here.
Yeah.
So far, I don't think you will.
I really don't.
I think the way you look now.
Yeah.
I think.
I mean, two more.
I mean, the thing about it, the chemo, once you have it, it keeps working.
Yeah.
It's cumulative.
So you can get it on tomorrow and then the following Monday could still be working to
a point where it says the hair follicles are no longer necessary.
Oh, all right.
Yeah, we don't know.
And I asked Bob, he said something about them falling out all in one day.
Like, and I said, oh, like a ginkgo tree.
Do you know a ginkgo tree?
What that is?
No, no, it's a beautiful tree.
The leaves turn bright yellow and in one day, they all fall off, twinkle to the ground.
It's like a little rain shower.
It's like Bob Einstein.
Hey, sweetheart, your mustache is in the sink.
Inside joke.
Sorry.
One of the best jokes ever.
Look it up if you want to.
How would they look that up?
It's a Jerry Seinfeld and Bob Einstein.
Was it on Larry Sanders?
I think it might have been Larry Sanders.
Yeah, I believe so.
No, I think it was.
No, no, I'm telling you.
Oh, it's Larry David.
It's Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Yeah, Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Look up the Curb Your Enthusiasm.
It's worth it.
It's one of the.
I've been wound that at least 10 times.
It's jarring.
To watch that joke.
It's.
Brilliant.
It's offensive and hilarious.
So look it up.
We're not going to reenact it here.
No, no, no.
Can't do that.
Even on a podcast.
Exactly.
Indeed.
So let me see.
Well, the day that I wanted to finish that or finish that thought on the day that I did
not go with Bob, I was told by my friend now behind the counter.
We're not saying names, right?
No.
One of the nurses behind the counter said, oh, we missed you yesterday.
And Bob came in and he said, well, I'm by myself.
And because he's just so cheerful when he goes in.
Right.
And then that day when I was back with him, that would have been Friday.
I don't know what day.
Friday maybe.
It was Cinco de Mayo.
And what did Bob say when he came in?
I don't remember.
Oh, I heard him very loudly.
The door opened.
They call his name Bob.
The door opens and he goes.
I said, happy Cinco de Derby.
Oh, well.
It was the day before the Derby.
They were celebrating.
They had little fascinator sombreros, little tiny hilarious sombreros on all the staff.
It was cute.
I like a staff that has fun together.
Yeah, they did.
And they make us have fun.
And they take me into a back room and zap the hell out of me.
Right.
That's okay.
It's okay.
It's making you better.
It is making me better.
I guess.
I don't know yet.
I think so.
It's doing its job.
That's the thing about it.
You just don't know how it's going.
I meet with the radiation doctor every week on Wednesdays.
Usually checks my vitals and how I'm doing and if I'm feeling any side effects.
And before this week, I had to wait until 1045.
No water.
Nothing.
And I couldn't have water or food.
So I asked the doctor, said, hey, is it okay if I chew gum in the morning?
Just have some juices flowing in my mouth.
And he goes, sure, as long as you don't swallow it.
You can't have anything in your airway.
I mean, in your esophagus, in your stomach.
That changes the shape of the target.
So that's why if you put water or anything in your stomach, it changes the shape of your
stomach and the target that they're aiming for has to be completely precise.
And so no swallowing.
So he did this thing.
So I did the chewing gum and it's great.
I don't have to sit there watching everyone else drink.
So this is a hot tip for anybody who might be going through this.
You can chew gum prior to.
And he went out and bought some juicy fruit.
I was going to say, is that your flavor of choice?
Well, you know what?
I'd never purchased gum since I was a kid.
So I was like, what are these gums?
I was looking for the stripes, you know, right.
But they didn't have that.
So kind of weird names and I couldn't even find a stick of bubble gum.
None anymore.
No, they probably have the little round.
What's that called?
Bazooka, right?
I didn't see any bazooka.
I haven't seen bazooka forever.
Now that you mentioned it, they probably went out of business.
Didn't bazooka have a little game or something?
It's a cartoon.
The cartoon was a bazooka Joe.
Bazooka Joe.
Yeah, inside the wrapper.
He wore his like turtleneck over his nose.
Yeah, up to his nose.
Yeah, yeah, I remember that.
And they would have like a saying too, like a little.
Yeah, like a fortune cookie.
Right.
That's what I was remembering.
Yeah, I don't remember that.
Well, maybe it was before my time.
Probably was.
But anyway, it's been a little bit of a refreshing option for him in the morning.
I have something before I.
And then on Mondays when they do radiation first before.
So as soon as that's done, you can eat, right?
Yes.
During chemo.
In fact, I'll eat while I'm talking to the doctor.
Okay.
Or eat as I'm going upstairs to the chemo.
It's kind of weird because you know, anybody who has relatively decent manners, you don't
eat in front of people.
No.
Like if they're not eating, you're not going to eat.
Unless of course you're starving, you don't care.
No.
Right.
Exactly.
Unless you're having cancer treatment and you get a free hall pass.
You do.
You can feel scarf down a sandwich or whatever while they're giving him his results of the
blood work or whatever.
And we just, we do whatever we want.
Have your tastes changed?
They have not.
They a couple of things.
No, everything tastes the same.
Some of it's now texture, I think.
Oh, the mouth is.
And ability to swallow.
Yeah.
It's, it's got to be able to chew everything down a lot so I can get it.
So I made with the Kentucky Derby coming, I planned ahead and made Kentucky hot brown.
Do you know that sandwich?
Yes.
Oh yeah.
Oh, so good.
So good.
Cheesy hot sauce.
There's so much protein.
I'm telling you, it would have been Bob's protein for the day.
Yep.
And it was beautiful.
I went into a whole big deal with my sister next door and she gave me the proper dishes
to broil it in.
It was gorgeous.
You lay an X on top of that bubbly brown cheese and X with two pieces of bacon and it's beautiful.
And Bob sat down to eat and it just.
I tried the bacon.
I couldn't chew it.
Oh really?
Couldn't chew it down.
He loves bacon so much.
Couldn't swallow it.
Oh shoot.
So I could not eat bacon, which I love bacon more than anything.
It was too crunchy to like.
No.
No, it's just, it's hard to chew down bacon at Millwagon.
There's no large pieces.
Although he did chew some beef jerky, but you really have to.
That's that soft.
Soft.
Chew, chew, chew.
So the Kentucky hot brown was one of my food failures.
I forgot it had bacon on it.
Does it have a tomato on it too?
Some like it with a tomato.
I do.
Others don't.
He did eat the turkey.
I mean, there was a lot of turkey in there and a lot of delicious Mornay sauce.
Oh boy, cheesy sauce.
But I ended up throwing it away because it just, it kind of turned him a little bit where
it, he just wasn't into it.
And I thought it was going to be a hit, man.
Is there a piece of bread on the bottom?
It's an open face, right?
Yes.
Homemade bread.
I have this Japanese milk bread I make.
I haven't had one of those in years.
It's so good.
They're delicious.
Well, when this is all said and done, I'm making it again.
Cause I'm convinced Bob will love it again.
He used to love it.
So it just was one of those fails.
And I I'm learning as I go and trying different things with them and some things work and
some things don't.
You're doing okay with your burgers, your frozen burgers?
Yeah, we still have those.
Yep.
We have everything.
We're trying a little bit of everything.
All right.
Just anything that'll put pounds on me.
Gravy on top of things.
Gravy on ice cream.
Oh yeah.
Well, one thing he did with the leftover turkey, I didn't use all the turkey in the Kentucky
hot brown.
So he chopped it up in very small pieces and made a turkey salad sandwich.
Oh yeah.
Oh, that's great.
Oh yeah.
He loved it.
So delicious.
Yeah.
Anything soft like that.
He's, he's, uh, turkey and mayo to me are that strong.
That's a good combo.
Yeah.
Like Sonny and Cher.
Sort of.
Yeah.
Turkey and mayo.
Sonny and Cher.
I got you, babe.
No, it's how anyway, I'm working hard on finding the right things.
I'm trying really hard not to hound him about hydration.
I backed off this week.
You're doing well though, right?
Oh yeah.
I'm very hydrated.
I can't verify.
What do you mean you can't verify?
I can't be sure.
She wants to hover over me and make sure I take every ounce possible.
He needs to have 90 minimum fluid.
Is it 90 fluid ounces?
That's a lot.
It's a lot of drinking.
That's a lot of drinking.
And he's peeing all the time.
And I believe it's 80 fluid ounces.
He's not going one ounce.
I'm not going an ounce higher.
And you can't start cheating the numbers up either.
I say it's 100.
80.
80 fluid ounces.
That's a lot to drink.
My point is, he is monitoring that himself.
So I'm letting him have his autonomy when it comes to fluids.
Well, they said I'd have a headache if I didn't hydrate properly.
I have yet to have a headache.
In fact, I'm floating to the treatment every day.
I know you are, honey.
I have a tendency to be bossy.
Well.
Shock.
There was a time when you and I could down 96 ounces in one sitting.
In one sitting.
A beer?
Oh, yeah.
That's your eight beers, right?
Good old days.
Oh, man.
Well, it was either the nurse practitioner or the dietician said most people in this
situation when they're told to super hydrate, make sure you hydrate.
They're having coffee and diet coke.
Which is the worst thing you can do.
All day long.
It dehydrates.
So he's now having decaf diet, what do you call it?
It's a caffeine free.
Caffeine free diet.
Yeah.
Diet.
And he likes it fine.
And I do one of those a day.
Yeah.
I get tons of water.
That's a big dream.
You know, water is the thing I hate.
And now I'm drinking it like crazy.
And actually it's turned into the most refreshing drink I have.
It works down that sore throat.
Yep.
You know.
And Gatorade's Galore.
And today was, was it yesterday or today that you said the pain has leveled off like a plateau?
Yeah.
I had the same amount of pain for it was Friday and Saturday.
Today a little bit more, but not much.
Not appreciable.
That's great.
No.
Yeah.
I think it's, I think it's just grand.
I mean, he's just doing great.
So, and we've been listening to the show in the morning.
Okay.
Yep.
On the way.
Which is fun.
Normally we're asleep.
We don't get up bright and early like that anymore at 5 a.m.
No, we don't.
That's one of the advantages of retirement.
I get to sleep in.
Yes.
I get to stay up late and I get to sleep in.
And you will.
And now I get to fight cancer.
But only two more weeks, Bob.
And then you get to go back to sleeping in.
Two more weeks.
You can stand on your head for two weeks.
Yes.
But then there's surgery after that.
There are a lot of things going on.
That's down the road.
Yes.
You know.
All this stuff's happening.
You're going to get there.
You're going to get through it.
I'm working on it.
I know what I can do.
I have a new partner.
I hate him.
I'm going to kill him.
And that's what I'm in the process of doing.
You're doing great.
Yes.
Can I say my little meme thing that I got from my doctor.
Okay.
So remember, I went for my physical.
And then the next day she sent me a note with this message on it.
I think it's so great.
If I tell you I've got your back, you don't need to turn around and check.
I'm where I said I'd be.
Isn't that good?
That's really good.
So I sent that to my brother Yale and sister Susan in our sibling's text we have.
And Yale's reply was, if you ever did turn around, you would see a big crowd.
That's good.
That's very nice.
It just made me gasp.
It was just beautiful and encouraging.
And I know there are people out there caring and holding us up, even though there's not
much they can do.
We don't even want them bringing us food now because we're full.
We have every item.
My freezer.
I cleaned the freezer out and it's still cramped.
That's the real push me pull you.
Everyone wants to do something.
I know.
Sure.
They don't know what to do.
They really can't do anything.
No.
I know there isn't.
They could fix our pool.
I don't think that's under the category.
No, it doesn't.
No.
You never know.
That's one of my jokes.
That's a good joke.
I think Bob would rather go back to talking about Janice Ian at this point than the pool.
Oh my God.
Now we're going to get through it.
We really are.
We're going to talk about the race next week.
The lead up to the race.
Lead up to it.
We'll be heading out there.
I hope if nothing else gets worse than what it is, we'll be at the 500 and enjoy a good
race weekend.
That's our goal right now.
Well, our first goal though is next week.
What's that?
Next week.
Our youngest is graduating from law school.
Oh yeah.
That's crazy.
That doesn't seem possible.
A week from yesterday.
Yeah.
And we really, really want to be there.
I want to be at that graduation and I hope I am capable of doing that.
I think you will.
It's only a week.
I think we can.
Well, if it's anything like the first three, I think I'll be there with no problem.
Yeah.
So we'll report back on next Sunday if we were able to.
I'm making it come hell or high water.
I know you are.
I'm going to be there.
But I want Bob with me.
Well, I want to be there.
I know you do.
I did think if Bob got to the point maybe at the end, maybe the last podcast, you just
don't feel like doing it.
I've got a new name.
Oh, do you?
It's just Becky and me.
Yes.
Oh boy.
What is it?
It's two Dicks and three Mikes.
Oh my God.
Or the cancer show.
Great.
That wouldn't be.
That's so good.
No.
You've got to have the Bob part of it in there.
You've got to have Bob in there.
Yes, I've had some great partners in my life, but this is a partner I did not ask for.
No.
So we'll kill him.
We'll kill him and dead.
We're doing it together.
Yes.
Yep.
This is, I guess, about all we had for the week.
I can't think of anything else.
You didn't talk about your motivation once.
I explained motivation.
I can tell them about motivation every time I'm here.
Just say in the words, your motivation.
Oh, I know.
Yeah.
Jiggle them for me.
That is motivation.
Life is good.
It is good.
I love you, darling.
All right, well, we'll see you next week.
This is the Bob and Cancer Show.
I hate my partner.
I'm going to kill him.
You've been listening to the Bob and Cancer Show.
Tune into our next episode as we continue to follow Bob's journey.
Bob Gavoin appears courtesy of heavy honey ice cream.
Heavy honey, when you need to gain weight or are already married.
This is Whit Grayson speaking.
That was lad, see you next week.