Geriatric MM Warriors June 13, 2010

[Diane W.]

Hi Everyone!
Yes - the snow is heading my way! We're getting about 6 inches today, 4 inches overnight and then an icy mix tomorrow. Bleeech!

Lisa - I'm sorry Tom is feeling so crummy from the effects of his treatment. Thank God he has you to take care of him. You had said once before you don't know how people who are alone manage with this kind of illness and I agree. I also continue to keep you both in my prayers.

Kathy - I hope the Benadryl keeps the hives at bay. When do the puppies go to their new homes? I lost track of how old they are.

 

[Wisteria1956]

Did I tell you all I called Robin last weekend? She didn't respond and today I see on FB she is telling us she is having tests at the UVA. University Hospital of Virginia?? I am very worried about her. She says she will post when her tests are over. Please let's all send out special prayers for Robin every day.

Nell also popped up out of the blue and didn't seem to know where to find us. I asked her to PM me and I can send her back here. It's good timing for us all to be together to support Robin and catch up with our lovely Nell.

Hugs,

 

[Diane W.]

Lisa - I'm glad you reached out to Robin. It makes me wonder if she was offended here by something. She seemed so happy to be back and then she disappeared again. I hope she is okay.
It would be great to hear from Nell too.

 

[Wisteria1956]

Lisa - I'm glad you reached out to Robin. It makes me wonder if she was offended here by something. She seemed so happy to be back and then she disappeared again. I hope she is okay.
It would be great to hear from Nell too.

Diane: I don't think Robin was offended - I think she has a health challenge and she doesn't want to worry us before she has enough information. She's a very strong person and hates to be vulnerable, if I read her properly. I'm very concerned, but I know she will prevail, along with our prayers.

 

[kater]

Diane: I don't think Robin was offended - I think she has a health challenge and she doesn't want to worry us before she has enough information. She's a very strong person and hates to be vulnerable, if I read her properly. I'm very concerned, but I know she will prevail, along with our prayers.

Me too - worried about Robin.

Lisa - so sorry Tom has having such a tough time. It must be hard on both of you. Can Bonnie tell that he isn't feeling well?

I was so happy to see Nell on FB! I hope she checks in with us.

Lisa - On the HCG, I haven't been perfect. The headaches are gone. I seem to have a really hard time around day 4. Last Saturday, I was doing okay until late afternoon. I went in the kitchen and saw saltine crackers that Demi has been eating for her nausea (the Interferon for her Hep C) and they called and called out to me until I caved and had a bunch. And, then on Sunday, there was a cake that called and called out to me.... So, I haven't weighed because I haven't given up and I don't want to see something on the scale that I don't like and use it as an excuse to do even more damage. Yesterday and today were fine. I will keep you in the loop.

Hugs to everyone.

 

[Wisteria1956]

Kate: Regarding Demi's nausea - does she like ginger? That has been the most helpful for Tom. He carries with him candied ginger from Trader Joes or Whole Foods. His favorite thing seems to be the small natural ginger ales in bottles at Whole Foods. I made cookies with the candied ginger, but they were labor intensive.

Thanks for the HCG update. I'm sure you haven't been that 'bad' when you've slipped. I've been doing some really silly emotional eating at night, which is the worst time for my body and my sleep! Not terrible binges, but if I slip into white flour and/or sugar at all I get so sore all over. I'm trying to be kind to myself and thinking I'll go back to my nighttime meditation tapes and perhaps put some notes around to myself to stick to my resolve. Hope I can!

Tom is still sick today but a bit better just in time for chemo tomorrow. At least it's the last one. Yippee! I made those cookies to take to the other patients. I thought they would be good for nausea. I doubt I'll make them again because it took me nearly all day!

 

[kater]

I watched that movie, The Secret, and it really made me think about things. I spent most of my life in a depression, and negative thoughts. I have tried to change my thinking after watching the movie. I am thinking I may need to read those books as well.

Kathy: I have been reading and listening to CD's by Ester & Jerry Hicks. I believe that they contributed to the Secret? I believe that they also contributed to the movie called What the Bleep Do We Know (or something like that). They take the ideas in the Secret to another level. I find it very, very uplifting to listen the CD's or my ipod. I particularly enjoy the ones where the wife, Esther is talking. She is supposedly channeling a non-physical source. Whether you believe that or not, what she has to say is amazing. The ones where her husband is talking are good too but he is mostly reading their books - as in a "books on tape." Check out their website.

xoxoxox

P.S. How many puppies left?

 

[kater]

Lisa - more happy dancing in San Rafael. So glad that Tom is done with chemo. I was thinking about you yesterday.

Did Nell get in touch for our link?

xoxoxoxo

 

[Wisteria1956]

Kathy: I have been reading and listening to CD's by Ester & Jerry Hicks. I believe that they contributed to the Secret? I believe that they also contributed to the movie called What the Bleep Do We Know (or something like that). They take the ideas in the Secret to another level. I find it very, very uplifting to listen the CD's or my ipod. I particularly enjoy the ones where the wife, Esther is talking. She is supposedly channeling a non-physical source. Whether you believe that or not, what she has to say is amazing. The ones where her husband is talking are good too but he is mostly reading their books - as in a "books on tape." Check out their website.

xoxoxox

P.S. How many puppies left?

Kate: What the Bleep Do We Know was filmed in Portland and you and the girls would LOVE it! J-P introduced it to us several years ago.

 

[Wisteria1956]

I gave Nell the link. Hope she shows up soon.

 

[kater]

I gave Nell the link. Hope she shows up soon.

I sent her a PM on Facebook too. I hope she comes over to say Hi. I told her we were all doing our thing (meaning not necessarily MM) and mostly supporting each other through thick and thin.

I know the girls watched the movie recently. I will see if I can watch it on my computer via Netflix.

I forgot to mention that Demi cuts up ginger, puts it in hot water with honey, and sips away at it.

How is Tom feeling?

 

[Wisteria1956]

I'm glad Demi is finding the ginger helpful. At first, Tom was enjoying the ginger tea I made but now even if I just wave the ginger through it and add honey, it's still too much of a bite for him. He's become really picky, which isn't like him at all. He was able to eat some oatmeal yesterday. Yeah! Mom made more banana pudding, as that is what he really likes currently. His meditation tapes helped him to sleep last night. I'm making a goal to get mine charged up and back on the nightstand where they belong today!

I went crazy veggie after watching Oprah's show on veganism the other day. Probably because I'm cooking for one it's just easier for me to make a big salad. I figured out the missing ingredient for me for dinner is hummus under the greens, like a salad they used to serve at CA Pizza Kitchen. It makes me feel full and satisfied with enough protein. I put a layer of hummus, baby greens, chopped red and yellow peppers, kalamata olives, I do use feta cheese so not all vegan, pepperonccini, artichoke hearts and sunflower seeds. It's my new favorite dinner! Tom and I are at least going to do meatless Mondays when he starts to eat with me again. The first thing I am making is eggplant, zucchini lasagna from Sunset magazine. Crazy, but I am already less hungry and more calm. Bathroom visits are satisfactory, too

 

[Wisteria1956]

Here is the latest email I got from Jocelyn. Sounds like they are really cruising through Paradise.

Hi,

We are sitting off Roratonga in the Cook Islands. The weather is quite drippy so we are not going ashore at the moment. It is too bad as it is a very pretty island on a sunny day. This is the first day we have been rained out in the 22 days we have been on the ship. We have had very smooth seas and warm weather.

We had 3 beautiful days in French Polynesia - Bora Bora and Moorea being the nicest. Tahiti is fine, except the town of Papeete is not great. You need to get away from there to enjoy the island. It is all quite similar to Hawaii, but much more humid. The colors in the water are spectacular so just love cruising through the area. We went on a dolphin viewing trip around Moorea - the water is so clear you don't even need a snorkel to view the fish. You just watch them from the boat.

Our next stop will be Fiji and then Tonga. We are not sure what we will do on those islands as we have been there before. The last time we were in Fiji we were in a Fijian village where they wanted us to drink kava - a local brew. No thank you so we will not get involved in that again!! We will be in Tonga on a Sunday. Apparently the island pretty much closes up so most of the tours that were offered have been cancelled. We were there once at 2AM on a return flight from Auckland. It was extremely hot at that time of the day, so can only imagine what it will be like during the day!! We are not sure what we will do that day - the ship might be the best place to be as is often the case for us!

We have had some interesting lecturers on board - Bob Eubanks was on last leg talking about the Newly Wed game and some of the people he represented. Their tales can be interesting.

So far we are managing to avoid the bread basket at dinner and leave before the desert menu arrives. I discovered a great sugar free strawberry ice cream so have that once in a while at lunch with fresh strawberries. We have containers meet us in different ports so the fresh fruits and veggies they receive are beautiful. They also go out and get some local produce as well as fish. I believe all the meat comes from the US, though. I usually have half portion dinner serving and that is plenty to eat. My downfall is champagne, so that is my desert!!!

You may share this with our MM friends.

How is Tom doing? I hope he will be done with the treatments soon.

Take care of yourself, Lisa.

Hugs, Jocelyn

 

[kater]

I went crazy veggie after watching Oprah's show on veganism the other day. Probably because I'm cooking for one it's just easier for me to make a big salad. I figured out the missing ingredient for me for dinner is hummus under the greens, like a salad they used to serve at CA Pizza Kitchen. It makes me feel full and satisfied with enough protein. I put a layer of hummus, baby greens, chopped red and yellow peppers, kalamata olives, I do use feta cheese so not all vegan, pepperonccini, artichoke hearts and sunflower seeds. It's my new favorite dinner! Tom and I are at least going to do meatless Mondays when he starts to eat with me again. The first thing I am making is eggplant, zucchini lasagna from Sunset magazine. Crazy, but I am already less hungry and more calm. Bathroom visits are satisfactory, too

You have to try the white bean hummus at Trader Joe's. We LOVE it!

 

[kater]

I hate to tell those of you that have snow around you but it was 80 degrees in San Rafael today. We went to the beach both days this weekend. It was heavenly! We even slept with the window open last night.

 

[Wisteria1956]

You have to try the white bean hummus at Trader Joe's. We LOVE it!

Yum! I will get that asap. I'm kind of off chicken, which is my usual lunch. Weird! Liking the change.

It was 74 here yesterday. I got hot, lol! Supposed to get windy and cooler by tomorrow, but still in the 60's for the rest of the week.

 

[kater]

Yum! I will get that asap. I'm kind of off chicken, which is my usual lunch. Weird! Liking the change.

It was 74 here yesterday. I got hot, lol! Supposed to get windy and cooler by tomorrow, but still in the 60's for the rest of the week.

We are going to the AT&T Pro/Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach tomorrow. I hope the weather is nice. We went two years ago and it was 72! I am not in to golf (I leave that to Brad) but it such a beautiful golf course.

How is Tom feeling? When is last radiation treatment?

 

[kater]

Okay, where is everyone? Buried under snow? I hope not. I hope you are well.

Light and love to all.

 

[Diane W.]

It's a balmy 39* today and there is no snow in sight this week.
It is funny how the 40's feel warm after it's been 9*.
I am jealous of the 70* though - now I can start counting the days to spring!

My ex-brother-in-law had a scare over the weekend. He had a ruptured brain aneurysm. My ex's mother and sister both died from brain aneurysms. When my son said that Uncle Peter was in the hospital unconscious and on a breathing tube I thought he was a goner. But.... he's awake and talking now. He has a drain coming out of his head and will be in ICU for 3 weeks. He's so lucky!

Any news on Tom's treatments? Is this the last week?

I was on my walk yesterday and there was a guy there snowshoeing! As he was taking them off near his car I started talking to him. He said he goes through the trails and it's great. He's 70 and had surgery for colon cancer and had 'something' removed from his kidney last fall. He said he's always been active and the drs. said that was why his recovery was so good. We were talking for over a 1/2 hr. What a nice, interesting man.
I ordered a pair of snowshoes from Overstock! I can't wait.

 

[Wisteria1956]

Diane: I'm so proud of you for ordering those snowshoes!!!

What an interesting man you meet! I'm sure Tom's doctors would say he has recovered so well from his surgeries and treatments because he took those 3 years after the first cancer to get very fit and active. His veins are very stong and his legs were lean so the swelling they warned us about has been less than we were afraid of. It's still an issue and he gets massage every week to combat the lymphedema, but it's not nearly as chronic as it could have been. His last radiation is Friday and he's in pretty bad shape - for him. Not as bad as a lot of people, but it's finally hit him really hard. He has frequent diaherrea and his stomach makes rumbling noises all the time. He's constantly nauseated, but not vomiting. He looks tired and his attitude has declined. We're just counting the days until Friday. Of course, then he will need some time to recover to be himself again.

He'll have a PET scan mid-March and then we'll go back to UCSF for the news and discussions.

My best friend is taking me out on Saturday for my birthday if Tom is well enough to leave. I might have lunch with Mom on Thursday for my birthday. It will be a weird one. I was hoping the treatments would stop that afternoon so we could mark the day but the doctor says he needs one more to equal the amount of radiation he prescribed. Tom is getting a lot more radiation than the average treatment. It's called IMR - Intensive Modular Radiation - and takes 45 minutes over a large field on his body. Most people are in the machine for 10 minutes. This in itself is scary for me because a good friend of a friend just died from cancer she got from radiation 10 years ago for breast cancer. That's why they don't do scans willy nilly - the scans themselves can cause cancer.

We need a cure for this awful disease!

I worked late last night closing a deal and have to get onto a frustrating short sale so I'll wish you all a wonderful day. Kate, have a really fun trip and sunny skies! It's very bright here today.