Chemo Starting August 2018
Comments
-
MACTAZ - A couple of recipes that are jam-packed with veggies and seem to go over well with most people:
Tofu Stir Fry
- Block of extra firm tofu
- Purple cabbage, sliced thin (about 1 C)
- Carrot, cut into matchsticks
- Celery stalk, sliced
- Broccoli, cut into florets (about 1 C)
- Spinach or kale, cut up (about 1 C)
- Frozen shelled edamame (about ½ C)
- Red and/or yellow bell peppers, cut up (about ½ C)
- Cashews (about ½ C)
- 2/3 C brown rice
- Sesame oil
- Canola oil
- Tamari/soy sauce
- Vegetable broth
- Sauce:
- 1 T Tamari
- 2 t Chili sauce
- 1 t Sesame oil
- 1 T cornstarch
- Wrap block of tofu in paper towel, then cloth (or kitchen towel). Set it on a cutting board and place something heavy like an iron skillet on top of it. Let it compress for about an hour, flipping it over once, to get the excess liquid out.
- Slice tofu into rectangles, and marinate for 10 minutes or so in some sesame oil and tamari. Then sauté in canola oil in large skillet until lightly browned. Set aside.
- In same skillet, sauté brown rice briefly in a little bit of oil. Then put in pan with 2/3 C broth and 1 C water and cook rice.
- Meanwhile, in skillet, sauté in canola oil cabbage and celery, until softened. Add remaining veggies and continue to cook. Add in tofu and cashews toward the end. (If making > one meal's worth, add cashews to each plate instead.)
- Whisk together sauce ingredients and stir into skillet.
- Serve stir fried veggies over brown rice.
Super Ragout
(Note: The amounts and types of veggies can vary wildly and still be good)
- Olive oil
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 large carrots, sliced into half moons
- 1 large turnip peeled and diced
- 2 parsnips, peeled and diced
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 1 potato, diced
- 1 beet, peeled and diced
- 1 wedge purple cabbage, chopped
- 1 tomato, diced
- 2 T ground flax seed
- 15.5 oz can navy, cannellini or other white beans, rinsed
- ¼ C dried lentils
- ¼ C dried split peas
- 3 C vegetable stock
- 1 C white wine
- 1 t minced fresh thyme or ½ t dried thyme
- ½ t black pepper
- 2 C greens (beet, spinach, kale), chopped
- Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.
- Sauté onion and garlic until onion starts to caramelize.
- Add onions and garlic to remaining ingredients EXCEPT GREENS in crockpot.
- Cook LOW for 6-8 hours.
- Stir in greens and cook until they wilt. (About 10 minutes).
0 -
thanks so much wanderweg. I will give these a try
0 -
SantaB, I think this is your last day of rads, if so ----- CONGRATULATIONS, you made it. I'm so happy for you!
0 -
Mactaz, you are awesome-- thank you for remembering!!
YES!! I am done!! My boob is sore and red, my skin is peeling, but my heart is happy and my spirits are soaring.
I brought a case of assorted California wines for my amazing techs, who were so lovable and kind, and they were really touched... everyone hugged me goodbye. My favorite team was on duty so I got to say goodbye to them, and a couple of my other techs stopped in too.
Every day since 2/11, one of the techs has given me my "next appointment" card as I leave... Today, they handed me an appointment card that said "Don't Come Back!!!"
Yesterday (every Wednesday) they had a catered lunch for everyone finishing this week. The lunch is held in the lobby and anyone who is simply there for their appointment can join in. And one by one, they gave each of us a a commemorative coin that has a unique number imprinted on it... mine was 3968, meaning I am the 3,968th person to be treated at this center. That's a very sweet tradition.
My intake nurse and the front desk lady hugged me goodbye as I left. They played the "Rocky" music as I left the treatment wing and went out into the lobby, and I rang the bell! (Happy they have a bell, since my chemo center did not have one!) One of my rads friends, who finishes tomorrow, stuck around to wait for me, and she took a little video of me ringing the bell. It was a great feeling.
The people at this place could not be sweeter! One of the office staff also hugged me and said, "I told you we're like a family here; see, you're a part of our family." I had tears rolling down my cheeks as I left the building and got in my car.
I put on a very heavy backpack on July 13, 2018. Today, I took it off and set it down, and walked away feeling so light!!
0 -
santab - Yay for finishing rads! I hope you heal up quickly from it.
So, I had my annual exam yesterday. I saw this GYN for the first time last year and she is the one who'd referred me for my mammogram. (Also for a colonoscopy, but when everything went to hell after the mammogram, I somehow never got around to that.) Anyway, the GYN came in, hugged me and said, "Hello, fellow survivor!" I was shocked! She told me her story - first dx at 35, DCIS but very wide spread so she had a single mastectomy. Then a local recurrence a few years later, with surgery, rads, and chemo. And she just had a second baby 4 months ago (at 40). They didn't think she'd be able to get pregnant, but she stopped her tamoxifen and got pregnant quickly. We compared stories of first terrible oncologists and the coldness of implants. When she did my exam she said, "Well, whoever did your breasts did a great job!" I'd gone in anxious about the exam and exposing my weird boobs and thinking I might cry and instead, I was laughing through that appointment. The whole experience was a gift and I hope she stays in practice for a long, long time.
0 -
Wow she sounds like a great doctor and a warm person!
0 -
Congrats santabarbarian. So happy you're done!
0 -
Thank you-- me too!
0 -
Wanderweg, your PCP sounds like a keeper. It is hard when you have your first appointment with other Dr.s after surgery, you already feel insecure about your appearance. For me exposure of my surgical scar and funky boob was horrifying when I had my 6 Mo skin check. I go to a PA and liked him immensely but this appointment he walked in, saw my funny hair - did a quick scan, didn’t say much or ask me how I was doing, and said see you next time. Not a very good bedside manner, but I shrugged it off. I know people are uncomfortable about how to approach the discussion but I did think Dr,s would be different.
0 -
Santabarbarian—yes yes yes! Woohoo! Congratulations!!!!🎉🎊🎈 I’m so happy you got to ring the bell finally and I love that coin idea. That’s really cool. What a marathon you’ve had! Wine sounds amazing right about now!
I’m still working on ‘making flesh’. It’s been a minute since I was done but I’m still ripped up. It’s like the angry skin erupted after I was all done. I have quite a few areas of broken skin that’s flakey and nasty. I got the Domeboro and am using it. It seems to help. When they last used the electron rads on my incisions (my last 5 treatments) the incisions seemed fine then they broken open and were a hot mess like a 10 days later. Started yoga again. I missed it. It really seems to help with the chest tightness. I also seem to be getting less hot flashes at night. I’m wishing I would have rolled out the mat earlier. Some flexibility was certainly lost but now I’m still 20 pounds lighter so some movement I fly through. It’s quite easy to hold up my body weight with my hands now. Silver lining, I guess.
Wanderweg—your food looks amazing!
MACTAZ—good job with all that exercise!
I had a haircut 2 days ago. It’s a super cropped pixie. Totally wearable. I’m happy to have hair again, and eyebrows and eyelashes! What a ride we’ve all had!
XOXO
0 -
MGJ sorry to hear you are still suffering skin wise. I am told it can get worse for a week or two and then it improves. You should be rounding the corner soon... Currently mine gets very uncomfortable when it isn't slathered in thick cream. Like when I wake up it's dry and crackled. Lots of peeling. I suspect I'll be dealing with this for the next few weeks but I am also going to go back to normal exercise Monday. I am so looking forward to hiking without anemia and Pilates not wearing a F'n beanie!
My eyebrows are coming back, but lagging (outer parts, where are you?). Eyelashes never left. My hair is fully, thickly back but increasingly darker (dark iron grey). Weird-- as I had blonde hair before and the blondest hairs are the ones that never fell out!
The mystery is unfolding...
I am so glad to have my Aug Chemo Sisters to commiserate with! We'll have to do something to celebrate in August 19!!
0 -
MGJ, sorry you are still having an issue, hope it heals soon.
SantaB, I agree we need an August celebration. Not sure about others but I would love to meet you all. I think we are from all over but just a thought.
My hair is getting thicker, eyebrows are white and hard to see but they are coming back, eyelashes thin but coming back and of course as I mentioned I got to save my legs last week
. Here is my latest pic.
All take care and live your life to the extreme.
0 -
wanderweg—I forgot about how cold implants feel in the beginning. Mine did back in the day. It eventually goes away then they feel your normal temp. Your gyn sounds great.
Santabarbarian—my hair is still a very ashy dark blonde. I can’t tell yet if it’s wavy or curly. My eyebrows and eyelashes all dropped out eventually after Taxol. Now I have huge eyebrows. They grew back with a vengeance. My eyelashes are back now, too. (I’ve been using latiesse.)
0 -
We need Mactaz to make us avatars with red "target" style glowing pulsing ripple marks on our radiated boobs!!
Re hair, I am waiting for it to be style-able. It is literally 2.5 inches long now, and growing straight up, like a hedge. Goop does not help. My old hair was thin and limp and would have a part by now, and be lying flat... so this is different!
0 -
Mactaz,
I am not a big veggie person, so I have been doing more smoothes, I make them in my Vitamix, Spinach, fill to the 3rd line, about 1 1/2 cups. Almond milk 1 1/2 cups, 1 scoop of protein powder, 1 tablespoon of each of the following, flax seed, chia seed, hemp. You can get all three in one at the store. Half of a banana, your choice of frozen fruit, the more fruit you add the thicker it will become. start with 1 cup. Some of the time I will do banana and strawberry, other days I do more of the berries, black, blue, and raspberries. Some days I use frozen pineapple and mango. So many options and I always have either Kale or Spinach.
Hope you enjoy it, Hughope
0 -
santabarbarian congrats. I am so behind on what is going on with everyone. Between going back to work full time and on the road every weekend for travel league baseball with my grandson. I am tired. LOL
Just had chemo last Friday, 6 of the 12 Herceptins down. Hopefully they will schedule my tattooing soon? Take care everyone, xoxox
0 -
santabarbarian, I cannot wait for my hair to be that long. LoL! Mine is still really short, it is filling in well in the back and the sides. But the front is taking it's time, starting to scare me.
Maybe I just can't see it as well, it seems to be a lot grayer in that area. I don't see any gray anywhere else.0 -
The front comes in last -- me too.
Also, I iced my head even though I missed icing it the first chemo so my hair mostly fell out... but I think my hair began to regrow very fast (prior to last chemo) due to icing.
0 -
santabarbarian
So your telling me not to get discouraged it may still come back as thick as the rest of my head? LoL!
0 -
Thanks hughope1, i will keep that in mind. I will admit to all right now I’m struggling with getting started on diet. I’m maintaining my weight loss, exercising, but moving towards a diet with reduced sugar and dairy is a tough one for me. I do plan on trying, just need to get past next surgery I think to feel a little more motivation.
Hughope1, you are gett8ng 12 H infusions? My OC said 11, not a big diff but I’m going to be glad to get this over with the first of August.
0 -
MACTAZ, They are doing your tattoo at the same time as implant surgery? I had my implant surgery done the middle of Feb and still have not had any tattooing scheduled. Maybe they are done with me? I will find out when I go back to the plastic surgeon on the 10th of next month. I was just looking up the hormonal therapy they have you on, and wondering why I am not on anything like that?
You and I are 163 miles apart. I am going to a ball tournament with my grandson on the 11th of April in Charleston.
0 -
Hughope, I do think it will take its sweet time coming back but if the rest of your head is coming back, I bet so will the front.
Mactaz, the stats are clear on recurrences being lower in women who eat the low sugar/ whole foods/not too much animal fats diet. Basically vegetables, fish, nuts,seeds, and berries with small amounts of meat, dairy etc. You don't have to give them up totally but just bring down the ratios. It's not that hard to stick to when you think that your food choices can help to put you in the lowest recurrence category. Honestly the hardest part is knowing what foods to buy and rely on.
For me, I buy any above ground veggies that appeal to me, mushrooms, berries, assorted nuts, almond butter (eat w/ celery or apple), ghee (a form of clarified butter that you can cook with at higher temps), cocoanut yogurt & nut milk kefir (for smoothies). My dc said organic/farm fresh eggs are ok, and I do a bit of cheese and 3-4 servings per week of meat fish or chicken. I have been having whole grains (lentils, quinoa) as my skin heals from rads... you can do a dense "salad" with grains, assorted veggies, and vinaigrette.
My friend made me a delicious keto lasagne with very thinly sliced/blanched zucchini in place of noodles... it was delicious. You can do a keto eggplant parmesan too. At my market they make zucchini curls that work great as "spaghetti" with pesto or red sauce and they have a cauliflower-based tortilla that works well and tastes good too. Some places have cauliflower-crust frozen pizzas. My whole foods mkt also has some keto granola for sale in the bulk area. Nuts, seeds, and coconut. Very very good
Once you have explored some new foods a few will "stick" and become favorites.
0 -
I find that the more I experiment, the more natural it feels to have a vegetable heavy diet. I bought a handheld spiralizer and made zoodles (with shrimp) for the first time for tonight's dinner. I used a little steamed cauliflower to thicken the sauce and also am roasting asparagus and broccoli.
My hair is starting to get a little wonky. It's got a bit of a wave to it and sticks up in places. I think I may be on my way to chemo curls.
0 -
Hey ladies! Back to the harsh reality of chemo after an amazing break from real life. Bathing suit with my new flattie chest was something. I was alternating between embarrassed and empowered. I did try surfing on something called “flow rider”. That was fun! Swimming with my pixie hair was awesome!
Congratulations Santabarbarian on finishing rads and active treatment! Yahoo Baby! You have kicked ass and taken names! Very cool celebration for you at your center.
I started Xeloda yesterday and had a few unpleasant SE’s; nothing I can’t manage though. 18 more weeks, yuck.
Hughope, when do you finish? You’re 1/2 way! Almost there!
MACTAZ, I love your latest pic!
Wanderweg, your doc sounds lovely. What a great experience for you.
MGJ, I’m sorry you’re still dealing with crap from rads. I hope you’re feeling better and heal soon.
Lots of love to all x
0 -
KWilli!! Good to hear an update and thank you for your congrats!
18 weeks is something we know the size of but I am rooting hard for you. What is your schedule? Daily pill? Keep us posted and rely on us if needed!
0 -
KiWilli, sounds like an awesome vacation, so glad you were able to get away before you started chemo. We will be here for you, hope the SE don’t last to long.
0 -
hug—the front of my hair looked really scary. So thin, too much scalp. Not cute. Then it all of a sudden was full and no more George Costanza.
My chest is almost healed. My pain is FINALLY gone. Whoohoo. So excited. I feel great.
Kwilli—saltwater heals all! Good for you for getting out there. Surf Queen!
I’m half flat in my bikini but oh well. My boob is so sad and flat it’s barely noticeable. 2 more months being half flat then goodbye pancake boobie. Flat-Flat here I come. Maybe one day I will get tattoo nipples. The girl who microbladed my eyebrows is learning how to do them. But I really don’t care much.
I’m growing hair everywhere. My lord. I look like Santa.
0 -
I am so glad you are better MGJ. Me too. I was in a serious post burn horror show and then just lately it has, very rapidly, nearly fully resolved. No more inflamed feeling, still some peels but nothing horrible to look at. I am so glad to be done with the awfulness. I have the odd shooter pain but am otherwise really feeling good and normal again.
I have to start working out again and that will boost me up another rung. I fell off somewhat in the NJ snow.
xxSB
0 -
Okay I want to address a couple of you here, and see if anybody has any imput for me on the below issue.
I had a mastectomy in mid Dec. Then they did my reconstruction on Feb.13th. I have been healing okay, I did not know they were going to do lipo on my stomach, and use that to do the reconstruction on the mastectomy side (right). Then they went in and removed my nipple on the left, and reduced the size from DD to about a C and put back nipple. That side is healing and looks great. But I have a hard time staying out of my head even though my pathology report came back clear. They removed two nodes, but on the mastectomy side I keep feeling this small bump located on the outer side of breast. My husband says it is probably scar tissue. I just keep stress on it. I feel the bump kind of where the implant stops and my fat was put to use around the implant.
Let me know if any of you have anything similar?
Mactaz, I want to do better on my eating of vegetables and more natural things, but sometimes it's still hard for me to really eat much. Could be because of the chemo.
KWilli Hughope, I am suppose to finish July 26th, I have been in chemo since last Aug 03. 2018
Santabarbarian great that you have finish radiation, what is next for you?
Moongirljess I am still waiting for that rush of hair to come in, up front. But the rest is starting to get curly. Do you like your bladed brows? I may have to go that route, mine are very slow reacting to coming back. I also have a lot of eyelash coming in but they are so short, I don't even think I could add extensions to them. LOL
0 -
hug—I do like my microbladed eyebrows but mine grew in completely within a week of having them done! But yes, not a bad investment all things considered. I think you are right around the corner to having full lashes. Probably within 3 weeks you can mascara those puppies up. I make a huge vitamix smoothie loaded with veg everyday — I swear it helps me grow hair!
I had naturally wavy hair prior to BC. I think I see some body in my hair. Maybe not curls yet. Let me try to post some pics.
0
