1-16-11 Parsnips

About three weeks ago I had a day of fun at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, having the usual blood draw and then waiting for an hour or so until my appointment.  I was on the prednisone so I was HUNGRY.  I managed to make it to the Red Brick Bistro in time for the last portion of hot lunch they had.  Huli Huli Chicken, which was scrumptious, and it came with the most anemic looking vegetables I had ever seen.  Yuk.  There was brussel sprouts, which I love, and carrots, which I hate, and a bunch of other veg that just looked like they had been steamed and held on the hot line for a few hours.  But as I said, I was hungry.  So I carefully picked out the carrots and took a bite of Brussel Sprout.  It was surprisingly tasty.

And then there was this white thing.  I thought it was a potato and popped it in my mouth.

It was not a potato.

It was better than a potato.  I looked for another piece and popped that in my mouth.  Yum!  What was this thing?  I looked very carefully at the next piece.  It was all white with a bit of ribbing on one corner...........very curious.  It was sweet, and creamy and delicate.  Where has this vegetable been all my life?

Having been to culinary school and loving to cook, it is very unusual for me to come across an new vegetable.

The kitchen was closed when I was done with my lunch, so I couldn't ask anyone.

I was so enamored of this new vegetable, that as soon as I got home, I emailed the Cancer Center and asked them what it was.

Then I called Auntie Fay, she thought it might be celeriac. Well, I have never had that either.  So maybe.

I knew it wasn't a turnip.  I despise turnips.  Bad childhood memories of my mother making what looked like mashed potatoes, then taking a huge mouthful and finding out it was NOT mashed potatoes.  And turnips taste awful, not like potatoes in the least.

The Cancer Center wrote back and was thrilled that someone liked their veggies, and by the way it was a Parsnip.

What?  I thought parsnips were like turnips, they both end in nips.  I did not believe them.

So I bought a parsnip.  I went on line to find out how to cook this thing, looked through all my cookbooks (strangely not mentioned in most).  I peeled it, and took a nibble of one corner of a piece.  And was not impressed.  This was not sweet and heavenly.  But I soldiered on, and ended up cutting it into batons, taking out the woody center, boiling it for 10 minutes and then sauteeing in butter.  Sprinkled with Greek Seasoning that I put on all my vegetables, and looked at the final product.

Took a deep breath.

And took a bite.

YUMMMMMMM.  It was exactly like the vegetable from the bistro.  Parsnips are delicious!!!!

I bought two more of them and made them for dinner when JR was home.  He even took a bite.  Admitted that they didn't suck.  But didn't have any more of it.  More for me!

Who knew???

According to Auntie Fay, Grandma knew, and loved them.  I have no memories of her ever making parsnips. But then, maybe she didn't want to share them and only made them for herself.  It's possible.

So not only did I try a new recipe, I tried a new food!  Score one for that resolution.

Then yesterday (Saturday) I woke up feeling pretty good.  I was even singing to the dog.  I love singing silly songs to the dog.  Then I decided to pounce on my huge project of shoveling out the pit that is my home office.  I took everything out, decided if I would keep it, donate it, or trash it, then acted on that decision.  JR and I went furniture shopping at three different furniture stores, just to see what there was, I don't have the funds for buying new furniture.  So I had JR help me with rearranging the existing furniture and deciding on some new systems for keeping it organized going forward.

I had lots of energy!

After all that work, I decided to go to bed fairly early around 10.  Gave the dog his treat, and went to take my pills.  As it was Saturday, when up ending the pill organizer there should have been no more pills in the vials.  But there was a rattle.  I looked, and sure enough, I had forgotten to take them the night before.  THAT was why I had so much lovely energy.

Poop.

Even a one day break makes the next day harder with side effects, so last night was spent watching tv from about 1:30 a.m. until 5 a.m.  Then finally falling asleep on the couch until 9 am.  JR is so sweet, he was so upset that I wasn't sleeping that he didn't even make himself coffee until I got up, he didn't want the sound of the coffee machine to wake me up.  Is he the best or what?

Today I went to Lowes and got a board to use as a return for the desk, then we went to the container store and I got some shoe boxes that I think will work just perfectly with the organization I have in mind.  Thanks Dad for the Lowes card for Chanukah!!!!  Super handy!!!!

I have just stained the board, and am about to head off for bed.

And so it goes.

1-14-11 Great Response to Sprycel

So at the three month mark, you have a blood test to see how many BCR-ABL cells are floating around.  They are the cells associated with the translocation of chromosomes 9 and 22 and are the hallmark of CML.  My test results were at .05%!  Down one hundred fold from the original findings.  So Sprycel is doing very very well.

I am learning to live with the side effects and to try and manage them.

My life will never be the same.  But as I perused the television last night, I stopped on Oprah for a moment.  Her guest was talking about weight loss, but said something that resonates with all of life.

You have to have a vision of what you want your life to look like.  Once you have that, you can then plan on how to achieve that.

So that is my task for this week.  To develop a vision of what I want my new life to look like.  I think that it will be a slower paced life, with time taken to enjoy what is around.  I will have to monitor my energy level and try and figure out when and how long to work.  And what does work look like for me?  I don't yet know.

I think that I still like the idea of working for myself, it gives me lots of flexibility for having bad days, and taking off when I have good days to take advantage of them.

Now I just need to restructure and reorganize.

Caroline

01-01-2011 On Prednisone

Happy New Year!  I was able to get a hold of my oncologist (who actually emailed me from her vacation to let me know that the cancer center was closed yesterday).  And she was able to call in a prescription for Prednisone to my local pharmacy.  I think it is working, the rashes are getting less.

But I forgot how Prednisone changes everything!  The bizarre happy side effect is that I have a ton of energy.  My body wants to go go go, but my lungs won't let me.  I felt great walking the dog, from a muscular point of view, but after two or three blocks just couldn't breath anymore.

The other funny side effect is that I am HUNGRY.  I haven't had much appetite because of the Sprycel, but Prednisone makes you starving all the damn time!

So with my new found energy, I took down the seasonal shrubbery.   And moved my favorite big red chair into the living room by the piano, where the tree was.  Oops, not a tree, a seasonal shrubbery.  And actually JR moved it. Poor man, doesn't like projects that he was not given notice of.  But when he mentioned that, again, I burst into tears, since I never know when I will have energy to do these things.

The other fun thing, we got a Total Gym for the holidays for ourselves, and I am having the best time with it.  It is fun to use, not hard on the joints at all, and there are a ton of different things you can do with it.  And it is now where the big red chair was on the landing, and thus the reason for bringing the red chair downstairs.

Well, I am off to try and cleanse my skin, it is beginning to heal, but that means things itch.  Sigh.

Caroline