Tag Archives: dex

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.

Friday things

Posted in California, Lake tahoe, swimming, Uncategorized by

Well, the week is almost over and I’m very glad. It was a busy week with appointments. Not one swim in or gym workout because of it.:(

The highlight was driving up to Tahoe for the day with my daughter. It was a beautiful day.

The ride up was uneventful, but be aware that if you’re traveling to Tahoe on 80 eastbound, there are tons of construction, and that was the only real pain. Westbound going home seemed fine.

In Truckee, we went to B’s and my favorite place, and Heidi’s, to buy some of the pine cone glasses. Heidi loved those and bought a huge amount the time we were there. B always likes to get a little thing as well.

From there, we went down towards Tahoe City to go to Tahoe House. That was one of the last places B went out before things went south. We bought some of their famous coffee and a sandwich to take to the beach. From there, we decided to go to Meeks Bay, which was our old camping place before we discovered Nevada Beach. But Meeks is closer, so that’s what we did. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring any of B’s ashes, so that was disappointing. But I’ll be back, and my daughter actually suggested the Truckee River, too, which I thought was a good idea. It’ll probably end up next year, but that’s ok.

I talked with Dr. Laptalo, and we cut my Dex in half, so I’ll see how that goes. My concern is whether it’s helping the Velcade then ??? I guess we’ll see. I’m not overly worried if it goes up again because I know we’ll figure out a plan.

Today is a home day, but I don’t have a whole lot planned. Next week looks like a very rainy week, but I have no appointments except trying to get down to the pool.

Five on Friday/Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, Credit cards, frugalism, husband, knee injury, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, velcade, Walking by

Frugal-wise, I’m not in the Cotswolds like Mavis over at $100 a month. She probably should change the name of her blog. But she’s got the money, so why not enjoy it? Plus, she loves England.

Here in my neck of the woods, N. Ca, it’s been too hot to do much outside. The temps are much nicer in the coming week, but still some 90’s, and I saw it gets in the low 80’s, so that will be much nicer. I miss sitting outside in the mornings and afternoons.

Money-wise, just paying bills, and I had to pay the overpayment from SS. It’s ok, I’ll deal with it. It’s done, and I’m going forward. I just need to work the budget with the SS I’m getting. I’m still working on my credit card bill because I put the cremation on there. But I should be able to knock it down next month. I hate having a balance. But needs must.

After my Velcade shot, I stopped at Costco to pick up some lox for the bagels I bought at Noah’s. I also picked up some rose wine( my favorite) and a Gloria Ferrier champagne-type brut. I wanted Mumm rose, but they were out.

I gave my daughter $100 in cash to buy the paint for the studio. She’s really done a great job clearing it out and rearranging it to suit her. We might go get that today as long as she drives, since I’m on Dex. I don’t sleep well on Dex nights, and last night was no exception.

I also have a food bank donation to drop off and some more stuff for Goodwill.

I’ve almost finished most of my list of things to do related to B. If something comes up, it’ll be an outlier I don’t know about. I may take care of a few things today or not. It depends on my focusing on which Dex does affect. So we’ll see.

I’m still debating getting the next steroid shot for my knee. Mostly it’s ok. When I try and do a little extra walking or swimming, it acts up, but then I seem to recover the next day. The shot did help quite a bit, so there’s that.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cooking, Gratitude, velcade by

I’m thankful for the beautiful weather here in Northern Ca. Our daffodils are up and the flowering cherry tree is blooming. Today is supposed to hit 70. nice!!

I’m grateful B is recovering so well from the laparoscopy and he can pretty much do what needs doing. We have a date now for the surgery and Hipec. It’s April 14. So the plan is to arrive Sunday and he will need labs. Fortunately, the lab is open on Sunday. Then Monday is the surgery although we don’t know the time yet. The surgery is where the surgeon(Dr. Lee) goes in and basically scrapes any cancer areas he sees. Then he is closed back up except for tubes that will administer the chemo. That part I’m not sure how long it will be but it could be quite long. At this point, I am NOT staying in the hospital but will go back to the hotel. After last time sitting in the waiting room just about did me in. Then the plan is I will go see him on Tuesday and check in about how things are. The last time Dr. Lee called me after the surgery was over so I suspect he will do that again. Then B will be in the hospital for at least a week. We haven’t figured out part 2 of getting him as I do not plan on staying all week.

I’m thankful for good food that I cook and feel good enough to do that. Last night we had a piece of the Halibut I got from Alaskian Fish. I think it was the first time I’ve had halibut and it was very good.

I’m grateful I can get my Velcade shot today in Rocklin and not drive into Sacramento. That is a real time saver and emotional one too not having to deal with Sacramento traffic.

I’m not so thankful for Dex overall, but it does do the job so I guess I am grateful for that.

I’m thankful ” to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world”. What else can I say? Our democracy is in serious danger of falling apart thanks to tRump and mUsk. What a bunch of assholes.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, cooking, Gardening by

Costco $153. food 140, wine 13. I just love this new Costco.

It is so easy to get into and the registers are always open. I haven’t had to wait once. I think what I like the most is doing smaller shops. Usually, before shops were $300 or $400 and loaded up the cart. Now I am just picking up maybe 15 things. So yesterday, was tofu, block of Tillamook, cottage cheese, sour cream, eggs, black bean burgers( a new product I thought we’d try for an easy meal), Bonne Mamam jam in the EXTRA jar jar that I’ve been looking for forever, oh, another new item, potato and cheese pierogis, oh, and the gallon zip lock freezer bags on sale. I always try and buy the things on sale as that is where Costco excels.Plus the Kirkland Pinot Grigio and Kirkland Sauvignon. I think there was something else but I can’t remember now. Oh I remember, it was another new product of pretzel bites!! We love pretzel bites so it was a no brainer!

Dinners have all been homemade and easy this week. The start was the honey garlic tofu. I still have half the block frozen so I may make that again tomorrow. Tonight I think I will make a homemade pizza. I have dough in the freezer so that’ll be easy to do.

Since I’m on Dex for the next 3 days I’ll add some extra things to do. I’d like to spruce up our one entryway by the sun porch. Maybe switch out the faux flowers on the wreath to fall stuff. I had a nice red geranium out there on the table but the deer ate the flowers:(

Here are a few pictures of the front yard. Lots of morning glories which just seed themselves every year and this this delicata squash was a self seeder from the compost that we added to that bed. My daughter came up with the idea to grow it on this old trellis that was going to get thrown out. Works great and we’ve never had that many delicatas ever.

My next batch of tomatoes I plan on freezing and can later this fall. Tomatoes came in so early this year I guess with all the heat we had. Our peppers didn’t that great though for some reason. Which is odd since they love heat too.

Saturday, hot and hot

Posted in Blood test, books, California, Myeloma, reading by

That’s it. It will be hot. I have all the windows closed and the thermal blackout curtains closed too. I have one cooler running on 78 so some air is circulating.

As I mentioned, I was planning on taking the 8 mg of Dex and I did that evening. I slept ok so I don’t know if my BP went up but I think not. I took it when I got up and it was in perfect range. I checked all day and it was fine. So I decided to go ahead and do 4mg Friday. And today I did 4mg so that takes me up to 16mg. My BP has been in perfect range so maybe that’s the ticket. I’m still unsure how the efficacy of doing it over a few days will be and I will ask Dr. L when I see him next. I get labs Monday so it may be too soon to tell with these labs. I guess we’ll just wait and see.

I’ve been busy this morning and even with the 4 mg of dex, I feel pretty good. So I put back a few baskets on the bathroom shelves and hung my Japanese block print back up. I love Japanese block prints but really only like the ones with water or Mt Fuji. I’ve checked eBay and they are out there but pricey.

I hardboiled some eggs so B can have extra protein. He’s lost way too much weight and so we’re trying to figure out if it’s serious or just that he’s burning more calories than he’s taking in. So far all his labs are in the good range so no surprises. He has a CT scan scheduled to see if there’s some obstruction and he’s called his UCD transplant team to check in. Hopefully, it’s just calories in calories out.

Then I’m making chicken broth in the crock pot to either can or freeze. I still want to replace my instant pot but it’ll have to wait till we have some spare $.

I made a pesto noodle salad for dinner and added some olives and mozzarella. It’s so hot we’ll want to have something cold I think. We even ate at the table last night because it was too hot outside. We had a shrimp scampi, a big tomato, fresh mozzarella, and bibb lettuce. then I pan-toasted some homemade sourdough with garlic and olive oil. Very tasty.

I think my daughter will drive me to the pet bookstore to check if any Longmires came in. I doubt it though, I scoured Goodwill in Auburn and not one. I guess if I really want them I’ll have to buy them used on Ebay but there not cheap! I guess people keep them as they are very re-readable.

Guster in a small dog harness!!!

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgets, California, cancer, frugalism, Lake tahoe, Myeloma, travel, Uncategorized, Walking by

This week was fairly low spend. We did go to Paris Bakery one morning down in Roseville. It has delicious croissants and other baked goods. Also beautiful cakes. So that ended up $30 because we had fancy coffees which we almost never do and I brought home a pastry for my daughter to enjoy.

I did fill up the Santa Fe on Monday at Costco gas. That is the lowest price anywhere.

I popped into Winco and got a few groceries and some wine. Winco’s wine prices are the best around too. I like the Bogle chardonnay and Smoking Loon unoaked chardonnay. I think my total for wine and food was $57.

I think we’ll need to go to Costco next week as it’s time for more coffee. I plan on keeping that shop low spend as I don’t need a lot and I’m still working on eating down the freezers. With my son moving out food costs should go down although he will still be coming up here 2 days a week to work remotely and go into the office. So he’ll eat here when he’s here.

I’ve worked up the budget for June although I didn’t add in travel $. We’ll be in Tahoe twice. The end of May and mid June so I need to allow for gas and some food things. We generally don’t eat out in Tahoe because of the expense and we haven’t found a super great pizza place or Mexican. We do love Sprouts for sandwiches though. It used to be one of B’s accounts up there and has been around a long time. Great organic food. The Safeway is just up the road from the campground so we usually go there.

Tonight we’re going to do take out pizza so that’s pricey but we’ll only get 1 large as my son is still moving stuff to Sacramento and is down there tonight.

In other news, Dr. Laptalo said to drop the dex completely and let’s see what happens. I totally agreed. Of course, if my numbers go up substantially because dex helps boost the chemo then I’ll just have to consider the options. So I have 2 chemos scheduled before I see him again so that should give us a more accurate picture. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Today was a no walk day, a no gym day and, a no swim day. So I want to go over to the pet bookstore and look for a few books. They’ve moved so it’s in a less convenient location than it was before. Speaking of walking, we haven’t had for months now, other people coming early to walk and then pow, yesterday we had 3 other people and OMG, AH showed up. It has been almost a year since he was there. I just about fell over. If you’re new to this blog and wonder what AH stands for, use your imagination. One thing though, he hadn’t gotten out of his car yet and previously he’d jump out and drag the dog out. So we wondered if the dog had died or was just too old now. I guess we’ll know next time we see him. Weird though.

Frugal Friday

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, frugalism, library, LLS, swimming by

Since this was the first week of my May Budget we didn’t spend much. Costco we were able to use our rebate of $117 so that helped. The total was $345. So the breakdown was $190 for food, $109 non food, and $46 for alcohol which was B’s Sierra Pale Ale at $30 which comes out of his personal money, and $16 for 2 rose Proseccos. this was all paid with cash from my envelopes.

It was a lot of food and much of it will last more than 2 weeks.

We filled up with Costco gas which is the cheapest around. I’m trying to keep the tank at least half full.

After infusion yesterday, I added in the trip to the library to get my holds. I had 8. I was thrilled to see a brand new copy of Hannah Kristen’s The Women. I’m excited to start that. I thought of going into the gym but felt after infusion, to skip it. Just for reference, the gym is right next to the library.

We bought some tacos on the way back from Costco so we didn’t come home starving. I think that was $21. but I had 2 things, B had 2 things and a milkshake and I brought home a burrito for my daughter. Other than that no eating out. I did meet up for a coffee at our local cafe with my library buddies though.

Today is dex day so a home day for me. I don’t walk on Dex mornings as my BP is up and my breathing is affected( sort of shortness of breath). I have the sourdough boule in the oven already and plan to make a chicken salad with cranberries and pecans later.

Last night I made a brinner of scrambled eggs with Bourison, fried potatoes with mushrooms topped with cheese, buttermilk biscuits, and strawberries on the side.

It’s cloudy today and we might have a few sprinkles.

We finished Season 10 of Doc Martin( the final one). It was ok. Nothing too new but fun to see Portwenn. We’re still working on Lynley which I do like.

I did buy a new swimcap from Amazon. My old one was from when we went to Florida for UNFI’s awards and there was a saltwater pool that I swam in. So that’s 2016 I think. Actually, it may be older but I can’t place it. I won’t be back in the water till next week because tomorrow is still a no-drive day.

Budget wise all the bills are accounted for in May. Once my LLS comes in I’ll make another cc payment to get the Allstate insurance paid off. My award ends in June so I hope there is funding available. Last time it took almost 3 months.

I go for my labs on Monday so I do plan on driving down to Maheny (gym) after that. The pool is too close as it closes for laps at 9:25.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, Gratitude, Myeloma, Uncategorized by

Gratitude is essential to feeling content and satisfied with what you have. I see it as a way to reinforce that I have everything I need. Maybe not everything I want( that second bathroom, haha) but at least I have one bathroom that is efficient and well organized albeit small.

things I’m grateful for this week:

PT went well and I’m doing the exercises at home. I’m hopeful to try and get to the pool next week. That is if California hasn’t been swept into the ocean with all the rain we’re having.

My appt with Dr. L went well and so did infusion. DR. L said everything looks good and I don’t need to see him till March. So that’s good news. He was happy to see my new LV as he was aware of the smash and go with my old LV and right after that his wife’s car also had a smash and go and a very expensive purse was taken too.

Today is a dex day and although it’s tough to be on I’m grateful for the drugs that have helped me to combat cancer. It’s not fun but it’s also not the worst. I’m so grateful my Kapp light chains are in the normal range and VEcade and Dex were the reason for that.

Today is February 1st( feels good to start a new month) and tomorrow February 2nd is Imbolc or cross quarter on the Celtic cross. I can always feel the change in the earth even though the Spring equinox isn’t till March 21st. Also, we’re having huge rains so not yet the springy feeling.

I’m grateful that my daughter’s tests were all good since she does have autoimmune issues and Hasimoto’s. The allergist she saw was super helpful she said and he told her she didn’t need to do any of the allergy tests as her face swelling and hives were an autoimmune reaction. All in all good news and she just needs not to get overly stressed. She said she feels better off gluten/wheat so I think she’ll keep doing that for a while.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, freezer cooking, knee injury, meal planning by

A big thank you to Kathy for suggesting Facebook Marketplace. I got rid of the quilting frame this morning and am very happy about that. The lady who took it said her mom was a quilter and had recently passed away and left tons of fabric. So I’m thrilled.

We went to Winco first for groceries. I got some stock-up stuff like mayo, ketchup, olives, and some salad stuff too.

From there we went up to Trader Joe’s and also got some stock up stuff but also things like chips. I love their potato chips. They remind me of the chips I grew up on which were called Wise. An East Coast thing.

Then we decided to get a coffee at Panera. It was ok and the bear claw was subpar, unfortunately.

Overall a nice trip out. The rest of the day is just being home and seeing what needs doing. It’s a beautiful day out, almost 70 degrees. I may go sit in the sun for a while.

This week I have PT and then Velcade on Wednesday plus driving from there to Sacramento to see Dr. L. A bit much but that’s the way it is. I totally forgot I’ll be taking Dex because I was planning on going to the gym. But since I don’t drive on dex days that’s going to have to wait. It’s funny how quickly you forget what the routine is.:(

For dinner, I have a white bean soup from the freezer unless something else jumps out.

That’s it, for now, the sunshine is calling.