The difference in 10 days is quite noticeable. Lots more people at the beach and more kids in the campground. The camp hosts are very friendly and keep a tight ship. Very clean bathrooms and they keep the trash off the beach.
It’s nice here with a high of 77 which is very pleasant. We’ve had a fire each night and also BBQ stuff. Tonight I have leftovers from last night so I’ll see what I put together.
In other Myeloma news, my kappa did go up 7 pts. So I’m a little upset but I knew something probably was going to be different without the dex. Next week I have Velcade and then labs the following week. It’s a short time between labs so I guess I’m leaning towards not taking it and seeing the results. Dr. L’s take was that it was a very small increase. But it still was a jump in my book.
I’m enjoying the new Longmire, First Frost. Excellent!!
Another week has gone by and it was an ok one with Vecade and Dex. I had a hard time again with Dex and my BP so when I see the Dr in May, I’ll tell him and ask that we reduce it further. Right now I’m on 16 mg down from 20mg but it’s still too much I think for me. My BP was high all day and then started going back down by afternoon and by 5 pm was 120/82 so back in a good range.
This morning we had our Sunday walk and it’s very light out now at 5;50 am. It was only us and the geese.
There are lots of babies!
Today, I’m skipping the Auburn gym and going to the nursery with my daughter. We need to get the tomato starts and some other things as well. We always enjoy going and looking at the flowers and everything. I plan on going down to Maheny tomorrow so I’m ok skipping today.
I have my labs at 8 am and then I’ll drive down and do a workout and drop off a couple of the books I read. The Hannah Kristen, “The Women” is a phenomenal book about the nurses in VietNam. She obviously did an amazing amount of research. I’m not sure I like how she developed the character after she returns from VN. It seems to me she could have taken the character in a different direction. I don’t want to spoil it in case you haven’t read it, but if you’ve read it, what do you think?
This week is not too busy which I always appreciate. I plan on going to the pool 2x and then maybe one other gym day. Next week is the dreaded colonoscopy so the week will be different.
Menu wise, I’m still working on it. I’m going to make some polenta for tonight to have with black beans and salad. The rest of the week, I’ll need to plan. I do have some zucchini to use so maybe a ratatouile over rice.
The Flylady zone is the living room and entry ways. My daughter recently redid the one entry with new plants and tidied it up so I won’t need to do that. I have the red geraniums from Costco I can plant in some pots to put by the other door.
I can’t believe May starts this week. May is one of my favorite months as my daughter was born and what a gift she was/is to us. I think I’ve mentioned this before but we had been married 15 years before we had her and used a fertility drug to stimulate an ovulation. It worked like a charm so to speak and we were pregnant. Wonderful memories and I loved being pregnant. She’ll be 39 in May. Where does the time go?
I stopped at Trader Joe’s after the infusion and spent$70 on food. Mostly it was bread, some chicken shwarma( TJ’s has this all seasoned in the meat section and for a great price)my son wanted, pita bread, and a few things I’d been looking for. One was Harrisa and I found it on a bottom shelf. It’s used in some vegan dishes in the new cookbook I got a while back,
Also, the YouTuber Vegan channel, Madeline Olivia, made some black bean meatballs with Harrisa and she said that’s what gives their kick, so I thought I’d try that.
Here’s my copycat Panera Broccoli cheddar soup we had for dinner. this was before I blended it in the Vita-mix. I used most of the leftover Costco bag of broccoli I had in the freezer. It was quite good with this loaf of sourdough. My starter is doing really well after a few days of feeding.
The rain is back and so is the wind so no gym or anything today. Plus Dex is still in my system and my face is still a little red. Boy, I looked like a beet yesterday:)
I bought a pair of Levi’s on eBay at a good price. NWT and only 29.99. On the website, they’re $60 so I thought that was a great deal. Right now I only have one nice pair of Levi’s I use to go out on dates etc. And then only 2 sort of beat-up ones for going to the store or around the house. I never sweat pants at home, only right after getting up and we walk, otherwise, I dress in jeans and Bombas T-shirts or my yoga pants to go to the gym. So I will take that cash and put it back in the bank when I’m in town next.
Next week I have labs so that will give us another picture of what the myeloma cells are doing. I have one more infusion at the end of March before I see Dr. L, so I guess ,depending on this one, I’ll decide to either wait or message him about adding in the second dose. Other than that I have PT on Tuesday and then no other appts. I really do prefer my schedule open and flexible but medical appts are necessary at this point.
I don’t have any meal prep to do today so I think I’ll concentrate on the kitchen zone.
Yay, I walked one round in the park. This week I plan to try and walk 3 times. It’s slow going but I need to build up to my regular walking schedule. Hopefully, I can at least get up to a mile.
I plan on going into the Auburn gym this morning. I haven’t been there forever. After that just come home and do Sunday things. I want to meal plan the week and I want to do the bathroom and bedroom zones.
Okay, back from the gym. It went ok. I’m glad to be back to my Sunday routine. Once home, I prepped the stuffed peppers and got them in the crock pot. I’m pretty sure I’m going to buy another instant pot. The one I like is the new version that’s more oval. I haven’t seen it physically but the pictures look good. Maybe in March. I did check marketplace but they all seemed overpriced for used.
Tomorrow, I have PT and my monthly labs. This is the first month on monthly Velcade so hopefully, all is good. Dr. L wasn’t too worried and that’s why he scheduled a follow-up for the end of March.
Today is Super Bowl and we are not watching. We don’t have the networks that play it so I guess unless we subscribed we’re out of luck. That’s ok, I’m really not into football although it is the SF 49ers:)
A nice walk this morning with fairly warm temperatures. My knee has flared up again so I took it slow. Somehow I think the flare ups are corresponding to after I take dex for some reason as this happened a while back too. It seems I’m just about done with it and then there’s a back step and it bothers me again. I’ve never had a knee injury so maybe it will come and go for a while yet. The cortisone shot did really help and I suppose if in 2 more months I need another one I’ll go back to the doctor.
Yesterday B peeled apples and I sliced them and canned them for apple pie filling. A fairly easy process. This morning I pulled a package of puff pastry out of the freezer to make apple turnovers. For dinner, I made turkey wild rice soup. There’s enough for lunch today. For dinner tonight…??? not sure but probably a freezer meal of some sort.
I did weights this morning. Tomorrow I have my labs and plan to go down to Roseville afterwards. We’ll see. I know I want to swim on Tuesday because I have the dentist on Wednesday.
On Thursday, some of the women from the old FOL are getting together for coffee so I’ll join them. They are always fun to get together with. One of the women’s husband was diagnosed this summer with myeloma. He’s in his 80’s and it’s been rough. Because of other issues, he’s in an assisted living home so that makes it even harder to keep track of how he’s doing.
Beautiful weather this morning , cool and refreshing. Our walk was nice except, once again, after 4 months the AH showed up. He doesn’t look at us just drags his dog beside him. Actually, my guess is he had some kind of breakdown as he’s gained a lot of weight and is definitely NOT manic like he was. Now he’s playing music on his phone sans headphones. What is with this guy?? Anyway, we just ignore him and go on our way. He’s left before and will probably leave again. We’ve been walking in the park since 2008 or thereabout, so we’ve seen lots of people come and go.
I’m going into the Anytime gym this morning and then to Target for some stainless steel wipes, hand soap, and bar keepers. I’m sure something else will jump out.
I’m not planning on any cooking today. Yesterday I did crockpot fiesta chicken, and made up meatballs for either sandwiches or spaghetti. I did just feed my sourdough starter so I’ll probably make that up this afternoon.
Tomorrow I have my labs. We’ll see how it goes. I was so thrilled last month to only have a one point increase but I don’t want to get too invested in it staying that way when I know it won’t. Still, it was pretty nice to have that happy feeling that my myeloma was somewhat stable.
After my labs, I might go down to Roseville to the Rec Center. I’ll wait till tomorrow and see how I feel.
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?
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.
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.
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.
I've been married for nearly 20 years to a wonderful husband and I'm a mom to three great kids ages 17, 16 and 14. Oh, and I just happen to have cancer. Multiple Myeloma is a cancer of the blood that is currently incurable but IS considered highly treatable! My goal is to make people laugh, cry or feel a little less alone whether you are a mom, cancer patient or BOTH!
Tahoe Girl 