So-so night of sleep. I'm getting a lot of liquid during the day intravenously, which means more frequent bathroom trips at night. Also, the early morning visits were not consolidated into one, so I was largely awake since 5 a.m.
Put in 3 miles on the treadmill before breakfast. I was already hooked up to an IV, so I had to wheel the pole across the hall with me. Which brings up an unexpected Kindle bonus -- it fits exactly into the breast pocket on the hospital gown, leaving my hands free to wrangle myself and the pole through two doors and a very narrow passage to get out of my room.
The good news is, I got my run in.
The bad news is, I can't take a shower until the end of the day, because of the long drip time on my chemo (8 hours).
After my run, the nurse comes in. She's wearing a yellow isolation gown and blue gloves.
The good news is, Tuesday is no longer Rectal Swab Day.
The bad news is, I have the organism they have been swabbing for -- which is why they have stopped looking for it -- and I'm back to wearing gowns and gloves when I leave my room, and visitors have to wear the same when they come into the room. No mask for visitors. The organism is VRE (Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci). Very common in hospitals. I am colonized, but not infected. No treatment for now, but it's one more thing to keep an eye on post-transplant. The new rules are going to make my runs much warmer, especially the gloves.
Some telecommuting. Working on a journals app for both iPhone and iPad. First iPad design!
Visit from someone to issue some tests as part of the morbidly named Co-Morbidity Study that I consented to participate in. I believe the point of the study is to assess pre- and post-transplant activity and fitness levels in transplant patients over 50 and to see how those levels correlate to ... various outcomes. There are a bunch of surveys I haven't filled out yet. This woman was here to administer a couple of physical tests: a grip strength test, and a 5-yard walk test. I believe I passed!
A glance at the first survey shows some questions that will be hard to answer. Compared to one year ago, how would you rate your health in general right now? The choices range from Much better than one year ago to Much worse than one year ago. What's the right answer? In most ways, I'm healthier than most of the staff. But I am being treated for acute myeloid leukemia, which I did not have a year ago.
Tried to order burritos for lunch. Couldn't get either the listed Chipotle Black Bean Burrito or the secret bean and cheese burrito I got a couple of nights ago. Time for a new recipe -- Chicken, Bean, and Cheese Quesadillas. Delicious!
Good afternoon of telecommuting.
No side effects, as of one hour after the end of the chemo. Promising!
Dinner (baked fish, lemon-pepper rice, broccoli!, carrots, sweet potato bread).
Phone calls, e-mail, shower...
A good day!
Co-morbidity beats co-mortality...
ReplyDeleteJNR
Joe,
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear you had a productive day! Any decisions on the name for your parrot? Pollymerase - really clever! You could also really growl out names like Arrrthur or Arrrgyle...
I hope the Head of Food service is getting copied on your innovative recipes - they need to know what a terrific chef you are!
Cheers!
Deborah
Hi, Joe! Here's the recipe for the whole wheat fig bars. It looks complicated but is really pretty easy to make except for the last part of step 5. They make that little maneuver sound easy ("gently flip...") but it actually entails frantic and desperate action and works best with teamwork.
ReplyDeleteFilling Ingredient:
1 lb. dried figs- hard stems removed and diced into small pieces (I've been using organic Turkish figs sold at Meiers)
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup maple syrup or agave nectar (I do half and half)
2tsp finely grated citrus zest (lemon, orange, lime or a combination)
Dough Ingredients:
2 Tbsps ground flax seeds
1/4 cup nondairy mild (I use soy)
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup Sucanat or other dry sweetener (I just used sugar but I cut it down to around 1/2 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (I used about 1/4 tsp)
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8 by 8 inch pan with aluminum foil so that it folds over the sides about an inch. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a saucepan, combine diced figs, water, syrup &/or nectar, and zest. Bring to boil and then simmer for around 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. When figs begin to soften, mash them with fork or masher and cook long enough to create a chunky, moist paste. If mixture looks too dry, add a bit of water and stir. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. In mixing bowl, combine flax seeds, nondairy milk, oil, sweetener, and vanilla until smooth. Sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to form a soft dough and divide into two parts. Shape each section of dough into a square shape to prepare for rolling it out.
4. Place one square of dough between two pieces of waxed paper. Roll into a square about the same size as the 8 by 8 pan or slightly larger.
5. Peel off waxed paper and flip dough onto prepared baking pan. Remove top layer of waxed paper and press dough into pan. Spread fig filling over dough, covering evenly to the edges. Prepare the top crust the same way as the bottom one and gently flip it on top of the filling, pressing the dough evenly all the way to the edges.
6. Bake for around 20 minutes until crust is golden and puffed. Remove pan from oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. When cool, grab the edges of the foil and lift out of pan, flipping it onto a cutting board. Peel off foil and slice into 12 bars. Store in tightly covered container.
Joe,
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about the parrot name also. My favorites thusfar are Matey and Pollymerase (Polly, for short).
Since parrots can be taught to mimic what is said, I thought about Echolalia(Echo, for short), or Back Talk.
Be sure and let us know when the final decision is made. Is there a prize?
Rhonda
Joe, can you ask the hospital staff to let you sleep a full night? Can they postpone 4:00 a.m. visits until a reasonable waking hour? Just wondering . . .
ReplyDelete