Today was our first day of chemo. We all went to the oncologist for this first one so that we would know what the procedure is for when I'm not in town. Each patient gets a reclining chair in a "room" with curtains as walls between each patient. There is a small TV with 15 channels and a DVD player for you to use, but my family each brought something to do. A book, the newspaper, and my iPad for typing up this blog post. Oh, and for your first day of chemo, they give you a folder of information for you to review if you wish. My dad is currently highlighting the important parts of one of the booklets. Did I mention that we came prepared with highlighters? Yeah, that's how we roll...
Today's cladribine drip took two hours, but the overall visit lasted four hours. We were told to expect each visit to take roughly that long. We started off with Zofran, "The Mercedes of Anti-Nausea Medications," which is taken orally, so requires some time to kick in. After that, we chatted with the nurse for a little bit. She gave us a brief summary of what to expect and what to watch out for: shortness of breath, red blotches, itching, lower back pain, and sore throat. If we notice any of these, we're supposed to let her know immediately. (So far, so good.) The nurse then inserted the IV, which is to be kept in for the next three days. Who knew that an IV connection could remain for that long? She connected a bag of saline "to keep things flowing" and then connected the cladribine bag via a pump which maintains a steady flow of the chemo drug.
Because we were here during lunch hour, we each brought something to snack on. Altogether we brought water, yogurt, almonds, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, Toasted Oatmeal Squares cereal, a Diet Coke, Sweet Potato Scrambled Eggs, carrots, celery, and pistachios. I ate the eggs.
Here's what I put into my Sweet Potato Scrambled Eggs (mainly a mix of leftovers):
2 eggs
1/4 cup baked sweet potato, mashed
1 handful of celery, chopped
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
a pinch each of oregano, basil, salt, and pepper
Start with the celery in the pan, adding the tomatoes once the celery has softened a bit. Add the sweet potato, whisked eggs, and seasoning, cooking until the eggs are done.
This morning, before heading off to the doctor, I whipped up some Stuffed Peppers to cook in the slow-cooker while we were at the doctor.
Stuffed Pepper with Rice
4 bell peppers, thoroughly scrubbed
1 1/4 lb ground beef
1/3 cup + 1 Tbls olive oil
2 Tbls lime juice
3 chipotle peppers
2 tsp adobo sauce (the sauce that canned chipotle peppers come in)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup chopped green bell peppers
2 cups cauliflower, roughly 1.5" diameter bunches
1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the olive oil, lime juice, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, cumin, oregano, paprika, pepper, salt, and green peppers. Mix in the ground beef and set aside.
2. While the beef is marinating, prep the bell peppers (you can use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and remove the white flesh on the inside of the pepper.
3. Put your cauliflower into a food processor and pulse 6 times, or until the cauliflower has been reduced to rice-sized pieces.
4. Heat ~1 Tbls of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Transfer the ground beef mixture to the skillet and brown the beef. Once the beef has finished cooking, remove from heat and stir in the cauliflower.
5. Spoon the ground beef and cauliflower into the bell peppers, leaving 1/4" of space from the top. Brush the outsides of the peppers with a little bit of olive oil.
6. Place the peppers into the slow-cooker, cover, and place on the lowest setting. Cook for 2 hours.
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| Before |
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| After |
This really only needs to cook on low for a couple hours, but let it go for as long as you're away. I'd suggest cooking this one weekend while you're at home doing chores, or running a few errands.
Another note about this dish. It can be pretty spicy depending on how many chipotle peppers you add, so this would be best at the beginning of chemo before any potential stomach/intestinal issues pop up. Spiciness doesn't always agree with people.
