Welcome to the Bob and Cancer Show.
Hi, I'm Bob Kevoian.
Greetings. Welcome, welcome to week four.
On our last episode Bob was kidnapped by a mad scientist who was trying to poison him
and cut him in half with a laser beam.
But it didn't happen. He's alive, he's well.
He is very well. I'm doing all right.
He is so very well.
That's exciting.
I can't believe it's week four already.
It's the end of, we're starting week five tomorrow.
Tomorrow week five begins with my final chemotherapy.
Tomorrow.
And then I have...
Hey, do you think that we get to ring a bell or anything?
When I'm done with the radiation, yeah, probably.
Do you ring a bell when you're finished with chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy? I haven't heard any bells while we've been up there.
That's not a good sign, is it? Never mind.
No.
Forget I said anything.
I think that's only if you tip.
Tip?
They will ring a bell.
Like Hooters. Is it Hooters?
Well, or different places they do.
Different places.
You know, if cancer centers were more like a Hooters,
a lot of people wouldn't mind going there.
It wouldn't be that dreadful.
No, no. Actually, it hasn't been dreadful at all.
You've made it pleasant, as pleasant as you can, right?
I am still overwhelmed by how, I guess, easy this has been.
Yeah, I don't know how we at all relate to people
who are going to be listening to this with a potential diagnosis
or a family member because Bob's doing so well.
I almost, I actually accused them last week of using a placebo.
She actually asked the doctor.
We meet with the radiation doctor every Wednesday.
Right.
And she, Becky says, are you sure you're hitting the right spot?
Well, and I don't think he was offended or anything,
but this same fella said when we first met him a month ago,
you're going to hate me in week three.
Yeah.
Well, okay, but we didn't.
I didn't hate him in week three, and I don't hate him in week four.
Week four ended with still very...
It's crazy.
Well, I think you're lucky.
I mean, it's so different for different people.
Sure it is.
But I thought about this coming today.
The lesson here is early detection.
Absolutely. Go to your doctor.
This was all part of my annual physical.
I have a chest x-ray every year, and in this year's x-ray,
they saw these spots and they took action,
and we found the cancer, found it early,
and that's why we're doing this podcast.
Right.
So it's pretty incredible when you find it early.
They say it is much easier.
Oh, absolutely.
Than when you are, I guess, diagnosed with a stage four cancer.
Or with symptoms that are debilitating already before you even start.
And it's difficult to corral the cancer,
and it's probably a longer process than just five chemo treatments.
It might be more, it might be longer radiation.
We don't know all this.
We're making this part out.
No, I'm just guessing because mine has been so...
Mine has been very easy.
It's been uneventful, other than the daily grind of going
for two people who are retired and like sleeping in and lounging in our robes.
This has been a job for the last month,
and I still have another week and a half to go.
But it is, you know, you have to be there on time.
You're getting to know a lot of the personnel there, which is very nice.
A lot of wonderful people there.
And it is a job.
But you're right, Witt, about early detection, and I'm not sure.
I mean, we've all heard those commercials and public service announcements
and people saying early detection saves lives.
But how do you get people to really hear it?
Maybe this podcast, maybe that's what this podcast is going to be for.
It could be, but it's, you know, if you have an annual physical exam,
chances are things like this will pop up.
Well, I think a lot of people don't have an annual physical.
What are the numbers, Witt?
You know things like this.
Excuse me, in my profession, I do financial planning.
He's an x-ray tech.
Oh, I'm sorry, wrong.
And occasionally it involves people buying life insurance.
And I'm shocked.
Someone will say, well, I haven't seen the doctor in seven or eight years.
Oh, boy.
Which is, in a way, it's good.
They're healthy. They feel healthy.
But an annual physical is amazing.
Oh, gosh, what they could find.
And most people, at 50 and older.
And most people don't go to a doctor unless they're feeling bad.
Right.
And that's when some of these cancers are detected because they're so far along
that they are actually showing symptoms.
I found this early and I had no symptoms whatsoever.
You still don't.
I don't.
I'm still stunned by what's going on here.
You know, I was raised by a mom, well, a mom and a dad.
My dad was pretty regular about going to the doctor, but my mother was not.
No, she wasn't.
And she lived to 80, almost 85 years old, and she never had a mammogram.
You know why?
No.
Why?
She thought, and she just had wacky ideas.
And I love her.
Today's Mother's Day, I sure miss her.
But she really thought that when they put your boob up in that clampy machine
that squishes it down, that if you did have cancer,
it's now spread through your whole body.
Because it squeezed it out.
Oh, yeah.
I always thought it was like a cartoon.
Once they squish it, it stays that way.
Oh, now see, I should have used that one on her.
But she never had a mammogram.
And so I was raised in this kind of idea that, well, I don't need to go to the doctor for that.
What's he going to do?
He ain't going to help.
You know, we just all, all of my siblings and everything, we all kind of had that.
I believe her quote was, that's how they get you.
Yep.
That was my mom for sure.
Those drug companies are.
That's how they get you.
So in a mammogram, is there like a vice boy?
Is there somebody that.
Are you going to apply for the job?
Yes.
Yeah, somebody has to turn that knob.
It's not the doctor that's turning the knob.
Let me tell you, it ain't that fun.
Okay.
You know, but for you.
Being the vice boy might be.
Sure.
I think men have the wrong idea of what a mammogram is.
Yes, I'm sure we do.
They think you take off your top and jiggle them around.
Yeah, yeah.
Keep going.
Should I talk slower?
Yes, please do.
Oh my goodness.
Vice boy.
We've derailed from our fourth week.
Yeah, I know.
That's okay.
Yes.
So I have one more chemo tomorrow and I'm guessing they won't say, well, you're going
to need another.
I'm not sure.
I guess it's possible.
No, we didn't hear that.
No.
Even as an option, right?
No, I don't think so.
I think that's it.
He's making stuff up again.
Sure.
Why not?
Well, you know, trying to fill half an hour here.
No.
So radiation again tomorrow and.
So it's our last long day tomorrow.
Yes.
The greatest thing about the, so we do chemotherapy every Monday and then the, and radiation on
Monday and then the rest of the week, it's just radiation.
So they're nice short days, but that, that Monday is long.
It's, it's tiring for Bob and I'm looking forward to being finished with that portion
of it.
Yeah, me too.
I can't believe it.
Can you?
What I'm going to miss is the steroids though.
Ants in the pants.
Oh my goodness.
You know, cause I, I, today.
Brown took a brown cow.
I'm fatigued.
Yeah, you are.
I am very tired.
Okay.
And that's the one, I guess, side effect that I am, I felt for the last, I don't know,
five to seven days.
And it's when the steroids from Monday wear off by Thursday.
Your butt starts dragging.
It starts dragging.
And now on Sunday, I'm really dragging.
Yeah.
And then tomorrow I get chemo, but I get my steroids before they put the, it was a taxol
or whatever it is inside me.
Yes.
There's two drugs, two poisons that go in there, but he gets those steroids.
And then he also, I think we've mentioned this before he gets an injection of this super
powerful Benadryl.
And I think that's part of the anti nausea.
Maybe I don't know, but he goes almost right to sleep.
He sleeps like last week you slept 45 minutes, maybe an hour.
I don't know.
I was sleeping.
In the chair.
Yep.
Yeah, on Monday.
Did Deb sleep during chemo?
Yeah.
They would give her that and an anti nausea and other stuff just to preventatively.
Sure.
She was never nauseous though.
She never.
Yeah, he's not had.
I am not either.
All of this stuff is working at tip top shape.
I have not been sick at all.
I have no nausea whatsoever.
I would knock on wood, but I'm afraid you'll say don't hit the table while we're recording.
All right.
But yeah, things are surprisingly well.
I expected to be frail, bald.
All of this stuff that they had told us about, this is where I expected to be at this time
of the treatments.
We really imagined the worst.
Because they have to tell you, and we discuss this I think every week, how they have to
tell you all the potential.
Here's what could happen.
Yes.
Yeah.
So you're not surprised.
But look at him.
I wish this was live on video so your listeners could see, Bob.
You look so great.
You look the same.
I don't feel any different except for the fatigue and that's it.
Doesn't he look the same?
I'm still.
Yeah, exactly the same.
I can still eat whatever I want.
I can.
He's careful.
You're careful with what you.
I mean, last week's steroids on Monday, I played 18 holes of golf the next day.
That's crazy.
And you golfed well.
Yeah, I golfed all right.
It gives me energy.
I'm just surprised.
He's been cheerful, cheerful, cheerful every day.
The previous week he did have some kind of blue days, but I think that's because that
fatigue was starting at the end of the week and we weren't sure what that was.
When somebody says you're going to experience fatigue, what does that mean?
I'm tired.
I'm tired today.
But he started to realize some fatigue and got a little bit blue, but it only lasted
about a day.
Not very long.
And this week he's been just as cheerful, funny, same as ever.
Well, now you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
This is your last week.
Yeah.
This is.
This is crazy.
It's crazy.
It is.
I'm quite surprised.
It went very fast.
Going through all this, I look back now, I was like, geez, that was a fast four weeks.
And I have a week and a half of radiation left and of course the one chemo tomorrow.
And then a week from Wednesday on the 24th of May.
Then you're going to be ringing the bells.
I get to ring the bell at the radiation center.
Will they let me take a little video of that?
I'm sure.
I bet they will.
You know, he's become the best friends with everybody there.
Oh, I bake for him.
I bring cookies.
So I'm sure you can do whatever.
You could probably run the radiation machine if you asked him.
Well, no, I'm afraid I'd miss.
You see, I've got that whole thing.
I can't believe you asked the doctor, are you sure you're hitting the right spot?
I was very serious because he wasn't having any of the things they warned us of.
They said every day they ask, do you have any tingling in your hands and feet?
No.
Do you have any nausea?
Nope.
No.
That's one of the things we're like, what?
Bob said that.
Well, I'm guessing you become fatigued.
Or maybe dizzy, I guess.
Who knows?
But he has nothing.
So I'm like, are these drugs working?
Is this a placebo?
Is he in a study?
Which they do.
They put you in a study.
I think they let you know that.
I don't think so.
Well, Mr. Kovoyan, good news is that you're growing a second penis.
Wait, oh my gosh.
No, it's just crazy.
I marvel every day.
Serious.
We wrote down for us to know.
I wrote down so Bob wouldn't forget this.
What is it?
What's that, honey?
About them poisoning me?
Yeah, that they hit me with kryptonite every day, but I'm still able to leap tall buildings.
See, that's good.
He's a Superman.
That's what I can't.
He's like Captain America or something.
He did have a weird thing this week where they take his blood pressure when he goes
in for chemotherapy on Monday.
First thing they do is take all his vitals, draw blood.
They send that blood across the street to the lab.
They have their own lab.
We've talked about that.
His blood pressure was high.
Not high-ish, but high in the 190s or something like that.
170.
She said, are you taking any medicine for this?
You should probably call your doctor.
They said it had been ticking up every week.
I'm like, what?
He doesn't have high blood pressure.
He's never been on blood pressure medicine because he's a healthy fella.
They told us to call the doctor, which Bob did.
I did.
Called up my family doctor and told him about this.
He said, well, I can prescribe this for you.
I cannot remember medicine names, but it's a high blood pressure medicine.
It's a pill.
You take it once every morning.
It should take care of the problem.
I had not ordered the or picked up the pills yet.
Becky took my blood pressure and it went down to 130.
I said, dude, he can even heal his own high blood pressure.
I wonder why it was high.
Here's why I think.
Maybe subconsciously I'm nervous whenever I go in there.
My brother Yale, who you've all heard about at a time or two, my brother Yale says he
has white coat syndrome.
Have you heard of that?
Yes.
He gets nervous.
Yeah.
They get upset coming into a doctor's office because of the white lab coats, I guess.
They always take Yale's blood pressure at the end of the appointment.
I think that's what he said.
If you take it while he's just arrived and everything, he's all worked up and jazzed.
So evidently Bob can heal his own blood pressure.
So I had my daughter in law come over and do a little lesson for me because I know nothing
about any nursing.
She's an RN.
Okay.
And I happened to have the blood pressure cuff from my sister Lynn, who just passed
away.
So we're putting that to good use.
I'm checking Bob's blood pressure every day with Lynn's.
None of her clothes would fit me.
So I got the blood pressure.
What do you?
Yes.
Oh, that's a good one.
But anyhow, I started taking the...
So she showed me how to do it properly.
Bob can't cross his legs.
Did you know that?
I didn't know that.
I didn't either.
People, just so you know, when you get your blood pressure drawn, even if you're at the
CVS in the back corner where they have the machine, don't cross your legs.
All right.
Don't ask me why.
I ain't no nurse.
So I started taking it every day and it's normal every day.
It's like the medicine didn't even have a chance to go into effect.
Not yet.
And his blood pressure is fine.
So whatever it is, Bob Kavoyan has some kind of magic powers.
He's a Superman.
Well, if I had magic powers, I wouldn't be going through this thing right now.
No.
So magic powers only work in certain areas, apparently.
Or do you really have cancer?
Is this a cosmic joke?
Is it a conspiracy?
I think that would be a really rotten joke.
Yeah, that would be a really...
I don't think that would be a good thing.
To go through something like this, no, that's not funny at all.
But it is good to know.
I think we're helping young men who are about to go to a prom.
They could tell their date, look, if you cross your legs, your blood pressure is going to
spike.
Right.
That's up to you.
Just be careful.
Better uncross it.
That's very inappropriate, but hilarious.
I'm just saying.
That's what it's all about.
The whole point of this is to learn, right?
Yes.
I feel like I'm learning.
I've shared this experience, and so far, what I thought was going to be a horrible experience
has been okay.
We thought by now, we're doing the week four, correct?
Yes.
We just finished week four.
We start week five tomorrow.
I thought that Bob was going to be frail and not be able to even sit in the chair to do
the podcast, sit at the table like he is.
He's just a regular guy.
We had one...
Well, we'll talk about that later.
The goal of getting downtown.
Oh, okay.
Go ahead and mention the goal.
Okay.
My son, Joey, the youngest, has just graduated, summa cum laude, let me add, from law school.
When we got the diagnosis about Bob, one of my first thoughts was, oh no, we won't be
able to go down to graduation.
Oh no.
What will that be like?
They scheduled fluids for Bob to get extra IV fluids on the days leading up to graduation.
Bob was able to just go, I don't need no stinking fluids.
He canceled them.
We had them Thursday and he canceled...
He won't be hydrated.
No, he's drinking like a fish.
I am floating, I'll tell you that.
Yeah, I canceled the Friday and Saturday fluids because I was feeling great.
He felt so great.
We went down yesterday, right?
Saturday was the graduation.
Parking was icky and bad.
We did have to walk a bit of a distance and Bob got a little bit tired.
That was the only thing.
He got a little tired by the end of the day.
He was kind of beat.
But then he came home and ate.
That's my everyday routine.
I become fatigued as the day goes on.
It just happened that I got a little tired of walking over there and walking out.
As we were driving home, I said, honey, you haven't had any protein for a while because
that's my job.
I said, do you want me to cook something?
What trips your trigger right now?
What are you hungry for?
He goes, I'd really like the kernel.
Oh yeah.
That's protein, man.
That's protein, baby.
We pulled through, got some fried chicken.
He downed it.
He ate like a champ.
He's doing everything I've asked him to do.
What I'm asking him to do are things that the nurses have asked us to do.
I just write him and make him.
Once you're done, is it Friday or Wednesday?
It's a week from Wednesday.
Okay.
You have what?
I have eight.
Eight more.
Eight radiations and one chemo.
When you're done, will you still have to do protein?
Is that regular?
I believe so.
We'll talk to the doctors about that in our weekly meeting on Wednesday where we talk
about they're missing the spot.
Yes, where I challenge the doctor about his know-how.
Let me tell you, doc, I'm an expert in a lot of things.
According to Bob, that's not the first time you've said, are you sure you're hitting the
right spot?
Oh, oh, oh.
Oh, wow.
Okay, I'm just saying.
Okay, yeah, here I am with Bob and Whit.
What did I expect?
Well, you knew what you were getting into.
Yes, I did.
So now- We don't know about post-treatment.
I just wondered about that.
I assume because we need his weight to stay up when he has his operation, which will be
six to eight weeks after- Okay.
Afterward, yeah.
The treatment.
They still have to operate on him.
So when will they tell you, like is it six weeks, eight weeks?
Well I think between four and six weeks after my radiation is complete, they will bring
me in for a CT scan and see if all the scar tissue has healed.
If it hasn't, then there'll be another couple weeks.
Push it back.
But if it has healed, then they'll schedule the surgery and we'll go from there.
Great.
So I'm not sure what to ask.
And that's a whole other level of podcast, I think, at that point.
Well and you were saying last time that you were getting a little bit of a scratchy throat.
Yes.
Do you still have it?
Still hanging there.
Okay.
Still there, but it's nothing that bothers me.
Okay, good.
I mean it doesn't hinder my eating.
It doesn't hinder swallowing at all.
He's more careful.
He's more careful, I'd say.
Meaning?
I just have to chew down my food, make it a lot easier.
And what really helps, and we brought this up a couple of episodes ago about THC.
What does that stand for?
I don't know.
Something dirty?
It's the high company?
I don't know.
I think it is.
It is.
And I have taken...
A liking?
A liking to the THC.
Of the herb?
And it's actually a gummy.
Okay.
Because the herb is a little difficult to inhale with a sore throat.
But my sweet spot is five milligrams, and that takes away all pain.
Really?
It's all gone.
Even the sore throat I have, everything's gone, and I'm hungry.
Is that a one a day deal?
Yeah, usually one a day.
I don't know enough about...
In the evening, he takes it in the evening.
Maybe one in the afternoon, depending.
So keep in mind, Bob has to eat every roughly two or three hours.
He's supposed to eat before he's hungry.
That's my job, is to say, look, it's been two hours.
I know you're not hungry, but it's time for some protein.
So he's got to have whatever, cottage cheese, cheese sticks, salami, a boiled egg, some
high protein food.
And in order for him to feel hungry, or if his throat is feeling a little tight, he has
a little sweet little green apple.
Little green apple gummy.
Let's go bite the head off the bear, right?
Uh-huh, let's do it.
But you know what?
It works so effectively, and I'm not a drug user, never have been, but it really makes
me want to get up on a soap box and holler at people who say this is not medically effective,
because it is, and Bob is living proof of that.
Many other people are as well, but most of the people who are, say, advocating for legalizing
THC, or POD, or whatever, are little hippie people, and nobody's going to pay them any
never-know mind.
With me, I want to say, look, you guys, look what this has done for this man.
What it's done.
Yeah, but also, they prescribed three medications for me for anti-nausea, and to numb my throat
in case I had tough times swallowing.
And those medications, I think, came to about $220.
Cha-ching.
And then the gummies.
Those have gone unused, might I add.
I haven't used those at all.
The gummies for 10 gummies in a bag is $10.
And I have...
That tells you something.
That's the only money that I've spent as far as medication that I've used.
Is it 10 milligrams for a full...
Well, you can get them in different ones, but I got the 10 milligram bag.
And so you just do half...
Cut it in half.
And cut one in half.
Okay.
It's like a little orange slice kind of look.
It's got sugar on the outside.
A little triangle.
All right.
It's kind of cute.
I'm not going to try them.
I'm not interested, but it's really making a difference for Bob.
And it's not like he's not sitting around the house laughing or, you know, hey man.
Oh yes, I am.
But I mean, back in the 70s, yes, Bob was quite the experienced pot user.
But this is a whole different use, and it's necessary for him.
And it quite bothers me that it's not available to your average person who doesn't have a
contact that we will remain nameless here.
Okay, yeah.
But I was a little skeptical myself.
If you're going to give it a shot.
We were very skeptical.
It does the job.
Great.
Really does.
And I would recommend it to anyone.
If they can find it, that's the thing.
They have to drive to Michigan.
The one thing, yes, you have to go to state.
I took them all while I was out of state.
Yes.
It was legal when you took them.
When I took them, it was legal.
We drive up to Michigan every day.
Every day I drive to Michigan, take a gummy and drive home.
Sometimes Illinois.
Yeah, Illinois is also convenient.
Gives a new meaning to going to Carolina in my mind, doesn't it?
It truly is.
But the one thing is, excuse me, it's made my appetite.
Continue to be strong.
Oh, man, you guys.
It's so strong, I've gained now 14 pounds.
Are you serious?
I'm serious.
Yes, look at him, healthy.
And I had to get new pants.
Really?
He really did.
To get new pants.
New britches.
Well, I found these great jeans and I'll give them a plug because they're great.
They're not sponsoring us.
They're not sponsoring us because it cost me more than the medication.
Hey, did you get fat?
Try these jeans.
Yeah, here's some fat jeans for you.
But they're not, they're just normal jeans.
They're called Muggsy, M-U-G-S-Y.
Muggsy?
Stand up and model them for a wit.
No, I'm not going to model them.
Stand up and model them for a wit?
What are you talking about?
Good God.
Good Lord.
You boys.
Take your dress off and you can wear my pants.
You can model them for a wit.
Good God.
Okay, whatever.
So they're the most comfortable jeans I've ever worn.
How'd you know them by them?
I just looked up online.
Fatjeans.com.
And I stumbled across these Muggsy comfortable jeans.
I was looking for comfortable jeans.
But they're beautiful.
They're not like what you think, like an old man and whatever is going to throw on some
jeans.
It's not like that.
It's not like the Michelin man wearing blue jeans.
No, not at all.
No, they're great jeans.
And they're stylish and he bought one pair to check it out and then he bought another
pair and then he bought another pair.
I'll let you know they're pricey.
But, okay.
Weren't they like around a hundred bucks?
Yeah, but worth it.
Well made and good jeans.
Yeah, beautiful.
And he got different colors and different weights and all kinds of stuff.
He's very excited about them.
Like a fabric weight.
Oh, I see.
You've got lightweight, summery.
They have one called Cool Max, which is you can wear long pants on a hot day and it's
just as comfortable as can be.
You need to check those out just because of that.
Yeah, there's cotton though.
They're not like nylon or some weird.
No, it's a combination.
Yeah, but it's not like a stretchy sweat pant or anything.
But it is stretchy because when I sit down, I'm comfortable.
You got lots of room.
I got a lot of room.
We'll be right back with The View.
We're talking stretch pants and fabrics and.
Outfits.
Bob said boys don't use the word outfits.
No, you don't use the word outfit.
No.
I mean, I've never said that in my life.
Like what outfit should I wear?
What do you say?
Let's say you're going to an event.
I'll ask what is the dress code?
Oh, OK.
I mean, is it casual?
And you and Bob don't call each other and go, no.
What are you wearing down to the zoo?
Do these jeans make my legs look fit?
I will tell you this.
I went to a celebration of life yesterday and I did call the organizer and say, is this
a sport coat?
Yeah.
You know.
And what is the protocol?
Because the worst thing you want to do is show up inappropriate.
Yeah.
Right.
So our friend, Mark Patrick, I said, you know, it's at the White River Yacht Club.
It's open air.
It's going to be 80 degrees.
Right.
I said, I think I'm just going to wear golf pants and a golf shirt.
Sure.
He goes, you're not wearing a sport coat.
I go, no.
He goes, we're honoring the dead.
I said, I would rather honor the dead comfortably.
Yes.
I'd rather do chemo comfortably.
Yes.
Okay.
Did Mark wear a sport coat?
No, he was kind of funnin' with me.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
Although he did have a long sleeve shirt on.
Well, respect, Whit.
I had a golf shirt and several of our friends were Hawaiian shirts.
Nothing wrong with that.
The guy we were honoring would have preferred that, right?
I'm sure.
So anyway, now that we've got the fashion.
Well, I wanted to go.
The fashion portion of the podcast.
I wanted to go back to the heavy honey chat because we had a very funny moment when I
was, I'm always writing Bob about eating and eating and are you gaining weight?
Are you still gaining weight?
And he said.
What did I say?
About your.
Oh, I said, yeah, I'm gaining weight because I can't see my junk.
The belly is way out there.
Well, it's not way out there.
Yes, it is.
It's a far enough out where I can't see my junk.
That has to be really far out.
It is.
It's unbelievable.
You know, as men, we know how to pee in the pitch black.
So seeing it is not that necessary.
No, it isn't.
Oh, well, but he's been feeling great.
He's been looking great.
He's been eating like you cannot believe.
See, I've seen you.
I mean, like I'm going to the chair seven to nine.
I asked that today what our grandson, one of his favorite meal of all time was.
He's seven.
He couldn't come up with it.
But and someone said, well, what would your last request be if you were in prison on death
row?
And to a seven year old?
No, he asked me.
Oh, and I said, well, I'd probably go with a great big bowl of chili and let those guys
deal with the mess after.
Oh, my God.
You must have said this out of my hearing.
I miss that.
You were busy doing something else.
Did he think it was funny?
Yes, absolutely.
Of course, that's funny.
No, I was going to say I've seen you seven to nine times in the last four to five weeks.
The thing that amazes me is your attitude.
You just seem like he's so great.
Yeah.
Well, I was worried.
I mean, I was worried as well.
This is a heavy thing to go through.
We're not we're not downplaying the severity of what you're going to.
No, no, no, no.
Please don't misinterpret anybody who's listening.
Don't misinterpret.
You've been fortunate that they caught it early and the treatment had been they've been
reasonable.
Very easy.
Let me toot my own horn by saying I think it helps to have a partner in it monitoring
all of the things they say to do, because if you're alone in this, it must be doubly
hard.
It'd be awful.
It's hard enough for Bob to just remember to eat, remember to drink.
And he has me just to remind me not to just remind him, but to have the food in the house
and cook the food and make the food.
This morning he was still sleeping and I was a little bit.
It was just a quiet house and it's Mother's Day.
So I thought, well, what can I do this morning that's quiet, but keep me busy.
So I baked a cake.
I'm I added.
I replaced some of the flour with protein powder and I added an extra egg because in
my mind, anything I can do to add more protein, even to treats will make a big difference
for Bob because they said protein, protein, protein.
They're not saying sugar, fat, any of they want calories.
Yes.
But the main key is protein so that as his body is working in there, it's not going to
take away his muscles.
And that's what we need.
It's to keep that muscle going and he's got most of its fat.
Well, but it's not though.
You think it is, but it's not.
But I'm huge.
You know, you're not.
He's not huge.
I will ask a question.
I think many of your fans would want to know extra crispy at the Colonel.
I know regular, regular recipe.
He likes original.
I like the original.
That's their weakness is extra crisp.
No, not a fan of that.
I like the got the original, all the spices and he got an eight piece set or whatever
you call a set.
Right.
So he can have cold chicken outfit.
He wants to have cold chicken.
So tonight he'll have.
Oh, see, there's nothing better.
I agree.
Oh, if you've got the right skin on that stuff, that is just the Colonel does it right.
Yes, he does.
You said last time you're not a fan of mashed potatoes, right?
No.
Oh, but but I tried some.
Not bad.
With some gravy on gravy makes almost every gravy does a lot of magical.
So I did buy some gravy because, of course, wit I overbought and I'm sure we've covered
this topic before I overbought all the soft things, not knowing that Bob would still at
the end of week four be able to eat anything.
Well, he's still eating regular food.
So my our fridge, freezer and pantry are full of peanut butter and cottage cheese and puddings
and all the soft things, the soft things I thought I would have to eat in order to swallow.
I made the most delicious homemade chocolate pudding and we had a bowl of it one evening
and then I ended up rinsing it down the sink because he didn't need didn't need to eat.
He's eating ice cream with every nut in the world in it.
It's like some kind of magic.
Graters.
It's a great ice cream.
Midnight snack.
It's got pretzels and nuts and hungry hippo, which I'm a big fan of because you are because
I am a hippo.
But he's eating ice cream that's not smooth is what my my point is.
I overstocked with all the smooth and now I'm I'm stuck with it unless he happens to have
unless things turn this week.
I don't see.
But I don't see it happening for it.
He's so far in.
I don't see it happening.
And it's hilarious to look in our in our pantry and the things that I'm making for him.
I'm not making smooth foods right now.
I bought a brand new beautiful blender to make all these protein shakes.
We made one shake.
We've made one only as an experiment to try it.
And we haven't made another interesting because we haven't needed it.
So I'm prepared for if we do know ready.
And then that blender is cute.
It's going to wonder if this weight will make you more buoyant in your pool or will you
be Brian Jones?
I see a little Brian Jones and me right there.
Right to the bottom.
Right to the right to the bottom.
There he is down there.
No, it's just it's just remarkable.
It is completely remarkable.
So I'm still I still don't believe it.
I really don't.
I did have a fail.
I wanted to mention because this the steak.
Yes.
Oh, you knew when I said the word fail.
You knew what I was talking about.
Wow.
So I have a pretty decent cook.
I like to cook.
He's a very good guy.
And I love to bake and all this.
Well, I also love in the spring hunting morel mushrooms in our woods.
It's one of my passions.
Oh, my gosh.
Well, this year I could not give one shit about I mean, one care about hunting mushrooms.
You know what?
Out of the three of us, she's the only one who's cussed on this.
I know.
You know that comma thus far.
We received this diagnosis right about the height of mushroom season and I didn't go
out and I didn't care.
And I wasn't interested because I wanted to literally spend every second with Bob.
I didn't know what was to come.
So our youngest, Joey, loves hunting mushrooms as well.
So the other day he was out with his son, Andrew, and said, let's go for a walk.
Let's go out in the woods.
We're going to go out and look for mushrooms.
Well, we found a few and Joey found enough for us to make for me to make this morel whiskey
cream sauce that is to die for.
So we go to the meat market, our favorite place and we bought what's called a Hoosier
ribeye.
They're fantastic.
They're very thin.
They're made for a ribeye sandwich.
So I thought, shoot, he can eat a Hoosier ribeye.
Man, let's see.
I don't want him to have to stand at the grill because he might get tired.
So I'll do it my little cast iron skillet way.
It was so bad.
It was so bad that I told Bob, I'm so thankful we don't have company.
I could not have served this.
It looked like prison grade beef, speaking of going to the chair.
It looked like a death row steak.
It looked like a steak.
Did you get dribble up into nothing?
No, it was gray.
It didn't sear because I have an induction cooktop that I'm new to.
When you get a gray horse, you get gray meat.
Well, so this induction cooktop didn't work properly with my cast iron and I didn't know
it because it was the first time I've tried the searing and I'm good with cast iron, man,
but I'm also best with cast iron on a gas stove.
So I was using the induction.
Lo and behold, I didn't know it.
The stove goes off if the skillet is too hot and I didn't know it.
I'm like, what's happening with this steak?
So this wasn't a cooking.
It's a mechanical failure.
It was me.
It was a mechanical.
I should have done it differently.
I wouldn't have known.
I should have done it on the grill.
But we ate it anyhow and he choked it down and it was actually the meat itself was tasty
enough.
It was way too done and it was a humongous disappointment.
You couldn't see the steak if you covered it in morel gravy.
Morel gravy was the whole savior of the whole thing and he still ate it because he had to
get his protein.
There were like six grams of protein in that hunk of meat and he's getting it.
So you're not damning a Hoosier ribeye.
You're just saying that it was a lot of Hoosier ribeye.
Hoosier ribeye on the grill?
Oh baby, like a minute aside pretty much.
Or had I done it properly or on a gas stove, it would have been spectacular.
But it was a fail on my own part for trying something new when I'm trying to feed this
man food that not only tastes good but looks beautiful because it has to be appetizing.
He's being forced to eat when he's not hungry.
So it needs to look good.
Right?
It tastes good.
I don't care.
If you eat a prison looking piece of meat.
If I was hungry and it tasted good, I'd eat it.
See, that's the thing about guys.
They'll eat just about anything.
I don't know.
But it was just a lesson learned.
It is interesting you just said, what do you want to eat today?
KFC.
Exactly.
He did not ask for me to cook.
That's a fact.
I think I'll have the Colonel cook for us.
Thanks.
I want to bring up something that we've noticed in the past four weeks.
Tell me baby.
We're traveling on hospital grounds.
There's a lot of bad drivers.
Fact.
A lot of bad drivers out there.
And we can see them from upstairs as we look out the window.
People are going to and from hospitals.
We don't know why.
Some are there for an emergency.
Others are there when they found out they had cancer.
The nurses even mentioned it.
And they say, yeah, they can see crashes.
Wrecks all the time.
People are not concentrating on their driving.
They're concentrating on an ill spouse.
That's my theory.
A cancer diagnosis.
Their heads are elsewhere.
They're running stop signs, crashing into each other quite often, evidently.
And it's, you know, you sit there and you go, what is this jerk doing?
Get out of my way.
And you realize that guy probably just found out he has cancer.
He just found out his wife.
His head spinning and his ears are ringing.
Exactly.
And what I want to say is if you're traveling on hospital property in a car, whoever is
around you in a car, give them mercy.
Give them mercy.
Mercy.
And drive defensively is what you want.
Really I'm just saying grant them mercy.
It's a free pass in my opinion.
There should be no road rage in a hospital parking lot or on a hospital road.
Because thinking back to our first day, Bob.
Oh man.
We were so stunned.
Absolutely.
Just panicked, wide-eyed, flushed, our ears are ringing.
And no, we would have been a really bad drivers at that moment.
And if someone could be merciful and kind and go, hey, sorry.
Well, and there are probably a higher percentage of elderly drivers at a hospital parking lot.
True.
Oh, I'm not giving them a break.
I will tell you this.
If you see anyone wearing those X-Men sunglasses.
Yes.
Oh yeah.
Yes.
Step on their brakes, let them pass.
They can't see.
Exactly.
Their eyes have been dilated or whatever.
But it was a good lesson for us.
It's something I think that anyone who's on a hospital ground should grant everyone a
little mercy when it comes to driving.
We saw it.
There was a, somebody ran a stop sign and the nurse made comment, boy, we sure see a
lot of wrecks here.
And that's when I said, I bet it's because they are stunned for this or that reason.
Because there's not a lot of good things that happen at a hospital.
No, someone could have died.
Except for birth.
Well, that's a good point.
But even then you might not be driving well.
That's true.
Yeah.
You're hurrying to get there or be excited.
You're there to get fixed.
And a lot of people or their heads are elsewhere.
So that is a great lesson for the people listening.
It's just something I've noticed that being there every day on hospital grounds, it's
something we've noticed.
I thought I'd just pass it on.
Another place at a hospital, and you guys haven't had to avail this, that's not a feel
good party atmosphere, is your hospital cafeteria.
Yeah.
Oh, wow.
Well, we haven't been there yet, but I know there's reservations for us in July.
Okay.
So.
A party of two.
Well, it'll probably be a party of one.
I'll have one to go, please.
I'm going to be the lady in the corner looking panicked and trying to find something without
mayonnaise on it.
Well, good luck.
That's all right.
You don't like anything like that.
No, I don't like any tuna salads or anything.
You know?
So.
Well, I think we've summarized our week four.
Now we look forward to the final week of chemo and radiation.
Yes.
And I hope it goes as smoothly as it has the last four weeks.
And I thank you guys for joining us.
Oh my gosh, yes.
I forgot to say that I, the Bob and cancer show, I have a partner that I hate and I want
to kill him.
Yes.
So.
That's why we don't have a jingle.
I'm available.
I can sing.
I can still sing.
Let's do it.
It's hard to find a rhyme for partner.
Yes.
So.
Oh, it's going to spend the whole week trying to come up with a rhyme now.
I'm still thinking about Bob's last meal and telling his grandson.
Yep.
You want a big bowl of chili sauce.
That's what you want.
Let the guards clean it up.
Well, thank you all out there for tuning in too and sticking with Bob through this journey.
Thank you all and happy mother's day, my love.
Thank you.
And we'll see you all 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 Kiboyan appears courtesy of marijuana.
Marijuana.
It's not for everyone, but it works for Bob.
With marijuana, food will taste better.
Music will sound better.
You'll forget your troubles and music will sound better.
This is Whit Grayson speaking.