Tuesday, June 5, 2012

I had a really good day yesterday. I had to have lab work done in the morning, but I still had enough red blood cells and platelets from the transfusion so that I was good to go. Just a quick thanks to the anonymous blood donors, you had some A+ blood. (A little pun there, since that is my blood type.) 

Since I got out of the hospital in a record 2 hrs, I still had some energy and stopped by the Belfast Coop, where a number of my friends were still sitting around, on this lazy, rainy day, playing a game of spades. I was able to hang out and join in for a game. My partner and I won. I have not lost a game since I got my diagnosis. Perhaps it is a little bit of karmic offset luck. I am pretty sure they are not LETTING me win. That would be pretty lame. 

Afterwards, I ran a few little errands, got home and slept for about three hours. Then my friend Liza, who is a chef, came over with some unbelievably delicious indian leftovers. Not only do I have amazing friends, almost all of them are foodies. I have been eating well. Good thing too, since people often lose a lot of weight during this chemo - about 30 pounds on average. I need to stock up a bit before I have a hard time eating. The issue is not loss of apetite - I can power through that. :) But the chemotherapy kills off fast growing cells, and that include your hair and the cells in your mouth, so one tends to get lesions and ulcers in there. It is hard to enjoy food when you have no apetite AND your mouth has sores. I will probably end up sucking a lot of my food through a straw. Any surprisingly good smoothy, soup, or other soft food recipes that I ought to know about? Send them my way.

I asked the nurse yesterday when I could expect to start loosing my hair. She said that it will start coming out in about 2 weeks, and that after it starts falling out, it will go pretty fast - in a week or two. I have been thinking that I might as well have some fun with it, and get a mohawk in the meantime. Since it is all coming out in the next few weeks, why the heck not? My young friend up the road wants to dye it. We are thinking turquoise, but I am open to suggestions. I am standing firm that there will not be any glitter involved though.


5 comments:

  1. I tried to post a comment earlier but see it didn't work. Shoot. Anyway, I vote for turquoise because when I think of you I see kayaks in sparkling blue-green salt water.

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  2. I'm going to suggest starting with turquoise in front, fading to fushcia in the back.

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  3. However, while I don't have any smoothie recipes, this has a very soft texture, and is unbelievably simple to make.
    http://www.homesteadingmom.com/2012/06/06/paleo-pumpkin-pudding-with-maple-cinnamon-whipped-cream/

    I also make a chocolate pudding from avocados, maple syrup, and cocoa powder that is healthy, fast, and very smooth. Put 2 ripe avocados in a food processor, and add 4 Tbsp maple syrup, 1tsp vanilla, and 3-5Tbsp cocoa powder (depending on your tastes), 1/4tsp salt, and a cup of any type of milk (dairy, almond, coconut, etc)or to really splurge. You can also add 1Tbsp of coconut oil to make the texture even creamier. Just whiz it all up in a food processor and refrigerate.

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    1. Mmm, I have heard of the pudding recipe before from a raw foodie friend. I remember being surprised by the combo of avocados and chocolate. Not a combo that I would have ever thought of. I had completely forgotten about it though, and I am looking forward to trying it out. It sounds calorie-laden as well, which I will need as things progress. The paleo-pumpkin recipe sounds great as well. It is nice to start accumulating recipes that are "treats" for that time when I might not be able to eat hard foods. It gives me things to look forward to. Thanks!

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    2. Your welcome! Yes, the chocolate-avocado pudding has a ton of calories and fat, but it's healthy fat. Maple syrup has some mineral content as well. Coconut milk brings more good fats to it, but good local cream is probably more budget friendly. You don't even taste avocado at all. You get a buttery texture, but it doesn't lend any taste to it. There are also avocado-based brownies as well, but you were going for "soft" recipes. I probably have a few more stashed away... Actually, I've got a black bean & sweet potato soup that might work for you too. Let me dig out that recipe.

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