A Chemo Like Week

It finally dawned on me this morning as I was sitting at my desk that I've been going through chemo like symptoms -- the fatigue, the weird taste in the mouth and the craving salty things. How could I not have seen this? It's only been four months since my last infusion. Very odd but they do say that you will experience symptoms for months and for those unlucky ones ... perhaps years after. Lovely!

Anyway, I didn't have disappointment to deal with as well, because I lost the half a pound that I gained yesterday. I'll take that little triumph.

I had Cheerios for breakfast. Lunch was a cup of last night's chicken pasta; fat free yogurt; and a packet of Breakfast to go. Yes, I was too busy to have my midmorning snack, so I ate it all at lunch.

Came home and had a pear as a snack. Made Shepherd's Pie for dinner and had exactly one ladle of serving ... did not cheat. Dessert was an Adkins fudge brownie.

A Bit Tired

Haven't lost or gained any weight, so I suppose I should be grateful for that. But am still feeling a little tired and "draggy".

Had chex for breakfast. Breakfast to go packet for a snack. Lunch was 1 1/2 cups of romaine lettuce, spinach leaves, cucumber, shredded carrots, 1/2 an avocado and a drizzle of lite ranch dressing. Fat free yogurt.

Had green tea and a tablespoon of natural peanut butter ... thought it might perk me up. Was still hungry so had a serving of rice cakes at 140 calories, so haven't ruined the eating plan too badly.

I've been carving chicken and pasta for a few days so I concocted a recipe using four chicken tenderloins that were sliced and sauteed in olive oil with garlic, onion, chopped sundried tomato, fresh spinach, seasoned with Penzy's Forward spices; 1 great heaping tablespoon of onion chive cream cheese, two tablespoons of my homemade tomato sauce (yes the one with the red wine), and added cooked penne to it. It got the thumbs up from the family. The skinny daughter went back for seconds.

I had just about a cup of the pasta with about four slices of chicken which did not quite make one tenderloin.

I was too bloody tired to exercise so I gave myself a pity day off.

Grrrr ...

Gained back half a pound so am a bit bummed. Why can't this be easy? I haven't cheated. Had scrambled eggs and one piece of toast for breakfast.

Midmorning snack was a packet of Breakfast on the go. Lunch was a cup of leftover lamb stew ... ate the last bit, so there won't be any more stew.

Exercised for 20 minutes on the elliptical and then had a cup of green tea and a nap. Am awfully tired today ... can't quite explain it ... I highly doubt that there is any explanation. Had a teaspoon of natural peanut butter while waiting for dinner.

Dinner was a small burger in lettuce leaves. I skipped the baked beans. Was still hungry after I had dinner so had a cup of chex mix and some mini rice cakes. I know I will pay for it tomorrow but I needed something salty.

Holding Steady

I was afraid to step on the scales this morning after the pizza I ate last night -- it was a very thin crust pizza but it was still carbs and I thought I would notice it on the scales. Fortunately, I did not gain anything but lost a couple more ounces.

I did 20 minutes on the elliptical and then had 3/4 cup of honey nut cheerios with 2 % organic milk. Honey is a treat for me. I like honey on my toast and a teaspoon in my green tea. Every place I visit, I look for local honey ... perhaps it is a remembrance of the rich amber wild honey from my childhood, but I hunt for that liquid gold wherever I am.

Lunch was a cup of romaine lettuce and spinach, one chopped avocado, 1 slice of chopped ham, and a drizzle of light ranch dressing. Dessert was an Adkins fudge brownie.

Dinner was a low-carb tortilla with a teaspoon of chive cream cheese, spinach and one slice of chicken; 3/4 cup of fresh cherries.

I ate my fat free yogurt when I got home, and I brewed myself a cup of green tea -- must drink it hot.

It's another Good Sunday

Yes, yes! Lost another 3/4 of a pound which means that I've lost almost four pounds in the last two weeks ... I can live with this. Hope is alive again.

Had two buckwheat waffles with fruit for breakfast. Then I used the elliptical for 25 minutes. I had to be mindful of the fact that my arm has only just gotten better -- no point in pushing my luck.

Lunch was not quite a cup of vegetable chili and corn chips, an apple and 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter.

Dinner will be one small personal grilled pizza with ham and pineapple; and a small salad. The pizza will be my treat for the day, so there won't be anything else for the day.

Rainy Saturday

The morning did not turn out as I had planned. I didn't get to exercise or have breakfast because we had to make a run to what my husband calls the "store from hell" -- yes, Walmart. After Walmart, we went grocery shopping in the pouring rain, and when we got back home, it was time for lunch.

Hubby wanted leftover lamb stew for lunch which was perfect for the cool, rainy day. So I heated up the stew and whipped up some dumplings to go with it. I had a bowl of stew and two small dumplings.

Afternoon snack was an Adkins fudge brownie with a small glass of 2 % milk. Dinner was 1/2 a chicken breast cooked in tomato sauce, white wine, a little milk, tarragon & basil; 1 tablespoon of Green beans, 1 tablespoon of parmesan noodle.

Snack is a small bowl of popcorn and some dried fruit and nuts.

Yes, and I lost 1/2  a pound overnight. I'm taking any loss I can get!

Thank Goodness for Friday!

Didn't gain or lose anything ... I am not surprised. I haven't been exercising because of the arm but tomorrow I am getting on that elliptical. I've got to lose more than two pounds in two weeks!

For breakfast this morning I had two soft boiled eggs with two pieces of wheat toast. Midmorning snack was a packet of Berry Breakfast on the go. Lunch was vegetable chili with corn chips and a fat free yogurt.

I skipped the afternoon snack because I knew we were going out to eat. Went to O'Charley's and had the Bruschetta Chicken which was under 550 calories ... I did not eat those wonderful rolls.

Came home and had a mug of decaf Earl Grey because I am all out of green tea. Off to the supermarket tomorrow!

A Good Thursday

Lost another pound, so I am back to my two-pound loss from last week ... this had better stick or I'm going to be pretty ticked off.

Had 3/4 of a cup of corn chex for breakfast. Mid-morning snack was a packet of Breakfast on the Go Berry. Lunch was a cup of vegetable chili and corn chips, and fat free yogurt. Made two servings of vegetable chili last night and divided it into thirds, so I am eating less than a full serving.

Dinner was a bowl of lamb stew and a small piece of Sally Lunn bread. Was still hungry so had a banana and a teaspoon of natural peanut butter.

Cleaned the bathrooms but did not exercise. I am giving my arm one more day of rest. Had a full night's sleep for the first time last night, and so felt a lot better today.

Back on Track

Yes, lost one miserable pound ... crawling my way back to my two-pound loss from last week. My arm is still killing me so I couldn't exercise last night and didn't have much sleep either.

Had scrambled eggs and one piece of toast for breakfast. Mid-morning snack was a cup of fresh cherries. Lunch was 1 cup of romaine lettuce, 1 chopped avocado, slivers of carrot, and one slice of lunch meat chicken with a drizzle of light ranch dressing. I'm getting a bit bored with my lunches ... I'll have to think of something else to make for tomorrow.

I skipped my mid-afternoon snack because I knew I was going to have a treat when I got home. Had a mug of green tea, two warm toasted coconut & chocolate chunk cookies, and hot water bottle for my arm.

Dinner was one piece of lasagna and water.

No exercise tonight ... I'm giving it one more day.

Good News For Women With Dense Breasts

http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/21/good-news-for-women-with-dense-breasts-no-higher-risk-of-breast-cancer-death/

Good News for Women With Dense Breasts: No Higher Risk of Breast Cancer Death

By Alexandra Sifferlin

Women with dense breasts are considered at a higher risk of developing breast cancer, in part because their tumors can be harder to spot on a mammogram. But a recent and reassuring study finds that despite their slightly increased risk, these women are no more likely to die of breast cancer than those whose breasts have more fat tissue.

So, even if the women’s tumors are caught later, they don’t appear to be any more aggressive or any harder to treat than other women’s tumors, the study found. The study did note a higher risk of death in some women, however: those with less dense breasts who were also obese or had very large tumors. Why that’s so isn’t clear; further study is needed.
“It shows we have a lot to learn about dense breast tissue and its implications for screening, diagnosis and treatment,” Barbara Monsees, chairwoman of the American College of Radiology’s breast imaging commission, told USA Today, commentingthat the study results were a bit surprising. Monsees wasn’t involved in the study.
(MORE: Study: For Some Women in their 40s, Routine Mammograms May Be Worth the Risks)
Whether a woman is classified as having dense breasts is a judgment call that can vary from doctor to doctor and from one year to the next, the AP reported:

Radiologists divide density levels into four categories. According to the American College of Radiology, about 10 percent of women have almost completely fatty breasts. Another 10 percent have extremely dense breasts, the level that [study co-author Dr. Karla] Kerlikowske said is linked to a higher risk of developing cancer. The rest are in between, with about 40 percent having scattered areas of density and 40 percent having fairly widespread density, categories especially difficult to classify.

Spotting cancer on a mammogram can be tough because while fat tissue shows up dark on the scan, both dense tissue and tumors appear white.
In the new study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers looked at 9,232 women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 1996 and 2005 and followed them for an average of about 6.5 years. The researchers assessed each woman’s breast density from her mammogram and rated it on a scale of 1 to 4; women receiving a score of 1 had low-density breasts, while those getting a 4 had very high-density breasts. The vast majority of women — about 84% — fell into categories 2 or 3, the fuzzier middle of the spectrum.
By the end of the follow-up period, about 1,800 women had died, 889 from breast cancer and 810 from other causes. The researchers found that women with high-density breast tissue did not have an increased risk of death from breast cancer compared with women with lower breast density.
(VIDEO: Pink Light: Burlesque and Breast Cancer Survivors)
The study’s findings add to the discussion over the necessity of telling women that they have dense breasts and then recommending that they get additional screening, such as ultrasound or MRI, which can sometimes detect tumors that mammograms miss. In a statement, the authors said:

State legislatures have passed and continue to pass laws requiring radiologists to notify women that they have dense breast tissue. Some of these laws actually mention that women might want to participate in MRI and/or ultrasound screening because they have dense breasts. However, it is unknown if such screening can actually benefit them in terms of saving lives.

Indeed, there’s no data to suggest that these extra expensive tests save lives. What’s more, they tend to lead to more false alarms, causing women unneeded stress and unnecessary treatments. Meanwhile, four states — Connecticut, Texas, Virginia and New York — have passed laws requiring health-care providers to inform women if their mammograms show they have dense breasts.
And while that information can be potentially useful, it’s still not clear exactly how. Breast density must be considered along with a woman’s other cancer risk factors, like family history, for example, as well as her age. Breast density tends to decrease naturally as women get older, so it’s possible that a 60-year-old with dense breasts might be at greater risk than a younger woman with the same density.
As Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, pointed out to the AP: “We’re making policy in a gray area where the experts and doctors don’t know what it means.”

A Little Setback

You know one of those days "when it rains it pours"? I am having one of those. I could barely move my left arm yesterday without wanting to howl in pain, and this continued today. Taking Aleve did not help. I woke up at 3 am in extreme pain and had to go downstairs to sleep in the armchair. Being able to rest my arm on the arm of the chair slightly away from my body offered some relief -- enough for me to doze restlessly.

And of course when I weighed myself this morning, I had gained back the two pounds I had lost. If that isn't enough to make a person weep, I don't know what will! Made a mental note to make sure that if I have carbs for lunch, I cannot have it for dinner.

I had corn chex for breakfast this morning. I was planning on having eggs but I needed to be able to eat something that didn't require me to move my arm too much.

Lunch was about a cup of lettuce, one avocado, and half of a baked chicken tenderloin with a drizzle of light ranch dressing. Dessert was a no fat blueberry yogurt.

My pick me up snack when I got home this afternoon was a sliced banana with one teaspoon (yes, I scaled back from my usual tablespoon) of natural peanut butter, and a mug of green tea.

Dinner was another salad made up of romaine lettuce, shaved carrots, 1 slice of white American cheese, 1 sliced hard boiled egg, and one sliced baked chicken tenderloin, drizzled with light ranch dressing.

I am done with all my eating tonight because I cannot exercise with this arm. I did consider getting on the elliptical and using the non-moving elliptical arm, but then I dismissed it as having too much potential to do more harm than good. Besides Sarah would probably have come and taken my shoes away from me again, the way she did after my lumpectomy.

Monday ... Monday ...

My weight held steady inspite of the little bit of sugar indulgence over the weekend. I am just grateful that my weight held steady. Started off this morning with 25 minutes on the elliptical.

Breakfast was a bowl of corn chex with blueberries, and water for the pills. Lunch was a cup of Jerusalem artichoke flour pasta with a chopped up baked tenderloin, steamed broccoli and cauliflower tossed in peanut sauce.

Am working late tonight so dinner was a cucumber and cheese sandwich; 1 cup of fresh cherries, and for a snack I had a packet of Berry breakfast on the go. That should hold me until tomorrow morning. A bit more carbs in the diet than I usually have, so tomorrow will have to be vegetable heavy.

Lazy Sunday

I wasn't going to exercise today but I ended up doing 20 minutes of weights after breakfast. I had a two-egg omelet sprinkled with 1/2 slice of bacon crumbles and two pieces of toast for breakfast. Jasmine Orange green tea washed everything down.

Made a marble cake and while it baked, I did my weights. After that breakfast, I wasn't about to have lunch. Instead I had a small bowl of fruit (cantaloup and strawberry) topped with lemon yogurt and sprinkled with coconut flakes.

Afternoon snack was a tablespoon of natural peanut butter and green tea. I ate a good dinner -- baked pork chops seasoned with Penzy's Forward seasoning, a stuffing muffin and one tablespoon of corn. And yes, I had a one-inch square of marble cake with chocolate fudge frosting ... and may I say it was yummy!

Saturday date

The weekend means that I can exercise in the mornings and not worry about getting sweaty in the evening. I did my 20 minutes on the elliptical. Had an Adkins bar for breakfast with a glass of 2% organic milk.

Today was date day so it was a movie and Japanese lunch. I had the business box lunch of Sakura chicken in garlic sauce. I really wanted the Sesame chicken but that would have kicked my good eating for the week down the tubes.

We watched the Bourne Legacy and enjoyed it but it's nothing like the other Bourne movies. I shall have to watch another one and then I can decide if I am a fan.

My mid-afternoon snack was a mug of green tea and a toasted coconut & chocolate chunk cookie. It's a small cookie and it was a planned sweet.

After that lunch no way could I have dinner so I had a gala apple and a slice of cheddar cheese, and I am feeling fine. I am not hungry.

Tomorrow I am testing a new marble cake recipe -- how crazy is that?

Going ... going ...

Another 1/4 of a pound loss -- yes, I am counting every ounce! I was a little worried about how today would go since we had an Olympic lunch at work.

But I did well. I had scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. Tried to make good choices at lunch -- had a two-inch Jimmy John's sandwich with no condiments, 1 tablespoon of beef barbecue meat (no sauce), 1 tablespoon of pasta salad, 1 teaspoon of macaroni & cheese (that's right -- one teaspoon!), 1 teaspoon of guacamole with 3 tostidos scoops.

There were lots of mouthwatering desserts but not a morsel passed my lips. Instead I took myself off to my bone mineral density test at S. Mary's.

My mid-afternoon snack was a sliced gala apple and a tablespoon of natural peanut butter and a mug of green tea.

Dinner was 1 cup of Jerusalem artichoke flour pasta with meat sauce, 1 cup of salad with a drizzle of lite ranch dressing. All my eating is done for the day.

Loss!

Lost two pounds! Jumping for joy! Let's see whether I can be discplined enough to do this for a whole month.

Had my usual bowl of corn chex and blueberries for breakfast; an apple and cheddar cheese for a mid-morning snack; cup and a half of salad (lettuce, tomato, grapes, cucumber) with a drizzle of lite ranch dressing for lunch; Adkins brownie and mid-afternoon snack was a packet of breakfast on the go.

Fell off the wagon a little bit because I had to make toasted coconut & chocolate chunk cookies for the lunch at work tomorrow, and when you try out a new recipe, what are you supposed to do? That's right -- taste it before you feed it to other people. I had the smallest cookie I could find.

Dinner was a small hamburger with one tablespoon of baked beans and one tablespoon of potato salad -- my carbs for the week.

I did 25 minutes on the elliptical. Tomorrow is a new day ....

Day 2 of Battle of the Chemo Bulge

My human alarm clock woke me up this morning from a dream where I was eating a seven layer raisin cake with white frosting. How bizarre is that? Or was it perhaps my sugar deprivation?

Not an ounce shifted from my chemo bloated body this morning but I was not concerned one bit. I made myself some scrambled eggs and had two pieces of toast. I skipped my mid-morning snack because I had to have an early lunch in order to teach a class at noon. Lunch was a cup and a half of steamed vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower & carrots) and one baked chicken tenderloin; a gala apple and a piece of cheddar cheese. Mid-afternoon snack was an Adkins protein bar.

Dinner was 1/2 a chicken breast baked with white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, dried tarragon, basil and minced garlic; served with steamed carrots tossed with Penzy's Old World seasoning. Feeling righteous ...

Ended the evening with 20 minutes of weights.

Battle of the Chemo Bulge

Sometimes enough is just enough and today was my day. The only one happy about my weight is my GP who was thrilled that I had lost seven pounds during chemo. "That's great!" she told me. "Most women gain 20 - 30 lbs." I may have lost seven pounds but I had to go up a dress size because of the "chemo bloat".  Yes, how fair is that? Makes you want to scream at the world.

One of the most horrifying things was watching my stomach extend after six hours of infusions, and now that infusions have been over for four months, the bloated belly, swollen arms and puffy face are all still with me. Today I've decided I just can't stand it any more!

What to do? What to do? I never stopped exercising throughout chemo and I've always been a healthy eater. I can be better I am sure. Today I started my "better" -- a cup of corn chex with blueberries for breakfast and water to take my pills. Morning snack was a packet of breakfast nuts and dried berries. Lunch was a cup of grilled vegetables and an Adkins brownie. Afternoon snack was 1/2 cup of baby carrots.

Exercised for 25 minutes on the elliptical; supposedly used up 300 calories; then ate 4 strawberries with 1 teaspoon of marshmallow dip (my bad for the day). Dinner was 2 buffalo chicken tenderloins, 1 tablespoon of potato salad, 1 tablespoon baked beans, raw celery and carrots. Yes, yes, I know about the carbs in the potatoes and beans but I'm weaning myself.

Day one is done!