Chemo - Part 6 - Day 5

It was our last day of cladribine! Thankfully we've survived the first 5 days of chemo without any major issues. Overall the side effects have been tiredness, nausea, and a fogginess in the head, but we've attributed that last one to the anti-nausea meds. When I was talking about the fogginess with a few friends last night, we discussed how one of my friends thinks that the anti-nausea medications generally just makes you tired so you sleep through the nausea and wake up after it passes. I can see that being true. It's kind of the same way with migraine medications, though I'm not sure if it's the medication or the migraine that actually makes me pass out and sleep through the worst part of the migraine. I'd say that I'd experiment with it, but when I have a migraine, testing to see if I can stay awake through it is the last thing on my mind.

Some bone-deep leg pain has also kicked in. I think that's the hardest thing we've dealt with so far. We've tried ice packs, but I don't think there's anything to do for bone pain, besides maybe pain killers? Suggestions, anyone?

Anyways, I appreciate all of the well wishes we've received. It makes me relieved to know that my family has a good support system here in Atlanta. I won't worry as much when I head back to Texas. Our next-door neighbor called earlier today to see when he could bring some grilled goodies for us. And some other family friends have already offered to help out with the transportation to the future chemo treatments.

Last night, I went to Leon's Full Service in downtown Decatur. I ordered the Chicken Sausage, with charred scallion, ginger, baby bok choy, green curry, and fried shallot pickles. It was really yummy. And I had the Bitter in a Bottle cocktail. Go there and try it.

Though I think my friend LF got the best option: Bacon in a Glass, with a side of peanut butter.

Here's another banana-based dessert that I baked last night. It has a very strong banana taste, so if you're like my dad and don't like bananas, then don't make this. I know, it's a really complicated concept... Don't make something you don't like? Go figure.

Two-Way Banana Bread

5 frozen bananas, peeled

6 pitted dates

4 eggs

2 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Put the dates into the food processor and run until the dates have been broken up into little chunks.

3. Cut up the frozen bananas into a separate bowl. Mash the bananas with a fork (you could also put these into the food processor and use that instead of the manual effort needed to mash the bananas with a fork).

4. Mix with the dates.

5. Whisk the eggs, then stir into the banana/date mixture. Add in the rest of the ingredients in order, stirring after each one is added.

6. Transfer to two coconut-oil greased loaf pans.

7. In one pan, stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips. In the other pan, mix in dried or fresh fruit. I used dried blueberries and dried cherries.

8. Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the loaves cool completely before trying to remove from the pans.

Cherry/Blueberry

Whole 30: Banana Bread

Banana Bread
1 frozen banana, mashed
1 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 Tbls cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Thaw the banana for 20 minutes. Mash the banana and mix in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk the eggs and the blend with the banana and almond flour mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until solid. It might end up being a little dry, so top with apple butter for a bit of moisture. Alternatively, you can mix in some coconut oil to the mixture before baking. Enjoy!

It's 5 o'clock in the morning...

Good morning, Bright and Early. Today was my 30th workout with P90X. 30 days!! Which means I'm 1/3 of the way done! This also means that for the last 4 weeks, I've been waking up every weekday morning at 5:00 a.m. I no longer set an alarm for the weekends, because I still wake up relatively early when I "sleep in." Nothing new there.

I used to wake up early for work, but now I wake up early for working out, which is vastly preferred. However, it's still difficult to wake up every morning especially when I don't go to bed until midnight. To deal with that early morning "Do I have to? Five more minutes...", I've set two alarms. My cell phone is set for 5:00 a.m. This first one is next to my bed so I don't have to move very far to turn it off, and it's only vaguely annoying. At 5:01 a.m., my second alarm located on my dresser across the room goes off. This one is vastly more annoying and will get louder and louder the longer I ignore it. It's a pretty good incentive to get out of bed. Fortunately I don't have one of those alarm clocks that rolls around until you catch it to shut it off. I feel like that would be a really frustrating way to wake up. I mean, who really wants to fumble around under the bed searching for a stupid alarm that won't stop? My system works well for me. For one minute I have a debate with myself over whether I should let myself sleep in or get out of bed and do P90X. My second alarm goes off and it's problem solved. I'm already out of bed, so I might as well start my day.

Tonight I made Curried Cream of Broccoli Soup. The recipe is from Nom Nom Paleo. I changed up the proportions a bit, but not much (mainly just with regards to the leeks, onion, and shallots). I had planned on making basil pesto with spaghetti squash, but apparently basil farmers in Texas have decided to conspire against me so that isn't any fresh basil available at the grocery store. I even tried two stores today.

Curried Cream of Broccoli Soup
2 tbls of butter
3 leeks, white parts only, sliced thinly
1/2 large onion, roughly chopped
2 medium shallots, roughly chopped
1.25 pounds of trimmed and roughly chopped broccoli
¼ apple, diced
1 quart of organic free-range chicken broth
1 heaping tsp of curry powder
1 cup of coconut milk
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Sliced leeks

Melt the butter in a large soup pot. Then add and sauté the leeks, onions, and shallots until soft. 

After sauteing

  Add the broccoli, apple, and chicken broth.

 

 

Cover and bring to a boil for 4 minutes (start timing once you get to the boil). Reduce heat to low, uncover, and simmer for 25 minutes.

After boiling and simmering

Once the broccoli is soft, transfer the veggies and chicken broth to a blender and blend until smooth (you'll probably have to do this in batches).

Put back into the pot, add the curry powder, salt, and pepper. Add coconut milk and bring to a boil again. Boil for 5 minutes.

The result!

I also made banana bread, paleo style. This recipe was taken from Health-Bent.

Paleo Banana Bread

1 cup almond butter (I used a little less than 1 cup because I ran out)

1 cup almond flour

3 medium brown, spotty bananas (I had two bananas in the freezer intended for banana bread, plus one ripe banana)

2 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix all of the ingredients together, making sure the banana is mashed and there aren't any visible chunks.

Batter should look like this when before pouring into loaf pan. 

Fill a loaf pan with the mixture and cook for 30-40 minutes, or until the center is firm to the touch. Let cool. Eat.

(I sprinkled my slice with cinnamon and I think 1 tsp of cinnamon in the bread would suffice. Test it out for yourself to see what you prefer.)