Check out the "good news" section I added along the right side of the blog to keep people updated on the prayers God's been answering and the things that are going well :). I'm often afraid to tell people what's going well because my condition can change so much from day to day. I can be hesitant to share good news because I don't want to disappoint people or myself if it doesn't last.
However, I want to live by faith and not by fear (2 Corinthians 5:7 "For we live by faith, not by sight."). No matter how much things may change from one day to the next, I want people to know how God is answering their prayers and working on my behalf. Thank you so much for your faith! I hope this news encourages you in the same way that you all encourage me and Zack :).
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Fabulous Food Photos
Back by popular demand: more photos of dishes I've cooked recently. This time I added descriptions intended to make you salivate. Enjoy! We did :)
Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce
Lightly breaded chicken breast topped with spinach and tomatoes in a creamy mustard sauce and sprinkled with crumbled turkey bacon.
Cinnamon Biscuits
Gooey biscuit layered with cinnamon chips and topped with creamy vanilla icing.
Shrimp Scampi
Buttery shrimp sauteed with garlic, white wine, lemon juice, fresh tomatoes and capers and served over fettucini.
BAT Omelette
One-egg omelette filled with turkey bacon, avocado, and tomato and served with a side of turkey bacon.
Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
Easy, simple and delicious version (much less dairy and fewer calories) of the dairy-laden, artery-clogging, classic alfredo. Fresh broccoli tossed with sliced chicken breast in a creamy sauce served over fettucini. One of my and Zack's top three favorite dishes.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Just 2 Annoy U
Fellow Safeway shoppers: has anyone else tried Safeway’s (relatively) new online coupon/deal system “Just for U” (or as I’ve affectionately renamed it, “Just to Annoy U”) and found it ridiculously disorganized and even infuriating? The system sounds great in theory; they lure you in with “free” “personalized deals” and huge coupon savings. Supposedly, you click one button to digitally add them to your card, purchase the items at the store, and as soon as you enter your club card number, the digital coupons and offers are automatically credited to your account! Simple and easy, right? No.
For the past six months or so that I’ve been using Just for U, I’ve been overcharged about 90% of the time. After entering my club card number and naively assuming that my added coupons and personalized deals will be applied to my purchase as promised, either the coupons I’ve added mysteriously fail to appear or the personalized deals show up as a different price than listed online. The worst part is that about half of the time this happens, the employee ringing up my purchase acts like he doesn’t believe me or says he can’t do anything about it! There’s no way to prove that you indeed have the coupon or deal on your card unless you print out a list of all your added coupons and deals and bring it with you to the store. Excuse me, but doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of digitally adding coupons in the first place?!?
I’m extremely fed up with the system and have emailed Safeway about it several times. I initially received a response requesting more information, but since sending the information, I’ve heard nothing. I wish I possessed enough conviction to boycott the system and Safeway entirely, but the convenience of Safeway being 1 mile from my house weakens my resolve. For now I’ll have to be content with venting my frustration on this blog. But if anyone wants to organize a Just for U boycott, form picket lines in the Safeway parking lot, and maybe even paper the outside of the store with printed Just for U lists, I’m down ;).
For the past six months or so that I’ve been using Just for U, I’ve been overcharged about 90% of the time. After entering my club card number and naively assuming that my added coupons and personalized deals will be applied to my purchase as promised, either the coupons I’ve added mysteriously fail to appear or the personalized deals show up as a different price than listed online. The worst part is that about half of the time this happens, the employee ringing up my purchase acts like he doesn’t believe me or says he can’t do anything about it! There’s no way to prove that you indeed have the coupon or deal on your card unless you print out a list of all your added coupons and deals and bring it with you to the store. Excuse me, but doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of digitally adding coupons in the first place?!?
I’m extremely fed up with the system and have emailed Safeway about it several times. I initially received a response requesting more information, but since sending the information, I’ve heard nothing. I wish I possessed enough conviction to boycott the system and Safeway entirely, but the convenience of Safeway being 1 mile from my house weakens my resolve. For now I’ll have to be content with venting my frustration on this blog. But if anyone wants to organize a Just for U boycott, form picket lines in the Safeway parking lot, and maybe even paper the outside of the store with printed Just for U lists, I’m down ;).
Monday, August 8, 2011
How to Increase Your Blood Pressure
Yup, you read that correctly. Though most people want to find ways to lower their blood pressure (because, as we all know from the commercials, diet and exercise are not enough), I have found a foolproof method to raise it. Simply tell the person to “relax.”
For the past year or so I’ve been on medications that affect my blood pressure, I couldn’t count how many times and by how many nurses I’ve been told that in various ways. Among some of my favorites are: “think relaxing thoughts”; “imagine yourself on a sandy beach”; “take a deep breath”; and the ever-popular “try to calm down.” As if I see them coming at me with the blood pressure cuff and purposely try to get myself riled up?? I know better than anyone the dangers of high blood pressure while at the hospital, the worst of which being them not letting you leave until it lowers to an “acceptable” level. First of all, for some *strange* reason, my blood pressure is always higher at the hospital. Second of all, the nurse probably just raised my blood pressure several points by telling me three times to take a deep breath and calm myself down. And finally, this would all go away if you just let me go home and take my dang blood pressure medication!
Ironically, as I’m writing this post in my hospital bed after an nine-hour day that included multiple blood draws and doctor’s appointments, a platelet transfusion, and a blood transfusion, not to mention hours of waiting, the nurse is taking my blood pressure. She just told me to “think good blood pressure thoughts.” How does one do that exactly? It’s 132/92, but that might be because I’m biting my tongue to keep from laughing. She just cleared me to leave. I’m busting out of here before they can stop me or, heaven forbid, force me to relax!
For the past year or so I’ve been on medications that affect my blood pressure, I couldn’t count how many times and by how many nurses I’ve been told that in various ways. Among some of my favorites are: “think relaxing thoughts”; “imagine yourself on a sandy beach”; “take a deep breath”; and the ever-popular “try to calm down.” As if I see them coming at me with the blood pressure cuff and purposely try to get myself riled up?? I know better than anyone the dangers of high blood pressure while at the hospital, the worst of which being them not letting you leave until it lowers to an “acceptable” level. First of all, for some *strange* reason, my blood pressure is always higher at the hospital. Second of all, the nurse probably just raised my blood pressure several points by telling me three times to take a deep breath and calm myself down. And finally, this would all go away if you just let me go home and take my dang blood pressure medication!
Ironically, as I’m writing this post in my hospital bed after an nine-hour day that included multiple blood draws and doctor’s appointments, a platelet transfusion, and a blood transfusion, not to mention hours of waiting, the nurse is taking my blood pressure. She just told me to “think good blood pressure thoughts.” How does one do that exactly? It’s 132/92, but that might be because I’m biting my tongue to keep from laughing. She just cleared me to leave. I’m busting out of here before they can stop me or, heaven forbid, force me to relax!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Cooking and Eating Without Taste or Smell
A few months ago, I slowly began losing my sense of taste. My taste has been altered ever since the transplant, which I expected as a typical post-transplant side-effect that varies from person to person in its type and severity. I also was more prepared than the average transplant recipient because of having gone through chemo before, which also typically alters one’s sense of taste. My friends know well my long-standing love of peanut butter and my sweet tooth, which I often combine in such ways as plopping big scoops of peanut butter over vanilla ice cream and drizzling the entire concoction with chocolate sauce. Interestingly enough, I lost my craving/taste for both peanut butter and sweets after doing chemo eight years ago and again after the transplant.
I expected my taste to be altered, and it was for several months, but slowly foods began resuming their normal taste. However, about three months ago, my sense of taste and smell started to fade. My loss of taste was much more noticeable than my sense of smell, but it was also gradual, so that strong flavors (e.g. coffee or Cheddar cheese) were still perceptible even when milder, one-note flavors (e.g. milk chocolate or potatoes) were not. As someone who is a total wimp when it comes to spicy food, I learned the hard way that my taste buds were working fine when I decided to try some hot sauce on my chicken. Several glasses of water and Gatorade later (basically anything I could find to drown out the burn), I realized that I couldn’t taste because I couldn’t smell, as if I were plugging my nose while eating.
Long story short, after attributing this loss of smell and taste to everything from allergies to GVHD to aliens invading my brain, my doctors are at a loss and have deemed themselves “detectives” in finding its cause. All jokes aside, please pray for my smell and taste to be restored, because I’ve been really discouraged that I can’t taste a single thing anymore, and eating is no longer enjoyable.
Trying (though often failing) to stay positive about this change, I’ve had to create a new, hopefully temporary, definition of taste based on texture and presentation rather than flavor, hence the new hobby Zack and I have developed of taking pictures of my culinary creations. I still love to cook; I just can’t taste my dishes! Luckily I have Zack as my #1 sous chef and taste-tester to prevent me from producing anything potentially gross or dangerous ;). I’ve discovered the joy of cooking for others to enjoy, which for now, will have to be enough.
I expected my taste to be altered, and it was for several months, but slowly foods began resuming their normal taste. However, about three months ago, my sense of taste and smell started to fade. My loss of taste was much more noticeable than my sense of smell, but it was also gradual, so that strong flavors (e.g. coffee or Cheddar cheese) were still perceptible even when milder, one-note flavors (e.g. milk chocolate or potatoes) were not. As someone who is a total wimp when it comes to spicy food, I learned the hard way that my taste buds were working fine when I decided to try some hot sauce on my chicken. Several glasses of water and Gatorade later (basically anything I could find to drown out the burn), I realized that I couldn’t taste because I couldn’t smell, as if I were plugging my nose while eating.
Long story short, after attributing this loss of smell and taste to everything from allergies to GVHD to aliens invading my brain, my doctors are at a loss and have deemed themselves “detectives” in finding its cause. All jokes aside, please pray for my smell and taste to be restored, because I’ve been really discouraged that I can’t taste a single thing anymore, and eating is no longer enjoyable.
Trying (though often failing) to stay positive about this change, I’ve had to create a new, hopefully temporary, definition of taste based on texture and presentation rather than flavor, hence the new hobby Zack and I have developed of taking pictures of my culinary creations. I still love to cook; I just can’t taste my dishes! Luckily I have Zack as my #1 sous chef and taste-tester to prevent me from producing anything potentially gross or dangerous ;). I’ve discovered the joy of cooking for others to enjoy, which for now, will have to be enough.
Foods I’m looking forward to enjoying again when (trying to have faith here) my taste returns? Thai, fries, nachos, and peanut butter chocolate ice cream, to name a few :).
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