Category Archives: cancer

Menu Monday and a BIG shout out to Frugal Girl!!

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cancer, cooking, Death, home stuff, Lake tahoe, travel, Uncategorized, velcade by

Frugal Girl has a huge blog following and deservedly so. But she never speaks of politics till now, and I am very Thrilled she has stood up and spoken out against the horrors of this administration, especially with the murder of Alex Pretti, a fellow nurse. I’m sure it was difficult for her to do, especially as she is an evangelical Christian. Although we are as far apart as can be on religion, I respect her immensely for all she has gone through and accomplished. She is an exceptional person, and thank you, Kristen, for using your voice.

I’m just a small blogger, but I will not shy away from speaking up about the wrongs this administration is doing. AND THE LIES!! You can see with your own eyes what went down, and to have them disgrace a wonderful human being is sickening. May Karma catch up to them in the end.

On to mudane things in my life.

The menu changed up a bit as one night we had ramen because we felt like it.

Last night I baked some chicken, and we had that with baked butternut squash and salad.

Monday- I think I’ll try to do the baked fish with something. I really want to empty out the small refrigerator freezer, and the fish is in there.

Tuesday- Mexican something. I have beans frozen, so I could do beans and something. I don’t have any enchiladas, but I could buy some if I get to Winco. We do love Amy’s cheese enchiladas.

Wednesday- I have some Trader Joe’s orange chicken to use up, and I could make jasmine rice to go with it.

Thursday- ?? Maybe a curry, as I have tofu to use. We really like tofu curry with rice.

Friday- Pizza of some sort. We finished up the last Costco one for lunch the other day, and it was pretty bad, so I won’t buy them again. The frozen pizza that we liked the best was Home Run Chicago Pizza, and I think only Safeway carries that.

Saturday-? TBD

After e-messaging my oncologist, Dr. Laptalo, he suggested half an Imodium for the IBS. So I’ve been doing that, and so far it’s been fine. It’s been about a week with no issues, so I’m happy about that. I went to the gym and library the other day, and no surprises. I’m not sure what triggered it, but I think the body remembers certain things, and with the Velcade, it responded to that. Dr. L thought it could have been Velcade, as the timing was right. I don’t know, and all I want is not be ‘surprised’. I’m planning on going to the pool this week at least once, so that will be sort of my marker. I overcame this before, and I will overcome it again.

I’ve had zero luck with getting a spot at Nevada Beach. My only theory is that because it is such a beautiful camping spot on Lake Tahoe and there are so few spots, getting one is getting harder. Reservations are now into the end of July, and I think I’ll skip those for now. Tahoe in the summer is not my favorite, as it is overrun by tourists.

And I’m still not sure what I would camp in. I still have Rubi, but I will try to sell it this spring. I do have the one night booked at Tahoe in June, but I can handle one night in a tent. Any more than that, I doubt I’d want to do. This probably is one of the hardest for me to accept with Barclay gone, that certain things, like camping, can’t be the same. The question is still, how do I want to go forward?

Well, this has gotten quite long, so that’s it for now.

Midweek Musings

Posted in books, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, reading, velcade by

I started reading Clavell’s Noble House. I read this back in the 80’s, but he is such a good writer, I wanted to reread it. The books are hard to find(any by Clavell is), but my son, who frequents thrift stores, found a first edition for me. Whereas Shogun takes place in ancient Japan, this is set in Hong Kong. I have a library book to pick up, and it’s one that’s been on hold for quite a while, Dan Brown’s Secret of Secrets. Have you read it? I’m curious about it and whether I’ll like it. I did like the action in his other books, so we’ll see.

I’ve had a flare-up of my IBS, so I haven’t been to the pool or down to the Roseville gym. I have walked and done the Auburn gym, but I want to keep track of what foods may be triggering this( pizza? dairy?). I checked with Dr. Laptalo, and he thought it might be connected to my Velcade. (Remember my chronic diarrhea started way back with Revlimid, like in 2010. Most of that is over with, but occasionally I get a period where it seems to flare up. He suggested some OTC Imodium, so I’ll check that out. I do have Lomotil, which I take when needed, and that was an absolute game-changer for me, so I could go out to eat, travel, etc. But these flare-ups make it hard to go out. Todays Wednesday, and I’ve been fine the last few days, so I’ll see how it goes for the rest of the week. This is a common side effect of chemo, but with Velcade, I haven’t noticed much. On the other had I didn’t develop IBS with Revlimid for 3 years, and then the last 2 when I was on it were truly awful.

So, as such, I haven’t decided if I want to get my book or not. I plan on making another sourdough loaf as I fed my starter. The whole wheat loaf didn’t have a very good rise, so I think my starter was too weak. I did get some organic flour to use as opposed to the whole wheat I had used. Whole wheat is great for a yeasted bread, but much harder with a sourdough starter.

I need to work on next month’s budget, too. I have Allstate as an extra expense and part of the house insurance, too. I need to check if there’s something else too. Property taxes are coming due, so I need to figure that out.

That about sums it up!

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, seasonal things, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

I took down most of the Christmas stuff and labeled the boxes. Since I did do a Snoopy tree this year, I labeled those ornaments in a box so next year I can pull them out if I decide to do a separate tree. I kept up the Ikea tree but took the bird ornaments off and put them away. I’ll probably take down the Ikea tree tomorrow or at least sometime this week. It always feels good to get a fresh start, although I do love looking at the different trees and their ornaments.

My daughter got me a compact waffle maker to replace the bigger one we have, so we had waffles last night. I might make some more this morning. Yumm.

This was our Christmas morning bagels and lox. I didn’t get a picture of dinner, but everything turned out delicious.

The pool was insane the other day. All the college kids were there. I forgot that this was winter break between semesters. I’ll have to see if I want to brave it next week. I finally got a lane with one of the college kids, and twice I got mouthfuls of water as he was kicking so hard. It wasn’t fun.

A very cold 36 degrees this morning, but the walk was lovely. The park was all frosty.

Today, I’m planning to go to the gym and then home. I might go back out later if my daughter wants to go to Home Depot. We need some things for the house.

This next week is a repeat of Christmas with New Year’s on Thursday. I have Velcade on Friday, which will be a little weird. I usually go on Thursdays. So my Dex day will be Saturday.

Other than that, I’m looking forward to the next year and hope it’s not as awful as 2025. I’ve had no luck getting a camping spot, so it’s been close to 10 days of trying every day. I’m almost at the first week of July, and I never go to Tahoe in July or August unless it’s a day trip. Too many tourists.

Friday Things

Posted in California, cancer, frugalism, home stuff, plants, Uncategorized, velcade by

My shot went well yesterday, and afterwards I went to WinCo. I spent $83 on food and paid in cash. I specifically wanted Taco sauce and a small jar of peanut butter. I don’t think buying the 2-pack at Costco is worth it for just the two of us.

Today is my dex day, and so far I feel pretty good, not too crazy:) I’m still a little sinus-y, but that’s it.

Some Christmas stuff and a totally funny New Yorker comic. B and I would always joke about this from “What About Bob ” and Siggy saying that.

I need to figure out my day but I know I need to:

clean the stove and hood

vacuum

do 1 load of laundry

look at the budget for the next 2 weeks

water some plants

???

Thankful…

Posted in Blood test, budgets, California, cancer, Gratitude, Political things, swimming by

The government has reopened, and hopefully, the services people need will happen quickly!! What a joke for trump, though. Let’s hope this comes back to bite him where it hurts with the LONGEST shutdown ever. Plus the damning Epstein reports. Will it bring him down? Probably not, unfortunately. sigh….

Hip Hip Hooray!!!!! My labs came back and went down!!!! not in the normal range but down 4.5 points to 21!!!! I’m over the moon. So. I get a reprieve for at least another month!!!!

I’ve adjusted quite well to my ResMed CPAP machine. Clearly, I had sleep apnea, and this seems to have relieved ALL the symptoms. As resistant as I was, now I’m glad I persevered. The one I have just has the pillows you put in your nose, so it is not claustrophobic. Overall, I’m pleased that it’s working. I haven’t noticed much difference during the day, though. Supposedly, you are supposed to feel less sleepy, which I didn’t have to begin with. Anyway, there’s an app to use to track sleep and use of the CPAP, and it’s fun to look at it.

Thankful for the pool as always. I went on Veteran’s Day, and holidays are hit or miss. This time was a hit, and I had a lane to myself. It was very nice.

Thankful for my kids helping when they can. I’m hoping my son comes up this weekend to do some stuff, but his partner just had surgery, so he’s been caretaking them. (non binary).

Thankful to be getting a little more organized. I redid my clothes in the closet, since most of B’s are not in there anymore. One side looks good, the other is still a mess. But I plan on working on that today.

I’m thankful that, even though it’s raining, I can use the treadmill to get some steps in. Rain is forecast for the whole day.

Well, I’m off to do whatever.

Menu Monday

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, meal planning, Uncategorized by

We did very good with meals last week. I did cook the tilapia, and followed through on some of the other meals. We didn’t do a pizza or the baked potatoes. The night my daughter works late, I had broccoli cheddar soup for dinner. We also had turkey burgers one night because I finally found them in the freezer:(

Last night I made a beef stew with things I had on hand and wanted to use: carrots, potatoes, and a piece of steak. So there’s a little leftover that I put in the Souper cubes to freeze. I also had made the night before a turkey and wild rice soup because I had stuff in the freezer to use: 3 containers of turkey broth that each had turkey chunks in them. I added some cream to make it creamy and it was very good. I froze some of that too although rice doesnt always freeze well so that might be a wash.

So this week:

I have a Costco rotisserie chicken to slice up, and I’ll do some potatoes or stuffing and a salad.

Tuesday- Still planning on burritos or tacos, maybe with leftover chicken. Maybe I’ll put together chicken enchiladas.

Wednesday- Something from the freezer to use, maybe spaghetti and sauce.

Thursday- Again, a freezer meal, maybe enchiladas or soup.

Friday- try again for a pizza

Saturday- TBD, it depends on what I have to use up.

Today, I was planning on the pool but decided to come home after labs and do stuff around here. I feel a little stretched thin, so it’s better I do home stuff to regroup. Monday used to be my home blessing day of tidying up areas that I didn’t get to during the week, so I think that’s what I’ll do. I also started a loaf of sourdough to bake this morning.

I’m glad the appeals court ruled against the orange, evil, cruel man. Time to help people, not hurt them. Honestly, what evil person takes food away from children?

Friday things

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cash envelopes, frugalism, Multiple myeloma by

Yesterday was quite busy. I decided since my Velcade was rescheduled for 10am, I would go down to the gym first and then the library to pick up my hold. (Shogun) Then I went back to Winco for salad stuff, wine, oat milk, and yogurt. I spent about $60 and then got $40 cash to put into some cash envelopes.

Infusion was very busy, and I guess that’s why they needed me to come later. All 5 chairs were full, and some of these chemos are ALL day, and mine is only 20-30 minutes. They are always so nice, and oncology nurses are truly special people with the knowledge and skills they possess.

Finally, I stopped at Taco Tree for some tacos for myself and my daughter. She was almost out the door for work, but it all ended up ok. I took my Dex around noon, so hopefully I would get some sleep. Ha, no luck, I woke up at 2 am, and that was the end of sleeping. But I’m home today, so I can just chill.

I’m halfway through the budget month, and things are ok. There’s not a lot left over, but at least I’m not waiting for SNAP to come through. What a horrible thing these Republicans are doing to the people of this country who need it the most. Shameful. Even more shameful, throwing a Great Gatsby party at the gold mansion. Rump has probably NEVER read The Great Gatsby. Shameful, while millions of people are going without food or close to it. And then more shamefully, blaming Democrats for it because of the shutdown. Democrats are trying to save the ACA before rates skyrocket next year. Who cares about ordinary people? Certainly not rump.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, meal planning, Myeloma, velcade, Walking by

I woke up at my regular time, and the clocks were back an hour. Based on the light, I went out to walk at 5:50, which yesterday was 6:50. I liked it as no one else showed up. It’ll be this afternoon that I won’t like it at 4, when yesterday that was 5. But every year we go through this and adjust.

My son visited yesterday and took a big load of wood to the dump. He thinks maybe 2 more loads and it’ll be gone. A good accomplishment. I went to the store and picked up sandwiches for us all and that was nice.

Today, I’m not going into the Auburn gym because my daughter and I are going down to my son’s place to visit and go to the farmers’ market. He has a lovely park that is right near the American River, and it’s quite nice, so we’ll go over there too.

This week I have Velcade and then my new lowered Dex. I didn’t notice a big difference, but maybe the Dex wore off sooner. Dex affects my breathing, and I did notice that the night I took Dex. It’s just a matter of getting through it. 😦

I need to go to Costco too this week. I wanted to get some of their sale items. The chicken pot pies are on sale, which are good for an easy dinner. The Starbucks holiday coffee is on sale, too. Buying stuff when they have their sales is definitely a big savings.

Because of Velcade this week, I’ll probably only get to the pool and gym once. Also, I need to make an appointment for the Santa Fe as the service light switch isn’t working( it’s a computer chip, apparently.) I got it to scroll once, but then it stopped working again. So I need to do that this week. At least I don’t have any other appts.

We’re in for another beautiful day here in N Ca. The wet weather is expected to arrive by Wednesday. Also, I hope Prop 50 passes so we can redistrict some of these worthless Republicans.

I need to write up a menu plan for the week and what house chores I need to focus on.

Friday Things

Posted in budgets, California, cancer, cooking, frugalism, Halloween, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma by

Happy Halloween!!! Barclay loved to dress up for Halloween. We always took the kids to Auburn to trick or treat. It was fun! Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end:(

I know I’m repeating myself, but this weather has been so nice this week. Sunny and temperatures in the mid 70s. Just lovely. I think the weekend is the same, and then next week starts to show rain again.

I watched Practical Magic the other night, and that is a fun movie to watch for Halloween. I’ve watched a couple of series on Prime. Margot is one and a few others. Nothing great, but it helps pass the evening hours.

I didn’t resubscribe to my Prime membership because my daughter offered to share her account. She pays way less being an educator. So that’s one less bill for me to deal with. Also, donating the Subaru has reduced my Allstate insurance, so that’s another savings.

I’m deciding in the next hour whether I’ll go down to the pool. I’d like to go, but there are some outside things I want to do while this weather is so nice. Plus, if I go to the pool, that’s kind of my energy output for the day, and then I don’t get a lot of other stuff done. Well, I still have an hour to decide.

I did pressure can pinto beans this week.

I ended up with 5 pints. It does take up the whole morning since pressure canning is time-consuming. I might do another round next week. We use the pintos the most.

I considered myself brave and went to Speedy to get the Santa Fe’s oil changed. Barclay always did this stuff, so it was kind of a big deal for me. Plus, I really dislike doing stuff like that, but, well, now I have to. Oil changes are so expensive now, like everything, I guess.

I need to go to Costco too, so I think I’ll plan that for next week. Next week is my Velcade injection, so I could do it after that. Also, this chemo will definitely give us a better picture of how much my numbers are going up. I looked back at what happened last time in MyQuest chart, and at this point my numbers started going from where they are now at 25, then to 30 something, and then they starting doubling. So this one will give us a better view of the trend.I don’t see Dr.L till December so we can figure it out for January. That is the exact time of when I changed treatments twice. It was in 2021 and then 2023. sigh:(

Frugal Friday and misc. stuff

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, decluttering, frugalism, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, Uncategorized by

We ended up having a lot of rain!! But now it’s blue skies and the temperature is lovely. We should be having day temperatures in the 70s. We have some outside things to do, so that’s perfect. I need to paint the new gutter that S put up and tidy the patio up for winter.

I have a small pile to go to the thrift store and will probably do that on Sunday after the gym. I’m still going through different areas to find more things to add to the pile.

My son and his partner came over on Wednesday afternoon, along with the partner’s parents. They are lovely people, and I wish B could have met them. But they were here for the dad to check out my son’s Subaru. The dad is very mechanically minded. My son is giving( with my permission, as it is my name) the Subaru to him for free. They checked it out and will take it hopefully soon. As soon as that’s done I can take it off the insurance and that is going to save me over $700. I’ll call allstate as soon as it’s signed over.

My daughter and I went to Costco yesterday to finish shopping for the stuff I didn’t get last time. Most of it was non-perishables like the smoke alarms( wow, they were expensive even on sale), TP, and laundry soap. water, and a few other things. From there, we went to my favorite pizza place for a slice of New York pizza. It was fun. I also got the car washed since Quick Quack was just across the street. Costco ended up a little over $300 but I need to break down non food and also long term items and see what the total was.

My food budget for the month came in at about $350, so I’m really getting the hang of not buying so much. The Costco trip I’ll be putting on next month’s budget, which starts next week.

In not-so-happy news, my labs came back with a 4-point increase, so myeloma is definitely on the move. I checked in with Dr. L, and we decided to go one more month and see what the next increase is. I’m disappointed, but it was to be expected at some point. I just wish I could have had at least some period of time with things ‘normal’ after B died. Well, at least I’m asymptomatic which is good. Also the ratio of kappa / lambda was the same so that’s good. The plan will be to try to do biweekly,depending on how next month goes, and if that doesn’t work switch to darzalex fast pro. I’ve made it 20 years with Myeloma and know I’m one of the lucky ones. Still reality sucks that I have to deal with this. 😦