Super Bowl Sunday Surprise!

It's official... we found out on Super Bowl Sunday that we are going to be first time Grandparents! That still sounds so weird to me even as I write it and I have had two weeks to absorb it :)
We are thrilled about baby Minich who we will get to meet in September. My middle son Kevin and our daughter-in-law Nikki are the proud and happy parents.

 We are looking forward to the blessings God is bringing us this year with our youngest son graduating from college, our oldest son getting married, our newest daughter-in-law and now Baby Minich! God is so good :)
Prayers for Baby and mom throughout her pregnancy are appreciated!

My baby is going to be a daddy!

Our Kids...Timothy, Stephanie, Nikki, Kevin & Matthew

I could have done without seeing that!

Today was my monthly Faslodex shot. This time when I went to the infusion room there was no-one at all there. Just me, nurse M ( who I think may like giving me my shots :) and this! Course mine was the big one. She opened the package, got the needle ready and then I noticed it, looking bigger than ever, or maybe I just never looked before. I laughed and said " oh, I really didn't need to see that"! The usual "stick" and I was on my way after getting to talk with M about gardening.Headaches and BP are ok once again. Told M about 'going vegetarian" and she said we will check with the next round of blood-work to make sure everything looks ok.

No stop at Starbucks today for my usual peppermint latte'. Had to hit Wal Mart instead :(

Going vegetarian, again!

• 1. Why go Vegetarian?
  This may be  the question those of you who love meat are wondering. This is not a new experience for me. I have gone through periods of cutting meat out of my diet as far back as a pre-teen. The main reason being that I simply don't like meat, of any kind. I have never liked fish so that was not an issue. I gave up red meat when I was first diagnosed with cancer 12 years ago. Since then, I have gone through periods of eating red meat but only organic. Chicken and Turkey are the last two to give up. Also, with my cancer being estrogen + and my therapy being hormone therapy used to omit as much estrogen as possible from my body, I feel it is better not to add the additional animal estrogen's.
   
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  2.Cookbook for Christmas
  Tim & Stephanie gave me a good, simple vegetarian cookbook. The recipes are pretty easy to follow. I have not had trouble finding the ingredients and it is filled with pictures so you can see what it is supposed to look like. I find it easier to cook vegetarian. No worries about not thawing meat from the freezer to prepare for the evening dinner.Just like planning  your usual dinner menu, I look through the different chapters of the book or recipes I find on line to mix it up.
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  3. New Food experiences
  So what is "seitan" anyways?? A challenge of the vegetarian diet is some of the new foods and terms you are introduced to. If I have no idea what the recipe is calling for I google it. If I don't think the local grocery store will have it, I just google "substitute" for..... Overall, we have enjoyed the new food experiences!
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  4.Nutritional concerns
  Between ongoing treatment for cancer and being a runner I definitely have concerns  about meeting my bodies nutritional needs, particularly with protein, iron and vitamin B12. I do take a daily multi-vitamin supplement and plan to add additional supplements as needed. I will let my doctor know about this change and continue to educate myself to keep myself healthy and well balanced.
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  5. Feeling Lighter
  I find I do not have the heavier feeling when you eat meat based meals but may need to snack a bit more often. I try to eat a small meal/snack every 3 hours 4 to 5 times a day. Including a protein source each time such as eggs, beans, nuts, milk, etc.
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  6. Other Veggie People
  I am fortunate that my husband/family does not mind the vegetarian meals. Several of our family members and friends are also "veggie people" so getting together is easy as I usually have an option for both groups of people, like a vegetarian lasagna and a meat lasagna. It is nice to have others around to share recipes and outcomes with!
Any suggestions/tips or favorite recipes are welcome in the comments section!

Super Bowl Sunday followed by Super Sick Monday

Sunday was a great day spent with family and friends having dinner and watching the Super-bowl.Monday was a whole different story. I had a really rough day that began with another headache I could not get under control. Which led to 16 hours of nausea and vomiting. Chris ended up calling Dr. A at 10:30 PM. Dr. A asked if I had anything for nausea.  Fortunately, I had some phenergin(sp?) at home and it worked. I was then able to sleep through the night. The past two days I continue to have the headache and fatigue, still don't feel well, but getting better.

This has been happening enough that we are noticing some patterns and one common trigger that we notice is; any time I have a very long, hard, day( working long hours without a break, having people over for a big get together, all day tests done at the hospital, etc.) it is almost always followed by what happened Monday, just not usually as bad. It seems to be the common link and I don't know if this is simply part of living with stage 4 cancer ( although everything seems to be ok right now from the recent testing, no evidence of disease) or if possibly there is something, unrelated to cancer going on?  Dr.A had mentioned seeing  a neurologist  concerning the headaches. 

Spoke with a few other people about what might be causing these headaches and "stress" is the key word that keeps coming up.

We have decided to "lay low" for a while and see if the headaches ease up. Keeping in mind I have already had a brain scan, which was normal and have explored nutritional triggers as well. As much as I love having everyone over and being busy with our "projects"

http://corinthminichs.blogspot.com/2011/01/this-old-houseunder-construction-again.html  

It looks like some R&R is in order. Today I made reservations for a small get a way for Chris and I in the future.

If any of you, especially those that have been through cancer/treatments recognize this pattern I would be very interested to hear from you. What you experience and what you are doing to help minimize the headaches.
For today, enjoying the snow, fire and rest :)