Routines
Oct 06
I’m back in the Chemo Room right now, which means I’m confined to a recliner and an IV pole for the next several hours. It’s one (more) thing I love about the Chemo Room: no lists, no rush, no To Do’s. I’ve got time to use my brain.
It’s an early day in the Chemo Room. Oncology doctors, like all doctors, tend to cover their hospital rounds (very) early and then see office patients later. It’s rare for me to get an appointment before lunch. (Doctors have long work days–especially the good ones like mine.)
Today is the day that I get all of my cancer-fighting oncology drugs:
-Faslodex is a shot I get every four weeks. It’s 10mL of gelatinous fluid injections, 5mLin each cheek. Yes, it hurts.
-Herceptin and Perjeta are IV biological drugs that get dripped in through my port. I’m ten minutes into my 2+ hour drip right now.
This morning I also drank my cancer-fighting juice: I blend up carrot, beet root, bok choy, kale and broccoli in my blender, strain/squeeze it through mesh bag and drink the 24 oz of juice that I’m left with. It’s a recipe I got from Dr. Clean–he’s been a great resource in wellness for me. He and others recommend adding a granny smith apple to the mix to take the edge off, but my theory is that the apple would make it taste only slightly less terrible, and there would also be more volume to consume. I prefer it in it’s power-packed form. (Sometimes I don’t have all five ingredients on hand, so I’ll sub out spinach, celery, broccoli sprouts or whatever vegetables I have in the fridge.)
Truth: it does not taste good. Truth: it’s really good for me. I don’t know who is more surprised that I’m drinking this concoction, me or my parents. I was always the picky eater, but I stand by the fact that most of my issues were textural. The fact that I can drink this stuff is evidence in that camp. It feels good to make healthy choices, so that’s what I’m trying to do. My blender is one of the best purchases we made; I use it daily, sometimes multiple times a day. A food processor is next on my list so that I can expand my list of healthy things to make. I’m also on the hunt for some good no-sugar sauces: things I could add to stir fries and roasted or raw veggies. Let me know if you have a good recipe or brand recommendation: the only requirement is no sugar. I’d love a thai plum sauce, a barbecue sauce, a hoisen sauce, peanut sauce, etc.
Greta and Maren watch me make this every morning. I usually make them their own smoothie, and they have two favorite recipes:
Berry Power: yogurt, milk, any kind of frozen fruit we have: peaches, berries, bananas and spinach (Shhhh! Don’t tell the girls I add spinach! They don’t know and they can’t taste it.) 🙂
Green Monster: milk, banana, spinach, peanut butter, chocolate protein powder or cocoa powder. For some reason, they accept that this one is green and drink it happily.
Sometimes we add chia or flax seeds and we experiment daily. These are fun because the girls like to help.
I’m trying to weigh the balance of time and energy and cost against the benefits of living and eating well. I feel like I just keep taking the next step and that’s the best I can do. Cooking has never been my favorite thing, but I do get satisfaction out of it.
Today I saw Rockstar, Dr. Wonderful’s nurse practitioner. She says that my tumor markers and cell search test (blood tests we do every three months) came back with perfect numbers again–I’m so blessed! My body says: Healthy! And I want to keep it that way. I’m taking steps to infuse as many healthy elements into my life as I can. Cheers to healthy routines!
Don’t forget, I am coming with you next appointment. Wish I was there with you now.
I had the opportunity to meet Cori and John Davenport in Atlanta this weekend. The are wonderful, amazing people.
Thinking of you today, Lisa
I am so glad you are eating well! 18 years ago when I was finishing up one of my ‘battles’ I asked to see a Dietician and they all looked at me like I was nuts. But I knew there had to be a healthier way to eat, to help heal and protect my body.
Good for you!
So weird that this is the subject of your post today. I decided this past weekend that I’d get a blender & check out the Budwig Protocol. I’m a 2X breast cancer survivor so I’m always looking for healthy cancer fighting foods but I have the same “texture” issues. I keep saying I’ll buy a blender but many people tell me its a waste of money b/c they can’t gag down the horrible concoctions. I think I’m like you Jen & find it easier to drink healthy crap, than to chew it up, so I’m ordering a good blender soon. What type is yours?
As I read this, I thought about what choices I would make if I was standing (or sitting) in your place. And yes, as picky as I was as a child and as unlikely as I am now to willingly drink such a concoction, I would drink that cancer-fighting juice. I think perhaps that straining it through the mesh is a key reason it is palatable.
We eat a lot of green soup at my house: a broth base (usually chicken broth and preferably from roasting a chicken in the crockpot) with all sorts of vegetables simmered in the broth, including a couple of cups of kale or spinach. Before serving, an immersion blender is used to make the soup “creamy” (or at least less chunky). The result is surprisingly delicious.
Do you have a Vitamix blender?
For kids, chocolate and peanut butter make everything taste better — even spinach! Besides, it makes perfect sense that monsters should be green. 🙂
I really like my Bullet blender. Each morning I do a frozen berry, kale, carrot, chia seeds with a few table spoons of Greek yogurt and water to thin it to drinking consistence. I don’t do as well throughout the day but at least I start it out right!!
I have a love~hate relationship with my blender. I love my morning smoothies; I hate to take apart the blender and clean it!!! Hahaha. One of my favorite morning drinks is a kale-mango smoothie. It’s easy peasy ~ 8 oz of cocnut water, a couple of huge handfuls of baby kale, 1 cup of frozen mango chunks, 1 scoop of egg white protein powder. Blend. It’s very green, but yummy. Another fav is a sweet potato smoothie. It’s 8 oz. of unsweetened, vanilla almond milk, a small sweet potato that has been cooked, chopped into cube & refrigerated the night before, a pack of stevia, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, a dash or two of cumin. (one scoop of any protein vanilla protein powder ~ optional). Blend. This one tastes a lot like a liquid pumpkin pie. Both have noticeable fiber but are not difficult to drink. Also, Jen I make stir fries several times a week sans any sauce at all. I first stir fry whatever combo of veggies I have in the crisper in coconut oil (nice flavor). Stir fry a few minutes until veggies are soft crisp. I remove these to a warm bowl. Then I take whatever meat, chicken, shrimp or scallops, season it with Konriko Greek Seasoning (yellow container with red lettering), put a tad more coconut oil in the wok (or huge skillet), stir fry it. I serve it all over quinoa/brown rice. No one ever misses having extra sauce. I almost always have quinoa in the frig. It’s easy to make. I toast the dry quinoa in a skillet (it will pop like popcorn) prior to cooking it in water. The difference in taste is amazing. Try it. I do not like to cook at all, but I do like to eat “Clean” so we almost always eat at home. Everything I serve is on the table 1/2 hour from the time I start and nothing requires a recipe! Keep up the healthy eating. I’m a big believer in pure food = great health. ♥p