I frightened myself tonight. After emerging from the shower, I caught a glimpse of my naked body in the mirror. I wasn't prepared for what I saw - a skeleton with skin.
Yes, I continue to lose weight, in spite of my attempts to consume at least 2,500 calories a day.
I have at least two ideas to put on pounds fast:
Go back to college: Is it true what they say about the "freshman fifteen"? I went from 115 to 135 in my first two months at a small Southern college. Biscuits and gravy. Grits and gravy. Gravy with gravy. Fried gravy. And lots of butter on homemade rolls fresh from the oven. I couldn't get enough.
Eat, Pray, Love: Author Elizabeth Gilbert gained 23 pounds while eating her way through Italy. I can't think of a lovelier way to fatten up.
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March 2008 - Sometimes I feel like a wig.
Sometimes I don't.
Up a tree and feeling on top of the world
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What does a writer do when she finds out she has stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma? She blogs. Because, as everyone knows, cancer sucks, but blogging rocks.
On January 26, 2007, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma (blastic variety), a rare, aggressive and treatment-resistant form of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
My team at the City of Hope decided to bring out the big guns - six rounds of Hyper CVAD followed by an autologous stem cell transplant. I bounced back after each round of chemo, but my blood counts didn't.
After four rounds we called chemo quits and started collecting stem cells for the auto stem cell transplant. The harvesting took three tries, two drugs and eight weeks, but I finally eked out the minimum two million stem cells.
After megadoses of chemo, I received my stem cells on November 14 and 15, 2007. I bounced back almost immediately. Best of all, I achieved complete remission from the Mantle Cell Lymphoma.
In January 2008, I was hospitalized for 11 days for chemo-induced pneumonia. I bounced back.
In the summer of 2008, my eosinophils (a component of the white blood cells) rose to dangerous levels and infiltrated my lungs and GI tract. My weight dropped to 105 pounds, and I was incapacitated for nearly three months. Once again, I bounced back.
I continue to make monthly visits to the City of Hope for blood tests and check ups, quarterly visits for maintenance Rituxan and semi-annual visits for scans.
I'm still in remission and have more energy than ever. And about that perfect purse? I keep looking.
Here are a few other things keeping me busy:
My food blog, Open Mouth, Insert Fork
My consulting business, A New Leaf Communications
The Orange Cat, a site for family fun in the San Gabriel Valley
A3M - Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches
YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley
IWOSC - Independent Writers of Southern California
On January 26, 2007, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma (blastic variety), a rare, aggressive and treatment-resistant form of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
My team at the City of Hope decided to bring out the big guns - six rounds of Hyper CVAD followed by an autologous stem cell transplant. I bounced back after each round of chemo, but my blood counts didn't.
After four rounds we called chemo quits and started collecting stem cells for the auto stem cell transplant. The harvesting took three tries, two drugs and eight weeks, but I finally eked out the minimum two million stem cells.
After megadoses of chemo, I received my stem cells on November 14 and 15, 2007. I bounced back almost immediately. Best of all, I achieved complete remission from the Mantle Cell Lymphoma.
In January 2008, I was hospitalized for 11 days for chemo-induced pneumonia. I bounced back.
In the summer of 2008, my eosinophils (a component of the white blood cells) rose to dangerous levels and infiltrated my lungs and GI tract. My weight dropped to 105 pounds, and I was incapacitated for nearly three months. Once again, I bounced back.
I continue to make monthly visits to the City of Hope for blood tests and check ups, quarterly visits for maintenance Rituxan and semi-annual visits for scans.
I'm still in remission and have more energy than ever. And about that perfect purse? I keep looking.
Here are a few other things keeping me busy:
My food blog, Open Mouth, Insert Fork
My consulting business, A New Leaf Communications
The Orange Cat, a site for family fun in the San Gabriel Valley
A3M - Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches
YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley
IWOSC - Independent Writers of Southern California
March 2008 - Sometimes I feel like a wig.
Sometimes I don't.
January 2009
Up a tree and feeling on top of the world
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- Returning to Normal
- The Healing Power of Pecan Sticky Buns
- Thank You, Friends
- Sicko
- To Walk or Not to Walk
- Ironic Death
- I need fat!
- One in a Million
- Ding Dong
- When Breathing is a Competitive Sport
- The Trio
- It's not my imagination
- Lazy Susan
- Happy Birthday Susan!
- The Michael Phelps Diet
- How low can you go?
- A BIG Date
- Make it and break it
- Then and Now
- Help! There's a Chihuahua in my kitchen.
- What's goin' on?
- Ready or not, here I come!
- Incremental
- Dee Dee Who?
- The Good, the Bad and the Lumpy
- Feel that tingle?
- The City of Blooderly Love
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Cancer Banter
I can't die. I still have to find the perfect purse.
9 comments:
Smookie,
You need another Philly Cheese Steak? Or maybe a pastrami from Everest?
I could do a noon run for you on Wednesday or Thursday. Let me know.
go to the website "eat this-not that" and eat all the "not that's"! They are very high calorie, yummy no-nos for those of us who would like to give away our fat. I love you, MY Susan. I am praying for you and I am so concerned abut you being there alone...esp since you passed out. Did you tell the doc? Love, Suzy
Susan,
I'll be in the area Sunday and will drop some fat off at your house. I'll check with the you that morning to see what sounds good -- Porto's potato balls and a cheese danish, Everest pastrami and chili cheese fries, something from Mitsuwa, you name it.
With love and mental calories,
Barbara F.
so, go be a freshman at college in Italy! You'll weigh a good 200lbs SOON! ;-)
during my rounds of chemo, I could not seem to keep down anything other than simple carbs. Pita chips from Trader Joe's, mashed potatos, soda crackers, some simple white breads. The rest all came up. Some days, I ate carbs like they were going out of style. I lost a total of 54 pounds. Sure, during some of it I was not keeping everything down, but for those who say carbs are the problem---haven't had the ALL carb diet! Well, that AND chemo...but I digress.
Eat something, anything, well, ANYTHING you want and often. Being that skinny won't help you fight anything off.
And, as I have previously offered, you are MORE than welcome to my excess already stored fat. Take it, I have plenty to give and would be HAPPY to donate to you.
Eat. Eat. Eat. Eat. Eat.
hugz!
Wish I could send you some of my fat from Australia! When I was in hospital and having to try to put on weight (probably the only time in my life!) I hated the unnatural-tasting protein drinks they tried to give me and ate lots of cream with everything! Cream on porridge, on fruit, etc. I added it to soups and pretty much everything. You could try that ... :)
Hi
I'm pretty thin but was never happy with my butt. I finally lost it when I lost 20 pounds during my first induction in 2003. But really I was too skinny. I gained the weight (and the butt) back just by eating normal non-hospital food...and lots of dessert like ice cream or better yet, ice cream and cake. If you have trouble digesting milk, maybe you could try some lactaid shakes. You'll get your protein and some fat too. How about something nutritious but fattening like an avocado? Try a sandwich with hummos, avocado and cheese. Good luck!
Thank you for all of the tips.
Now bring on the BLTs with avocado. Bring on the pastrami sandwiches. Bring on the potato balls. Bring on the cream.
Hey, I'm suddenly hungry!
Susan,
Have you tried adding carb powder to your food? You might want to look at this...
http://www.amazon.com/Carbo-Gain-NOW-Foods-Specialty/dp/B000JN4COS/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1219818100&sr=8-2
Love
Chris and Ann
Susan,
In case you want to follow up with me, I noticed that my blog info was incorrect. This posting has the correct one. I'll check in again and hope you've found some fat.
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