Final Round Today

This is just a short entry to let my friends and family (the ones who don't use Facebook) know that the final round of chemo started today. I am on the 46-hour pump right now and it will be removed on Thursday. Then, I will sleep non-stop for a couple more days, start bouncing back, then live life normally. I will have a CT scan of my chest, abdomen, and pelvis on September 23. I will hopefully be cleared to remove my mediport soon afterwards. I'm not sure yet exactly when I will return to work, but they've been wonderful. It all depends on when I can reliably handle cold & frozen objects.

OK, that's my update. I'm going upstairs to rest now, and catch up on some TV.

Target's New No Express Lane Policy

For some reason Target has decided to move backwards. They have decided to close all express lanes. They still exist, they just aren't used. They stand there, darkly mocking me. This is not the decision of the local Target; it's corporate. I just don't see any reason why they would choose not to staff an express lane to allow people who are buying just a few items to bypass people who are shopping with full baskets of kids' stuff, household stuff, or just plain stuff. This really does make me want to bypass Target and shop elsewhere when I want to get a few things.

Hopefully enough people will complain to Target to convince them to reverse this insane decision. I just sent an email off to corporate myself, and also let them know that I would be posting my thoughts on my public blog. So I did.

Maybe Target just doesn't need me anymore... the economy must be doing great!

New Toy Has Arrived!

It happened again, we got a new toy. We were on a waiting list for it for about 2 months. Dave needed a better commuter vehicle and we got word Friday that it arrived and took delivery Saturday night at 6pm (in the middle of the dinner party). Dave took some pictures and they are located at: http://majestyusa.com/gallery/v/jammerdjc/2009Majesty/

It gets 2 ½ times the gas mileage of either of our cars. Now we just need to get used to it and I need to take a class and get my license. Unfortunately, there’s no facility for Theo to ride with us. He just won’t sit still on the passenger seat.

By the way, it's a 400 cc, and it can definitely go on the highway. Also it gets 51 (or so) MPG.

August 9th Party Report

So, it started a few weeks ago when Dave decided it would be good to get the "Winos" (a group of couples that we go on wine tasting trips with) and the YEs (a group of "Young Executives" at the Capital Club) together for a gathering. We threw in a few other friends that we just love to hang out with and Dave's parents and sister. We picked a date and offered up our home as a party spot. I planned the menu and, as usual, took on some prep-intensive work! I was so busy the day before with scheduled errands that I didn't get as much prep done as I would like. And Saturday I lost a couple of hours of prep time because we spent so much time at the bike dealer purchasing a brand new scooter (a posting for another time...) So, when 5:00 rolled around and guests started showing up I took them up on their offers to help and I gave them small but very important and helpful tasks. Luckily everyone was quick to pitch in because I had Marsha crumbling blue cheese, Donovan fetching folding chairs and cutting up apples, Justin skewering shrimp, Amanda washing dishes, the two Marks watching the chicken and shrimp as they were cooking outside while I was assembling pizzas, Donovan was delivering them to David who cooked them, and the list goes on. I cannot thank everyone enough for helping out. It was a successful party and it's not all on me & Dave. Everyone helped to make sure all the food came out OK, so the party's success was due to all my helpers. Thank you!

I was asked to provide recipes for some of the dishes that I served. I have to tell you that I am notorious for trying out new recipes when I have guests over. I'm told it's the opposite of what you should do, but I do it all the time! I get most of my recipes from Cook's Illustrated (http://www.cooksillustrated.com/) and have always 100% of the time had great results from their recipes. Everything I served last night came from that source except for the Green Bean Salad with Truffle Vinaigrette. That's a recipe that I got from Chef Henri, former chef of the Silicon Valley Capital Club. He used haricot verts for the green beans but since they are so pricey I just used regular green beans. If you are making a small amount of salad for a more intimate dinner then the french green beans are worth the cost. Also, the recipe for the salad dressing makes a lot of dressing. He said to use what I need and put the rest in the fridge for future use. Last time I did make the full amount and had a lot left over. This time I cut the recipe in half and probably have about half of it left in the fridge after dressing the salad. The chef of course did not tell me how much green beans to use, how much mâche to use, how many apples. I just guessed. It's a salad, so the exact proportions don't really matter.

You can find all of the recipes here: www.coleman-home.com/Recipes/August_9/. If you have any questions then please ask. There's an email link up in the right corner of the main blog page.

We had so much fun hosting this party (I even sneaked a birthday cake in for Dave who will turn 43 tomorrow) and look forward to doing it again. Perhaps in time I'll learn to choose simpler menus that take less prep time and makes fewer dirty dishes. I already have ideas for the next two events. I really want to do Baby Back Ribs (recipe from Cook's Illustrated) once we get the smoker that I want and I also want to do a Paella Party using the paella cooker given to us by Dave's uncle and his wife. Recipe yet to be discovered!

Is Theo Really So Not-Smart? (I can't use the "D" word for my baby)

Our dog is wonderful. But I gotta tell you: He's not really the smartest one of them all. And he just might qualify for laziest. Right now he's like a teenager. He sleeps in sooo late. Usually dogs are up with their masters, right? Probably because they want food. Well, it's now 12:45 in the afternoon. 15 minutes ago Theo was still upstairs sleeping, though he relocated since I got up. I made him get up to come down for his "breakfast" (at noon!) and to go outside to do his business because in the next hour or so his groomer is going to show up to bathe him. I figured he should eat and eliminate before then. So, I told him to come downstairs, which he did. Luckily he did eat. (Sometimes he walks away from his breakfast.) After he finished he started to head back to one of his "sleeping spots" but I said to him: "No - You need to go outside and go pee-pee." This is where he actually seems smart. With this one command (sometimes it's even a suggestion) he will run out through his dog door, go to the far corner of the yard, and do his business. This time it was double duty. The point is this: He was preparing to go back to bed until I told him to go do his thing outside, even though he clearly had a couple of matters to attend to outside.

He does this every morning. Most mornings I don't bother to make him get up and get moving. Eventually he'll get up and go outside. Last week one day he didn't get up and come downstairs (so he never went outside...) until David got home from work. Astonishing!

Right now he is napping. Little does he know that soon he will be awake for a whole 2 hours when the groomer arrives!

Wharf to Wharf 2008 (AKA Capitola Weekend)

For the 3rd year in a row I attended the Wharf to Wharf run, which is a six-mile run from Santa Cruz to Capitola. (See: http://www.wharftowharf.com/) I did run in 2006, and had a great time. Last year I had an abdominal surgery a couple of weeks before so to be safe I sat the run out, but still went to Capitola for the weekend. This year I sat it out for obvious reasons, at least to my family and friends. However, we are continuing a tradition started by our friends Jim & Noelle 12 years ago. They have been going to the race for 12 years now and have a great plan: Stay in Capitola Saturday night, head over to Santa Cruz (where the race begins) Sunday morning (transportation is provided by the Inn), run the race back to Capitola, have breakfast at the Inn, and spend the day relaxing in Capitola. We all get together for dinner in the evening, and Ralph and Valerie join us for that.

In 2006, Matt & Laura joined in at the Inn while Dave and I also went to Santa Cruz for the weekend (and I ran). However we stayed at a friend's house in Santa Cruz. Last year (2007) we joined Jim, Noelle, Matt, & Laura at the Inn.

So, now we 6 couples have a yearly tradition that I hope lasts for a very long time.

Here are the details on this weekend:

Dave and I got to Capitola around 5:30 and checked into the very lovely Inn. Then we changed quickly and headed off to dinner at Caruso's. We ordered the scallop special and a gnocchi plate. Both dishes were excellent, most notably the scallops. I don't think I ever had better scallops! We did seem to get lost in the end, though. The owner asked if we'd like more wine and we said we'd like one more glass. It never arrived. The waitress cleared our plates and boxed up the left-over gnocchi. While doing so she asked if we'd like to see the dessert menu. We said yes. Next thing we know, the check was put on our table, rather than the glass of wine & the dessert menu. Oh, well, we were full anyway so we paid and left. We headed next door to the wine bar for a glass of Port.

Afterwards we headed back to the Inn to meet up with Matt, Laura, Jim, and Noelle. We chatted for a while and then all headed in for an early bedtime. Since half of them were running in the morning, they needed their rest, and we all were tired.

Sunday morning Dave and I slept in, then headed to the race end to meet up with the runners. We all headed back for breakfast, then Dave, Noelle, and I hung out outside to listen to the band that had been playing since 8:30, when the race started. They sounded great! After a short nap, Noelle, Dave and I headed out for a walk in Capitola while Jim rested his wounded knee. We bought me a very cool jacket, some salt-water taffy, a necklace for Noelle, some great bath salts. We had Bloody Marys (Noelle and I), beer (Dave), and some snacks on the Pier. Along the way we met a poor pelican looking for handouts. He tried to eat a large fish that was just captured by some local fishermen. Poor thing. Here's a pic: So, after snacking and shopping, we headed back to the Inn for a another nap (!) and then the 6 of us (well, 7, really, if you count Baby Alex) joined Ralph and Valerie at Bella Roma for an excellent meal. We all brought some special wine to share. The meal was wonderful, minus the hair in my food (oops...) But overall we really enjoyed ourselves. Here's a pic of all of us, except for Laura, unfortunately. You can see her chair. She was taking the photo.

Across from Laura's chair is Matt. Next to him is Dave. I am across from Dave. Next to me are Noelle and Jim. The other couple (next to Dave) is Valerie and Ralph.

That pretty much wrapped up our weekend. We gathered in our room for some dessert and everyone called it an early night. Dave and I had to get up WAY too early Monday morning for appointment and work obligations. Next year we'll have to not do that!

Home-Grown Veggies

I just wanted to share with you what it's like to have vegetables growing in our garden. All of these I harvested today:

Rotisserie Chicken and Garden Boxes

Something came over me this week and I decided that I really wanted to try out the rotisserie function of our grill. So, first I set out to get a chicken. Off to Whole Foods... They have 4 different kinds of whole chickens! There's their organic free range chicken, some other pre-packaged organic free range chicken, a "junior" chicken (which had a small notice that the chicken may contain up to 8% retained water from processing. Instant disqualifier for me.) And then there was their new "Air Chilled" chicken. Somehow it's processed in chilled air rather than water which is supposed to help the meat retain its natural juices. A Whole Foods exclusive. I decided to try it.

So, I brought it home, seasoned it, shoved carrots, celery, and onion up its cavity, put pats of butter under its skin, and trussed it. Then figured out how to put it on the spit. Luckily Dave had just arrived home because it was easier to truss it, thread it on the spit, and put the "forks" in place using an extra pair of hands.

How did it taste? Actually, it was wonderful! Full of flavor, very juicy. Here's a photo just before I took it off the grill: By the way, I absolutely LOVE the flat-top part of the grill, on the left. It's so handy for vegetables.

While I was out there with the camera I decided to take photos of my garden boxes to share with the world! This first one is the herb garden. It contains basil, sage, parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, chives. I think that's it.

The next two photos are of the tomato garden (very nice, sweet cherry tomatoes) and Roma tomatoes. The second photo is of the yellow crook-neck squash and the jalapeno plant. Looks like I'll still have jalapenos while the rest of you won't!

House Photo Album Has Been Updated

I just updated the photos in the "House Photos" album. This link will take you directly to the album as well as the link in the "links" list under Theo's photo. I've added photos of some rooms not previously photographed (such as the guest bedrooms) plus added some photos of the basement area, arguably the most peaceful room in the house. Also previous photographs were taken before the pictures and art work were hung so now these fresh views include these. Every photo has a caption, so you shouldn't get lost in our house!

Landscaping Photos Uploaded

Just for grins, I took some photos of our landscaping now that it's more mature (and admittedly overgrown in some areas.)

Follow this link to view all the pics. We need to learn how to manage some of the groundcover but overall it's coming in nicely, I believe.

Dave's Impending Retirement

OK, Dave took slight offense that my words may have suggested that I hope he never retires. For the record, I think he should start working first before he starts thinking about retirement! And anyway, of course I will want him to retire someday. How else are we going to do all the traveling that we want to do!

Dave Has A Job

Well, it finally happened! Dave finally got off his butt... er... got a job! He starts working at Cisco on Monday. His job title is "Product Supportability Engineer".

Yay!

Now we can start seeing what it's like for "normal" married couples. While we get along VERY well for two people who are always together, I predict we will get along even better when we get some breathing room. I know that he lived alone for years before we got married and so did I, so it's actually surprising that we don't aggravate each other more than we do. I do know what my ex-step-mother means when she said she hopes her husband never retires because she wouldn't want him under-foot all the time. I think probably all wives know what she's talking about!

So, whisper a "good-luck" message to Dave. This job came in the nick of time in more than one way! Can you say "health insurance, with no pre-existing condition clause"?

What It's Like For Me To Do Chemo

I thought I would share with you what it's like to do chemo. First of all, it changes the way I eat quite a bit. During "chemo" week my appetite is quite altered. I never get nauseated (they give me some pretty high-powered anti-nausea drugs before my infusion) but I always feel that I could get "tipped." That's to say my stomach feels sensitive and if I eat the wrong thing then I could get sick. And mostly the wrong thing is meat or very sweet things, like cinnamon rolls. But I find that most vegetables are do-able so I become a vegetarian for a week. Not a bad thing, really. I also eat more fruit. This is because it tastes good but I'm also looking for ways to get fluids. It's hard for me to drink cool liquids since it makes my throat hurt. My neighbor gave us some very juicy plums yesterday and these are going down very well.

Another thing that I have noticed related to food is that when it comes to eating, what I want to eat is quite specific at that moment. For instance, some nights I feel like I only want mac & cheese, so we eat mac & cheese. Sometimes what I want we don't have so Dave goes to the store... This does make me somewhat of a picky eater. So, I lose a few pounds during chemo week but then I put them back on the next week. Because during the "good" week my appetite is completely normal and I can eat anything. So, I do!

Other effects: I get very tired, so I take lots of naps. I also get mad at my pump because I'll take it off of my shoulder while eating or napping, and I'll forget about it. Until I start to walk away. Then I curse at it just as the tubing that's attached to my chest gets stretched tight. This happens all the time! You'd think I'd learn. Oh, well, only 4 more cycles to go so I'll only have the pump tomorrow (until about noon) and then 8 more days total. I tote it around with me for 46 hours each treatment cycle.

Overall the side effects could be worse. My surgeon and my oncologist say I am lucky that I have no diarrhea because most people do suffer from it. I don't really get mouth sores which can be common. I had a very small one last cycle that I didn't even know about. The oncologist saw it and told me about it. My hair is still on my head, but that was to be expected. The main things with me are the hand & feet neuropathy, which may take a while to resolve itself even when I'm done with chemo. Also, the throat sensitivity to cold which makes me a bit dehydrated. But that's pretty resolved by the end of each 2-week cycle so I don't expect any lasting issues with that. The other main thing is the tiredness. I am usually pretty out of it Wednesdays and Thursdays, and start to come around on Friday. Saturday I still tire easily but if I take it easy (and this goes for the next few days too) I can usually resume normal activities as long as I stay away from anything cold.

OK, that's it... that's what it's like for me. I'm glad to be counting down small numbers now so it'll be over in a couple of months.

New Good News

Yesterday I had my 7th chemo treatment. Which means I have 5 more to go. It's good to be on the downhill slope. Anyway, the time before last my platelets were down to 117,000 (they skip a treatment if it drops below 90,000) so we were pleased to find out that this time they have gone up, to 130,000. My red counts and white counts were also good. Dr. Chen believes that I should likely stay on schedule which would be great for me.

About a month ago I had some blood drawn for karyotype testing (genetic testing) and I found out yesterday that the results have come back. They show that I have no mutations, which indicate that this is NOT genetic. Which is good news for my sister since she should not be impacted at all. Also since it's not genetic (and more of a spontaneous occurrence) that means it's less likely to recur in me. The doctor said that if I remain cancer free for 5 years then I am clear and fully cured. Good news! Actually she and my surgeon said that while the 5-year mark is the true, official milestone that of the patients that get it within 5 years virtually all of them (85%) actually recur after 2 years, so the 2-year mark is realistically the one to get through. If 2 years pass then it's unlikely to come back. Only 15% of recurrences happen in the 3-5 year range.

Also, someone passed on some info to me about a drug called Lyrica. It's a drug used for diabetic patients who have foot neuropathy. I asked my oncologist if it would help with the neuropathy that the chemo drug inflicts on me and she said yes, but with the side effect that it makes the patient tired. Well, I'm already tired, so I said I'd like to try it and determine for myself which is more troublesome: the neuropathy or the additional tiredness. So, I took one last night and the info I got indicated that it could take a week to be effective but I'm not experiencing much neuropathy today. Now that could also be helped along by the warmth these days, but I want to do anything that helps lessen the side effects.

The beet garden is coming along well, and we have 7 pumpkin plants growing in our patch. Hopefully we will have takers for sugar pumpkins come fall!

Beet And Pumpkin Garden Is In!

Last Sunday Dave and I worked all day putting on the new garden. First we went to Home Depot and bought a small electric tiller/cultivator. What a great idea that was! Dave was planning to use a pick to till up the soil but the dirt there was so dry and compacted that he would probably have injured himself, or else would have stopped and I wouldn't have a garden. So, he first removed a couple of dead grape vines and moved the support for the wires in to clear the space for the garden. Then, using his handy-dandy new toy he did the first tilling of the soil. I then spread three bags of compost (along with some organic vegetable garden fertilizer) and we realized that we needed more. So, off to the nursery for three more bags of compost. We tilled in the first three bags, spread out the other three bags, then tilled that in, so the garden got "worked" three times total which was probably ideal. Then, I planned the rows of beets, planted them (all the beet seeds fit perfectly - it was pure luck) and then set up the watering. We decided that trailing a soaker hose in between the rows would do the trick so that's what we have out there.

Adjacent to the beet garden I planted a pumpkin patch of small sugar pumpkins. Dave loves pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup so we should be all set come October, if all goes well.

So, now it's Saturday, and yesterday I saw the first sprouting of the beets, and today saw the first of the pumpkins. So far, so good!

To the right is a photo of the garden right after planting it and setting up the watering system. The beets are in the foreground while the pumpkin patch is in the circular area further back.

Now I just have to figure out how to get a bigger garden patch... okra, potatoes, squash, asparagus, hmmm...

Randomness Update

OK, so here's the progress I made. I did put the rose systemic down so they are good for another 6 weeks. I have not yet cleaned the furniture in the basement. I need to get that done in the next couple of weeks. I also still need to go privacy screen shopping. We did look at Bed Bath & Beyond but they do not carry them. We did pick up our clock pendulum.

We also added a few things to my list. I plan to plant some beets & sweet pie pumpkins so we are going to till up and prepare a portion of the vineyard for this. It's a corner where a few vines have died, probably due to lack of sun. There was (well I guess still is) a very large pine tree next door and the shade probably knocked out some of the sunlight in the vineyard. Unfortunately the pine tree is now dead and I guess the silver lining is that the vineyard now gets more sun, so a garden in that corner should grow well. That said, I don't envy the neighbors having to take the tree down - it's very large!

OK, on to the task list: We are going to modify the bubblers that the landscaper installed at our mature trees. They do not actually water the trees correctly, so we are going to cut up a soaker hose and convert the bubblers to soakers, and water the tree in the root zone, not the trunk where all the water is now going.

Lots of projects... so little time. Every two weeks I only have a few energetic days so I have to fit in all I can before the bad Monday rolls around.

Off to the nursery for some sand (weight for the cultivator) and a couple of plants...

Randomness

There's actually nothing much to pass on right now. Not much has been happening. I'm learning to deal with chemo more and more. I have a few types of carbonated drinks in my pantry so I have the fluids thing under control.

Yesterday I finally got around to fixing most of our water hoses. Most of the ones we have here were on the premises throughout construction and needed repairs, so I fixed all that I could, except for one. You can't fix the kink-free ones, I guess! The ribs inside the hose do not allow for a good seal.

Today I plan to put some systemic rose food/insect control down for the roses. Plus I may clean the furniture in the basement. The sofa and love seat down there are Dave's original set and are quite old. A good upholstery cleaning is necessary.

Also today we may go purchase a couple of privacy screens. When we have company we still don't like to close our bedroom doors all the way so that Theo can come in when he finally decides to come upstairs, so I'd like to get a screen. Plus the basement doors have windows so I think a screen for there would be nice for guests.

We also have to go up to Los Altos to pick up our pendulum for our new wall clock. (It needed some attention from the clock store.)

Dave had a job interview yesterday and is in "the process" for jobs at two companies. Hopefully he gets a job at the one he's most interested in.

How's that for randomness!

Chemo Update

There's not much new to report since the same thing happens every other week (one week I'm tired & must avoid all coldness at all cost, the next week I'm not tired but I still can't handle or drink cold stuff). But I do have some small new tidbits of information to pass along. I did get clarification on how long I'll have to do this. I will have a total of 12 cycles and have done 4 already, so I have 8 more to do. I guess if I can do 4 then I can do 4 more, then 4 more. Also, if I stay on schedule then my last cycle will be August 25th.

The second tidbit is that I've successfully found stuff I can drink. I have to stay away from all ice-cold beverages, naturally. But I was also having trouble drinking regular water at room temperature. But I discovered that I can drink ginger ale at room temp and it doesn't hurt. Then one day after drinking three or so cans and getting tired of the sweetness I thought that maybe what's allowing me to drink it was the carbonation. So, I tried sparkling water and was pleased to find out that I could drink that too! So, there's something about the bubbles that keep the liquid from hurting the nerve endings in my throat. So, now I've added a couple more carbonated beverages to my list of things to drink. The trick is finding ones that taste good at room temp.

That's pretty much all I can say that I haven't said before. Other than that, every other week is a repeat of the previous 2-week cycle. Boooring...

Party Report

Our open house party on Saturday was a blast! The whole afternoon is a bit of a blur for us, but we had fun and it sounds like everyone had their fill of food.

David and I agreed that we remember our wedding and wedding party better than the housewarming. Of course both the wedding and the subsequent party were smaller than the housewarming. We talked with the caterer yesterday and she said that over 100 pizzas were made. 3 cases of water, an unknown amount of sodas, 3 1/2 cases of wine, 1/2 pony keg of beer, and 438 deserts were also consumed. We ended up with just 12 of the deserts (petit fours) left for us.

There were some gifts brought as well though we didn't have any time set aside at all for opening them that evening. That would have been impossible, as I'm sure that anyone who was there could understand! So, if you brought something then I'm sorry we weren't able to open it right away but we had a good time doing so yesterday, and it was delightful. Also, one thing to mention: our wine cellar is definitely diverse now! We ended up gaining 3 cases of wine to add to the cellar. Of special note is the "vertical" provided by our friends Ralph, Valerie, Jim, Noelle, Matt, & Laura. This vertical is special. Not only are all 12 bottles of a different vintage year, sequentially, but each bottle is also a different kind, and from a different winery from the others. This really is special to us and these 12 bottles are now residing together in our cellar.

This party was the 1st (OK, maybe 2nd...) of many to come, though there will probably never be any that are nearly as large.

Oh, one last thing... the person who gets the prize for travelling the farthest: my very good friend Joanne. Joanne used to work with me a number of years back on NHANES, the travelling job that you may or may not know about. She & I grew very close and still have a bond of friendship. She is from Rhode Island, and flew all the way out here for our party. How unlikely is that?: A girl from Texas and a girl from Rhode Island becoming such good friends? She said she hopes to come back out here soon (and hopefully spend more time!) which would be great, but I have a feeling it's our turn to fly out that way next.

Fresh House Photos

I just added some more photos to the "house photo" album, the one with furniture, of course! I don't think I'll ever have need to add any to the pre-furniture album. Anywhoo... the photos that I added were all taken by Justin Collins during a recent pizza oven break-in party. I have noted which ones these are. Mostly they are the first ones in the album. Some of the photos he took present an interesting perspective - one perhaps that I never even thought to photograph. It's actually nice to see the house as viewed by someone else.

Of course, the photos are accompanied by useful captions which describe what you are viewing.

This link will take you directly to the album as well as the link in the "links" list under Theo's photo.