Busy Monday

I know I’ll be sorry tomorrow.  I overdid it today. 

I stripped the bed, did 2 loads of laundry, made the bed, went to get my blood checked – it was good – stopped at the grocery store and post office, collected the trash and put it out to the street.

You have to use the energy when you get it. 

The river was very high.  A “high water” sign was left by the side of the road even though the water has gone down off the road.  Some of the baseball fields were also under water and Canadian geese were enjoying it.  Rain is predicted later this week.

I have a plan for getting my dogs to go to the bathroom outdoors in the rain – leashes.  I have a raincoat and boots.  When I am camping with dogs we have no choice but to walk in the rain or wind or whatever it happens to be doing.   HA – I’ll let you know if it works. 

Later….

 

Diet News

Taking into consideration yesterdays info about diet – I had dry cereal for breakfast (starch) – pork roast, green beans and a pickle for lunch (protein & veggies) – half a baked potato and another pickle (starch & veggies) for dinner (I should say supper as that’s what it was where I grew up). 

It seems to be working.  Not nearly so many burps and that overstuffed feeling is less than it was. 

You may have noticed the pickles in my diet.  I received an 80 oz. jar of pickles for my birthday.  That’s because I can’t taste food very well but pickles still taste like pickles – and pickles are a vegetable.

.

Don’t know how it will work if I go out to eat.  Maybe I could just order a hamburger and a fork or pasta and bread. 

I could order a regular meal and just eat part of it and bring the rest home. 

The rain brought on more dog puddles in the house.  I caught Bandit at it in the bathroom and dragged him outside by his collar.  Then he managed to open the bedroom door that I had blocked with a paint can and made a puddle in there.  BAD BAD DOG!

The rain has stopped but the weather is not done with winter yet.  March came in like a lamb so it should go out like a lion according to the old saying.

Later….

 

 

Diet Stuff

Reading my Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips book, I found some info about food.  This info may be in some of the serious literature given me at the doctor’s office but since it didn’t have “sexy” in the title or cute sayings etc. I didn’t notice it.

The picture below shows the digestion times of different types of foods.  It also demonstrates what not to put together, like proteins and starches. 

A normal healthy person probably would never have to consider this information.  But when I eat and burp a lot and get an all day stomach ache I need to know why.

Quote from book:  “When we don’t combine foods properly, digestive enzymes are neutralized – and the resulting traffic jam fouls up our digestion”.

If you click on the picture it gets bigger, I think.

Then, of course, there is the question of is it a starch or a vegetable.   I went looking on the internet for that info.  Root vegies are starch as well as rice, bread and crackers.  I had already figured out I couldn’t eat potatoes, now I know why.  Maybe I can add them back if I do it right. 

A normal breakfast, like I had on Tuesday – egg and bacon sandwich – is a big nono (mixing protein and starch).  It’s no wonder I had an 8 hour stomach ache.  

So for dinner tonight I had a boiled egg, green beans and a couple of thin slices of chicken.  We will see how that sets. 

The battery in the RV is a goner.  Since I haven’t been starting the RV at all this winter it is probably my fault.  That will not stop me from trying to get a bit  of $ knocked off the next one I buy from the same place.  They couldn’t do anything about it till Monday after they have checked it themselves.

It rained in the night and all day.  This led to a doggie pee puddle in the bathroom.  Bandit is blamed for it but Teddy may have added his squirt to it also.  The dogs were outside enough to go out there.  I even put on a raincoat and went out with them to prove rain does not melt you. 

Since it’s supposed to keep raining tomorrow I may have to put leashes on them and be sure they go outside.  I refuse to hold an umbrella over them although I used to do that for a Great Dane I had.  Well, her puddles were VERY significant.

later….

Book Review

Someone gave me a book to read.  I have been flipping through it now and then.  Yesterday I finally got down to reading parts of it. 

There is a whole chapter about the Cancer Card.

The first paragraph of that chapter reads:  “You have been preapproved for a Platinum Club Cancer Card membership!  Though it sucks that you have cancer, membership to this ever growing club does come with its perks.  Your Cancer Card provides you with oodles of mileage points and has no expiration date.  It’s an I’m-human card, and like it or not you can’t do it all; every now and then you need a treat.”

It points out that this card can be used to opt in or out of anything:

I need to rest -----

Don’t dump on me-----

I will not be able to attend----

etc etc etc.

 

It even recommends shopping therapy.

I have had some good laughs from this book already and there are even some serious parts.

I’ve been running some errands.  Managed a huge bag of dog food by tipping it out of the car into a large cooler and sliding it into the house.  YEAH!

I’ve been trying to get the RV battery charged with no luck.  Tomorrow Lory & John are going to use jumper cables and get it going.  They are going to clean it for me.  Am I using that Platinum Card?  You bet I am!

Later….

Tuesday After Monday

Okay – today I wrote it down in the Chemo Log composition book that my friend gave me a while back.  DO NOT EAT TOO MUCH THE DAY AFTER CHEMO!!!

I think the steroids give me an appetite.  Otherwise I don’t have a big appetite – so I eat.  I had a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast.  Then a bowl of soup for lunch. 

Then I took an anti nausea pill.  For this evening I’m going to snack on cereal bit by bit. 

Now if I just remember to read what I wrote down – MAYBE I won’t have such a stomach ache the next time.

Beautiful sunny day today.  Picked up the new collection of dead branches in the back yard.  Put ear wash in the dogs ears – much to their dismay.

A while ago I felt a weight on my foot and assumed a dog had lovingly laid their head on the Master’s foot.  Looked down and saw Bandit sitting on my foot.  Whichever end, I’ll take it.

Some touch up painting was done today.  Then some battery charging was done.  John’s truck wouldn’t start till we used the jumper cables.

While we had the stuff out I attached the charger to the RV.  I’ll take it off for the night as I was once charging a battery and happened to look out just as smoke started rolling out of the charger.  This is a new charger but why take a chance.

I left that old charger on a battery overnight once with the hood open just a couple inches.  The next morning I found a walnut stuffed in the engine.  Those squirrels are busy fellows.

I need to follow their example….

Later….

Last of Chemo Round 4 and Info

Today my blood was good and I received the Taxol on schedule.  I asked the nurse – sometimes nurses will tell you more than doctors – about my schedule.

Next Monday I go for blood work.  That will be without the addition of the steroids the day before and gives a truer reading.

The Monday after that I see the doctor and then am scheduled to start the next round of chemo.  That day they will also draw blood for the special test of cancer markers.

The nurse said some patients stay on chemo for a year, depending on what their blood markers are.

So now at least I have some information to work with. 

I plan to try driving myself to that next chemo appointment.  If I feel wobbly afterward I will sit in my car until I feel alert enough to drive.  If I sit there for more than an hour I will call someone to bring a friend and drive me and my car home.

I have told the nurse and my kids what I plan to do.  I just want to be more independent.

The new normals are coming fast.  Sometimes the hardest thing to say is “thy will be done”.  Then the question arises – what is “thy will”. 

So on I go on into this journey.  I WILL find a way to be more independent and get more done and not give in to the fatigue so much. 

John installed a new showerhead yesterday, the kind with a hose on it and you can lift it off and spray around. 

Since Bandit jumped into the bathtub to avoid the thunder and lightning yesterday evening and dog feet are always a little dirty, I made use of the showerhead today to rinse out the tub.  He also managed to get a bit of wet paint on his head. 

Once I get him into his cage, smelly chewy dog treats are the lure, he seems to settle down and feel safe.  I never had a dog who predicted storms before.  Guess he is a weather dog.

I slept through the storm in the night.  Those sleeping pills really work.  There were tree trimmers out today cleaning up a lot of old trees and branches just down the street.  Everyone needs work around here, good for them.

Really enjoyed a phone call from my sister yesterday.  I enjoy reading her blog and hearing about the places they go and the things they do. 

Later….

 

 

Out of the House Saturday

Today I went to the post office, the bank (drive-thru), and Walmart.   A woman in the next drive-thru lane at the bank was taking a long time, she was on her cell phone.  I was looking toward the bank, not at her, but she closed the cell phone and drove away giving me a dirty look.  I’m sure the car behind her was glad she finally moved on.

Then I came home, put away most of the groceries and took a nap.  The dogs took a nap, too.  They are so used to my being here all the time that they get stressed when I am gone.  That makes them tired. 

They got their ears worked on this evening.  It amounts to squirting liquid in their ears and massaging the base of their ears for a minute or two, then letting them shake their heads to get the liquid out. 

I used to buy this liquid from the vet at about $10. a bottle.  This last time I was at the vet’s I introduced Bandit who is a foster dog.  The vet took pity on me and told me the liquid was 50% water and 50% vinegar. 

This ear cleaning process upsets Bandit a lot.  He runs around the back yard shaking his head then comes in the house and runs around like a wild dog.  I am told this is called the “Bassett 500”.

It just so happened that Lory and John were painting in the bathroom when he came in.  He kept taking a detour in there while he ran.  We finally had to close the door until he settled down.

My sense of smell isn’t dead.  I can smell the paint now and then.

The ceiling is done and tomorrow the walls will be done.  I’ll try to get a picture of the finished product.  It was painted before in 2002.  There is only one other room that has been painted since I moved here in 2002.

I’m not much of a decorator.  If there is a nail on the wall I’ll hang something on it but that’s about it.

Tomorrow will be a “take the Dexamethasone” day in preparation for chemo on Monday.

later….