Mexico is Done

I forgot to mention the map of the US that I am finishing also includes Mexico and Canada. Mexico is done and has been done since the end of July. I am on track to finish the map by the end of September. Currently I am working on the Hawaiian Islands. Remember the map is from 1961 and Hawaii had not been a state too long and is referred to as the Hawaiian Islands. I considered shortening it to Hawaii but thought that went counter to the age of the canvas. So I’ll stitch in the Hawaiian Islands thing which will take some additional time. Once I am done with that it’s off to the Gulf of Mexico and finishing the border that surrounds the map.

The map and my 6th cycle should be completed about the same time – mid to late-September.

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Thai-Style Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

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Hog on a Log at the State Fair

Our niece, Emma, stopped to visit on her way home to Michigan from the Pacific Northwest. It was a treat to have her here, literally. We took her to the Minnesota State Fair yesterday evening. The Fair is a big event here and is one of the largest in the country attracting over 1.7 million visitors last year. More important is the variety of food available especially the foods on-a-stick. We didn’t try it but saw a deep fried banana split on a stick available. We tried to introduce Emma to as many foods as possible. I’m unable to eat most of what is offered but did have an apple, corn on the cob, a pork chop on a stick (hog on a log), and a cup of fries. All delicious.

We walked quite a bit and saw many of the attractions. The walking was good for me and I was able to do it without difficulty. Got tired a couple of times but felt good. I slept well last night and am feeling pretty normal already for this cycle. I start my next and final cycle on September 7. There’s a one day delay getting started because of the Labor Day weekend.



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How to Prepare Corn on the Cob

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Foyle’s War and Easy Cheese

Foyles’ War is a British series that blends historically accurate events with the investigations of its main character Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle. It takes place in the town of the Hastings on the Southern Coast of England during WWII. Eunice and I have gotten into watching the series and recently watched the episode titled Bad Blood.

There is a scientific experiment in this episode that is based on real life WWII biological experiments focused on the use of anthrax. Scientists often used themselves as guinea pigs in their own experiments. Considering some of the things they were testing its not surprising it often turned out bad.

So what’s this got to do with Easy Cheese? I can eat processed cheeses like cream cheese, cottage cheese, American cheese, and mozzarella cheese. It finally occurred to me that I could probably eat Cheese Whiz too. It’s not that I have a hankering for Cheese Whiz but the thought of Nachos was in my head. Tearing up American cheese and trying to make Nachos just wasn’t doing it for me. But to be able to use a can of Cheese Whiz to spread it made it more palatable. I keep saying Cheese Whiz but it turns out the stuff in a can that you can shoot out over crackers, chips and so on is called Easy Cheese. Gotta believe it is the same stuff only in a can instead of a jar. Here are the ingredients for Easy Cheese (American flavor) copied from the can (some website versions may be different):

WHEY, CHEDDAR CHEESE (MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), CANOLA OIL, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF SALT, SODIUM CITRATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, MILK, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID, SALT, SODIUM ALGINATE, SORBIC ACID AS A PRESERVATIVE, ANNATTO (COLOR), APOCAROTENAL (COLOR), ENZYMES, CHEESE CULTURE.

I know it says Cheddar Cheese is an ingredient but as processed cheese goes, this stuff is really processed. It all looked safe to me. So like the scientists in Foyle’s War I decided to experiment on myself and the results were good; I didn’t get injured and the Nachos tasted better than you are thinking.

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Traditional Tex-Mex Nachos

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Chicago, IL and Halifax, NS

I saw Ann in Chicago and met the other interns she is living with. Dinner was Pile On followed by delicious cupcakes Ann made that spelled Happy B-Day. The word "Birthday" wouldn't fit on the plate so there were some leftover letters that you can see in the picture. And yes, I didn't eat the raspberries that are high in Tyramine. I'm sure nothing went to waste. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and was very gracious. I always love it when people get to the “Dear ???” part and don’t know what to call you. Some called me David, some said Dad, and it was all good. I guess I acquired some new children.

One will be leaving today. Dallas is headed for Halifax, Nova Scotia this morning. He is going on a Semester at Sea where he will travel around the world taking classes and working. It’s not cheap being Dallas. He will return to San Diego in mid-December. We celebrated our birthdays again last night with apple pie and cards.

Eunice gave me a book called Sh*t My Dad Says. According to Dallas, it makes me look normal. I’ll take that as a compliment but it is full of profanity and profundity. And it’s pretty funny. Last night I opened a birthday card from my in-laws; really from my mother-in-law – we know who just signed the card. There should be a website for her called Stuff My Mother-In-Law Writes. She is an avid writer of notes and letters. The note she wrote included the following:

“Not much new here. Believe it or not, the obituaries have items of interest now and then. Clipped one recently of the death of the sister-in-law of my girlhood friend who married a (unpronounceable Dutch name), which was my friend’s married name. So, of course, I had to check that out.”

She’s 92, it’s my birthday, I have cancer, and the obituaries are of interest. But more than that this is the continuation a game called Dutch Bingo. Some people play chess by mail, we play Dutch Bingo.

Here goes:

“This afternoon we will go to the 50th anniversary of one of Dad’s seminary classmates. He’d studied in the Netherlands, met this 12 year old girl and waited till he could marry her! Neat, right? Ted isn’t doing too well, tho’, of late.”

I’m not sure Ted was doing too well then either. I don’t mean to make fun because while I find this funny, I also find it endearing. It is so my mother-in-law. I can hear her voice and see her face as I read it. She’s one in a million. Loved the card and the note.

I’m about as happy as can be.

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Pile On: a repeat for my birthday.

The Friday Update: Just the Facts

54 and 77

Today is my 54th birthday. I’m feeling well and have gotten over the fatigue I was experiencing late last week.

Eunice took me and Dallas out for dinner last night to Murray’s for our birthdays. Dallas will be 20 on the 28th. We had the silver butter knife steak for three and I splurged on the garlic toast rounds. It was delicious. Dallas and I went to the ball game afterwards and the Twins won 4-0. The last batter for the Angels wore number 77, a minor league number. He needs a new number - this is the majors. Good food, good game, good company.

Later today I’ll head to Chicago for work and will be able to have dinner with Ann. She and the interns she is living with invited me for dinner. It’s a good birthday. Hope to have many more.

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Murray's Garlic Toast

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Cleveland, Ohio

I went to Cleveland this week to conduct some interviews. This was a little different from other trips because I had to take the Prednisone on the road. It worked out fine but I did run out of steam on the way home last night and have been paying for it today taking frequent naps.

Cleveland reminded me of Detroit. Thinking of Detroit reminded me of the Michigan primaries which reminded me of the Minnesota primaries. The connection between Cleveland and the Minnesota gubernatorial primary is a history of embarrassment.

Cleveland took a hit when the Cuyahoga River caught fire in the late 60’s or so. I grew up in Ohio and as I remember the river caught fire a lot – I mean it wasn’t really something new. Anyway it kind of started a lot of trash talking about Cleveland and environmental concerns. Cleveland has come back a long way since then. They’ve overcome their embarrassment; not so with more recent Minnesota elections. We’ve elected some doozies.

How would you like to be Norm Coleman who lost the governor’s race to Jesse Ventura, the Senate to Al Franken, and won the year his opponent, Paul Wellstone, died 6 days before the election? Anyway this year Mark Dayton (D), Tom Emmer (R), Tom Horner (I) won their respective primaries. They are all embarrassing. The question seems to be which one is most embarrassing. Right now, Emmer seems to be leading in that category but given time Dayton can overtake him. The race is on but we didn’t get a good cat in this one.

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Tater-Tot Hot Dish: a Low Tyramine version of the Minnesota classic.

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Tipping

“I’m not getting a good blood draw. The fluids are going in but the blood just not coming out right. I think we'll have to tip you.” That didn’t sound good to me. I thought I might have to call Great West to get pre-approval for surgery and I was actually hoping they would say no this time. Each cycle starts with drawing blood and doing labs to make sure I’m fit for the chemo. My labs have been very good. They use my port to draw the blood and then I am also hooked up and ready to go for the infusions. I forgot to mention that to begin this cycle the nurse was having trouble drawing blood from the port and said she was going to “tip” me.

I was happy to find out that she was just going to tip me over; get the blood to rush from my lower extremities to my upper ones. The nurse was all of 5’ and a little change. I’m 6’ 3” and 230 according to my driver’s license. It sounded like a challenge but I was just along for the ride.

She took me to the chemo room, had me sit in a recliner, and tipped me back and forth a few times. Sounds easy but she struggled. A few deep breaths later the blood was flowing. I had been successfully tipped and the 5th cycle was off and running.

I completed the last infusion and booster shot for the cycle today. One more cycle to go – I’m anxious to be done. I’ve been feeling much better this time than last and my attitude is much improved. I asked my oncologist about my lack of patience. He said he could give me something for it but I was taking enough stuff as is, the impatience was common to the drugs, and basically told me to buck up.

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Huevos Rancheros

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If You’re Bored, You’re Boring

One of the challenges I face is being isolated. My nephew’s wife sent me an email that pointed out that being diabetic can be isolating and having lymphoma and going through chemotherapy could add to that. I disagreed but now I’m not so sure. I find myself bored at times. Eunice says if you are bored, you are boring. Not very nice but probably true.

But how do you know if you really are boring? I just searched the internet for clues and there are a lot of checklists that contain the same information. How boring is that? I have a feeling these things were published repeatedly in Psychology Today or Reader’s Digest but here are the tips people seem to agree on to know if you are boring in a social situation:

“Oh really?” If the person you are taking to keeps saying this over and over, it means you are boring.

Not being interrupted. If you are droning on and on and no one else is attempting to interrupt, it means you are boring. Interruption actually signals interest in the conversation, so no interruptions means someone is being bored out of their mind.

Look out for body position. If someone is interested in what you are saying, they will usually turn to face you. Conversely, if the person you are talking to is partially turned away, chances are they are not engaged in what you are saying.

Are you bored? Chances are if you’re bored with someone’s conversation, they are bored with yours as well. Time to find someone else to talk to.

So let’s say you are boring and you are OK with that. Who says you have to change? Here are 5 webcams that won’t over stimulate you.

Watching Paint Dry

Watching Grass Grow

Watching Traffic

Watching Cheese Age

Riding Through the Car Wash

Maybe you do need to change. At least don’t get bored with your food. Here are 10 tips to avoid that.

1. Pick up one new thing from the produce section
2. Visit the spice aisle
3. Buy fresh ingredients instead of canned or frozen
4. Try the unprocessed version like brown rice
5. Search the internet for new recipes
6. Garnish it
7. Buy a new pot or pan
8. Pair it with wine (ignore this for a low tyramine diet)
9. Cook the same ingredient four times different ways
10. Cook with a friend

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Bronzed Catfish

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Rush Hour, Traffic Jams, and Deadlines

I was listening to a local sports radio show on my way to chemo yesterday. One of the personalities was flying back from somewhere in the morning and thought he had plenty of time to get to the station for the morning show. His schedule made him unfamiliar with rush hour traffic. After getting frustrated with stop-and-go traffic he stopped for breakfast and called in his show from a local Perkins. He took a lot of grief from his colleagues but maybe it will become a regular feature in the future.

I’m kind of like that guy. One reason I am able to keep working without problems is that I don’t have to deal with rush hour, traffic jams, and deadlines. I’m not part of the herd. As a remote employee I don’t have to shower, drive to work at 8, stay all day and return home. That would be tough. I’m up early, can start working early, take a break when fatigue hits, work some more, and fairly easily meet my work requirements even on busy days without it being a severe drain on me. The folks at work understand this and even appreciate it. Technology helps too. There really is a place for telecommuting in the workplace today to reduce stress and increase productivity not only for cancer patients but for everyone. Bricks and mortar are overrated.

I just finished the first three days of infusions of cycle 5. My sleep is disrupted again, hands shaking from the prednisone, attitude good, a little fatigue occasionally, feeling well, and happy to be avoiding rush hour, traffic jams, and deadlines.

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Shepherd's Pie

The Friday Update: Just the Facts

I Miss Ingrid

I ran into Ingrid this morning on my way in for chemo. She was coming out of the pharmacy and we chatted for a while. She went on a road trip with her mother down and up the Pacific Coast Highway and had a fabulous time. They rented a convertible and instead of her hair billowing back as you see in commercials, she let the air caress her bald head. They had a blast.

She asked about the kids and I filled her in as best I could. I told her Ann is in Chicago and has a list of things she has requested to be sent to her. I also told her about Dallas’ upcoming Semester at Sea and she thought that was great. He shouldn’t be surprised if a talkative, bald, diabetic woman appears on his ship. I shouldn’t say bald; her hair is beginning to grow out a little and she has quit using a lint roller for grooming.

The chemo room is more subdued without Ingrid. Today is my long day and I miss her most on this day. Seven hours is a long time and we were typically here the entire time together – others would come and go. Sometimes I take a nap and the room turns over. It’s a little disconcerting when that happens. They really need a Master of Ceremonies to introduce everyone and facilitate the conversation now that Ingrid is gone.

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Buttermilk Scones: A repeat of the recipe Ingrid gave me at my first infusion. I think it was the first I posted and perhaps the reason I started including recipes.

The Friday Update: Just the Facts

Art Fairs

Eunice and I went to the Uptown Art Fair yesterday. We took the bus and got there as it was opening at 10. The featured artist for the fair is Xavier Nuez. I’d never heard of him (which isn’t unusual and is why you go to art fairs) but he roams alleys and abandoned buildings in urban areas and takes pictures to capture their “beauty” in edgy settings. Detroit is one of the cities he visited and I was interested to see what images he might have. Turns out I don’t care for his photographs as much as others do. There seems to be a trend among photographers to use lighting and other means to dramatically highlight colors and make them more vibrant. I’m more of a black and white guy.

They did a nice thing this year and had an Art Hop bus that takes you to the Powderhorn Park and Loring Park Art Fairs too. We ended up going to all three. Eunice got a pair of earrings at Loring Park and we decided we liked the smaller art fairs a little better. Uptown is a large art fair with a long history, lots of artists, and lots of stuff.

I can’t really eat anything they offer at these types of fairs. But there was a French Fry stand in Uptown so I got an order for lunch. They cut and cook the fries in front of you which for me raised some concerns about the status of my immune system. They went down fine and so far, so good. Minneapolis has a growing Hispanic community near Powderhorn Park. Many of the vendors at the fair offered Mexican fare which, to my chagrin, I could not eat. On our way home I was a little low on sugar from all the walking and I drank a Mountain Dew – sugar good, caffeine bad. Got a little bit of a headache but it didn’t last too long. It was a very nice day; quite an outing for me.

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Steak Fajitas

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Club Chemo

Eunice told me something interesting the other day. She’s tired of chemo. She has chemo fatigue. Two more cycles seems like a long time. She is suffering from her own fatigue; the daily grind of my treatments, side effects, diet, and so on. She needs Club Chemo.

At Club Chemo all-inclusive resorts she’ll enjoy an unforgettable experience that allows her and other families, couples or solo patients to experience fun, exotic cuisine, adventure and luxury chemotherapy. She’ll discover the elegance of Club Chemo and its customized treatment programs run by specialists in the art of chemotherapy. They welcome the major names in health insurance with the very best in treatments all of which have been created especially for the patient and their significant others. Why not experience sensational moments with rare drugs and essential poisons, and a multitude of other benefits in an environment devoted exclusively to future well-being? Fitness areas will welcome Eunice, me, and you for daily classes depending on the prescribed treatment program. And remember, because Club Chemo uses dangerous drugs, reducing its carbon footprint is a major concern. All their values are in the right place.

Hopefully just thinking about Club Chemo makes Eunice feel better.

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Flour Tortillas

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Black Cat or White Cat?

I went to China about 3 years ago and found some notes I’d taken when on the tour bus. We had a great guide who was interesting and didn’t hesitate to confront questions (some plainly rude) about the differences between capitalism and communism in a philosophical and thought provoking way. Her explanation of the difference between the two was it doesn’t matter if you have a black cat or a white cat. If you have a cat that can catch a mouse, you have a good cat. It was a great answer since it made people stop and think while she moved on to the next question.

I’m in Southfield, a suburb of Detroit. I watched the local news yesterday morning prior to the gubernatorial primary. You would think the issue would be jobs but given the news report it was abortion. That was good news for an organization called Right to Life that was noted to be the state’s best organized and powerful advocacy group. Probably a disappointment for many others. The right to life candidates were predicted to prevail and among Republicans the “more” right to life candidate. Jobs? Who cared?

The results would seem to say the news report I watched was off base. Yesterday’s vote in the Republican primary represents a defeat of sorts for traditional conservative groups. Right to Life of Michigan backed Mike Cox who wound up finishing third. Former computer executive Rick Snyder, as self-described nerd, defeated four opponents to capture the Republican nomination for Michigan governor. His support for easing restrictions on embryonic stem cell research reportedly turned off social conservatives, just not enough.

Snyder will face Democrat Virg Bernero in the November election. Bernero has been the mayor of Lansing since 2006 and dubbed America's "Angriest Mayor" for his rants favoring federal bailouts to General Motors and Chrysler. He is the son of an autoworker and apparently stressed the economic frustrations of a blue collar base decimated by a decade of job loss.

The "nerd" and the "angry mayor" will battle to be Michigan's next governor in November. It looks like the mouse is job creation and economic recovery. Hopefully Michigan has a choice of two good cats to lead it out of its economic troubles.

I start my 5th cycle next Monday. The last cycle I fell into a pattern of self-pity. I wasn’t very pleasant to be around especially for Eunice. I need to be more philosophical and focus on the future. I have to make a concerted effort to not let the drugs affect my attitude. I need to be a good cat too.

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Quick Turnaround

Ann is finishing her final trip with Wilderness Inquiry today and will get home late tonight. She was accepted for a volunteer position at Amate House and is leaving for Chicago early tomorrow morning. If we blink we might miss her. Amate House is a volunteer program for the Archdiocese of Chicago. Ann will live in a community house in the neighborhood where she will serve. She interviewed and was accepted to work with an organization called Girls in the Game. They provide and promote sports and fitness opportunities, nutrition and health education and leadership development to enhance the overall health and well being of girls across the city of Chicago. Ann will have opportunities to visit schools, coach activities and help to recruit and train volunteers. It is a year-long commitment so there will be some travel between Minneapolis and Chicago for us in the coming year. Coincidentally, I have a business trip to Chicago the 23rd of this month.

I’m feeling well but sad that Ann is leaving. I am starting to feel more “normal” earlier and earlier after each cycle. I have about a week to go before I start the 5th cycle.


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Chicago-Style Hot Dog

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