My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer

threetree · July 11

@intolight - Yes, I agree that urgent care is great. I much prefer going there to the ER. So much more low key, and they can really get you on the right track, even if they don't have the capabilities for more complex procedures. I've had some of my best medical experiences at urgent care. I'm glad you have your daughter to help too - that's huge. What a great thing with all of her specialized training. Well again, best of luck on Monday and wishing you well.

tanya_djamila · July 12

Good evening ladies.

Intolight that was a terrible fall. I’m glad you avoided the emergency room they would’ve kept you for hours or admitted you. Grateful that your husband has such a great outlook on caring for you and household chores.

Mara your meal plans sound so innovative. Sometimes I’m just smiling and reading about your chores cooking and organizing.
The four day getaway with family was good. Definitely distracted us all from worrying. I love the beach and my sister does as well so we lived in the water. Mom is now in NY with my sister for a few weeks and then back home to NC.
GD had the defibrillator implanted yesterday and had to spend the night but is in her way home now.

DH doesn’t have his liver cancer appt until the 20th. I’m resting up for the barrage of appointments that will come once his tx plan starts.

Waving hello to all and praying all is stable/well.

Tanya

irishlove · July 12

@intolight I am so sorry for your injury from a fall. Guess I'm surprised that they no longer set a leg into a cast, if it's broken. Take your time healing and don't over so things. Your DH sounds perfectly ready to do all he can. What a blessing he is.

@tanya_djamila Sounds wonderful enjoying the trip and time with your family, especially your sister. It so good to hear your sweet GD did well with surgery for her defib. How old is your little gal? I still find it hard to believe your DH has been diagnosed with cancer. Gosh I wish your family would catch a break. Hope his cancer is not aggressive and the medical team can treat him fairly quickly. Don't forget to take care of yourself, too.

@threetree I have to agree about Urgent Care with one caveat. I failed to check if the office we went to accepted my Humana senior coverage. They did not and so I had to pay $175. I did want to clarify that after waiting 2 hours I was seen and forewarned at that time. I chose to stay for treatment and pay out of pocket. The hospital copay is $150 and the waiting time is horrendous.

@mara51506 Hope that you can settle into a better sleep routine. In this heat it's almost impossible to make the house cold enough for me. I kinda like to keep it colder and put a blanket on if needed. It hit 97 today, no breeze. A few days ago, 100. Very little if any rain. I don't know about you, but it's difficult going out in this heat.

Hi everyone. Thinking of you and hope you are stable and pain free tonight (and every night).

Someone left a beautiful potted flower at the front door today. I missed the caller as my sleep is the best in the morning, so I never heard the knock. Checking cameras I think I know who the kind person was. I believe it to be Charles, our new rescue Buddy's prior foster daddy. I know he cried as he handed the lead to my DH when we adopted Buddy. I hope he returns to see how well all is going. The special gloves with built in bristles arrived today. That should help me with vaccumming . He really is a shedder, but I love him anyway. Minnie and he are now proper buddies. They are going out the dog door to the yard to explore and try to find that rascally rabbit. Fortunately the rabbit is pretty wise to these guys.

In pockets for all the dear folks here and missing so many prior posters. Be well please.

Irishlove

goldensrbest · July 12

intolight - what a scary fall! Prayers that you don’t need surgery and your leg heals well🙏🏻🙏🏻. DH sounds like a keeper❤️.

Tanya - I love short little getaways. By the water sounds perfect. Here for pocket duty for your DH as he starts his own cancer journey. Ditto on taking care of yourself.

More excess heat is on its way - stay safe everyone. Hugs to all.

threetree · July 12

@irishlove - I agree about the wait time at the ER vs urgent care. Sometimes I've found the wait times about equal, but the ER will keep you for hours after you do finally get seen; running all the tests, different people coming in to talk and do things, then long waits in between each of those. Once I've been seen after a usually shorter wait at urgent care it's fairly quick, and I'm out of there. One ER doctor told me however that "with all you've got going on" that I should skip urgent care and go directly to ER with any issues. He said he imagined urgent care would always just send me on to the ER and then I would get two bills when I would only get one if I went directly to the ER. I've actually found that all not to be true. Once or twice I have gone to urgent care and been told I should go to the ER, and I did. All the other times, urgent care was quite capable of managing my problem at the time. As for co-pays, etc. my appointments have always been covered via Medicare and Medicare supplement, so I have not had to pay any co-pays at either urgent care or the ER, but I do pay a large monthly premium for the Medicare supplement. I'm sure I would have a co-pay otherwise.

You too, have a pain free weekend, and in your pocket. I too miss many previous posters.

mara51506 · July 12

@intolight I am so sorry to hear about the fall and subsequent broken leg and possible concussion. That certainly is a lot to deal with. I hope the pain has been taken of at this point and alowing you to rest. In your pocket.

@threetree No problem, most days I am a talker, even if it is online. Yes, Mel asked me to keep up with it so most days I do type in mostly meals to be honest.

This morning, booked my Paratransit for the Herceptin, supposed to be hot this week but since I am in all the time and the window AC is so awesome, house is pretty cool thanks to theAC and fan in the bedroom. I still keep the window at front of apt open since I like open air. Even waiting for Paratransit not an issue, I get a call when they are due to show up. I can stay home til they arrive and wait in the hospital til they pick me up after appointments.

Not too sure what I wish to have for meals, what else is new, too much food to choose from. Still working on my ham slices, I like to tear those up in a meal, got a LOT of burritos, all of the bean and beef variety, they go well with the lentil/bean combo in the fridge. I honestly just prefer the lentils though, the canned variety so I do not have to heat them up separately. Got myself more mini beef pot pies. Easy to toss one in another meal like the frozen lasagna I have. Skipped the lentils this week, still got plenty of them. I also got more diced potatoes and a pack of english muffins. More meal ideas with those, only 6 but can have more delivered next week. The delivery was 21 dollars but got more food than I would have off skip the dishes. I will post if the meal is good. Also debating a package of ramen mixed with 1/3 cup beans/lentil mix which would be microwaved up, some shredded cheese in the mix. Take the bean/lentil mix, throw in bowl with some torn up ham, heat for 4 mins 30 secs, add some of the ramen that was already done. Put queso as well and mayo I think. Will post if good.

EDIT MEALS: This morning I had some lentils/beans and 2 mini pot pies. Heated both in microwave for 4 mins. No cheese that time. Took some queso and sour cream as binder, not a lot but a bit and salted. Enjoyable. This evening, took an english muffin. Put garlic spread and some shredded cheese on to on half the muffin. Other half was butter and peanut butter. Would have included honey but it seemed to be stuck in the container, would not move. Oh well.

I hope all have a good day and in pockets for all.

cookie54 · July 13

@intolight Oh I’m sorry to hear about your fall and your fractured leg, glad to hear you’re going to ortho tomorrow. Hope it’s s clean break and no surgical intervention is needed. Sounds like you have great support with DH and DD, truly a blessing. In your pocket for tomorrow 🤞🏻

@mara51506 Your the glue here keeping us all together and we appreciate you❤️. Yup more heat is on the way by Wednesday here. Today was beautiful and less humid, hope you had a reprieve also.

@tanya_djamila Glad you enjoyed your getaway and spent time relaxing with your family. You and your family have been dealing with some tough times lately and you deserve a break. Glad GD is doing well and in your pocket with support as you navigate appointments with DH❌⭕️
@irishlove Awww I’m sure Charles is missing Buddy but is so thankful he’s with you! If it was him who left the plant I hope he stops by again. Glad him and Minnie are getting along and enjoying adventures together.

@shanagirl Hey there just thinking of you , hope you’re having better days💕

mara51506 · July 13

Had a good sleep. Some of the sleep was on the couch and video playing caused a dream that was weird but dream drifted away quickly when woke up. Went to bed late after the initial sleep and it was dreamless which was good. I had to turn up the AC as the cold air is too much once the door is shut, turned it down this morning.

We are supposed to be hot this week, tomorrow supposed to be 115 with the humidity and definitely hot on Wednesday for Herceptin. Thank goodness for Paratransit, can wait inside for rides and they call me when to expect the ride to arrive.

Not too much to do today, got my show to watch from Sunday called the Vampire Lestat. It is gory but fun to watch anyway and I like the main character of Lestat, very handsome. Some of the show does follow the Anne Rice books as well. I was a devoted reader of hers. Laundry to finish, always have floors to do and I am fine with that. Noticing that Tigger has taken to sitting in the bathroom sink so need to make sure it has nothing in it. Just use a towel to keep dry. I do not mind the way bathroom was re arranged. Toilet used to keep a lot of stuff around like vinegar which is used in my softening cycle. I use 1 to 1 ratio of water to vinegar and then a bit of fabric softener for a nice scent. In the dryer, I do use bounce sheets and wool balls. I tear apart the bounce sheets in about 3 since dryer is so very small.

Meals will be interesting I think. My first meal will be chicken pot pie soup with half an english muffin, just adding some lentil/bean mix to it, maybe 1/3 cup of the lentil\bean mix. Letting it heat up now. I did add some dry seasoning to give a bit of extra taste. Used some sour cream and onion seasoning. Put an Amazon order through for more of the sour cream and onion seasoning but also for various cheddar varieties as well.

MEAL 1 update, I did have the can of soup, lots of veggies came with, I did put in some lentils/beans mix, stirred it up. Added the seasonings listed above and it was pretty good.

Having Mcdonalds tonight I think. Probably a junior chicken and mcdouble. No fries or anything I do not think. Later, if I decide I need easy meals to make, I have thought about putting a can of lentils, beefless ground together and a chopped can of beans in and serve meals out of that. Trying to make it easier.

tanya_djamila · July 14

@irishlove my GD is 26. She’s a real trooper.

Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers.
DH is army and has always had that military style disposition which makes it easier to make peace with things. I’ve been on this cancer ride since 2003. I really think everyone (family) is under the impression that his cancer will be slow and that he’ll be alright. Of course I’ve catastrophised everything in my mind but mostly stay positive.

Mara thanks for cooking us through our good and bad days!!!!

Tanya

candy-678 · July 14

Update from here. Enhertu stopped working after 3 treatments, or never worked really. Now on to Verzenio and Imlunestrant. I start them tomorrow.

cookie54 · July 14

@mara51506 so glad you’re able to take advantage of paratransit. What a difference it makes to travel in comfort.! It sounds like Tigger likes the new bathroom too lol. Amimals are so entertaining and can put a smile on your face in a minute.. In your pocket for tomorrow stay cool and have a nice day😊

Been status quo here and I’m off from two weeks from appointments!Dh and I have been enjoying the drop in humidity and getting some boating in. The summer goes by so quickly trying to fit it all into between the storms and high heat.

Thinking of everyone here. Hope it’s a good week for all.🤞🏻

mara51506 · July 14

@cookie54 @tanya_djamila and everyone, I do enjoy posting myself if I am being honest.

I am due to receive a bunch of seasonings. Got the sour cream and onion, was made to order two as minimum, white cheddar popcorn seasonings, Canadian flavour cheese seasoning and nacho cheese seasoning. I was just in a seasoning purchasing mood. Can use it for different things, could be rice, mixed in with sour cream or mayo, who knows.

Laundry on the go, working harder at keeping up with one task at a time instead of starting something and forgetting to finish it. Not easy for me to do, working on it though. I will see about working on that anyway.

As far as meals, planning to divvy up some beefless ground in the same container as beans/lentils and shredded cheese. Changed mind on the bean, lentils, cheese and beefless ground combo. Better to use as needed. That will allow me to take 2/3 cup at a time as a dynamic part of the meals I am preparing. Any veggie I am not wanting can be chopped in with cheese and put aside as well. I will post different meals. Got english muffins so thinking of an egg sandwich or at least an egg sandwich and 1/2 english muffin and hashbrown, I will have to see. I still have a lot of pizza products sitting around in freezer as well and the diced potatoes and peppers and mini pot pies. Anyway, I will post later what I decide to have.

EDIT Meal one, using mini griddle, put some diced hashbrowns first, next whipped up one egg and some mayo together, gives a nice zip and after will see about toasting part of an english muffin. Eat that as a simple meal to have. I did eat the meal described. Egg and mayo whip cooked up well, no burning, hashbrowns were crispy enough, some still tender but who cares. The egg was really good because the mayo also came out in the flavour. I also did 1/2 an english muffin in the mini griddle with garlic spread on top. I loved it. Realizing if planning to put mayo in with an egg, could also preseason the mayo I put in. Not a big meal either .

I do hope everyone has a great day and in pockets for all.

intolight · July 14

@candy-678 Here's praying Verzenio works well and long for you.

threetree · July 14

@candy-678 - Sending a big hug and many, many good thoughts and wishes as you begin the new treatment.

chicagoan · July 14

@candy-678 That sounds like a promising combination. Wishing you all the best with this new treatment. Keep us posted as to how it is going.

goldensrbest · July 15

Candy - sending 🙏🏻🙏🏻 for success with new treatment. We’re here for you.

mara51506 · July 15

@candy-678 In your pocket on your new treatment, may it not have too many SE and last a good long while.

I called in sick to my Herceptin and cancelled rides on Paratransit. Just feeling really off, nothing in particular, got 0 bed sleep and that does not help either. So will reschedule later on.

Making breakfast, got one egg whisked up with a spoonful of mayo and nacho cheese seasoning mixed in, once egg is done can add some ham and beefless ground and possible bean and lentil, small amounts of each. and added some beef/lentils and a small amount of cheese. Will season with more of the cheese and bit more of mayo as binder, small meal which was done quickly. Oly thing I did wrong was add beans to the egg so it leaked out sides of mini griddle. Hoping food removes the off feeling.

Laundry and floors can happen. Wondering if heat is playing an issue even though I have air conditioning.

chicagoan · July 15

@mara51506 Sorry you are feeling "off." Hope you feel better soon.

tanya_djamila · July 16

@mara51506 i hope you get some good bed rest tonight.

I thought I slept well last night but felt tired all day and then was talking with my daughter this evening and remembered while tossing and turning I got up and typed some notes for book ideas for my daughter. Too funny. I forgot about that.

Tanya

irishlove · July 16

Hi all. Hope things have cooled down in your area. Spoke with sis in Reading, PA today. It was 98! Here in my neck of central Florida it was 93. Now what is going on?? It's hard keeping up with the gardens, birds and squirrels in this heat.

I have 3 birdbaths that I change the water frequently so as not to build up algae. One colorful birdbath attracted my first brown thrasher, actually a pair. As I was spying on one taking a tiny splash in a puddle on an outdoor cushion, it's partner flew right past my face. I managed to secure one picture, others were too blurry. A murder of crows are now coming to the yard followed by a number of blue jays. Both groups are demanding peanuts. They hydrate well by dipping the shelled peanuts into the water bowl on the ground. We had a tremendous wind gust over 50mph yesterday at the leading edge of storms. No damage but it was wonderful to have the rain. It cooled everything down into mid 70's. Today, no such luck. My water bill is quite high due to watering potted plants and the gardens because of the relentless heat and lack of sufficent rainfall.

Mara, I cancelled my one appt. because the dashboard temp. read 100 degrees and I felt awful. MS and hot weather short circuits my body. I agree that even though we may have AC, the heat is still troubling. I hope you had some refreshing sleep and are feeling better. Candy, I pray your new medications work well and minimal if not zero side effects.

In pockets for all your needs.

Irishlove

mara51506 · July 16

@tanya_djamila , @irishlove I am feeling better and did sleep better last night. Turns out the cancer clinic will just defer the treatment for three weeks from now.

Not sure if it is heat related but who really knows. Did not get much done yesterday, got more to do today. Floors, laundry, blankets, clean ac filter as usual in the window unit. For 169 dollars, pretty powerful little unit, it does better than the split AC unit.

I am having mexican flavours at breakfast. Decided to take a couple eggs, whisking up with mayo, they are yummy like that, adding black beans. Was going to throw out black beans but decided it would be easier to heat up beans, eggs and ham in microwave. Let cool then chop in with cheese and throw in air fryer for a quick heat up. Still got the mini griddle I can use but limited in space I can use to make stuff. I will admit the seasonings I bought are very good. I use popcorn seasoning, right now it is nacho cheese powder and it is pretty good. Another cooking idea that occurs to me is using the air fryer at same time as mini griddle, together they use 1200 W which would be fine.

EDIT Decided to use some savings and get a Mcdonalds meal, got the Mcdouble combo, small fries and small fruitopia drink. This time they were offering free big mac sauce as a dip so removed pickles, ketchup and mustard. Will spread it on the burger. Later will make up a home made thing. Saving a lot when considering I no longer spend 60 bucks every grocery trip. I am willing to wait a week or two and spend just enough to get up to 30 bucks per delivery. Meal is only 15 bucks with delivery and tip, feel fine with that. Mexican can be later.

Also found some of the swiffer dusters but decided to attack a sock mop to keep it fresh. Just have to attach an elastic. Makes sense to use up the 80 billion sock mops and avoid having buy new dusting stuff and gives more use of the sock mops. Reusing stuff is the best and using the tool for most of the dusting makes it easier to just walk around and do a bit of a dust. Could also pick stuff up with sock mop on hand, dust the stuff as I move along.

Enough yapping, updates can be posted later, I do hope everyone has a great day, in pockets for treatments or just trips out for everyone.

cookie54 · July 16

@candy-678 Thinking of you hope your new treatment went smoothly and yields good results! Hugs and strength your way♥️

@mara51506 Glad to hear you're feeling refreshed and had better sleep. It can definitely make you feel off for sure. I always say it's feels like a hangover without the party lol.

@irishlove Glad you had some rain and it cooled things off a bit. Like your sister it's been really hot in NJ too, rain on the way Saturday should help cool it off.

Hope everyone has a peaceful night.

candy-678 · July 17

Cookie54- Thanks for the shout out. I am only on day 3 of my new meds. They are oral, so I take them at home. Too soon for most side effects to hit yet. I will post when I have an update.

Saying HI to all. I read on here daily.

threetree · July 18

Cross posting on Mel's and the Xeloda thread: I had scans and blood work done on Thursday and results showed that all is stable with no new lesions at all. Bone sites show "scars" forever, so they still show up, but the liver site that had 10 lesions on it, continues to show nothing at this point. I did have some low sodium and chloride, so they had me go in late yesterday afternoon for an IV drip. Glad I was able to get it done, even though a late "rush job" yesterday afternoon, as the options available over the week-end or on Monday weren't as good. I sure appreciate my trusty friend who was ready and willing to accompany me at the drop of a hat. So far (6 months now) this Xeloda/capecitabine is really doing it's job. Just hope it keeps on for a long, long, long, long time!

Good Saturday morning and best to all!

intolight · July 18

@threetree That is great news! I am so happy the Xeloda combo is working for you especially with your liver results. Yay!

abbyda · July 18

I can't fully understand what you're going through but I hear you. The fear of being replaced is real. But you're not a placeholder. You're the one he chose. The life you built together matters. It's okay to feel angry and sad. That doesn't mean you're giving up. Love doesn't just disappear when someone leaves. It stays. That's what makes it hurt so much. You're not alone in feeling this way.

mara51506 · July 18

@candy-678 Happy to hear from you and will look forward to hearing about how the meds are doing.

Well, northern Ontario is going through some bad forest fires and our air quality down south and I know in some states is very poor. Just wanted to say, stay safe if you are affected and mask up if you need to be out. In everyone's pocket for a good southerly wind to come along and blow it all out and for lots of help to put out the fires.

I am sorry, needed to get this out, nothing further will be said. For anyone affected by smoke and have to be out, go back to wearing masks, stay safe and in your pockets. I too hope the winds shift to the south and clear out my air. Miss open windows myself.

Anyway, other than that, I had a decent sleep, got laundry on the go, will put through the rinse cycle and toss in the dryer. Floors are calling for me, was lazy yesterday so need to get caught up.

Meals were not healthy, had two mcdouble and fries with strawberry fruitopias, they where quite nice. Thinking for breakfast I could do up an egg sandwich on english muffin with a hashbrown, still working my way through them, If not those, open black beans, chop in some shredded cheese and leftover chips needing to be used up

mara51506 · July 18

I slept well last night still smokey here where I am from the Northern Ontario fires as are quite a few of you. I've noticed that instead of offering help to put them out, some gov't officials want to sanction Canada instead. This makes me sad and and angry because we are always there to help in emergencies whether fire or when power guys are needed from our country. The winds will be shifting to the south so smoke will clear out. I see there are more forest fires in the US and I do hope everyone is safe. If you are in a smoky area, please wear a mask if need be and in pockets. I rarely go out so I am OK.

Not sure what I want to do today. Got laundry on the go with cloths. Did a quick once over of the floor. Since I have multiple Swiffer mops and sweeper, I take the mop in front and spray my mix and have the sweeper behind the mop to keep floor dry. I also have been enjoying the sock mop attached to the swiffer duster, works well too.

Meals have been more difficult to decide on. I still have a problem with the large black beans. Texture is a bother. I will need to just chop them up all the time with cheese, beefless ground and peppers. Probably use some lentils and rice as well. Eggs are best in the mini griddle. One egg with 1/2 tbsp of mayo with cheesy seasoning, whisk and use my mini griddle to make it up. Eggs that go along with hashbrowns, either diced or whole would be good. I will try to remember to post the day of.

EDIT I decided to have white rice, put lots 1/3 cup white rice, dumped a ton of the cheddar seasoning, sour cream and onion seasoning as well. Turned off stove right away post boiling of water, put a lid on it, will let cool and serve a burrito and lentils done in microwave on the side. Should be good.

EDIT TO THIS POST. I made it just the same way as described except used beefless ground, 1/3 cup, lentils, 1/3 cup and shred cheese. Hand mixed everything, put in microwave, 4 mins on high and I truly enjoyed it all. Rice was seasoned in the wee pot using cheese seasoning and sour cream and onion seasoning. Rice itself would have been good. I also used bit of ranch dressing and a bit of caesar dressing to bind it all. No salt added, seasonings have more than enough sodium. It was DELICIOUS if I do say so myself. I will post later meals when I have them.

I hope all are doing well, In pockets for either smoke problems which both countries are suffering, in pockets as well for people losing homes, pets and such on both sides of border. May we get a sustained rain to put out the fires.

I also hope people have a good weekend and be feeling well too.

shanagirl · July 18

@threetree it’s so good to read your positive news about Xeloda doing the job in keeping you with good results. I am happy for you because I know how your cancer journey took a turn and suddenly your liver showing Mets and the medication changes you dealt with and the uncertain of it all. ll this time I’ve been feeling for you while I too was going thru a lot of iffy changes with my own situation, my lung issues and bronchoscope, and new bone met on my asetabulum with palliative radiation foe the pain which lasted 10 during last Oct and November, and recently this new Hemorrhagic Pneumonia and hospitalization this past May. I’m relieved that last labs and scans were stable,other than residual lung congestion from the Pneumonia.it’s a good feeling when you see that your meds are working.. My Onc is keeping me on my Verzenio, and I’m glad that I will restart it my next visit in 2 weeks…….YIKES!. SUddenly real loud lightening crack thunderstorm happening right now. …… Saying hello to you all . I’ll check in tomorrow and read along again.🌷🩵

intolight · July 18

@shanagirl So happy you checked in. I have been thinking about you. It sounds like you are ready to put your armor on and hit this thing again.

My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer

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