Monthly Archives: May 2019

Trying new things

Posted in decluttering, minimalism, Uncategorized by

I like routines and doing things on a schedule. Maybe it’s a security need to know I’m getting things done. For me, there is LBC(life before cancer) and LAC( life after cancer). Before my diagnosis, I certainly got things done and was homeschooling my son using a Waldorf program. I had lesson plans, monthly blocks of learning, etc. So I was disciplined as such.

But it wasn’t til LAC. when I relapsed in 2010 and even later, that I started Fly lady and began my decluttering in earnest.  I don’t remember minimalism as a catchphrase so much back then but I’m sure it was.  Over at Minimally-less stuff,  Trisha has a great blog on the ongoing process of decluttering. It sometimes, like for me, is a life-altering event to start the decluttering journey or just a phase of life and discovering what works.

But back to trying new things. I like to implement new cooking techniques( the IP, that now I’m not too crazy about), and also new minimalist ideas that I read about. My son jokes with me, though, that I don’t really go out of my comfort zone a lot, and that is true. I guess I feel I did that so much as a young person and it was a bit reckless at times. ( The one year we moved like 6 times, like in a school bus, to a trailer, and so on). Yeah, not to steady. It really wasn’t till our daughter was born that we settled into a routine.

Anyway, this coming week I will be doing something new and that’s staying in the RV alone. It’ll be interesting, to say the least. And it will definitely be out of my comfort zone.

The week ahead…

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, camping, decluttering, Flylady, home improvement, home stuff, minimalism, Uncategorized, White space by

We had a quiet Memorial Day.

My brother died in Viet Nam in 1968 so I thought about him. He was a talented artist. What a waste. He also couldn’t get a deferment even though he had a heart problem and at that time was working full time to support my mother. I guess Donald Trump got the deferment for his bone spurs. I guess he had enough millions to pay off a judge. Well, I guess that tells you something about my brother being killed in Viet Nam and  Donald Trump whining about a bone spur.

It was cloudy to start but then eventually the sun came out. We BBQ some burgers and I made some coleslaw. My daughter made us some strawberry shortcakes for dessert later.  We generally don’t eat dessert so this was a nice treat.

I didn’t drive to Sacramento and missed seeing B. But I’m going down today and all the rest of the week except Friday. I think my daughter will go on Friday unless her new job starts. Her library interview is next week and this job she is doing is only temporary thru June.

Everything is lining up for us to have the RV. I just ordered some camp chairs as I don’t want to use the owner’s ones for risk of them being stolen or damaged. We needed new ones anyway.

Flylady zone this week was the living room. That’s an easy one for me as it is almost where I want it with functionality and minimalized. I try and do one thing in each zone that’s new or improved. So this time I moved the Ikea cart out and put it in my office area. It holds our wine bottles( which have been reduced to one Chianti, that we don’t drink very often) and we kept our silverware in Ball jars there too. So, I’m going to try it and see if we NEED it back or can the space just be open( white space). I guess we shall see. Right now in my office space, it has a plant on top and that’s it so, that probably isn’t very efficient either.

I’m planning on going to Sac Co-op this morning for veggies and olives from their olive bar. But it kinda depends on my mood as I get closer. Nothing is critical that I need so we’ll see. (How’s that for being indecisive??)

Dinner is chicken enchiladas!

Saturday stuff

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, decluttering, Uncategorized by

It has been quite the week!! We had the transplant the morning of the 23rd and it is( for those who have been thru an SCT) fairly uneventful. Even anti-climatic except it is the beginning of a new life which is pretty monumental. But it is just a drip for however many hours. Mine was very short ( an auto) B’s was almost 4 hours!!

Well, we are now on day +2 and he’s been in for 9 days. So soon he will go down to WBC of 0 and then it’s a waiting game. At this point is when you start to feel awful, no appetite, diarrhea, and absolutely NO energy. Because his is an allo, the risk of infection and graft vs host is much more present.

Today I’m going down with my son and then tomorrow I’ll take my brother if B is up for it. He said he was starting to not feel great so visitors are usually the last thing you want.

On a different note, I’m working on taking a few things out of the bedroom and closet. I have some empty bins I need to put in the laundry room and  I wanted to move a plant to a different spot. I’d like to take out the suitcase I have a plant on but I’m not sure where I’d put it. It has mementos for both of my children like wood toys and other things.

I’ll just have to look at it more closely. I thought I’d like to mount the wood crate on the wall and then that would eliminate the need for the suitcase which the wood crate is on top of.  That has a plant and a salt lamp on it.

It’s cloudy again today and cool. Tomorrow it’s suppose to rain:( again.

Day 0, this is it!!!

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, MDS, Uncategorized by

Well, the brothers stem cells are here and transplant will take place this morning.

It was scheduled for 2am last night but there was a delay for some reason.

But he is ready to go!! The melphalan really hasn’t kicked in yet but should by this weekend.  Also, the nurse said a fever is common when engraftment takes hold so we can expect that too.

They changed his room to a more isolated area with double entryways. But it really is a lovely room. It’s large with a table and 2 chairs, a lounge chair, and a lovely view. The windows are clean as opposed to the other room where the window was visibly dirty on the outside. UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_379.jpg

He still has his hair probably till next week when it will need to be shaved. But all in all, doing well.

 

Day – 2 and counting…

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, MDS, Uncategorized by

IMG_1873.jpeg

Well, he is still smiling and the hair is still there. He did get the Melphalan yesterday so it’s only a matter of time now that he’ll start to feel awful.

He gets another dose today as well.

But he is eating well for now which is great.

I’m still working on the insurance stuff with him going on Cobra and waiting for a callback.

They did send him an email but he can’t seem to find it right now.  But I’ll follow up tomorrow if I don’t get a callback today.

I’m heading down this morning after I do a few things.  It’s just me this morning and then tomorrow Sachi will go down. Tomorrow is D -1 so almost there.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, Bone marrow transplant, cancer, Flylady, Multiple myeloma, Uncategorized by

Today is another trip to the hospital but before I go down I will try and do my Flylady zone.

It’s the bedroom so that is generally not too involved. I did call a house cleaning service to check on a ‘deep’ clean and I’d like an estimate. If it’s reasonable I’ll schedule that for the first week of June.  Since sometime after that we will be down there at the RV spot( I hope).

There’s been a hiccup with that as the owner has had a medical issue come up. I sure hope it can be resolved but it is what it is. And his health comes first. We still have the ACS hotel as back up. We can’t book that though till we know the exact date, so it’s also hurry up and wait.

On another note, my labs came back and I’m not going to lie. It upset me. They went up 4 points out of normal range. 18.4 to 22.4. So 19. 6 is high normal. And the ration went up to 1.69 out of normal range. (1.68 is high normal). so there it is. I’m guessing I’m coming out of remission.  I’m not going to worry too much yet as it’s still a long way to treatment.  It could be 3-4 months maybe longer but clearly, myeloma cells are activating.  It’s fine really. I knew it would happen and I’ve had 3 great years. Still, with everything going on it’ll be another trial. I actually see my oncologist this coming week( yes, I know in the middle of everything else) so I can ask him. He doesn’t get too concerned as the increases have been slow.

Anyway, life goes on, one way or another.

 

Day -4 and counting

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, Uncategorized by

Today went well.

My son, Zephyr, and I went down @ 10 am, and it was nice. No traffic backed up.

Today was his graduation day from Sacramento State but he wasn’t planning on going.

he spent the entire time setting up a Spotify account for his Dad and Hulu. So entertainment wise he’ll have lots to do. He also ordered a wifi speaker from Best Buy and we will pick it up on the way home.

He was in good spirits since chemo doesn’t really kick in for about a week.

IMG_1113.jpeg

 

We’re heading down around 10 am again and will stay for a while. Tomorrow I’ll go alone as we need to call @ the Health care changes since open enrollment starts tomorrow and we’re not sure how that will work. Someone is supposed to call us but I’m not holding my breath and I’ll check back with them.

Why I am giving up my Instant Pot…

Posted in cooking, simple foods, Uncategorized by

I tried really hard to fall in love with this kitchen item. I’ve made the rice and it’s okay. I think I like the rice maker better. I did make chili and it was pretty good overall but so is the slow cooker.

unnamed.jpg This is not the model I have. This is the fancy one!

I also made some chicken recipes that were good but not stellar. Maybe I like cooking too much and the IP doesn’t allow for tasting as you cook. It’s a one-shot deal.

I gave my rice cooker away to use the IP plus it was getting kinda old.  Rice is good in the IP but I think the rice maker is better.

One thing for sure no one likes the beans in the IP. I’ve been making pintos, black beans, and whatever other beans for years in the crockpot. They come out creamy and in a delicious broth. I also have never presoaked them. In the IP they just don’t taste the same and I can honestly say I didn’t like them much.

So I think I’m going to put it in my closet pantry for a bit and see if in 3 months or so I want to use it or not.

I think it’s great to try new things and I’m glad I’ve tried the IP but I think it’s also okay not to have to like it because everyone does.

So after 6 months, I have to say, I’m not impressed.

 

A change in the weather.

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, home improvement, home stuff, simplicity, Uncategorized by

Over the next two weeks, it looks like rain and cool temperatures. I get so used to it being like 75 or high ’70’s that I forget its still only May.

Still, we usually have all the coolers in the windows by now.  B only put the living room one in and then our son or daughter will have to do the rest when B is in the hospital. But it looks like it’s going to stay cool all the way to Memorial Day. Our yard does look it’s best this time of year with all the roses, and perennials blooming.

A couple of projects are done. One was to paint the french doors( that we got free many years ago) Behr’s Ultra White. The hardest part was taping all the squares. Still, after 2 coats it looks fresh and clean. I must have painted one set before as the second coat on that set looks better than the other doors. But after 2 coats I was done.

Next year I can do a fresh up. Then B fixed one of the sunroom windows that actually is on a hinge to open for circulation. But it had some water damage and didn’t open so he took it off and rehung it.  Cool!!

We also touched up the bathroom paint and it looks good enough I can hold off painting the whole thing till next year.  In the past, I’ve tried to paint each room or a few rooms on rotation.  But not this year.  One thing though, going to a whole house inside color ( Benjamin Moores Simple white has been great.

Today B has a CT scan of his sinuses that they forgot to do in the last CT scan.( ah really?? forgot??? Then we have a load to take to the food bank.

And we’re on count down to Friday:(