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.

Eat Good Food, Be Kind, Tell the Truth

Click below for the collection of recipes or for an easy to print copy of a single recipe.

Collection of Recipes

Murray's Garlic Toast

The Friday Update: Just the Facts

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.

Eat Good Food, Be Kind, Tell the Truth

Click below for the collection of recipes or for an easy to print copy of a single recipe.

Collection of Recipes

Flour Tortillas

The Friday Update: Just the Facts

Fatigue

I am having more fatigue. I went to a few different web sites to read about cancer related fatigue. One common thing I found is that fatigue often is but should not be confused with tiredness. Tiredness happens to everyone. It is an expected feeling after certain activities or at the end of the day. Usually, you know why you are tired, and a good night's sleep solves the problem. The fatigue I’m talking about is unpredictable. Usually, it comes on suddenly, does not result from activity or exertion, and is not relieved by rest or sleep. It just happens.

Some signs of cancer-related fatigue I found at a variety of sites are:
• Feeling tired, weary or exhausted even after sleeping
• Lacking energy to do your regular activities
• Having trouble concentrating, thinking clearly, or remembering
• Feeling negative, irritable, impatient, or unmotivated
• Lacking interest in normal day-to-day activities
• Spending less attention on personal appearance
• Spending more time in bed or sleeping

Those are great descriptions and I think I’ve experienced all of those to some degree. However, they miss a key point about cancer related fatigue. It makes it sound gradual but the fact is it is often sudden and paralyzing. And dangerous. When Dallas and I went fishing, I fell asleep while driving. Dallas calmly took control and woke me up. But the whole language of “falling asleep” isn’t correct. I didn’t fall asleep; I shut down – like flipping a switch. It’s said that Cool Papa Bell was so fast he could turn off the light and be in bed before the room got dark. That’s the challenge of coping with cancer related fatigue.

Eat Good Food, Be Kind, Tell the Truth

Click below for the collection of recipes or for an easy to print copy of a single recipe.

Collection of Recipes

Spicy Chipotle-Tomato Sauce: Great on steaks and burgers.

The Friday Update: Just the Facts

Reflections and Recipes

I feel like I've completed my first cycle although there are still a couple of weeks until I start the second one. I had a little soreness in my left shoulder and arm from the Neulasta (white blood cell booster shot) but nothing dramatic. Knees are a little sore (weak?) too. I finished my ten days of prednisone and procarbazine last night and am looking forward to seeing how that effects me the next two weeks. Feeling a little tired, I took a nap yesterday afternoon. I realized I was a little low on sugar and that may have contributed to my fatigue. I'm doing well and will start my second cycle on Monday, May 17. The key thing there is Monday. Being able to move the start of the cycle from Wednesday to Monday is important to me so that I can travel more easily for work. Only the first week of the cycle requires me to be home. Mondays give me more flexibility.

Yesterday we planted two trees. Our community has a program where you can purchase trees relatively inexpensively for planting in your yard. We planted a flowering crab and white oak. We also did a little cleanup around the yard and in the shed and started planning some enhancements to our gardens. We want to incorporate more species native to Minnesota in one area in particular.

We also prepared some great meals. We had ribs, cole slaw, and Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans (yes, out of a can but the ingredients were OK) on Friday. Saturday we made Bison Burgers with home fries.

Eat Good Food, Be Kind, Tell the Truth

Click below for the collection of recipes or for an easy to print copy of a single recipe.

Collection of Recipes

Baby Back Ribs A friend of ours makes great ribs and we have used it for years. It's not so much a recipe as a prepartation guide. The real recipe is the sauce which I tried to model after Gates BBQ in Kansas City.

BBQ Sauce Sauce ingredients can be a problem for me so I've started to make more of them and other condiments. This sauce is very good and easy to make.

Cole Slaw What are ribs without cole slaw? I didn't want to buy it without knowing the ingredients. This is a great recipe for cole slaw. The spices really make it. The major ingredient is mayonaise so I made my own.

Mayonnaise A little fussy but it wasn't that hard to make. It turned out thin which was fine for the cole slaw. I have since found that I can get mayo with approved ingredients at Whole Foods and will do that in the future. But since I made the mayo - thought I'd include the recipe too.

Bison Burgers Simple and delicious. I really haven't prepared bison often but decided to try it. It's better than beef for burgers - tender, juicy, and so simple to make.

Home Fries Years ago I found hints to this recipe in a mystery I was reading. They are very good and our kids have loved them for years. And yeah, they're great with ribs and burgers.