I was up at 5AM, slept a good six hours, and felt good. The side effects were all calm, and I did not have the fatigue and nausea from the day before. I started on the blog and wrote a more expansive blog. Allergies and asthma came to make me cough and blow my nose non-stop.
Corwin came home about the time I started. He had fallen asleep on someone’s couch and walked home once he got going again. Then, he went to bed to catch some more Z’s before he had to work at 11ish.
It is the second last day of the cycle. Just 16 pills to go. Four tablets are taken on every 10 on the clock.
I take my pills, and the crushing nervous exhaustion returns. Yes, it is the chemo that is making everything so hard every day. I make, from a can, New England Clam Chowder for lunch. I shower and dress, forgetting to do the Urea cream for my hands and toes. I will notice that my fingers and toes are more numb all day. I applied the cream again in the evening and noticed an improvement. How strange, but I will try to be more disciplined in applying the Utter Smooth product.
Corwin gets going and has a ride to work.
I head to Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center at 3900 Pacific Highway, Room 44A. The traffic is still heavy and strange from Spring Break. This is not improved by the construction that has lanes closed here and there. But this trip in Air Volvo is without alarms or having to avoid any extra-legal lane usage from my fellow drivers. I did see smoke blowing out of a muscle-car window that was not tobacco-based. Nice to see folks able to relax during Spring Break as the intimidating chevy drove slowly and without the usual bravado.
On relaxing, Nike reported its results, and the stock then returned to its usual rocket-like upward climb. It is always lovely to read headlines that say, “Dow is up, lead by Nike.” I have been watching some more Bloomberg and the yields on the US ten year continues to head up. The chaos of the war and the inflation numbers are making the markets unpredictable, well, more so. Crypto is showing up everywhere now. FOMO seems to be the leading force here. But many folks claim it is more of a libertarian wish for a pure currency that is not government-controlled or centrally controlled, which is certainly true of some Crypto. Except Crypto is an asset and not a currency to the USA IRS, despite some countries trying to declare Bitcoin their currency. Crypto has many inefficiencies due to being an asset. I have not returned to my Crypto Coinbase account to make any FOMO investments, but I did reactivate it. I wish those willing to invest in Crypto well and will watch on the sidelines for now.
Returning to our narrative, Susie was happy to see me and wanted to leave and go home again. So I took her for a quick trip outside to enjoy the 60F sunny day and in the garden. The cherry trees are blooming now. The daffodils are still going strong. The following flowers, tulips, are a few more weeks away, but we can see them growing.
Susie got to sit in the lobby today and call her mother, Leta, on FaceTime. We also called her sister Barb who will be here with Leta on Friday, and they chatted for a while.
I could feel the fatigue building, and I had to do some shopping, so I needed to leave before I was staggered. Susie wanted to go with me but said she would stay.
I drove to Wholefoods and did some shopping. Only a few folks, like me, wore masks, but distancing is a habit still in place. I got bread and fixing for a nice dinner. I got lunch meats for sandwiches.
Air Volvo arrived home, and I took my few bags, $129 worth, and Corwin helped me put them away. I covered lunches now for a least a few days.
Corwin also cut up the red and green peppers I got for dinner. I cooked pasta orecchiette and wilted the peppers with sliced mushrooms in another pan. I browned and crumbled Wholefoods bulk Italian sausage in the pasta pan after the pasta was cooked and washed with cold water to stop the cooking (I don’t need a blob of pasta). I took ricotta cheese, mixed some dried parsley (I forgot to get fresh), and one egg. I then assembled an unstructured baked pasta.
I did this by pouring some store-bought in a bottled sauce in the bottom of a large glass dish, already sprayed with anti-stick spray; I added shredded generic mozzarella cheese, then some meat, then some pasta, some ricotta, some sauce, and then some wilted pepper, and sadly some undercooked mushrooms (next time!). I then made another layer of the rest of the ricotta, added more of everything, and then finished with a layer of the usual mozzarella on the top. Baked on 350F for 40 minutes or so. I had leftover pasta that will have to find another use soon.
It was good. And, I am wiped out. I can barely stand now. I have overdone it. But, at least I did something today, and the other side-effects do not resurface.
Aside: I used stupidly expensive pasta from DeCeeco. Somehow grabbing the bronze-drawn version called Orecchiette no. 91. Bowties are cheaper, and I don’t think it matters when you bake them.
I read more and finally slept about 12:30ish. I managed to sleep most of the night with only two proofs of hydration needed.
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