So...whats for dinner?

Happy birthday to Deb and I wish I had Laurie OR Susan's energy.



Susan, if you have not already seen it, Cook's Illustrated has a really outstanding lasagna recipe with 3 cheeses and a bechamel. No ricotta or tomato sauce at all.



Last night was primavera night. Love using up all those veggies. Boy was it good too. Today is DH's birthday so it's homemade pizza and chocolate cake for dinner. It's a good day to turn on the oven, it's only going to be in the 40's here!

May not be around this weekend so Happy Birthday in advance, Deb! Hope that after the blood draw you treat yourself to something a little more birthday-like!!



Carrie,



That sunset cruise sounds so beautiful!! I've always thought about doing the one that you can pay to do on Cayuga but, we've never managed to do it.... Maybe soon!



Joycek,



Thinking about you and hoping your meeting with the BS goes well today.....

Moon, roasted almonds are one of the best, and tastiest, foods with tons of magnesium. Here is a great chart for reference:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/

The stupid green tomato relish is done. TWO GALLONS. Thank goodness I have friends who love the stuff. I will be the Fall Harvest Santa as I drive from house to house bringing jars of relish.

*susan* 

Stable!  Just a quick note to say I am stable and get to continue on the clinical trial drug.  This was not a good day at Dana Farber, from a logistics perspective.  But hearing "stable" made it worth it.  I'll explain more tomorrow when I'm not in a big rush.  Gotta get ready to go out with my daughter and the girls.  I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Stable is music to one's ears! Can't wait to hear the full story.

*susan* 

Doin the Happy Dance for Michelle♥

Michelle I am so happy that things are good

My neck just turned out to be muscle strain and arthritis (Gasp!) How did I get this old?

Thank you for those of you who asked. 

It's going to be a Big Time in the Cabin next week.  My brother is coming to stay for a while,  as well as DD  on Mon and Thurs, as she usually does,

 and I'm babysitting my landlord's old old standard poodle along with my daughter's little poodle and the two cats. so I guess there will be 7 of us? in a one room cabin My landlord is opening up the entrance to her house so ancient poodle can go back and forth. She has spinning wheels and lots of really old stuff.

Have a happy weekend all!

For dinner tonight crab cakes, mussels, Naan, and whatever that beer is that you serve with an orange slice with a friend 

Moon I hope you feel better.  Rest and take care

Good news Michelle! So happy for you.....:)



Carrie, I forgot to mention in my last post that I was so touched by you helping your friend commemorate her husband's life with a visit to the ashes site. You guys are true water people and caring friends! I love your good weather recreation style!



So we left NJ today....so sad to bid adieu to our sweet grand babies....and drove directly to the lake, which was a much longer trip than we are used to .......almost six hours instead of two...but we finally arrived and went out for a tasty spinach pie and salad dinner, coupled with some nice red wine. We sometimes joke about being "in rehab" when at DS1's home because they do not drink or serve alcohol at all, for religious reasons. If we ever get annoyed at that, (like last night when we had delish pizza which would have paired well with a chianti), we remember how nice it is for their surgical patients that they never have to worry about a hungover surgeon!



Happy birthday, Deb!



Enjoy your family reunion, Sally! If you weren't close before, you will be after bro's stay!

This is most certainly a busy thread. I'm having a hard time keeping up and I keep missing stuff.



Tonight was one of those "fend for yourself" nights. Sharon cooked some shrimp and rice and Chrissy had pumpkin pie.... I was busy and didn't eat much.



We are going on vacation for a few days....I'd just a soon hang out at home as this is, sadly, the place I feel like I'm around the least...but......



Anyway, today Sharon put a load of clothes into the washing machine..and it wouldn't agitate or spin. The transmission was bad. I guess after 27 years, it's entitled to go bad. The new part is $449, plus shipping...delivered next week. A whole new washer was $519 and was available this evening.



So I spent the evening getting the old washer out of here and the new one installed. The new washer looked pretty cool in the back of the 1957 truck.

Michelle- Oh that is such great news! I pray for things to stay that way too! Can't wait to hear everything tomorrow.

Bedo-Glad it wasn't anything too serious. Sprains do still hurt! Sounds like you will have a busy week and next week, enjoy all your company!

Eric-- Have a nice time on your vacay and I agree getting a new machine VS fixing an old one was a better choice.

Happy Birthday Deb! Have a great day!

I'm awake!!!  Unbelievable since somehow I managed to stay awake until almost 2 a.m. partying with the young chicks, and we did have a great time as always.  I sang my first "solo" karaoke - Downtown by Petula Clark.  I thought these gals could use a little music history lesson...lol!  My daughter and I also sang Top of the World by the Carpenters, House that Built Me by Miranda Lambert and I'm a Bitch, I'm a Lover by Alanis Morissette.  That last one is hysterical when it's mother/daughter duet...lol.  As you can tell, we have a varied repertoire!!!

OK, so yesterday...OMG!  We got to Dana Farber at 8:35 - the drive in was quick and easy from my friend's house in Milton, MA, and she came with me so I'd have company.  We go up to the 9th floor of the Cancer Center building (which I'll call the Yawkey) to check in and have labs drawn.  Well, we sit there for a while then they call me to tell me that 1) the nurse is late and 2) they don't have the lab orders.  And I had to be at Radiology (the lower level of the Dana building next door) at 9:20 to pick up the contrast drinks.  So we trudged off to Radiology, checked in there, waited a little, got the contrast drinks, then headed back to the 9th floor of Yawkey.  Got the labs done, I'm drinking my cocktails, and we head back again to Radiology to await my CAT scan, which was scheduled for 10:50.  They take me at about 11:15, do the CAT scan, then we head back up to Yawkey 9 for my Noon appointment with my doc. 

Just one little thing someone forgot...that scan has to be read and someone has to generate a report.  And I'm probably not the most important patient waiting for results.  So we wait, and we wait, and wait some more.  At 1:15 the clinical trial nurse comes out and tells us it could be another 1 - 1.5 hours before the scan report was ready, so we should go get some lunch.  Well, that's fine except we had figured to be out of there by then and had a lunch date with a friend who works at BU Med Center.  So we cancelled her, went to the DF cafeteria and grabbed lunch.  We returned back to Yawkey 9 about 2:45.  And we waited, and we waited, and we waited some more.  At about 4:15 after seeing the waiting room empty out twice, someone said, "we haven't forgotten about you."  Finally, at 4:45, the clinical nurse came out, she had the report and told me I was stable so I'd be able to continue on the clinical trial drug.  So they took me back to the exam room, took care of that business, then I had to go down to the pharmacy and get my drugs, and then go down and claim my car.  In the meantime, my friend decided she'd take public transportation back to Milton so I wouldn't have to fight the insane traffic going back then drive to Acton, where I was heading to go out with my daughter. 

So I left DF at about 5:20 and drove to Acton.  The traffic was insane - commuter traffic time on a holiday weekend.  I got to my daughter's at about 6:45.  And the good news was that I had ignored the advice of my friend to take the Mass Pike.  Turns out there was a 45 minute delay on that route.  By the time I arrived, I was tired, hungry and cranky...but stable! 

And I get to stay on the trial drug for at least 9 more weeks! My next scan will be in 8 weeks and I'll go back a week later for the doctor appointment. This same day stuff is not a good idea. They did it because they knew I was leaving Sunday and I needed more of the drugs before I left. But I should have suggested that I have the scan on Thursday. I would rather have gone two days in a row than be stuck there the whole day.

But, it's all good because I'm stable.

Gotta go get coffee now!

Later, ladies!

Michelle - STABLE!! What a great send off to Hawaii. Enjoy. Lived outside of Honolulu as a grade schooler (1961-1963). Have a patient who has a plumeria plant on her porch. It almost looks like it's big enough to bloom but don't see any. One of my most favorite scents. Might have to do some online shopping today.  Enjoy your trip. Have some mahi mahi for me.

Whew Michelle  that was certainly a trying day, but Congrats to you on stable...what a great word...Now on to Hawaii for some much needed relaxation!  Wish I was a fly on the wall to see you guys singing.

Lacey  When you live in upstate NY and deal with the long winters, we cherish every moment on the water, even if it means wearing a sweater.  I like to joke that if we were only going to Walmart, my husband would find a way to take the boat.

Joyce thinking of you for Monday

Eric  Have a great vacation, enjoy that time with your family.

Last night we ate out...again... Had a portabello mushrrom sandwich with roasted red pepper...soooo good.  I think they cooked it in a vinegar based (maybe balsalmic) marinade.

Tonight our friend is cooking for everyone, he is vegetarian, so there will be fish, but he also says he makes a stuffed meatloaf with pepperoni and mozzerella, mmmm, cant wait.  His wife claims its to die for.  I will let you know.

Thank you for the birthday wishes, I'm off to have lab work done for my kidneys.  

Michelle, the was quite an ordeal, glad you had someone with you.

Happy Birthday, Deb!  Have a great weekend!!!  It's a bit of a bummer that you need labs done today.  Is this just routine or are they suspecting a problem?  I hope all is OK.

I've never heard of the HONK festival - hopefully Susan will provide the details!

OK, I'm home for a few hours and need to finish packing for tomorrow's departure.  We will leave the house around 10:30 unless we end up going out for breakfast.  DH emptied out the fridge, so I suspect there's not much to make breakfast with. 

Carrie - we still see quite a few boats out on the water here late in the afternoon.  It's in the mid-70s today and I expect to see a few more.  I think this is the last warmish day for quite some time.  When we get back from Hawaii, we are going to need the heat.

Carole - since I've been on the clinical trial drug for just five weeks, anything except progression was an acceptable outcome.  Both the clinical trial nurse and the PA emphasized that these targeted therapies can take a little longer to work.  They did my tumor markers again and the CA27.29 was still 101, so no change there.  The CEA test results dropped from 0.8 to 0.5.  I'm still not sure of the significance of this particular test, at least for me.  Normal is below 2.5 so I'm clearly in the normal range.  Maybe Dr. Chen will shed some light on it when I see her after I get back from my trip.

Joyce - I'll be thinking of you early next week. I wish I could be here to hold your hand, but please know that I'm with you in spirit. Sending benign thoughts your way!

Aloha, my friends!!!