[pattygirl63]

Carol Sue Your dish sounds good, but DH wouldn't eat all that mixed together. He would only eat if it was divided individually on a plate. He had one DGD who not only didn't want her food to touch but she had to have different utensils to eat each item with as well when she was little. Thank goodness she did out grow that. That is why I don't even bother to try cooking casseroles. I see some beautiful ones that would be sooo good but it he wouldn't eat them. Now he used to eat stir fry dishes but not since my wok had to be thrown away. I said something to him recently about getting some stir fry veggies and making Chinese at home but he wasn't interested. He said "We don't have a wok". I told him you could make it in a skillet but he said no. Strange.

I've been sleeping good the last few days. When I wake up in the morning to go potty, I just get up and move to my recliner and sleep. That way DH can get good sleep as well. I usually wake up around 9 am and I can take care of myself and have my time to myself.

I saw something on line about reversing or at least making neuropathy better. If it works, I won't need to take tramadol. They say take B1, B12 and thr rALA. I already take the rAlpha Lipoic Acid and B12. I take a B1 but I'm taking the wrong one. So I ordered the right one that starts with a B instead of the thiamine and it will be here tomorrow. I sure hope it works because I don't like taking a drug that makes me sleepy all the time. Right now I take 2 tramadols a day and I take them 12 hrs apart. I had planned to go see my primary and get a prescription for myself so I don't have to take DH. With me still under oncology treatment for maintenance, I don't want to take anything my doctors don't prescribe or know about.

Nothing much going on here today. DH will cook breakfast for lunch and then he will watch movies all day. We don't like going to the store on Sunday either. The few times we did back before my cancer experience you couldn't get down the isles because there were so many people. I think working people wait until the last minute on Sunday to do their shopping for the following week. At one time Wednesday was a good day to shop but then I think everybody decided the same thing. We ended up going on a Tuesday one time and found it was a good day to shop. Now we have had so many people move to TX from CA that I don't think there is a good day any more, but we still go on Tuesday. We are creatures of habit.

Hope everybody has a good day.

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish, I'm sorry you are dealing with the neurapathy. I read about it. I thought it was numbness but I read that it is painful. I guess that's what my friend has but she said it was restless leg. She takes gabapentin. Did you try that? Every article I read said to take something different. I can understand why its so difficult to treat. Chemotherapy saves your life but causes its own problems.

DH and I have a discussion about what to eat every day. He never wants what I cook so I quit cooking. I would make what he wants but he never knows what he wants. Its horrible. His answer is to go to the casino and that's fine because we don't eat dinner but that's too expensive if you don't win. If he can skip dinner at the casino why does he need dinner at home? When his kids lived here I cooked dinner every night and he ate it. After they left we ate out almost every night but thats how I gained 80 lbs and developed diabetes and heart disease. Before he met me he ate donuts and French fries. I don't know what the answer is. I don't get hungry like I used too and nothing tastes good to me anymore. I would eat something small like a sandwich. Restaurants have the same thing over and over and I'm tired of it. He would never eat a sandwich for dinner. He doesn't like casseroles either. He says casseroles are for women.

Yesterday we talked to his cousin from Illinois. She is a widow and she does not cook. She said she eats a sandwich or soup. My friend is divorced and she doesn't cook. She eats cereal, cottage cheese and yogurt.

The best time to shop at our Wal-Mart is Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday at 10 AM. They stock in the morning M-F. In the evening its crowded and they run out of things. They also run out of things on Weekends. They start stocking early in the morning so by 10 AM everything is stocked. DH likes to go on Monday because it is senior day at Goodwill and everything is 25% off. So we go to both places and out for breakfast. He is a creature of habit, too.

So I am dressed and waiting for him to make a decision.

[Wannabehealthy]

I slept so GOOD, until after 9am. DH was dressed and ready to leave. I threw clothes on and out the door. We went for breakfast, Goodwill, and Walmart. Now I'm back home to watch my soaps. I don't know what we will eat for dinner.

I left in such a hurry I didn't weigh or check vitals. I feel good. Labor day has snuck up on me. It will stay warm for a while but soon it will be cold in PA. Next week I will see the dentist and the TAVR team. I don't know what to expect.

[pattygirl63]

I did up my exercises today. Did 15 minutes on the recumbent bike. Legs felt a little better today as well. Didn't do much of anything else.

Carol Sue Glad you are sleeping good. I've been sleeping pretty good too. DH fusses lately about having to get up to take me to the bathroom so I've been getting up early and coming into the living room to sleep in my recliner. I listen to scriptures on my kindle and end up sleeping until around 9 am. I think I could get up by myself during the night but I haven't figured out how to get back in bed by myself. I might need to try getting in and out of the bed in the guest room since it doesn't sit as high as our bed in the master.

Good night.

[Wannabehealthy]

Sleep was ok last night but we got up too early. I already need a nap. The weather is dreary, too, and that makes me sleepy. I ate eggs at 7 am. I really fasted yesterday so I was very hungry this morning.

I defrosted some small steaks I bought at Wal-Mart but I don't know how to cook them so DH will eat them. They are very lean and probably need to be braised. Or I can pound them. When I was looking in the freezer for meat I found the butter in there. I put it in there by mistake. Absent minded.

I pray for Florida, that they are not hit too hard by the hurricane.

[pattygirl63]

Carol Sue I slept good last night too. Only had to get up once to go potty then went back to bed and slept until 7 am. I got up then and moved to the recliner in the living room. I'm still not taking the sleeping pill and I didn't take any tramadol yesterday. I am taking the B1, B12 and rALA for the neuropathy. I would rather do this naturally than with drugs.

Yesterday I drank 2 protein shakes and ate one meal. Not sure what we are going to eat today. It depends on what DH decides to do. He needs to go get the oil changed in the car so if he does it today he will get CB or chicken. If he doesn't, we will have either lasagna or chipped beef. I've got most of my exercises done for today. It feels good to be back to exercising.

Looks like hurricane Idalia is headed toward DH DSIL and her DH so we are praying for their safety as well as others there.

Have a nice day.

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish, I hope the supplements help with your neuropathy. I think the exercise will help too. I'm so glad you are feeling better. You are doing well having 2 shakes and one meal. I cannot give up my eggs. DH ate a can of Armour beef stew for lunch and there was no beef in it. I went to their website and complained. He usually buys Dinty Moore but decided to try something else. I used to buy generic at Aldi's and he liked that but we rarely go there now. Its right next to Wal-Mart so we will start going there again. There are many things we like from there.

I googled to find out how to cook this steak. I think I will brown it then cook it in the pressure cooker. That should make it tender. If it was up to me I would not eat dinner but its the main meal for DH.

______________________

I set the meat for 45 minutes but the potatoes and Brussels sprouts were done at 30 minutes so I took the meat out too. It was soft but another 10 minutes would have been better. I pounded it with flour and garlic salt and browned it first. I will buy it again. DH tolerated it. But I don't expect much more than that anymore.

Step daughter and her DH are coming after work to get the apples from our crab apple tree to give to the deer. I want to get that tree cut down. It is beautiful when it blooms in the spring but in the fall the apples have to be cleaned up so DH can cut the grass. People cannot eat those apples.

[Wannabehealthy]

Good sleep last night. I took magnesium. I don't take it every day because I don't know what my levels are. But last night I didn't get any foot/leg cramps. I usually get them early morning.

I went to bed early to watch a show because DH was watching something else. I did some exercises in bed while I watched TV. It wasn't great, but it was movement I wouldn't do otherwise. I just want to make myself move more.

Hope everyone is having a good day.

[pattygirl63]

Carol Sue I'm glad your steak meal turned out good.

I got a good night's sleep too. I only had to go to the bathroom once during the night and didn't get up until after 8 am. I haven't slept in my chair so far today either. I've done almost all my exercises for today and I actually was able to get 1 mile done within the 15 minutes on the recumbent bike. So that is better too. Can't tell much about the neuropathy but then that takes time for it to get better.

I go for my first maintenance infusion tomorrow. I had no major problems when I took that one treatment after surgery so I hope I won't have any now that I will be on it every 3 weeks for up to a year.

Have a nice Wednesday all.

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish, I'm glad you are doing so well. I hope your infusion is as you expect.

I had my fried eggs earlier. Now I made home made chicken salad and ate it on SL toast for lunch/early dinner. It tasted pretty good even without salt. Probably because of the mayonaise. I'm sure it has sodium but hopefully not too much. I don't think I will eat anything else today. DH had Pastaroni. He will probably want something small this evening.

I got an email from Armour saying they will send a coupon. We still have another can of their stew so we will see if it has meat in it. I will use their coupon but I don't know if I will buy their product again.

Its hard to believe September is here. This know those of you in the hotter climates are happy to see the cooler weather coming.

[pattygirl63]

Exercises done and dressed ready to leave in about 30 minutes to see doctor. The lady who does labs gave me the hat to pee in and the container to bring home so I can do that before I leave home so I just have to give it to her when I get there.

I will see the doctor today before infusion. I got the results of my CT scan last night and it seems to say things have improved which sounds good. I will know more when I see him.

BBL

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish, today you go for your first maintenance infusion. I pray that all goes well and it doesn't give you bad side effects.

Scale went down a bit today, but still not back to 169. I will keep trying. This is something I will be working on the rest of my life. I made the mistake once and I paid the consequences for many years. I am back to working to improve my health for whatever time I have left on this earth according to Gods plan. I will never stop working to restore my strength and mobility.

[pattygirl63]

Carol Sue To me it is important to keep moving in order to be healthy and strong as best as we can.

My weight was down to 168.4 lbs. My oncologist was impressed with me using the walker and doing so well. He also told me the results of the Cat Scan. There is still some cancer but it has shrunk and it showed that there has been improvement. The infusion medication that I get now is just one instead of a cocktail of 2 or 3 medications. It can cause nose bleeds, slow healing of wounds or raise bp. However, I didn't have any bad side effects when I had it before. I was happy to learn it does not cause neuropathy. I talked to doctor about neuropathy and asked about tramadol, but he recommended gabapentin and sent me a prescription for it and told me to take one at bedtime for 5 days then go to 2 a day and work up to 3 a day. I told him I wanted to take only as needed but he wrote it to be taken 3 a day so I would have them. Some people take 1 as needed and others take it 3 times a day regularly. He thinks it is better to take regularly 3 times a day but said I could try it and see how it works for me personally. So I had infusion today. A lot of things are different with maintenance than it was when I had chemo. Maybe I can get my blood built back up because I will have blood draw every 21 days on the day I have infusion. I will have the CT scan every 3 months praying that the day will come when the cancer will have shrunk completely away.

We went to the local store and I used the electric cart then we went to McDs and DH got a CB and I got a fish sandwich. I need to start using MFP again and tracking everything I haven't done it in a while and need to get back to tracking everything. Somehow I need to convince DH that I need to keep sodium under control. Oncoloogist did say sodium is a problem for edema.

I pray you and I can get back to healthy eating and weight loss for each of our own needs.

Goodnight.

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish, I am sorry to hear the cancer is still there but it seems your doctor has a plan that may shrink it completely. I will continue to pray for you. I think its a good sign that your strength is improving and you are getting back to your old self. The weight loss is great and I hope it continues.

I remember when I took Gabapentin you had to start small and increase gradually. Although it does decrease pain it is not a pain pill like Tramadol or Tylenol. I don't think it can be taken as needed because it has to be gradually built up in your body. I would build up to 3 per day. If that helps,then try cutting back to 2 per day. I don't remember how long I took it. Months maybe. One day I got tired of taking it so I cut back then stopped. I still had slight pain but one day the pain was gone. My pain was in my side where I had shingles. I had no swelling. I was still working and worked every day.

I used to like McDonalds fish sandwich but haven't had one for years. When DH goes to McDonalds he usually has a coupon for BOGO so he gets Quarter Pounders with cheese. Last time I did not eat any so he fed it to the dog. I don't know if they would let him get one burger and one fish. Next time he goes I might ask for a fish sandwich. At our McDonalds the receipt has an online survey and if you complete the survey you can use the receipt to get BOGO.

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My weight has been up to 171 the past several days. I know that is only 2 lbs but I also know that this is how weight creeps up. It might be 2 lbs now. Two weeks from now another lb or 2, a month from now 2-3 more. 10 lbs doesn't come all at once, but before you know it, its there to stay. I can't let this happen. I have to get it back down and continue downward.

[pattygirl63]

Carol Sue I wasn't surprised that there might be some cancer left behind. My doctors had explained this is why we continue treatment after surgery. I fully expect the tumors to continue to shrink. I am thankful for the treatment that wasn't available when my Mama had lung cancer. I am also thankful that the treatment isn't as harsh as the chemo treatments were. I also want to thank you for the information you shared about the Gabapentin. I'm thankful DH has some I can start using at night. I took one last night and I actually felt better this morning. I will probably have to do the 3 a day because I am already feeling uncomfortable because one isn't going to last long enough. Pharmacy won't have the Gabapentin in until tomorrow so I'm thankful DH is sharing his with me. I will replace his when I get mine.

I spent the morning calling making appointments. I moved our appointment with primary doctor to Wednesday 13th at 1:30 and 1:45 pm. We will get our blood draw next Wednesday. I made an appointment for my yearly eye exam on October 5 at 1:45. I need to know more about this maintenance medication before I make dental appointments. DH needs to get his dental care done. Now that we have less appointments for my onclology treatments, we can get of the other things done that is needed. I hopefully go to renew my drivers license on October 10th. If not I will get an ID, but I pray I will be able to renew DL.

I slept good last night and woke up only once to go potty. I woke up ready to get up at 8 am. Then I set down to read my devotionals and reading the last page I got so sleepy. I must have read the last few paragraphs half a dozen times. Then the next thing I knew, the phone range and woke me up. So I haven't got everything done yet that I planned to do and now have to do my exercises I haven't done yet. I wanted 5 days this week instead of 3 and I've done 4 at this point so I could wait and do day 5 tomorrow.

Carol Sue I know how you feel about the weight loss/gain because I feel the same way. I am tracking again on MFP not only for the weight loss but I need to keep the sodium under 2300 mg and I need to stop eating sugar. FBG is still in safe range but I want better. I want to get weight down to 150 and then will decide then if I want to continue losing more.

I need to get up and go do somehing because I'm getting sleepy and I don't want to take another nap. My body is so used to napping after dinner and it is time to break that habit.

Have a nice day.