Tag Archives: labs

Wednesday stuff

Posted in Blood test, bread, cooking, decluttering, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, Uncategorized by

The pool was busy again even though there was a sign about Spring Break. I still had a nice swim. It will be a challenge to go over to the outdoor pool but I’ll just have to wait and see how that goes in June.

I’ve been going through some decluttering again and have posted my tortilla press and some houseplants on our Pay it Forward group. I used the tortilla press maybe half a dozen times but it’s not really my thing. The houseplants are not thriving where I had them( the sunroom) and I’m not into just having plants stuck around anywhere. So I thought I offer the 3 to someone who can make use of them.

I’m feeling the urge to go to a new level of decluttering things that aren’t absolutely necessary. It’s, to me, just levels and layers of decluttering and simplifying. What was important even a few years ago, just isn’t anymore. I want the simplicity of useful items and that aren’t just single purpose appliances. I haven’t put on the bread maker yet but it is on my to do list. Also, I really want to pare down to the ‘poetry’ and only have what is essential. That may include getting rid of any duplicates or things that are just lying around. I don’t have a lot of that but there is always something.

A fresh loaf of sourdough.

Some honey in a new honey Ball jar. So cute!!

Here’s the flowering cherry tree. You can’t really see where the top broke off but it’s in the middle area.

Well, tomorrow is my doctor appt. Not much to really talk about except once again when we might start treatment. As I’ve said my limit is when my kappa light chains get to 100. Right now they are at 46.1 mg/L so that was another 6 point jump. Normal high is 19.4, so it is increasing. 😦 I’m not sure what his assessment is but I’m not waiting till they are over 600 like last time. As long as the increases are small it’s ok, if they start doubling then it’s time. It does suck but what can you do?

Wild California Weather or Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgets, California, camping, home stuff, ikea, Myeloma, Pantry, swimming by

We are still getting clobbered. Right now it’s been raining here nonstop and there’s some wind. There are flood warnings everywhere for N Ca, specifically the Sierras and the Bay area. At this point, I’m guessing we’re canceling New Brighton because of the flood dangers in the Santa Cruz Mtns. Plus we’ll be right on the coast so I’m not too comfortable with the whole idea. Also, the day we leave it’s raining nonstop all day in Capitola. Reserving something in March is always a gamble, so we’ll be flexible. I do hate to give up the spot because it was an electric one. Oh well, that’s life.!!!

This week was busy but not too bad. I swam on Wednesday and that was lovely. I went to the gym on Tuesday and the library. We went to Costco on Thursday( yesterday), and holy cow was it busy. We didn’t have a clue as to why. It seemed just a regular Thursday. Weird. Anyway, I got lots of things to bulk up the freezer and pantry. I plan on going back in soon to get a few things more that we need like AA batteries. I didn’t want to add them to the cart yesterday.

After Costco, we went to our favorite pizza place, Celestino’s which is the closest to a NY pizza I’ve ever had out here. Although I left NY in 1970, thankfully, NY pizza has always been near and dear to me since I grew up right next to Pepe and Eddies. Now that might seem strange since I grew up on Quaker Rd in Highland Mills which back then was VERY rural. But right up the road, actually, the end of the road was this Italian family who ran the restaurant. There was the grandmother, Nonnie, Eddie, Pepe, and 2 children, Barbara and Johnny. Johnny was a few years older than me and we did play together occasionally. Anyway, their pizza was the best, ever.

We also spent money at Ikea but I brought cash for that from my ‘home’ money. The Ivar shelf is absolutely fabulous. I wish I had room for a second one. Maybe if I look at the space closer, I may be able to fit it in but that would mean using most of the wall and I’m reluctant to do that. ( at least for right now).

I should have bought another shelf and actually when I did my calculations I had the extra shelf in there but Ikea sells the Ivar as separate pieces. I had figured the 5 shelves( as shown on the website were all together but they weren’t. I got 6 shelves instead of the 7 I had planned thinking that was all I’d need but I can see I need the extra one for pint jars and half pints. I love that I can see what I have left in the canned goods and what I need to do this summer.

This is such a clever system and the total was $115. So a fabulous deal.

Today is a home day and with the rain and wind, I’m glad to be home baking and tidying things up.

Overall, an expensive week but since it’s all stuff we don’t normally do, I’m ok with it.

My labs came in with another 6pt increase. 😦 so now I’m at 36.7mg/L for kappa Light chains. It’s a bummer but as I’ve said,” your blood is your blood and it is what it is”. I did go back and looked at the graph for my increases in 2019 and they really started doubling at about 55mg/L. So in one month they went from that to almost 100. And then the next month almost to 200mg/L. So that’s what I don’t want to happen this time. The Myeloma cells are clearly on the increase and why wait till I’m at 600mg/L to start treatment. We don’t even know if Velcade will be effective since this will be my 3rd time on it. Lots of unknowns.

Five on Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, California, camping, Pantry by
  1. I went to the gym yesterday and that was good. I plan on swimming tomorrow but we have another winter storm coming in. There was a bazillion truck on the freeway this morning. There were also 3 CHP’s out there too.

2. I plan on going to Winco after the pool too. The only groceries this week were from the Holiday market and it was to fill in stuff before a more extensive shop. I saw in the Costco ad that coffee is on sale so we will plan a Costco trip next week.

3. I have the freezer almost empty which is sort of amazing. I’ll start restocking the freezer with this next Winco and Costco shop. I know for sure we need more frozen veggies, hash browns, fries, and stuff like that. Plus I need to make some ready-to-eat meals like mushroom crepes as they do freeze well. Plus tortillas which freeze well and English muffins.

4. This week from the pantry I used my canned salsa, white bean ragout, veggie soup, and a jar of black beans. These were all pressure-canned and shelf stable. This year my goal is to make 6 new pressure canned recipes.

5. My labs won’t come in till next week so I’ll just have to see what they bring. The week of March 15 we have reservations at New Brighton but it’s a BIG??? depending on the weather. We really don’t want to trailer in rain if we can help it.

This is 6 but I thought I mention a new to me author, Phillip Margolin. I like his Robin Lockwood series. Quite enjoyable.

Simple Sunday on a Monday

Posted in Blood test, California, camping, covid-19, Lake tahoe, meal planning, swimming, travel by

We left Tahoe in the smoke and came home to smoke. Ugh….One day the AQI was 500, which is pretty bad. Today is also not looking good. Our weather is cooler so hopefully, that will help the firefighters.

My daughter went and picked up my VW on Friday and didn’t notice the fan was on full blast, and when I went to turn it down it wasn’t working. I tried a few times and then just decided I would need to confront the garage because it was working fine when I brought it in. So I went in this morning, a little defensive, and said this was working when I left my VW here and now it’s not. She said, we didn’t work on that and I said that may be but my fan control is not working now and it was when I brought it in. I said I would like it fixed. I haven’t heard back from them; hopefully, it is a minor thing. I better not get charged. And there was a diagnostic charge I said don’t bother with and they have it on there so another confrontation, which I do not do well.

I canned BBQ sauce yesterday with the last of the tomatoes. It’s way early for them to be done but this summer has been so weird that it’s just one more thing. It’s thinner than I wanted so I wrote on the lid to add ketchup to thicken it.

Yesterday was my sister, Heidi’s birthday. She would have turned 74. It is so strange how she just had a flare up of the interstitial lung disease and died. She had been coping with it for a number of years with no flare ups. Well, I guess when it’s time, it’s time. ( that’s just me rationalizing).

Tomorrow I have my labs and so I should have my kappa light chain numbers by Friday. I see my doctor next week. Then I scheduled my omicron booster for Friday. I didn’t have any reaction last time so fingers crossed this time. But each time is probably different so who knows.

We’re still on the fence about going to Southern Ca next month. I guess we’ll just keep sifting through our feelings and fiances about it.

My son is off on a cool adventure staying in a fire lookout up in the McCloud district( way Northern Ca). This can be booked like a camping spot and is fairly hard to get a reservation. Back in the 70’s we often went to the Duncan Peak fire lookout especially since our friend Shelley was the lookout person. I haven’t been in years and years and my son said all that’s left is the foundation as all lookouts are done with remote viewing.

I just looked outside and everything is a weird yellow color from the fire. I’m sure the air quality is awful. I was going to swim today but the pool is closed also due to the AQI.

I still need to plan some meals this week and write a grocery list. I need salad stuff so maybe I’ll do Winco for organic spring mixes. I did see a recipe on a youtube channel for a green soup. Lots of veggies and spinach and then blended. Green soup is one of my favorites and this one also had cauliflower and broccoli.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, books, California, cancer, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, Walking by

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday it was 93 and hot. Today it is overcast and 70. We even had a sprinkling of rain. How cool is that and we really need it.

I had a good walk this morning and almost no one was there except the one runner who happened to be walking. At first, I didn’t recognize her not running, and then on my second round I said” oh you’re not running, I didn’t recognize you”. She laughed. So all in all a nice walk.

I had a bit of a setback yesterday from doing the weights on Thursday. I guess the lactic acid build-up or exercise flu hit me pretty hard. I felt pretty lousy all day and figured out it must have been the weights even though I hardly did more than 20 minutes. So when I go next, I’ll need to hydrate and do less. I’m very careful with anything I do physically but I guess it was more than my body could handle. The last time I did weights at the gym was February of 2020 right at the beginning of all the lockdowns. So perhaps even the small reps were too much. I guess there will be an adjustment period.

Today I’ll do the bathroom zone and quick house tidy. Mostly just putting things back where they belong. Since I didn’t feel like eating much yesterday my daughter put together some ravioli and salad. I’m not sure what I’ll do tonight as I still don’t feel like food much. Maybe breakfast for dinner.

I started reading ‘Maus’ by Art Spiegelman and geez, wow, If you haven’t read go buy it, get it from the library. It is brilliant. Tragic, but brilliant. I’m not sure what the ‘banned book’ thing is about as the story is about his father in Nazi Germany and how he survived in Poland and then eventually was betrayed and was sent to Auschwitz. Maybe the White Supremacists don’t want the truth out there. ( I just looked up the banned book deal. Apparently, it Tennessee that banned because of language(damn) and nudity( I guess the naked men when they were stripped in the concentration camps). WTF, those horrors and so much more beyond our comprehension happened. The world CANNOT forget what Hitler did and was doing to eradicate and entire race of people.

I went to the farm stand Friday and picked up some early zucchini, radishes, lettuce, spinach, and some delicious peaches.

All good news with my labs. No increase and staying almost where they were right above high normal. So I made it to my goal which was to stay out of treatment for a year. Everything else will be icing on the cake. BTW, June 15 is my anniversary of my diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma. 17 years later here I am. Hopefully for a while longer.

This coming week should have much cooler temperatures except Wednesday which looks like a 90 degree day.

Back to our routines.

Posted in Blood test, California, Flylady, home stuff, Uncategorized by

Since Sunday we’ve been slowly getting back to our daily routines. B has been outside nonstop with cleaning out Rubi( the RV) and cleaning it (which it doesn’t need much). He’s getting the pool ready to fill which is always a process and he’s doing endless outdoor chores.

I’ve been catching up with my Flylady routines and seems like today I’m mostly done with everything. I might do a kitchen deep clean later this week.

I like routines and I do better with daily lists and that sort of thing. I always prioritize what is most important to do and get that done first. Today, I have on my list to get out the dehydrator and start drying herbs that are in the garden like oregano, lemon thyme, regular thyme, and tarragon. I think there is some parsley too that can be harvested. We are going to have a bumper crop of garlic and that’s exciting. I guess planting in containers works best for some things and then the earwigs and other things don’t eat the seedlings so they have a chance to grow. The garlic is in 4 barrels so that’ll be a big harvest. I planted the onions around them so once the garlic is done I’m hoping the onions take off. In the 2 big galvanized tubs( they are 2×6), we have tomatoes, peppers, dill, parsley, fennel and I’m not sure what else.

The asparagus we planted last year don’t seem to be doing very well. Only 10 have come up and we planted at least 24. Maybe the soil conditions aren’t quite right. B has already harvested some radishes that he’s growing in an old clawfoot tub that he’s converted to a planter.

I haven’t done any decluttering as of late because where the house is now, seems good. I’m still debating getting rid of some canning jars but since canning season is just starting I think I’ll wait and see what I actually use. I plan on canning salsa, pickles, tomato sauce, and, a few other things. No jams this year as we don’t eat a lot of jam and I still have some marmalade and pepper jelly to use.

Tomorrow I go down to Sacramento to see Dr. L. My numbers came back just slightly over high normal at 19.9mg/L high is 19.4mg/L. last month I was at 18.3/L so a fairly big jump. 1.6, but I’m not too worried yet.

Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, bread, budgets, California, camping, cooking, library, swimming, travel, Uncategorized by

It’s been an okay frugal week. Nothing great but just ok. Most of our big bills for the month are out and just a few more are scattered later in the month.

I had a good swim on Tuesday and the pool was very unbusy which is very unusual. I came straight home afterward. Then Thursday B and I decided to do Winco for a few camping things and at the last minute added in Costco for some camping food as well. I needed Raos to bring and Costco has the best price for the 2 pack. I also got some WW bread for sandwiches. I spent about $175 between the two stores. We also filled up the truck with Costco gas which is the cheapest around. We’re definitely looking at traveling with gas prices. Next week, going to Capitola shouldn’t be more than 2 tanks of gas and the same with Nevada Beach in June. But we’re definitely reconsidering Refugio because that is much farther away. For now, we’ll keep the reservation but still think about it. Then I went to library and got a nice selection of books. Oh, and then we had a lunch date at Celestino’s pizza, which is the best New York pizza around in my opinion.

I went to the nursery with my daughter and bought all our tomato and pepper plants and a few ornamentals for her back garden area. That was her birthday present. We were trying to get a birdbath for her but they didn’t have any affordable ones. The cheapest they had was $110. The last time we were there they had a nice one for $80. I guess we should have bought it then.

I had my labs this morning so I should get results next week. Fingers crossed. I’ve been having some pain in my right leg but I think I over-stretched it doing some yoga. It was better this morning but then the ache comes back ( kind of in the hip and upper thigh area) by afternoon. It’s always something.

After we’re back our next big expense will be having the septic pumped. We’ll call once we’re back. As far as expenses for Capitola, it’ll be a few stops at Gayles bakery and probably one grocery store shop. We generally do not eat out but I thought maybe we’d find some place for a lunch near the Santa Cruz boardwalk. We’ll see. I know we’ll go walk the beach trail so that might be a good day to do that.

Oh, the tree guys came and ground out the stump so now there’s no issue with going out or coming in with Rubi. Yay! He didn’t charge us which was really nice.

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, books, budgets, California, decluttering, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, Political things, swimming, Uncategorized by

The most exciting news is my labs came back and my kappa light chains actually went down slightly INTO THE NORMAL RANGE!!! I’m pretty shocked really. I don’t know if I can remember when I started going out of range( increasing) that it ever went down. Well, I’m thrilled for another month of emotional freedom.

I was going to skip swimming tomorrow since my new suit didn’t show up but decided to just go for it. My current suit is fairly chlorinated and not in good shape but I figure no one is there to look at me and when I get out I’ll put my towel over me. Hopefully, my suit shows up next week.

Today is a home day and just pottering around. My daily chores are done and I might do a quick vacuum. I made the pizza dough for tonight, so that’s done. I have a few new books to read from the library so that’ll be fun.

I’m working on a small embroidery project from Posie in Oregon. I bought a PDF of her March pattern in which all the proceeds were going to Ukraine. I like embroidering but my hands can only do so much until they start cramping. Not much going on in the decluttering world. I’m in a good place with what we have and use. There’s always more but then that takes another level of what I want to keep and what I want to pass on. I have a great vintage turquoise blue typewriter but it’s been shuffled around for years with me thinking ” oh it’ll be a great display”. But honestly, I probably won’t do that, and plus I don’t have any room for it on a shelf. So, I’ll put that aside for the hospice thrift store.

I’m beyond thrilled at Ketanji B. Jackson getting confirmed for the Supreme Court. At least some good news.

We spent @ $400. at Costco which included $50. for lawn fertilizer, beer( $29.00), and something else that was non-food?? Oh, I think it was AAA batteries( $18.00) and gallon freezer bags($ 15). So, I’d guestimate that @$300 was for food.

It feels like it’s been a spendy week. And of course, the tree is going to be $$$$. But what can you do? If we didn’t have the money, I guess we wouldn’t do it. We’ve been there so…Plus, everything seems so much more expensive.

Middle of the week and hopefully not WWIII.

Posted in Blood test, California, Gardening, Myeloma, Political things, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

As I’m sure all of you are, I’m trying to find some hope that the situation in Ukraine turns around and Putin is kicked on his ass. It’s a scary situation when there’s nuclear capability. I refuse to be upset by gas prices or higher prices for anything. If that is the cost of freedom in Ukraine then so be it. I can’t stand the Biden haters who think gas prices are because of the pipeline from Canada. That has NOTHING to do with it. Oh well, since I am not that well versed in oil exchanges, I’ll leave it at that.

I’m definitely a little sore today from swimming yesterday as it had been 10days since we were gone. I did walk this morning and that was good. Today I’m just pottering around and doing some rearranging of things. I filled 2 bags with food for the food bank that was in my wine crate pantry. It’s stuff that’s been in there and I know I’m not likely to use. I emptied one Far Niente wine crate and used that for DVD’s and put that under my little Ikea couch I have in the sun room. As always, I try to keep like with like and the other crate of DVD’s in under there to so it’s the logical place for it.

Tomorrow I have my appt with Dr. L . My labs came back with virtually no change so that was VERY EXCITING. I am just slightly above high normal. If it can stay that way or near that till June it’ll be 1 year since my last Velcade so I’d be happy with that.

With spring bursting everywhere it’s hard not to go spend a ton of money on plants and seeds. We are buying 2 galvanized steel container to try as garden planters. The garlic in the barrels is doing great so I should get a good harvest of garlic.

Friday things

Posted in Blood test, bread, California, camping, cooking, Myeloma, Political things, swimming, travel, Uncategorized by

I just got back from getting my labs. It’s great that Quest is by appt. only. I was the only one in there and was done within 10 minutes.

There’s still no funding for myeloma at LLS so that’s not good news. I keep checking daily but there’s only mantle cell leukemia and Waldenstrom ( sp is probably wrong)( which is pretty rare.)So means February won’t be covered as that was my look back month meaning if I was funded in February, they would cover it even though my grant ended Jan 31. Tough break for us as that covers all my insurances.

Back home I put the sourdough cheddar jalapeno bread in the oven. This will be my last bread till we’re back. I’ll put my starter in the fridge tomorrow. I tried a sourdough rosemary baguette this week and it turned out great. I have a baguette pan I bought eons ago at Williams Sonoma and used that. The trick I think with sourdough and bread-making is just to keep doing it over and over. I can definitely tell by the feel of the dough how the hydration is. I had gotten a copy of Nancy Silverton’s Bread-making and read it thru. Overall, though, recipes look good, but they all make 2 loaves at a time and I don’t do that. Also reading about how she feeds her starter seemed too complicated to me. What I do is just keep adding equal amounts of flour and water at least once a day. Probably not as ‘scientific’ but it works for me. I also hate to throw away discard sourdough starter so I end up with 3-4 jars in the fridge. Oh well.

Then I’ve made the pizza dough for tonight and that’s in the bowl doing the first rise. It’s almost time to get out the Ooni for spring. Last night I used our new gas Weber that I bought for camping. I wanted to try it before we left. So I made BBQ chicken, BBQ tofu, roasted mini potatoes, and roasted veggies. WOW. It all came out delicious. I’m pleased and am looking forward to cooking with it camping.

It’s a cloudy day with rain expected off and on but it feels warm out. But it’s supposed to get very cold tonight with the possibility of snow. I plan on swimming tomorrow so I guess I’ll wait and see how it is in the morning. After swimming I was going to go over to Winco for some camping supplies. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll just go to Safeway. I actually don’t need a whole lot but things like peanut butter and some veggies and cream for coffee.

In good news, AAA settled my claim for a fair amount. The depreciation was factored in and then the $1000 deductible. I can’t buy a new Louis Vuitton for what they gave me but at least the $500 in cash was covered. I miss my Louis but I certainly can’t spring for a new one. sigh….:( Maybe down the road I can get a used one. There are a few sites that sell authentic LV and they look good. Still more than the amount they gave me but not the cost of a new one.

The situation in Ukraine is so devastating. Almost a million people leaving Ukraine. I hope the sanctions President Biden is implementing work to cut off the money. No money = No war. I shudder to think what the asshole Trump would be doing. I still keep hoping he gets indicted for something. I made a small donation to World Central Kitchen that is providing food trucks on the borders to feed people. Here’s the link if you want to donate too. It’s a small thing we can do to help the Ukraine people.