A few firsts!

Since my last post I have sorted out the low heart rate which was caused by one of the chemo drugs. While I was hooked up to a portable heart monitor, I carried it around in a cheery pink floral bag that Alana made for me earlier this summer during one of her projects with the kids at Children's Hospital where she volunteers. I must say though, carrying it around 24/7 brought back memories of the Ruth Buzzi and Arte Johnson skit "old woman, Gladys Ormphby, with the purse" on Rowan and Martin's Laugh In! Here is a link to the skits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaJ-HmfAnJM

I was also able to loose the 30lbs of water that I gained in 3 days after the second chemo with the aid of diuretics and keeping my feet up. My legs progressed from the size of elephants, to Brown Swiss Cows, to Holsteins, to Jersey Cows! Amazing how one's body can expand and contract in the time of a week! Good thing I had a pair of adjustable slip-on shoes to
accommodate the ever changing girth of my feet!

A week ago Friday I had the great pleasure of visiting with Kari and Leah who brought wonderful challah and shabbat treats! Leah is a doctoral student here at Washington University in St Louis and I really enjoyed learning all about her project. Karen and Julie came down last week as well and it was wonderful to catch up on all their summer news and Julie's upcoming study abroad in one of my absolute favorite cities: Edinburgh!

Stephen and Daniel arrived Thursday afternoon to spend the weekend and I was thrilled to hear all about Daniel's canoe trip to Quetico; and was especially pleased that he was able to experience some of Stephen and my favorites: Loons, aurora borealis and wild blueberries; not to mention swimming every day of course!

Freda was also a pleasant surprise on Thursday afternoon. She told us all about the amazing lunch she enjoyed in Effingham at the "Firefly Grill." They have their own farm produce and also procure what they do not grow from local farms. Believe it or not this gem is tucked away just behind the Starbucks.

If you do not know already, I adore food and flavor! I was really
surprised to find at the point just before my second chemo that I was enjoying a heightened sense of taste. So much so, that each bite of the same food, meal after meal, still tasted delicious! After my second chemo that has all changed. One week ago I hit a food flavor wall! I could not fathom eating anything I had been, it all started to taste the same. Luckily, Saul and Stephen were visiting and I sent them off to Schnuck's in search of any and all types of sauces that I could add to my meals for flavor. They returned with a variety of things which I worked through over several days to figure out what would agree with me. We hit upon some fabulous sliced, sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, and a company called Cibo Naturals that makes a variety of fresh pesto sauces and tapenades. We even discovered that cream cheese schmears from Einstein Bros. is also a satisfying flavor enhancer for pasta.

This week I was able to taste sweets again and it is a timely change as I had to give up my two beautiful bowls of oatmeal in the morning, which I thoroughly enjoy, for one bowl and an Odwalla mega protein drink! The funny thing is that it tastes just like "Bosco!" For those of you who have never heard of Bosco, think Hershey's.

Since I was able to taste sweets, I was also able to enjoy a special treat this weekend from the frozen yogurt shop "Chill", compliments of Alana and Jenny: cookies and cream with salted caramel - oh it was divine!

This past Saturday Daniel and Stephen wheeled me around the Siteman Center, which is attached to Schoenberg Pavilion and empty on the
weekends. We even ventured outside for a little while; and although temperatures were moderate for St Louis, the mask I need to wear heats up pretty fast, so it was hard to be out for long. We did revisit the 14th floor of the Siteman Center where we watched the Fireworks on July 4th, and the view remains phenomenal! On Sunday I walked with Stephen to the Siteman elevators and walked on the 14th floor unaided! We spied Alana and Daniel coming out of Panera across the street and, with the help of our cell phones, they were able to see us waving to them!

So, we are +day 18 from my second chemo, when my counts recover, we will see what is next, may take a couple more weeks though.

As always, thank you to everyone who is helping our family in Urbana, we greatly appreciate all your support!

Love,
Deborah