My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
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Mel - I have no words. I am so sorry for the barrage of loss you have had to deal with lately. Sending you virtual hugs.
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Emac~thank you very much. It is alot to handle. I think we are all in shock. Such a tragic thing for her to be so young. At least my mom was 80 and lived a long life. I’m still grieving my mother and then pile this into it. I am so sad for my sister. Parents should not bury their children. It’s just not right or natural. She’s having a hard time. I’m trying to be supportive. Thank you very much for caring
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Waving hello to all. Mel, There are no words that could possibly lessen the grief. My son has lost (in school and since) about 10 of his friends to mostly fentenyl drug overdose. His first girlfriend passed at age 35. His bff, who I adored like another son, worked so hard on his sobriety only to slip back and died just before Christmas. It's such a heartache for family and friends, and in those two cases, they each left behind a small child. I don't have an answer except the police have to step up and crackdown hard on drug pushers.
Another rough day. Tremors are really massive. I checked my b.p. and it was quite high. I took a half a tab of DH's medicine, as I do not normally have high b.p. It's settled but the pain across my chest is still about a 9. I called mobile care and they were booked solid today and last night. Think I'll give this some more time to heal on it's on. I'd like to make sure my lungs are clear if I go to urgent care. No hospital!!!
In pocket's for everyone's needs, both medical and life.
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Irish, I am glad to read you had a pain free evening.
I am trying to decide what to do, bought peanut butter and some wet cat food from Amazon so waiting for that, wig thrown on. Been bored as I am doing different stuff with detergent, made a mix of powdered detergent being turned into liquid detergent, hot water etc, mixed with a spoon. Need to use up some of the stuff since it does not stay good forever. I did have a very foamy first wash so obviously need less detergent, doing two short water rinses and may spin before the softening cycle. I use very little fabric softener in that mix and more vinegar.
I decided to try making ground beef texture out of my canned turkey. I added croutons and ground up, made it very close to ground turkey. Put two eggs on a plate, lentils, turkey and cheese. Seasoned with garlic powder and the combo vegetable seasoning. Cooked up in the microwave covered by a silicone lid for 2 min 30 seconds. Removed the lid and cooled for a minute, added bit of mayo, mixed together. Was filling but very delicious.
Hope everyone has a good day and in all pockets where I am needed.
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Good morning to all.
Irish, I'm so sorry you're dealing with the tremors and elevated BP. That sucks and I get it that you do NOT want to go to the hospital.
We know of at least a couple of "kids" who have died from drug overdoses. It's horrible and tragic. I can't even imagine losing a child that way—or in any way, for that matter. Parents should not bury their children.
I'm sort of hiding out here at home. I don't want to see anyone, and I don't feel like talking to anyone on the phone. I couldn't fall asleep last night. My right ribs hurt, my left hip hurts, and I'm just feeling sorry for myself this morning. Boohoo! At least my Nespresso coffee machine is working (if I haven't jinxed it by saying that.)
Pocket duty for anyone who needs it. I found some chocolates in the back of the freezer yesterday. I had a couple of them, but I'll save some for anyone in the living room who needs chocolate right now.
(((hugs)))
Carol
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Mel- what a difficult time for you and your family especially after just losing your mother. My thoughts are with you all.
I do read the posts often and am thinking of each one of you.
My special son fell on a slippery parking lot when he was with his assistant and broke his lower leg in two places. He had surgery to put a pin in . He is still in the hospital as he doesn't feel comfortable leaving the bed to get to a special chair they have. The OT's come in for 10 minutes and leaves. I told them he needs repetition and reinforcement (bribery)! He does have his assistants from the group home go in but since I can't be there every minute everybody has to try a little harder. He is stubborn though 🙄
Debbie
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Belle~sorry that your son slipped and fell. Ouch at broken leg ! That’s gotta hurt. That’s awful! I hope the surgery was a success and he’ll be moving around better soon. Thank you for your kind words. It’s been mind boggling really having so much happen at once. I just hope we are done with this loss , with losses for a while. We’ve had enough !
love to all!
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Happy snow-moon to those that have snow. We are going to have a cold night or two and then, 80 degree days. Bike week coming up so I know the bikers would be happy for this good weather.
Belle, I hope the therapists help your son to heal quickly. I'm sure he's scared. So very sorry for this to have happened.
Mel, how are you holding up? Sometimes finding strength in family helps. It seems like you have a wonderful, close family. I hope they can comfort you and help you to get thru the dark days. Much love and prayers for you and you and your family.
Quiet day here today. It was warm enough that some of the family and a friend of DGD joined her. My chair was calling me, so no swimming for me. I'm dealing with health issues that are ongoing. Hoping the MO zoom call is productive. I've never had radiation but I want to see if perhaps I should. MS is bad, too. Any suggestions to knock back inflammation??
Hope everyone has a wonderful pain free evening. In pocket for all your needs.
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So sorry for the tremors and increased pain. I hope that the zoom call results in some treatment help. When I was prescribed Faslodex in 2022 as part of my treatment I noticed a significant increase in pain from my pre-existing arthritis and requested a prescription for Celebrex, which has helped. It is an anti-inflammatory, and I haven't had any SEs from it.
So sorry for your son's accident but glad to hear that he's getting proper care. You are a wonderful Mom and it must be very stressful not to be there with him all of the time during this crisis. Fingers crossed that he heals quickly enough to be discharged soon.
Continued warm hugs and caring thoughts for you as you struggle through repeat crises.
Eleanora
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@micmel With all the sadness and loss you’ve been through and now your niece!..there are just no words. I’m so saddened for your sister. I hope you are close to comfort each other during this time. I know it’s just words but please know my heart and prayers are with you and your family,Mel♥️🙏
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Bellelove, I am sorry to hear of your sons broken leg on some ice. As a person who has fallen so many times and slipped on ice a few times, can make you scared to move. Hopefully the hospital can provide people to get him moving without fear again and the proper therapy to help the leg. In you and your sons pocket.
I am sorry to hear about the increased pain @irishlove , in your pocket for some good pain relief. Hopefully you are able to take nsaids like advil or others on the market to address the worst of the pain.
As we speak, the orange cat Tigger is trying to take over my chest as I am typing this, bit awkward but still working, cats know the wrong moment to start being annoying.
It is sunny and dry here. We are to warm up over the next few days which is nice. Might throw in a walk around the block a few times and save the free mall walks for next week. Paratransit booked for MO appointment on Wednesday, she will get to hear about all the fun had earlier this month with the falls etc. I also find out results of CT scan which was almost 2 weeks ago. Not expecting anything different than usual.
Breakfast was english muffins, garlic spread and a liquid taco and garlic sauce, going to use rest on meals today. Spooned the taco/garlic seasoning on, added parmesan, shredded cheese and more parm on top, cooked on 400 for almost 10 mins, was good. Save the lentils, beefless ground and rice until later.
Discovered a new show, Law and Order Criminal Intent Toronto. Looks like the US but set in Toronto, I thought that was pretty cool considering I have watched all the other ones at different times. Not sure if is available to US as of yet.
Wishing all a good day and in pockets as needed.
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Thank you Shana. It means a lot. The support here means everything. My sister and I are close. Very close. We talk daily all day. I know that I have been her go to person with her thoughts and feelings. We are going through the losses together. I found the cremation home that she decided to use at a really reasonable price. The funeral homes were in the $5500 plus range for a funeral. I had been looking into this for a while because of my mother. So what we found was a great price. No one is made of money. I don’t know how these places stay in business. The one person mentioned to me that the majority of people are choosing cremation over burial. The prices are too high. I’m just sad. Period. Too much has happened. In a small period of time. My family needs a break.
Hello Mara~ making me hungry again!
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Cats are enjoying their wet food smoothies, took 1/2 pkg of whiskas perfect portions, add with some water magic bullet and they are having a blast, will split other part of little portion and add to a dry food for them.
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I'm sending love and hugs to all going through such rough times. Life can be so hard!
Mara, I thought of you when I tried a new recipe. I saw it on FB and it looked good. It wasn't but I still thought of you. It's a can of chicken, grated cheese, one egg, and some ranch seasoning. I formed it into patties and baked it. It wasn't very good, but the next day, I fried them in a skillet, and they were better. I wonder how they'd be in a mini-waffle maker. With all of your interesting combos, I wondered if you had tried something like this.
Am hopefully publishing my latest blog post today. It's called "The Other Side" and it's about how it is for people who love us to watch us go through all this you-know-what.
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I have not made patties out of those things. Canned chicken or turkey is most pleasing to me by putting what I want to use in my chopper and adding croutons. Croutons keep it more dry and it helps to put it into more of a ground beef texture. Ranch would have been good. It could be that it would have been better to keep ingredients separate and add them to a pan or plate to microwave. You don't have to do what I did with my canned meat but if ingredients are added separately, you get the taste of each. I am not surprised you found it tasted better after frying again. Try what you put in again when you feel like, add ingredients separately and either cover a plate with a microwave safe lid, heat on high for 2.5 minutes and let cool. Add any dry seasoning you like and the ranch on top, mix together with a couple of spoons. You would surely enjoy this. If frying pan, add ingredients when pan is hot, stir around, turn down to low and cover with a lid, leave maybe 7 to 10 mins. Good that way too. I almost forgot to mention, use cooking spray on plate or in frying pan.
May not always look pretty but it is the taste I am about.
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Very sunny out today, will be walking outdoors I think, short walks, no need for a mall walk. Planning just to do laundry, dusting and sweeping, exciting to be sure.
I did not sleep much but was my fault. I neglected to eat a proper supper, had the breakfast meal which filled me up and the wee pancake that I crisped and ate like toast and that was it, got super hungry around 930 and ate a bag of popcorn, that kept me up til 2 am. I slept like the dead but not enough.
Exercise wise, already done 10 bridge poses and added another pull up on the bed ladder. Let me say, pulling up my bodyweight is difficult but can do 4 daily. Really helps me get up off the hospital beds or CT or MRI beds unassisted now.
Regular meals to follow, my freezer is gradually emptying out which is good, means I am using stuff up. Planning to have the battered cod, 1pc, egg, few lentils and bit of rice, small portions of the others and probably throw on a wig and sunscreen on face and head out. May start training for the walk to the mall and back, still have that goal in mind, small steps mind you. No reason I could not be training for that except when heat of the summer comes on though I did find one of my evaporative cooling scarves that I could wet and stow under my wig to stay cool and still have the neck fans, need a big hat that would cover my head and neck. The UV umbrella might be something to consider as well.
Hope everyone has a good day and in pockets for those who need me, in my own pocket to get everything done.
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Mel sorry for your loss. Addiction is a beast. Alcohol or drugs it destroys lives.
irish I hope you feel better. I hope you get some pain relief quickly
Belle I hope everyone does the best for your son so he will not be afraid.
Emac I’m glad to hear you’re breathing well and looking forward to positive posts about the enhertu.
in pockets for all who need it
take care all
tanya
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@mara51506 I love that you give your kitties smoothies. When Ihad my cat, TC, who lived to be 22, He used to get UTI’s and pee sand and then I realized he needed moisture in his food instead of the constant dry food all the time, so i fed him more wet food, canned tuna, and mackerel, and canned chicken, liver and other wet food with a little evaporated mild with water. He loved it. I always sprinkled th dry kibils over the top to give added crunch😊and once started this feeding routine he never ever had those urinary issues again and lived to be 22. I believe he could have lived longer had he not been ambushed while sleeping on a chair next to the pool, by 2 Jack Russel Terriors. He never heard them coming as his hearing was lost as he got older.😢’
Hi @tanya_djamila @sunshine99 , @bellelove70 , @eleanora , @irishlove , @micmel , and all the rest of you gals. I want to send caring thoughts to all of you living room ladies enduring struggles recently. You are all, each one of you, on my mind and in my prayers… @emac877 ♥️
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Shanagirl, I am sorry to hear about what happened to your cat. I am sure he was quite loved as your furry family member and sure his age was due to your care and love, I am sorry. I am giving them more wet with occasional smoothies but also wet and dry combined.
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Hello ladies. Hope everyone is pain free for the day and or improving if needed. I think of you all. My sister is really having a hard time with processing the death of her daughter. I think the fact that it was accidental makes it harder for her. It makes her question should she have done more. Well that answer is she couldn’t have done more. You can’t follow a 34 year old woman around. It’s sad but I guess as everything else it has to be day by day. Just like my mom. I still of course have my moments. Just there are too many things to haven’t moments about lately. I still don’t feel better totally from Covid. I have a cold that won’t go away and a cough that is raspy, it’s miserable and everyday I think maybe today I’ll feel this crap go away.
sending love to everyone.
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mel, sending more virtual hugs. It is not much, but expresses that I care and would love to help you hold some of your pain.
Holding everyone up as much as I can. Thank you all for supporting each other. It all helps.
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Hi ladies at Mel's. Hope that everyone is having a fine evening. Mara, we had my Grammy's receipe for Sherpherds' Pie. In our case we fry hamburger, then layer the burger in casserole dish. We use 2 lbs of burger, 3 cans of creamed corn over the burger and top it off with mashed potatoes and parsley. I use pepper only on the burger. My daughter uses vegetarian burger. It feeds 6-8 people. 350 degrees 50 minutes. I can stretch that for two days.
Hi Tanya. Good to see you and all the other gals. Mel, my heart is with your family. The longer I live, the more people I love pass on. Grief is complicated. Funerals are too expensive, especially if you don't have life insurance, which I don't. So creamation for me. I had hoped to donate my body, but most places what the family to pay for the return and cremation. I don't think that's a good idea for the family.
Shana, 22 is such a wonderful old age for kitty, but I'm sorry for your loss. I lost Miss Kitty to a dog attack in my home. Visiting dog did the dirty deed.
Quiet day here today. Going up to 80 tomorrow. Hoping to get in that pool. Vide call with temp. MO Thursday. I was prescribed Gabapentin 100 mg to increase to 200 and if tolerated, 300. Today was 300. Less pain in spine and chest. Hopefully this too shall pass.
In pockets for all your needs. Concerned about bad weather next two days for a lot of folks. Stay safe.
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I have been talking gabapentin 300mg 3x/day for more than a year, plus celebrex 100 mg 2x/day and I really think it helps with the back pain. As this is my only SE impacting my QOL at the moment, my MO is pretty good about finding ways to treat it.
You are always in my thoughts. I hope you are bearing up as well as possible. Decades ago, when I was struggling with the deaths of both of my parents within 7 months of each other, I saw a therapist and told her that I didn't see how I would ever get over it.
She said "You're right. You won't get over it, but you will get on with it." Day by day, sometimes just hour by hour, you move forward in baby steps. Be kind to yourself during this time. You deserve it.
You have the oldest cat I've ever heard of. You must have taken extraordinary care of her.
A while back you described a bad reaction to Faslodex/Xgeva injections that was very similar to what I experienced my last time I had them. Have you had more injections since that episode and did the bad reaction occur again? I have my next ones scheduled for Friday and I can already feel the anxiety building.
Hope the breathing is improving and you are regaining strength.
Saw a short video on Vimeo called Visible Mending starring two adorable knitted mice. You might enjoy it.
Warm hugs to all in the living room.
Eleanora
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I also want to be cremated. I do have life insurance but it’s left to my children. They will split it after arrangements are taken care of. I’ve always wanted to leave them something from me. It’s going to be a nice nest egg for them to maybe get their houses down payment. That’s the only silver lining of my death. I know my kids will get a financial boost. Give them security when I’m gone. Because I am their go to person. Always have been. I cant be replaced by money. But the money can go along way to keeping them safer for a longer period of time. Keeping that money for a rainy day or their house has been a dream of mine for them. Now a days even two grown adults have issues affording a home. It just seems farther from reach for them than it was for me.
I hope everyday is a peaceful one. Including today. Thinking of you all
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mel Sending you continued prayers and hugs. Glad your sister has you to lean on and for reassurance that she did absolutely everything that she could! You finding peace in leaving your children some inheritance is important. Whatever gives you happiness and comfort for them is all you need. As mom's we will never stop worrying and wanting to do everything we can for our children no matter their ages. Ugh sorry you're having a rough time recovering from covid, unreal! Hope you start to feel better soon.
Mara Glad you got in some outdoor walking yesterday. Sunshine and fresh air is always good for the soul.
Belle Geez so sorry to hear about your son's leg fracture, so scary for him I'm sure. Sending prayers and strength your way for his recovery.
irish Glad to hear your pain is subsiding, wishing you improvement each day.
Hi to all you lovely ladies here. Sending healing thoughts , peace and strength to all.
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good mornings Dear ladies of the Livingroom. Today the Sun is shining here on the Barnegat Bay. The weather plays a huge part in my pain levels especially when storms are coming. I had my Cervical spine injection (neck vertebrae) on Friday and I have been feeling so good, loose and virtually 0 pain from my shoulders & arms up. I love my Neurologist. He has given me another 6 months of a pain free neck. And of course I love that anesthestetic sedative they give me prior to the procedure at the Surgi-Center, and the coffee and Lorna Doones after the procedure😊. It really makes a big difference when that bone & nerve pain is eliminated during this Stage 4 Bone Mets diagnosis in the rest of my spine and ribs, and sacral area…which is always there.
I’m going to try and paint today. I organize my Art area and am looking forward to painting a “CAPYBARA” for my little Great Grandson’s room. DGD loves Capybaras and is also expecting another. Baby boy in August, so I want to paint 2 8x10 canvases for her two baby boys😊. Last week I framed “Miss Biggs’s the Bull Mastiff painting for my friend. So it’s exciting to start a new art painting on a smaller canvas🎨👩🎨.
I’m feeling a little better on the lowered dose of Verzenio, with no D, although I still have SE’s from the Fasoldex & Xgeva which is uncomfortable constipation. So I’ve beeen taking. “Colace”. I also gained 5 lbs which is so annoying. A least the 150 mags of Verzenio kept me from any weight gain, which was the ONE good thing about the Verzenio for me.
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Irish, the recipe sounds really good, I do need to get a casserole dish for sure as there are so many things that can be made, more of a dump and go or I make a smaller version of it for now, will definitely look into it.
My brother had a nice vacation with SIL feeding giraffes and at the Fort Meyers airport, he happened to bump into Alex Lifeson from the band Rush. Rush has been his favourite band for a super long time now. Alex was kind enough to pose for a picture and my brother will have this memory forever, I was happy for him.
I am not sure what the agenda is today, supposed to be rainy so exercise will be inside. Laundry will be done as well at some point. Watching groovehub.tv a music channel that pays me for ads so that is good, mobile games will make up the rest of earning for me today. Inside walking as it rained a ton earlier with thunderstorms.
I am going to combine quinoa and lentils with beefless ground and one egg. Small amounts of each, especially the quinoa since it likes to expand so much. Unsure of the seasonings I wish to use and I need to use up the canned turkey today as well. Will chop it up with some croutons and less wheat bran but love the texture. Probably spray a plate, add all ingredients and some corn chips on top and cover with lid, put in microwave for 2 min 30 seconds. Just have to premake the quinoa first and add it too the rest. Also need the shredded cheese. Very hearty and healthy breakfast. I do not mind microwave meals at all, they are quick. Only thing I may make later is an english muffin toasted in oven, add an egg and lentils blended in magic bullet to spread on garlic toast, add the egg later. For lunch, trying out a mug pancake recipe with less syrup and melted butter. We will see. Supper will be the english muffin.
Edited to add, have a massive amount of quinoa in the friidge, 1 cup was made since I knew I could simply add to other dishes. Also had to put aside almost half as I was overfilled. Will make something different out of it in the breville with more cheese on top. The rest of the quinoa can be added to anything else. It was really good.
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I hope everyone has a good day, same deal, in your pockets if you need me, in my own for the exercise portion of the day.
Mel, I hope at some point your sister's mind will allow her to believe she did everything she could do, in her pocket, in yours for the lasting cold symptoms to go the heck away.
Shana, glad you are feeling better, enjoy the artwork. I have no real talent that way, just good at technology, being frugal etc. I do enjoy the simple things I make foodwise as well. Bad at sweeping though, washing clothes and dishes, really good at. The massive thunderstorm moved off which is good. We are expecting a deep freeze for all of a day, just enough to make some black ice possibly, got my cleats in my over the should bag as I have Herceptin tomorrow. Not sure when the flash freeze timeframe is supposed to be. Then within a day, we are high above freezing.
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Mara - that is insane that you are expecting thunderstorms and then instant freezing weather. We had thundersnow in WI a few times which was always… interesting, but to go from one extreme to the other would be sinus headache central for me!
Shanagirl - enjoy your art! I wish I had space to have all my stuff out (I like fiber things mostly) but its just not possible. That view over the bay sounds so soothing.
Here things are looking up a bit I think - I had another chat with pain management - sounds like they are going to change up some of the drugs and Ive been cleared to use a TENS machine which is fab news. My new sport compression shorts arrived and they were exactly what I wanted/needed - they compressed the swollen areas in the hip/flexors and provided overall support to the leg muscles so I could feel more confident moving around. And body pillow arrived so its now Pillow Kingdom on the bed - I think there are some cats buried in there somewhere. Just hoping it all comes together tonight so I can sleep, running on two or three hours a night here lately!
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Mara~That is totally cool about your Db meeting someone from rush. I can imagine he was thrilled thank you Mara I want to feel better too! My sister is doing the best she can. Thank you Tanya. Good to see you.
Mae~ hope your birthday was a good one!
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