Category Archives: peritoneal mesothelomia

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, Gratitude, peritoneal mesothelomia, swimming, Walking by

Thankful we had a good doctor visit and she was very apologetic about all the lack of communications. She said she has all the orders in and somehow, whoever isn’t quite getting it together.

I’m thankful we were on the same page about Chemo next week, which will be postponed until November 27. That is the day before Thanksgiving but his numbers don’t get affected till about day 10 so we should be fine.

I’m thankful she also reduced chemo even further but not by a lot. But some may help. today he has more platelets, and my daughter will take him to Rocklin at 1pm and then I will drive down to get him at 4. I thought of getting a pizza for dinner but I think we’ll just get something out of the freezer. That’ll save money and time.

I’m thankful driving hasn’t been too awful except for the lunatic right here in town speeding past me on a double line. I beeped my horn and then he was up at the light I beeped again and wow, that was some angry person. In hindsight I shouldn’t have engaged him(the beeping at him) the second time as road rage is a very real thing. Lesson learned.

I’m thankful I’m flexible where swimming and the gym are concerned. I haven’t been to the pool in a week with all the other stuff going on. I haven’t been to Roseville gym in over a week too. It’s frustrating to say the least but it’s just what needs to happen right now. Hopefully next week things will be back to some normal schedule.

From Bad to Worse!

Posted in Blood test, California, cancer, husband, peritoneal mesothelomia by

Geez, can we get a break??

After Sunday, which took most of the day( my poor daughter sitting down at the clinic), they got home around 3:30. It was just one bag of platelets. So then even with that his nose bleeding got worse and worse. Some doctor called at 7:30 and said, you need more , your numbers just went to 25. Not good enough and hemoglobin down to 7.6. so either ER or if the clinic can take him. So why didn’t they figure that out to begin with and give him the 2 bags?? It’s ridiculous.

So he had very bad night which means I had a very bad night and ended up on the couch trying to sleep. He called right away in the morning and was able to get a 9:30 appt. It was unclear if they could do both blood and platelets. What a complete joke. Why are they not being proactive in this matter? I mean he’s down there on Sunday and has to turn around and GO BACK the next.

Anyway, being Veterans Day, traffic was light and he got there at 9:30. I left to come home. It was ALL day. My son went and got him at 4:30. Since it was so late he decided to spend the night and go to work from here.

So today is Tuesday, I have my labs and then I’m coming back home. I just can’t take going out again. AND especially since tomorrow, he has a physical appt back down at clinic with the doctor. I am going to be blunt about no chemo next week. He needs at least another week to recover. Hopefully, my labs are ok at least for now with all this stress. They went up last time so is that a trend or just another anomaly?

Besides that, it rained so hard yesterday coming out of Sacramento I almost pulled off the freeway to wait it out but figured I could get ahead of it in the foothills which I did. By the time I got to Newcastle, it was only a drizzle. Geez, what a stress factor.

Well, hopefully, today is a better day and there are no surprises. 🙂

Thankful Thursday( late) and Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, budgets, California, cancer, frugalism, Gratitude, husband, peritoneal mesothelomia, Political things, Walking by

Yesterday was busy so I didn’t get anything written. I had to be down at infusion by 8:30am so needed to leave early. I did get my walk in first thing and that was nice. I’m thankful, I am still walking even though B isn’t. With his numbers so down he doesn’t have the energy.:(

I’m thankful infusion went ok. They are great nurses for sure. I noticed though there weren’t curtains to pull around the chairs which is odd for infusion rooms. All the UCD infusion chairs have some kind of curtain for privacy.

After infusion, I went to the library to pick up my holds. I am thankful for the Martha Riley Library as it is a wonderful community space.

I didn’t really have any enthusiasm to go to the gym. After that, I went back down to Winco. I finally saw where the new Trader Joe’s is and funny, it’s right down from Winco. But you can’t see it right off as the gas station blocks the view. It looks to be a bigger one than the Rocklin one so I’ll check it out next time I swim.

I’m thankful this fall has been colorful with leaves turning all shades of yellows, golds and some reds. Other than that, this week is really a downer if I’m honest.

Frugal-wise, it was ok. I didn’t really do a whole lot. All of the first-of-the-month bills are paid. There’s a little left over to get through till the end of the month. There’s Thanksgiving and so I’ll need a few more groceries for that. I ordered the Diestal turkey roast to be delivered on Nov 21. They are not cheap, but local and I’ve had good luck cooking them.

I spent $125 at Winco, $25 was on wine, so $100 was on food. I also filled the car up at Costco gas so that is a big $$ savings.

Today is a Dex day so it’s home for me. Barclay’s platelets have tanked so he’s going in for more labs this morning and hopefully scheduled for infusion. this is day 10. so we’re starting to hit the real downtime (days 10-15). He’s much better this cycle but still, there’s the platelets dropping. His hemoglobin is doing ok, but I think this is the period too where that started dropping. Fingers crossed it doesn’t.

My son is coming up today to work on a few things. If B needs an infusion tomorrow he could take him and my daughter go get him. We need the labs to come in till we know and the doctor says his platelets need to be under 50 for transfusion. I guess what she was saying is this is UCD policy. What a crock of shit. If it’s only going to keep going down and that means an ER visit, he knows he’s at 90 so why wait??? Doesn’t make any sense.

I’m still committed to not watching the news, it’s kind of a relief really. I know how I am with stuff that upsets me so much, so I feel this is a good thing for me right now. For how long? Who knows??

Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, bread, budgets, California, cancer, frugalism, peritoneal mesothelomia, Political things by

It was a normal week of money stuff. I went to Costco and spent $300. Many of the items were bulk items like brown rice, granola, TP, and even some OTC allergy stuff for my daughter. I do try to get the items when they are on sale, as that makes for the best deals. I probably won’t do too much more shopping except for Thanksgiving stuff. But it seems there’s always something. Last month though, my grocery bill was under $500 for the 3 of us so pretty good.

I stopped at Noah’s Bagels after swimming and picked up one coffee and 2 bagels. I brought those back to infusion so B could eat something. I don’t often buy coffee out but we shared a medium coffee and it was very good.

Today I need to do my November meal plan. I’m going to use lots of pantry items and freezer ones too. I have lots of black beans so black bean chili will be on the menu. Also, pintos. I’m working on my sourdough loaves to get them to spring more in the oven. It’s an ongoing process. I don’t worry too much when it doesn’t work because it’s just flour, water, salt, and a starter. It’s fun and I enjoy the challenge.

I had to go out yesterday to pick up B’s meds and the damn pharmacy didn’t have 2 of them. He had done the refills a week ago so somewhere they screwed up. I had to wait for them to do them. PITA! Today he gets labs so we’ll see what the numbers are.

On the Facebook group, a new member was asking about the chemo and the surgery. Several people responded that the surgery is quite tough but one person said he was a year out from it and doing well. That gives me hope. I guess time will tell.

Yesterday afternoon we had a Samhain fire in the fire pit. It was nice to sit out with the fire and watch the sun go down. After a dinner of french toast and veggie sausages, we watched ‘Young Frankenstein’ which is one of our all-time favorites. So many great lines. We might watch Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein tonight.

I finished the LOTR Rings books and am back to reading some Baldacci. His different series are very good. I also read Mary Trump’s new book’ Who Could Ever Love You’. Boy was that an eye-opener. Trump is one sicko and his father was despicable. If you can get it from the library I’d recommend it just for the insight into trump’s mind.

I’m getting more stressed over the election and can hardly think about what will happen if he wins. It just really scares the Bjesus right out of me. The things he says and does are really nuts. Demented!! And yet people still are voting for him. It is beyond my little brain’s comprehension.

If he wins, I’ll just unplug for a while until I can handle it which may be never. Our country will be doomed for 4 more years. On top of that the policies will send us right back to McCarthyism. What a shit storm:(

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, California, cancer, cooking, Halloween, peritoneal mesothelomia, Walking by

We got home yesterday around 2:30. Everything went well and now we just have to see what his hemoglobin is with tomorrow’s labs. Especially if he has the chemo on Wednesday, his hemo has to be up. What we discovered though is the infusion is open on Sunday. No one has told us this and it would have saved us from going to the ER.:(

Yesterday I walked over 3 miles at the UCD campus so I was pretty achy this morning so I only walked a little over a mile. Also, I’m not going to the gym as I need to do my morning house reset. I’m also planning on going to the Roseville gym tomorrow so it’ll cover doing weights.

So far, I’ve got the sourdough in the oven, swished the bathroom, and checked what I need to wrap the few presents I have for Christmas. Next is dusting and then steam mop. I’ve slowly finished the garden shed except for that box of extra jars which I’ll go out and do today.

This is one of our resident bucks. quite handsome!!!

a few Halloween things. I don’t put out all my vintage Halloween anymore, just a few pieces.

This jack-o-lantern is probably 1950s.

Frugal Friday on Saturday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, frugalism, peritoneal mesothelomia, Walking by

Well, guess where we are?? The UCD infusion center. B’s platelets went way up,244, but his hemoglobin went down:(

So he’s getting a blood transfusion. It’ll probably be 3-4 hours but it’s nice here and quiet. I went for a long walk over to Kiwanis house and wow it’s all different. Well, not the Kiwanis house but all around it is construction.

I’m back now and since we have a while I thought I’d get this posted.

Then Monday he’ll get labs again.

So Frugal wise, I went to Winco this week and that’s about it. I think my groceries were $150. So okay really. I am planning Costco at some point next week but we’ll just have to see how everything plays out with chemo and labs.

I made the cauliflower soup last night from The Soup Sisters cookbook. Everyone loved it. I thought it was just ok. I did like it blended in the Vitamix so it was very silky.

I have some sticky rice to use up, so I may cook that like fried rice, and then I have some TJ’s orange chicken to use up, too.

I finished the budget for November so all the numbers add up and are accounted for. Most of our bills come out in the first 10 days of the month, so that’s good timing.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, California, cancer, husband, instant pot recipes, peritoneal mesothelomia, reading by

It seems things are turning around to some degree. At least we’re not in the ER this weekend. B finally called his NP liaison from his BMT team and told her the situation with labs not getting ordered, no infusion appts etc. She immediately ordered 2 labs weekly as a STANDING ORDER and infusions when necessary. So clearly whoever is working with the other doctor is not getting the job done.

So for now, things in that regard, are positive. Also, he obviously will not be getting his next round of chemo till the doctor figures out what happened.

Tomorrow he will get labs and check his hemoglobin and platelets and if necessary then he can schedule the infusion.

Our beautiful fall weather continues and it’s so lovely. I miss seeing Tahoe this time of year but hopefully next year.

I went to the gym and did a small workout. Then I did the Goodwill dropoff, dropped our ballots at the drop box, and then went to Safeway for a few things. I picked up some turkey burgers for dinner. Last night I made a small beef stew in the IP. I didn’t have mushrooms but did use carrots, potatoes, and onions. It was quite good. There’s enough to either have for lunch or freeze. B had a chickpea stew that my son’s partner made. That was also yummy.

It’s getting close to the election and I certainly have anxiety about it. I hope tRump keeps losing it like with the Arnold Palmer story( which really is so gross). The more people can see him unhinged the better. I simply cannot understand anyone thinking he would do our country any good. He’s nuts.

I finished reading the new Vera Stanhope mystery, The Dark Wives. It was good. I just started the last LOTR book, The Return of the King. I’ll have to put some books on hold when I have time to look at what’s available.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, budgets, California, cancer, Gratitude, husband, peritoneal mesothelomia by

I’m thankful B is not in the ER after a second trip the other day. This one lasted 24 hours and was pretty awful. Something is going on with his platelets and they can’t figure it out except the chemo has affected his bone marrow.

Once again, it’s very stressful because we’ve had to coordinate pick-ups, drop-offs, and repeat. We decided if another ER visit happens which I guessing is going to, we’re just going to go to Sutter ER. It’s way closer and then we can coordinate food etc. In the UCD ER, they don’t offer coffee, water, or anything. Pretty fucked up if you ask me but I do understand because there are SO MANY PEOPLE, that the nurses etc would just be running around doing that.

Anyway, his platelets went up but by the time he was home and checked his final CBC, they had dropped some. I’m not sure where all this is going or if he can even pull out of this, but I am grateful for this time.

I’m incredibly grateful both my kids have done most of the driving him around and picking him up. Today, if he can get labs, I can drive him to that since it’s just Auburn.

I’m thankful we had a wonderful rain yesterday. Everything is fresh and smells like fall.

I’m so grateful my son went and got another load of wood from his friends. They had cut it and had it ready for him to load in the truck. I want to give them some money for all the wood they gave us, but I need to wait for the budget to settle down.

I’m thankful I had a good appt with my doctor. My kappa light chains went up 2 points and out of normal but he said, let’s not worry about that right now as it’s a minimal increase. Plus I have no mental energy to worry about it.

Monday Morning

Posted in Blood test, California, cancer, husband, peritoneal mesothelomia by

We at least had an ok Sunday.

I didn’t even walk or go to the gym. I think I just needed a total day to recuperate from the ER visit. It’s such a strange world to go into. Even though we have these doctor/medical things, we rarely have experienced ER’s. Thank Goodness, as it was pretty awful. I mean UCD ER is probably one of the top-rated in N Ca but still.

Anyway, the nose bleeds are back which means the platelets are down again. It’s not as bad as last time but he needs to get labs this morning and then call the doctor. Then hopefully schedule him for more platelets tomorrow?? My back up plan is if they want him to go back to ER then my daughter will take him, drop him off and then I’ll go get him when he’s done. I certainly hope it doesn’t come to that but I need a plan.

My guess is he’ll go to infusion for the platelets but it does depend on how far they dropped.

I’m off to get my labs this morning too, so once again my daughter will have to drive B to the lab. Then I’m going to drive to Roseville and go to the gym, library, and then home. I need to go to the bank for my LLS insurance printout but I can do that after everything. My insurance is covered by LLS and it’s a lot of money( to us) so that needs to be submitted a certain way to get paid.

My son came up yesterday and visited. I think he’s pretty stressed about his Dad. He’s taking on all the big projects with my daughter helping. So he did all the outside trim on the bathroom window that hadn’t been done. And then he even painted the wood.

My daughter will be fixing the drainage under the bathroom ( in the crawl space) so water doesn’t pool in there this winter. There’s always so much to do this time of year and without B doing it, it really does add up.

It’s a really hard time right now and we can only hope for the best.