Evening Update

Eric is doing pretty well this evening. It almost feels like a normal night. He came home from his infusion today and didn't take a nap. I think that's a first. As a matter of fact, he made himself a cup of coffee.

And then he sent me a picture of the lunch he made himself. That's also a first. Usually he's not hungry. It's nice that he's feeling this good after the "poisoning" as he calls it. I hope it continues.  He has 3 more infusions to go. We can almost see the light at the end of the chemo tunnel.

I made some egg drop soup for dinner, he was still hungry after all that pizza. 

Off and Running

Number 9 is underway. 

He got a seat with a view this week. Everything seems to be going well so far.

Bob is here with us again this week. He and Eric engage in interestimg conversations. Plus we're trying to convince Bob and his wife to go to the Cape in September.

Baked Goods

I stopped at the Eastwood Bakery in Syracuse today for some treats for Eric. It's the day before Chemo, so I thought I'd get him some sweets while he could still enjoy them. He devoured this Boston Cream donut. And there are Half Moon cookies for later. Nothing better than fresh Bakery treats!

Jenny is still obsessed with her airplane. 

And this is what I did all day yesterday. As you can see I was far too busy to post any blog updates.

Tomorrow is Chemo treatment #9. Only 4 to go! Hopefully #9 goes as smoothly as #8 did. 

Saturday Stuff

Eric bought himself a new toy today. A soundbar and a sub-woofer. It goes nicely with his other new toy, the stereo. We have quite the acoustic set up in the living room now! And it sounds great. And he's happy, so that's all that matters!

And this makes me happy. This years "Cape House" for our September vacation. It's 66 North Shore Boulevard if anyone wants to check it out. (Click on the address.) And there's plenty of room for visitors! 

Eric is having a pretty good weekend. He ventured out to Best Buy today (for the speakers) and we had a big steak dinner tonight. He's feeling pretty good, which is so good to see. He even had ice cream for dessert. I can't wait for his weigh-in on Tuesday! The only thing really bothering him at this point is fatigue. But that's expected and naps are a good thing.

Egg Drop Soup Recipe

I have been asked to share my egg drop soup recipe. So I thought I'd post it here, just in case anyone else would like it too. It's super easy to make and it's really good. So give it a try!

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken stock (I use Knorr bouillon cubes)

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp garlic powder

3-4 large eggs (depending on how much egg you want, I use 4)

1 tsp soy sauce

1-2 drops of sesame oil (a little goes a long way)

green onions for garnish

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium sauce pan, whisk together chicken stock, cornstarch and garlic powder until all lumps disappear. Add sesame oil and soy sauce. Heat on high until boiling, stir occasionally. 

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs in a small measuring cup or bowl. (A measuring cup is best for pouring into the chicken stock.) Once the broth reaches a boil, remove from heat. Then use a fork or whisk to stir the broth in a circular motion, while slowly pouring the whisked eggs into the soup to create egg ribbons. Season with salt and pepper, also add a drop or two of more sesame oil if you'd like, but be careful, a little bit really does go a long way!

Serve immediately, top with green onions for garnish and another sprinkle of pepper.

Pizza, Pizza

Eric was in the mood for pizza again. That's 3 nights this week. He switched it up a little and went for a Wegmans pizza. We did some grocery shopping while we were there. And might have picked up a couple of donuts too. I swear we'll eat better once he's back to normal! (For the record, I had lemon chicken and roasted veggies, not pizza.)

Eric's been having stomach issues the last couple of days, so we picked up some Imodium too. Hopefully that helps alleviate the issues.

It's almost the weekend. Another weekend with no plans and lots of rest and relaxation. We might get some snow too. And that's fine. We have nowhere to be.

Random Things

Guess what I made last night?

Yep, a little egg drop soup.

Here's the tree outside my window at work. It snowed a little. Not too much though, but it makes it pretty outside. 

Eric's doing ok this week. He's pretty tired and has a lot of the usual side effects, but he's hanging in there. This week he seems to be liking pizza. We made some using tortilla shells as the crust. Bread seems to be giving him issues with swallowing, so the thin tortilla shells have been a good alternative. 

De Plane, De Plane!

Jenny got her latest Bark Box tonight. It was a Travel themed box. She LOVES the little airplane. It has not left her sight since. She also got a little duffel bag with a couple of tennis balls in it. But she doesn't have much interest in that. I know a couple of other dogs who would enjoy it... 

Jenny will always pause for the hope of getting some people food. The little airplane is resting close though. Eric had some homemade pizza that he was enjoying, Jenny might have gotten a little bite.

Sunday

We've got nothing new to report on the health front. Today was much the same as yesterday. Which is a good thing. Lots of resting and eating going on. At least for Eric. I ran errands, took the dog for a walk and puttered around the house most of the day. Aside from the parts where I sat on the couch and watched tv. We finished The Crown. Now I can't wait for season 2.

We're expecting a ton of rain/snow tomorrow. And wouldn't you know our sump pump is acting up. That's about all we need right now. Eric is keeping an eye on it. It doesn't seem to want to shut off, so it's working more than it should and it could burn out. I worry with both of us at work all day that it might crap out. Alex is back at school as of today, so the house will be empty. Fingers crossed the sump pump holds on. We think it's as old as the house, so it probably needs replacing.

Back to the grind tomorrow. We sure have been enjoying our quiet weekends. 5 more days until the next one!

Saturday Night

It's Saturday night of a lovely and quiet weekend. We haven't done much of anything. I ran a few errands and got a haircut today, while Eric snuck in a nap. We are on episode 8 of "The Crown." Eric started watching it with me. We'll probably finish the first season this weekend. It's a great mini series on Netflix if you're looking for something to watch.

Eric is doing pretty well. He's keeping hydrated. We figure that he's doing ok by how many times a night he has to get up to pee. He's been averaging 3-4 times a night. Last night was only once, but he said he should have gone much earlier. He is still drinking and eating well. He even had some ice cream tonight, something that would have been unthinkable before. He said his throat isn't as bad as it has been and he can tolerate "cool" things much better. 

Hydration Day

Eric had his pump removed today. (Yay!) And he had 2 hours worth of hydration. He also got a Neulasta shot again to keep the white blood cell count high. 

The end of the hydration.

Tonight I made Eric some more egg drop soup. This should last him through tomorrow! He was also weighed again today. He's up to 153 lbs. Hopefully he can at least maintain that, if not put a few more pounds on top of that. 

The Day After

Bob sent this photo to us today. I thought I'd share since I thought it was a really cool shot. 

Eric is doing ok today. He's trying hard to keep the fluids flowing. He drank (2) 20 oz. Vitamin Waters today, had some chicken broth with his egg drop soup (of course) and for dinner he had a pretty big serving of beef stew. So he's eating pretty well. He is still having issues swallowing though, but even though he's having a hard time with that, he's still forcing himself to eat and drink. 

Here's our hydration station... I stopped by BJ's tonight to stock up on Vitamin Water and Powerade. We were running low. He likes the Vitamin Water a lot more then he likes plain water, so it's a good alternative for him. And it has to be warmer than room temperature for him to tolerate it well. It's almost like it has to be body temp for him to be ok with it. Sometimes I'll soak a bottle in hot water for a few minutes to warm it up so it goes down easier. It's really crazy the things those Chemo drugs do to a body. Hopefully they are also doing what they're supposed to be doing, not just creating crazy, painful side effects.

Tomorrow he gets the pump removed around noon and then gets to relax for 2 hours while he gets some more hydration via IV. I told him he should just take a nice nap. I'm sure he'll be able to fall asleep no problem. 

Two-Thirds Done

Eric is 2/3's of the way done with Chemo! Only 4 treatments remain. He seems to be tolerating this round pretty well so far. They reduced the dosage by 20%, they took away the Benadryl that made him loopy/comatose last time plus they gave him a lot of extra IV hydration. He's been eating and drinking since he got home, also something that didn't really happen last time. I'm hoping these are all good signs to a smooth week ahead.

The photo above is the pump he has to lug around for 46 hours after each infusion. It comes with an IV bag filled with 5-FU, also known as Fluorouracil. There isn't a lot of it, but it's a powerful drug and has to be administered at a very slow rate. Thus the pump in a fanny pack thing. 

This was Eric's dessert tonight. He got this for Christmas and it's been unopened since. Since many readers of the blog are from Fulton, you can appreciate this. Eric told me they used to get 10 lb chocolate bars every year -this is only a 1 lb bar - so imagine, a 10 lb chocolate bar. That's a lot of chocolate!

The Infusion Begins

The chemo drugs have started. It takes 2 nurses to set them up. One of them wears a hazmat type of suit. The other makes sure the dosages and drugs are all correct.

Bob is here again. He'll be taking Eric home later. Thanks Bob!!

Eric was showing Bob his Surface Pro. Bob is in the market for a new computer of some sort. Eric never misses an opportunity to try to get more people on the Windows bandwagon.

Number 8 Starts at 8

We're here bright and early at 8am, we were the first ones to arrive. They're starting him off with 2 hours of hydration, then at one-hour, they'll start the pre-meds Once those are complete, they will start the chemo. So it'll be a little longer of a process, but he started earlier than usual, so hopefully he'll leave around the same time.

Quick Post

Nothing new to report today. Eric had the day off, which was great for him. We're a little nervous about tomorrow, but we're hoping the lower dosage and extra fluids will help with all the side effects and any dehydration issues he may have. And now that we know that he really needs to stay a lot more hydrated, we'll both be more aware of fluid intake and speak up to the doctor a lot sooner if there are any issues that arise.

Send all your positive thoughts for Eric tomorrow. I'll post updates as often as I can.

Burning and Resting

As predicted, we did nothing today. Eric continued his CD burning project. His pile keeps growing. Who knew he had so many CDs!

This is what Jenny did for most of the day. As a matter of fact, that's what most of us did. We just sat around watching tv. And eating. And napping. It was a good day. 

I'm the only one that has to work tomorrow. Eric has the day off. My company doesn't have MLK Day as a holiday. I'm glad Eric has another day to rest. 

Found this little gem while looking back to 2008 on the old blog. Thought I'd share. Look at those ears!!

Relaxing Weekend

We aren't doing much this weekend. Which is fine with us. Eric is continuing with the burn-a-thon with his CD's. He's up to about 100. We've also watched most of the 7-part "The Eighties" Miniseries on Netflix. It's been quite a trip down memory lane! Plus Alex and I started watching "The Crown." We're 3 episodes in on that. If you're not watching that, you should! It's great. I can't wait to watch more. But the NFL Playoffs have taken over the family room, so "The Crown" will wait. 

So it's basically a tv watching, cd burning, food eating weekend. And that's just the way we like it. Tomorrow will most likely be much of the same. And it's perfect, because Eric needs to rest up for the week ahead.

Thursday

Eric's been busy this week importing all his CD's into his new stereo system that he got for Christmas. (It's on top of that little end table to the right of him.) He's got quite the collection. And that's not even half or even a quarter of them. He's going to be busy for awhile. 

Today was quiet all around. Work then home. Then dinner and laundry. And making more egg drop soup for Eric. He's been eating quite a lot the last few days. I'd love to see him up to 155 lbs by Tuesday. He was at 151 yesterday. (And I'm sure he'll love the fact that I just posted his weight to the internet!)

Doctor Visit

Eric had an appointment with the oncologist yesterday. It was decided that Eric would continue with the chemo, but at a reduced dosage and with added fluids. His next round (#8) will be on Tuesday. Even with the reduced dosage, the benefits outweigh the risks of stopping completely. So he'll continue as long as he can. 5 to go.

We had a very busy day yesterday. After work and after the doctor, Eric's friend Chris came up from NJ for a visit and the 2 went out to dinner. (The beer was Chris', Eric's not quite up for that just yet!) Eric had a great time hanging out with Chris. Eric has the best friends.

And this was Eric's dessert.

And meanwhile, as Eric was enjoying dinner with Chris, I went to see Mama Mia! 

Me and my friend Erin, and Sue and other Sue and Sue's sister Carol enjoyed a really fun show! I'll be singing Dancing Queen for days!

And we got to enjoy an adult beverage beforehand too. What a fun evening. 

Egg Drop Soup

Eric was a teeny bit cranky this morning. He's rarely cranky, so trust me, he's allowed to be cranky when he wants to be. I'm ok with that. He was having trouble finding something to take for lunch. Nothing was really appealing to him. And he mentioned that he wished I'd made some Egg Drop Soup like I said I was going to. Then I felt really bad that I'd forgotten. He ended up making a turkey sandwich for himself, even though he didn't really want it. Sandwiches are kind of dry for him, his throat is still being funky from the chemo/drugs/etc. So he prefers things that aren't dry. Like soup.

We each went off to work and on my way I thought it would be nice to surprise him with some Egg Drop Soup. But my morning was really busy and the weather was gross, so I really couldn't go out to get him anything. So I called a nearby Chinese food place and had them deliver his beloved Egg Drop Soup. He sent me this photo. I might have ordered the largest container in the world, but at least he'll have lunch for tomorrow too. 

A Case of the Mondays

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning. Almost made me forget it was Monday for a minute.

Jenny has been following Eric everywhere. I think she really missed him when he wasn't here. She loves him. And he tolerates her really well. 

Nothing new to report. Just continued improvement and even a couple of pounds of weight gain. Or at least we think so. Our scale isn't terribly accurate, but it's up a few pounds from last week. So we think he's on the right track. He's still eating well and having lots of desserts. We'll worry about the sugar intake once this is over. For now, calories are important!

Good Day to Stay Home

It snowed on and off all day today and it was very cold out. It was a perfect day to not leave the house. Which nobody did. It was lovely. 

I made some chocolate chip cookies. We pretty much just sat around, watched tv and ate most of the day. It was such a great day. We haven't had a day like that in awhile, it was much needed. Eric's appetite is pretty good. He's eating a lot more. Taste is still an issue for him, but he's hungry, so he's eating. Sweets are still a favorite, but it's mostly because he can taste sugar more than he can taste salt. So he enjoys the sweets more.

The week ahead includes a meeting with the Oncologist on Wednesday. It's also a full week of work. Neither of us has had one of those in awhile. It'll be good to be back to a routine. 

Donut Day

I had to run to the bank this morning. And usually that also means we get donuts. There's a fabulous local donut shop called "Just Donuts" right next to the bank. We can't go to the bank without also stopping for donuts. It just can't be done. 

And wouldn't you know, today they were having a Facebook Special because they just got their 5,000th like. So we got a dozen donuts for $5. You can't beat that! I'm glad I was heading that way anyway, the line wasn't too bad when I got there, but it was out the door by the time I left. I'm glad they're getting a lot of business. They're a great local business. And the donuts are delicious.

We had sweet and sour chicken with rice and carrots for dinner. Eric liked it. He's eaten quite a bit today, including a couple of donuts. He's had a couple of bathroom trips, but nothing too extreme.  His hands are still bothering him. He's using lots of lotion and keeping the loose skin trimmed. And I'm trying to do everything for him that hurts his hands. (Such as opening bottles of water, washing the dishes, letting the dog out, zipping up his pants, etc.) I'm not sure how long this takes to heal, but I hope it's not too long.

It looks like Syracuse was spared from the latest snow that seems to be hitting the east coast. Not that we haven't had enough already (62" so far.) and I'm sure we'll be getting more soon enough. (Tomorrow.) Hope everyone on the East Coast stays safe and warm.

It's Friday Night!

We are so happy it's Friday. It was a long week. We're looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I'm planning on baking some goodies and making some nice dinners to help Eric bulk back up a little bit. He's doing great with eating again. It's nice to see. 

He went to work again today. He's a little tired, but none the worse for wear. It's amazing how resilient the human body can be. But I'm glad it's the weekend so he can get some more rest. 

His hands are still peeling, but he says they aren't burning any more. I really hope they get better soon. He's discovering it's hard not to have full use of his hands. Even getting the dog a treat out of a zip lock treat bag was difficult for him. I'm trying not to let him do too much, but he insists on doing a lot of things for himself. It's that stubborn side of him coming through. 

Thursday Evening Update

What a difference a week makes. Even a day really. Yesterday Eric's appetite seemed to really be coming back, today he ate a ton of food. And the bathroom trips have been reduced to a minimum.

And for those of you who know Eric well, this might not surprise you. But he went back to work today. I was a nervous wreck all day, but he kept me updated often. He promised to only stay for a half day, but of course stayed for the entire day. He's a stubborn one. I'm glad he's feeling better though. Now he needs to keep up with the eating so he can put the weight back on. He's become way too thin!

I know he appreciates all of the support and words of encouragement. It's been quite a road he's traveled and it's not over yet. He's still got a battle ahead of him. But as stubborn as he is, you know he'll be putting up one heck of a fight.

Wednesday Update

Eric had a quiet day at home today. He's still having some issues with diarrhea. He's been 4 times today. And that's with the medication. He had a craving for pizza tonight, so I picked up a homemade pizza from Nichols and brought it home and baked it. He ate 4 pieces! It wasn't greasy, so we're hoping it sticks around awhile. I think that's the most he's eaten in one sitting in about 2 weeks. It's nice that he's getting his appetite back. He just needs to keep the food in him for longer so it can be absorbed and so he can put a few pounds back on him.

Also, notice in the picture above that Jenny is about as close as she can get to him. She is SO happy that he's home. She was lost when he wasn't here. He's her favorite.

* * * I was told I should add a disclaimer here. There are a couple of graphic pictures below.
If you are squeamish, proceed with caution. * * *

So, Eric is having another issue too. His hands look like they have burns on them that have blistered and started peeling. It looks really painful, but he says it's not. Unless he catches the skin on something. He's got some bad neuropathy in his fingers from the chemo, so he doesn't feel things like he used to because his fingers are kind of numb.

Doesn't that look awful? I hope this heals quickly and I hope he starts feeling normal again very soon. It sucks all that he's been going through. He deserves some better days ahead.