Chemo Update: Cycle 1

Cycle 1 of Andy's chemo is complete!

Each cycle is 3 weeks long. The first week is the most grueling with 5 straight days that are 7 hours each. The second and third week have only one short treatment each week.

Andy did surprisingly well during the first cycle. He has not experienced much sickness. The first week left him completely wiped out with little to no energy and a desire to lie in a dark room with minimal lights and sound for a couple days. He has felt much better during the last 2 weeks of the cycle. He's had an increase in energy and has been able to get out and about some.

His appetite tanked during the first week of treatment. He managed to stay hydrated and eat small meals and snacks but didn't want to eat much. His appetite has increased significantly in the past week and a half though and has been able to eat a very healthy balanced diet.

Andy had an appointment with his oncologist yesterday. So far everything seems to be right on track. He had lost a good amount of weight and at yesterday's appointment his weight was up a little again which is good. They don't want too much weight loss too quickly.

The oncologist said that most patients react similarly to each cycle of chemo so we are hopeful for another fairly smooth cycle. Andy had extreme pain during the first night of chemo which they call "tumor flare". This is when the chemo drugs find those areas that are or were affected by the cancer. The cancerous cells get very "angry" causing extreme pain. Fortunately, this pain completely disappeared within 24 hours and hasn't been back. The chemo nurses said that it could come and go but the oncologist believes it is unlikely to return this time around. We do have a plan in place to deal with the pain should it happen again but it was very scary and quite horrible to see him in such intense pain.

Our concern right now is that his white blood cell count will continue to rise so as not to delay chemo. On Tuesday, the white blood cell count was lower than they like--not dangerously low--but low enough to delay some of the chemo treatment is it continues to drop. They drew blood again yesterday and his white cell count had increased some. Not quite enough but definitely headed in the right direction! The doctor feels that between Friday and starting treatment on Monday, there is enough time for it to get to normal levels. We pray for this to happen! In the meantime, we are following the precautions that the chemo nurse gave us. I also did some quick research for some foods that can help provide needed nutrients to help elevate white blood cell counts. We've added some of these foods in to every meal since Tuesday. Lower white blood cell count in cancer patients is quite common and can be caused by chemotherapy.

Meanwhile, we continue to pray in hope. We are so thankful for the peace of God that has been present in our hearts since the beginning of this ordeal. We have felt the prayers of God's people around the world and I know they have helped!

We've received a lot of cards and packages which has been so much fun! The picture above was sent by a friend. So appropriate for the season! A few days after we received this picture, my aunt sent me a letter which included this same verse (Isaiah 41:10). She went on to say that this verse was what helped my grandmother (Dad's mother) through many difficult times. I have really loved this verse but now it holds even more special significance to me. Isn't it wonderful how God's Word brings truth and comfort down through the generations and is always relevant to our lives?

Weekend and Monday Happenings

Thanks to all who left comments on my last post. I certainly appreciate the encouragement and prayers!

Andy was scheduled to start his first week of chemo today but because the cancer center will be closed on Good Friday, his first week was postponed to next week (17th) instead. The first week of each cycle is five full days so a four day week would not do. So we have one more week before chemo starts!

Andy's parents came last Wednesday for a visit and stayed through the weekend. We had a good time together. 

Andy's dad ended up at the ER on Friday morning with chest pains/pressure. He was tested and observed all day but nothing showed up as being wrong. He has scheduled a doctor appointment with a cardiologist back home for follow-up and a stress test. We are glad he seems to be ok! 

Our toaster oven gave it up this weekend so I toasted bread on the griddle this morning. It worked great! We don't make toast that often and the toaster oven doesn't see a whole lot of use on a regular basis so I think I'll wait and see how it goes without a toaster for a little while rather than rushing out to buy a new one. 

I had a trunk of donations to take to our favorite thrift store on Saturday so my  mother-in-law and I went on a little thrifting trip! According to my husband,  it is the "circle of life" to drop things off at the thrift store then go in and buy more. LOL! 

Sometimes I find nothing but on this trip I found this nice pair of Sketcher's shoes for $4, a cookbook and a craft book for 50 cents and two cute glass storage bowls with lids for $3. 

The yellow bowl already has food in it! (My food. Not the thrift store's. Hahaha)

I really like Mollie Katzen's cookbooks-- they are pretty and fun to read. The craft book has patchwork projects that use scraps. I thought these would be fun to peruse!

Today, I made new foods out of some leftovers from the weekend. The leftover sausage and roasted veggies from this sheet pan dinner was made into a rice salad. Leftover roast beef, potatoes, carrots and gravy was made into a pot pie. I used this recipe for an almond flour crust which turned out really good. 

Jeremiah 29:11 has been a favorite verse of late. I found this burlap canvas board for 50 cents at a yard sale recently. Using white paint and a black Sharpie marker I already had, I copied an idea I found via Pinterest to make this sign. It's quite imperfect but I love it! 

I hope you have a great week! 

The Unexpected

As I posted here, Andy had surgery on March 3rd to remove a tumor.

We have since found out that the tumor was malignant, as the doctor expected. A CT scan was ordered and when the results came back, we were told that unfortunately the cancer had spread some beyond the initial area. Because of this, chemo is necessary.

Beginning on April 10th, Andy will undergo three 3-week cycles of chemotherapy. Nine consecutive weeks in total. After chemo is complete, he will have surgery to remove some cancerous lymph glands.

The good news is that the cancer is very treatable and a full recovery is expected. There is an 85% or higher cure rate for this specific type of cancer. 

The bad news is that chemo is rough! The side effects of chemo are not fun. But the advantages of chemo definitely outweigh the cancer being left to itself to grow and spread. We are praying that the side effects will be minimal.

I continue to meditate on Jeremiah 29:11.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." 

In looking at 2017, I wouldn't have ever imagined that cancer would be a part of our year. But it doesn't surprise God. He already knew and has every thing we need in place.

Please pray for our family as we walk this journey. Thank you!

I will update as I can.

Snow Day in March

After a super mild and spring-like winter, we woke this morning to a snowfall!

On "time change" Sunday when we "spring forward" of all days--you gotta love South Carolina!

Of course, the high temp today is around 50 degrees so the snow didn't stay long but it was so pretty while it was here. 

The roads were clear so we drove to church with snow falling--so lovely! So nice Andy was feeling well enough to join me for church today. I know he was happy to get out of the house.

Then we came home to pot roast with veggies in the crock pot for lunch. I mixed up a pan of brownies from a mix for a quick dessert and made gravy while they baked. I heated some cooked brown rice that was in the fridge. A nice cozy Sunday dinner! 

Snow is a novelty here in the South. I've learned to just enjoy it while it's here as it rarely sticks around for more than a day or two.

Happy "time change" Sunday!  

When Life Happens...

Life has been moving right along. I must say that there has been a lot going on here the last little bit.

I don't share all these things to complain but rather to inform. God is and has been so very good to us!

2016 ended with me hitting a deer on the drive back from spending the holidays with family in KY. The damage was minimal, thankfully, but an out-of-pocket repair was necessary. (Small enough that we didn't want to claim on insurance and have our premiums go up! Been there, done that...)

Mid-January found us at the Urgent Care with Andy having a UTI infection and other symptoms. He took a round of antibiotics and began feeling better. But the other symptoms did not clear up...

Our heating unit started having issues--blowing only cold air. Again, thankfully not as bad as it could've been. We got it repaired rather quickly.

Meanwhile, we added a new dog to our family! Meet Willie...a 3 year old bassett hound mix adopted from a local shelter. He's adorable...and quite the little character! Don't let those short legs fool you. He is quite nimble and can get anywhere he pleases. He also does great in the house---completely house trained!

I had the opportunity to work full-time for a couple of weeks, filling in for an assistant teacher. Perfect timing as all of our life experiences were costing a good deal of money. So a little extra came in handy.

Andy continued feeling poorly and some symptoms began getting worse.  He made an appointment with the doctor but before he could see the doctor, he experienced severe pain which sent us back to Urgent Care who sent us right to the ER for an ultrasound. A great way to spend a Friday night/Saturday morning! We left our house at 1am and didn't get back home until 9am.  The ultrasound showed something suspicious that needed to be checked out by a specialist. Andy miraculously got an appointment with the specialist the following Tuesday, 2/28 where the doctor confirmed that there was a tumor that needed to come out as soon as possible. Instead of doing a biopsy first as the ER doctor suggested, the specialist said, "Let's get it out then test it!" We were in agreement with that! Again, miraculously, Andy was able to get in for surgery that same week on Friday, March 3rd!  Talk about a whirlwind week!

The surgery went well. Andy is recovering well. The doctor said everything went as expected. We have a follow-up appointment in 2 weeks for a check-up and get the test results. The doctor is pretty optimistic that it will be a good report, however we won't know for sure until the appointment. For the time being, Andy is on restriction for lifting and activity so is not able to return to work until the doctor sees him at his follow-up.

So it has been a somewhat difficult season. But we have a peace concerning all of this because we serve the God of heaven and earth and He is in total control! 

Jeremiah 29:11 has been a comfort to me in the past two weeks: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." 

Life comes at you fast, yes. But we are trusting Him through it all! 

Slow-er Week

We both started feeling ill over the weekend--unrelated ailments-- so the week has been slower in nature. Funny how not feeling well forces your body to slow down!

Andy required a trip to Urgent Care late Sunday night for some antibiotics. I already had Monday off for Martin Luther King Day so that was a relief after not getting much rest and battling a cold/flu symptoms. We rested and I made a pot of turkey and rice soup in the Instant Pot. Later in the day, I finished folding and putting laundry away then made a whole chicken in the Instant Pot. While the chicken was cooking, I washed salad greens and cut veggies. All this activity may have done me in as I started feeling worse at that point but it's a great feeling to have those foods ready to eat this week!

I woke up Tuesday morning still feeling sick but since I had already committed to substitute for one of the teachers all day, I was determined to make an effort to make it to work. God's strength and Alka-Seltzer cold meds helped and I ended up not feeling too bad throughout the day. I was exhausted once I got home though and we ate a light supper of foods I'd already prepared and I crashed in bed!

Today, Andy was feeling well enough to go to work. Yay! I don't feel too awful and I have my regular afternoon work schedule today. So I've taken it easy this morning in hopes of saving up my energy for this afternoon. I started some yogurt in the Instant Pot. It'll be ready when I get home tonight.

I'll need to write a post about the Instant Pot. I received one for Christmas and have really enjoyed learning how to use it!

Late last week, I made a trip to the library to pick up some books I had requested. Breaking Busy by Alli Worthington and Living Well Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life by Ruth Soukup.

I've already finished reading Breaking Busy and it was excellent. Her message goes right along with what I feel the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart for 2017. One (of many) quotes that stood out to me in this book is: "The world says we must do it all, but God says we must do only what He gives us to do." 

My plans for this week are not big and grand. Just to rest and get well and do what absolutely needs to be done. That's all!

Wishing you a great week!

In Loving Memory Of Rock

Family Picture-2015

Our dog Rock became ill very suddenly in November and within 24 hours, we had to make the heart-wrenching decision to let him go. He was diagnosed with acute liver failure and was already showing signs of other organs shutting down. We don't know what caused this--whether he got into something we didn't know about or his body simply got sick. An ultrasound showed nothing wrong while blood tests concluded acute liver failure.

This was a difficult decision to say the least. We absolutely adored our "Little Rock" as we called him. At 70ish pounds, he was anything but little but since he was smaller than us, "Little Rock" he was!

First picture of Rock right after we brought him home. Approximately 4 months old.

We had Rock for almost 9 years. When we first brought him home, I was scared of dogs. But he was cute, we had talked about eventually getting a dog and at the time we lived in a sketchy neighborhood (cheaper rent!) so a large dog was a good thing.

At the time, Andy was going to work at oh-dark-thirty so the dog became my responsibility. I walked him, fed him, rescued him from ridiculous puppy plights, constantly washed my clothing of muddy puppy paws, tried to keep the household together with a large puppy and two toddler boys (I was caring for at the time) who simply could not coexist with one another. If in the house, Rock would chase them, stalk their loveys and eat the toys. Outside, Rock would get himself tangled up in the most amusing and complicated configurations requiring serious intervention.

Silly little puppy.

In the early days, I had many moments of tears and overwhelm. "We have to get rid of this dog!" I told Andy more than once.

But within weeks, the dog had become "my dog". Within months, we had begun to settle into a routine. Within a year, he mostly lived in the house.

Rock and Amelia-2010

Within two years, Rock had calmed down to where he didn't need constant supervision anymore. When I began caring for a young baby, we trained him to be calm around her and not touch the toys. Those few days of training reaped huge benefits as from that day forward, Rock was great with young children and would walk around the toys, never once grabbing things that weren't his or putting the little ones in danger.

Rock and Gabriel-2013

As the years moved on, I couldn't imagine our life without Rock. Somehow I had become a "dog person." I walked him nearly every day which was by far his favorite activity. He understood the words: 'walk', 'stroll', 'go', 'outside', 'treat', 'cookie', 'clean up' and probably some others too.

Rock with his beloved chenille blanket-2015

If we dropped food on the floor, we would call, "Clean up, Rock!" and he would come, head bent down looking at the floor. Even out of a dead sleep, he would come. He had an uncanny sense of cheese being removed from the refrigerator and would come at a high rate of speed and park under me at the counter hoping for a morsel. The smell of bacon cooking also lured him into the kitchen.

Bacon!

He kept us laughing-- the way he lurked around when we were eating meals together at the table...how he would put himself in "time out" and lay with his head in a corner...when he'd roll in the grass or leaves and be covered with debris and stand at the door like he expected us to let him in like that. How he inspected every.single.item that came into the house and how alert he would become if I walked into the laundry room as that's where his leash was stored. Even a plastic bag would grab his attention as I would use those to pick up his waste on our walks.

Walk + Snow= Best Day Ever!

Rock as the subject of Mommy's humor when drying him off.

Being silly trying to rub his "Gentle Leader" off; even though we used it for walks from the time he was a young puppy, he still tried to get it off every.time. We called this activity the "Guided Missile".

Rock was big and looked rather gruff but other than occasional barks at strangers and a few moments where he seemed to get protective of us or the kids, we were certain that he was convinced that we were here to protect HIM, not the other way around! However, his size kept many strangers at bay which wasn't a bad thing. Andy jokes that he protected us from tortilla chips since if one fell on the floor, Rock would leap over our feet to get to it as if his very life depended on that crunchy little chip.

Go Cubs! Last picture taken of Rock in a Cubs bandana I sewed for him. Rock passed away the morning after the Cubs won the World Series. A bittersweet day for Andy as a lifelong Cubs fan.

 

 It is ironic to note that on his first car ride with us as a puppy, I refused to sit in the backseat with him. But on what turned out to be his last car ride, I sat on the floor of the van beside him as we rushed him to the Emergency Animal Hospital in the middle of the night after he experienced a massive seizure and was completely unresponsive.

Rock loved snow! Also staring at his people...

Time and experience changes us. Rock added an extra something to our lives that we would have never thought a dog could give.  He bumbled his way into our home and then into our hearts. He wasn't a person but he was definitely a member of our family.

We miss you, Rachmaninov P., and are certain you will never be forgotten!

First Week of 2017

Happy New Year to all of you!

While we do have a few goals we wish to accomplish in 2017, I don't feel the urge to make lots of big plans. Yesterday at church the sentence, "Don't make 2017 harder than it needs to be" was stated. This resonated deeply in my spirit on both spiritual and practical life levels and reflects some of the same things the Holy Spirit has been speaking to my heart lately.

I said, "No" to many things in 2016 and I sense that I will be doing more of that this year. My personality tends to over complicate EVERYTHING and I want to live uncomplicated this year. As a family, we want to streamline and simplify our schedules a bit more.

I'm once again participating in the Good Cheap Eats Pantry Challenge this month. Will I last for a whole month? I don't know...my goal is two weeks and then we'll see where we stand. The pantry and freezer are nice and full so I will shop there first before heading to the store. My goal is to spend only $150 this month which is half of our regular monthly grocery budget. I'll still buy milk, eggs, cheese, fresh produce and any other necessities we need.

January is a lower income month for us because of my workplace closing for two weeks over the holidays. This means that I only worked 2 weeks in December and therefore, my December paycheck (which comes in January) will be much smaller than a normal month. This isn't usually a big deal--we just look ahead and plan accordingly by tightening our spending a bit to make it through without having to dip into savings to cover regular bills. I really do like the time off over Christmas--it gives us time and freedom to travel and spend the holidays with family.

I purposely kept this week's "To Do" list much shorter than it had been and hope to make shorter lists a more permanent habit throughout this year. In addition to cooking meals, keeping the house in shape, running errands and working my part-time job, my big home projects this week are putting the Christmas decorations away and hemming a stack of pants.  I'm trying to keep it simple to create more time to just be, which sounds so nice!

Wishing you and yours His grace and peace in the coming year!

My Healthy Goal For December

Every December, I try to make an effort to prepare more simple and nutritious meals to offset the extra candy, cookies and junk (albeit yummy junk!), we inevitably consume during the holiday season.

Recently, I've noticed some health issues that I've been having. After doing some research, I've concluded that these symptoms could very likely be due to not drinking enough water. And I will admit that I've gotten slack on drinking enough water--some days only drinking 1-2 water bottles full!

My goal for December, in addition to eating reasonably well, is to drink enough water each day. I read somewhere a long time ago that we should drink half of our weight in ounces. So if a person is 150 pounds, they would drink 75 ounces of water each day. Makes sense to me and is a great goal to work towards!

This will be a challenge....especially at work, when bathroom breaks are few and far between. Just keeping it real, folks! But I'm willing to give it a try for the whole month to see how it affects my general health and well-being!

My favorite Lifefactory water bottle!

December is here. Let's end the year on a healthy note!

McGalliard Falls

On our way home from getting apples a couple weekends ago, we made a stop in Valdese, NC at McGalliard Falls.

Andy spent several of his growing up years around that area and fondly remembers visiting McGalliard Falls. He has wanted to take me there for quite some time but for one reason and another, it never quite worked out to go until now.

It was a beautiful morning! And very quiet except for a few other visitors, including two photo shoots.

We took the short hike to the falls, sat on the rocks by the stream and just enjoyed God's beauty and the lovely fall weather!

McGalliard Falls is not a huge falls and a fairly small park but still a nice little day trip if you are close. There's a picnic area and lots of wide open spaces for the littles to explore!

Applesauce Week

Last week was quiet in this space as I was spending my mornings making applesauce!

We made a quick trip to the mountains the weekend before and purchased 4 bushels of apples. 

In years past, I've calculated that one bushel of apples yields approximately 13 quart of applesauce. We go through 40-50 quart in a year's time. So 4 bushels of apples= 52 quart. Seemed simple. Some years I purchase 5 bushel of apples because I also make several batches of apple butter. But we still have plenty of apple butter on the shelf so I was just planning to make applesauce this year.

Well...I got a new sauce maker this year ( Yay for birthday and Christmas money!) and it is so much more efficient, cranking out the applesauce much more quickly. Plus I don't have to core the apples; just wash, quarter and cut off any bad spots. 

I did 1 bushel of apples each morning. The first day I was pleasantly surprised to end up with 20 quart of applesauce from just 1 bushel! The next 2 bushels yielded 21 quart each. 

The applesauce with the new sauce maker is a bit finer consistency and a little thinner but I'm good with that! 

Needless to say, 3 bushels gave us 62 quart of applesauce (60 quart canned) so  we should be good to go for the next year and possibly longer than that since it keeps longer than 1 year and I still have a few jars of applesauce left from last year! 

So since the 4th bushel doesn't need to be made into applesauce to can, we've been eating apples fresh, I'll make a batch of applesauce to eat fresh plus some apple pies to freeze. I may even make a few other fun things with them! 

We thank God for His bountiful provision!

For past apple sauce making posts:

• 2007
• 2008
• 2013 
• Where we get our apples 

Anne Of Green Gables

Can you believe that I never liked the Anne Of Green Gables series?

I tried to read them when I was young and couldn't "get into them". Too much flowery speech and too small of print, probably.

Recently, I saw Anne Of Green Gables on my shelf and decided to give it another try.

And I am so glad I did!

The book took me over a week to read--reading a few pages each night--but held my attention from beginning to end. It was so enjoyable and the characters so relatable and loveable. And so quotable too!

And upon reading the last page, I immediately wanted to read the next book! That's the sign that I really enjoyed a book.

I need to check and make sure the library has Anne Of Avonlea...

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. 

It would be terrible if we just skipped 

from September to November, wouldn't it?" 

--L.M Montgomery

Clean On Tuesday

Continuing with revamping my homemaking schedule...

After determining that Monday would be my main Laundry Day, I chose to clean the house on Tuesday.

The main reason for choosing Tuesday was that I really do not care that much for cleaning. {However, I do love a house that has been cleaned. Just saying.}

There are things in life that are not our favorites but still need to be done!

I knew if I left housecleaning until Friday or Saturday, it would be more likely to not get done. I try to clean earlier in the week and then do a little more as needed toward the end. 

On Cleaning Day, I focus on very basic cleaning. I clean the bathrooms, dust, vacuum, clean kitchen surfaces, etc. My goal is to complete the basic cleaning in 2 hours or less. I don't always manage that but it is a goal. If surfaces have become cluttered, it takes longer. I try to put things away each day which helps Cleaning Day to run more smoothly.

Typically, the tasks are broken down something like this:

• Clean bathrooms--20-30 minutes for both using this method. 
• Dust--maybe 15 minutes? 
• Vacuum all floors--this takes a good 30 minutes for hardwood floors and carpet. 
• Clean kitchen: sinks, counters, microwave, wipe down all appliances--at least 30 minutes.
• Windows and mirrors--as needed. I estimate about 15 minutes spent on these. 

Any deep cleaning or organizing is done in other small pockets of time throughout the week. 

Vacuuming floors and cleaning kitchen surfaces are done multiple times each week. 

I know there are some who are surprised that our house gets dirty with only two adults living in it. But it does! Someone is home almost all the time, we cook and eat most of our meals at home, we wear shoes in the house and we have a dog. In other words, we really do a lot of living in our home! 

Cleaning Day is one of my least favorite but such a great feeling to work a couple of hours and have a fresh smelling and sparkling clean house at the end! 

One thing that makes cleaning more enjoyable is using a cleaning product that smells nice! My current favorite is Mrs. Meyer's Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner in the Basil scent. This cleaner can be used for many surfaces in our home. I like that it actually works and is a cleaner I can safely use and not have respiratory problems the rest of the day. (Unlike when I use most chemical cleaners.)

Tell me about your cleaning schedule. What are your favorite cleaners to use? 

Frugal Five

Some frugal stuff happening around here lately....

1. I saw a bunch of Mason jars in the glass receptacle where we take our trash. I asked the attendants if I could take some. He said, "Yes!" So I took what fit in my bag--14 jars in all. Perfectly good condition and will be used here! I didn't think we were typically allowed to take out of the containers but it doesn't hurt to ask!

2. Mended some clothing and home items.

3. Accepted some wonderful home items from family members who are down-sizing. Items included a beautiful Oriental-style rug and an old dresser.

Rock approves of the new rug!

4. Used the library inter-loan system to request and borrow books I wanted to read. Also, I'm re-reading some books already on my bookshelf.

5. We've been eating at home a lot which is nothing new but continues to be a HUGE money-saver. We utilize leftovers for lunches so very little is wasted.

Fall Porch

Nothing like a home study visit to motivate me to clean up our porch and give it a fresh look for the fall season!

Aldi had mums for $2.99 and other plants for $4.50 so I bought a couple things to inexpensively add some pretty. A few pumpkins from the farm market instantly added some fall flavor! 

Almost anything looks better than pots overgrown with weeds...ahem! 

A good sweep of the porch, a quick wipe down for the table and chairs and some glass cleaner on the door and everything was looking fresher and more homey! 

Our wreath has been up for a couple of years and needs a refreshing so I took it down and made this little decoration from burlap, an embroidery hoop and a black Sharpie--all items I had on hand! 

Looking at the clean porch and touches of fall puts a smile on my face! 

Happy fall, y'all!