If You Can't Find It, Make It - Crab Fried Rice

When my favorite Thai restaurant closed a few years ago, I searched in vain for a crab fried rice that was good as Nana's. Turns out I didn't have to go far to find it.

Go to Open Mouth, Insert Fork to learn how to make Thai crab fried rice - a dish where the crisp flavors of fish sauce, lime juice and ginger complement the subtlety of the crab.

A Trio of Good News

My PT scans were clean.

My EOS are under control.

I got to hang out with my friend Nancy, who also had appointments at City of Hope.

Lifelong and Long Life

It's easy to forget that I'm a "lifer" patient at the City of Hope. But on Tuesday, I'll have several reminders of my forever Hope status.

I'll start off the day with a shot of "Vitamin P," the notorious drug that Michael Jackson mainlined on a daily basis. Unlike the King of Pop, my propofol will be administered by a licensed anesthesioligist in a clinical setting. I'll fall to sleep right before my doctor jabs my rear with a thick needle to extract bone marrow for my annual bone marrow biopsy. And then I'll wake up 15 minutes later, feeling as thought I slept for ten straight hours. I can't wait!

Then I'll spend the next two hours wandering the campus for a mammogram and a bone density scan. (My choice of the word "wandering" is because of my nonexistant sense of direction.) I know it's probably a "business" decision for CoH to encourage patients to come to them for these services, but it's also convenient for me and a comfort to have all of my medical records in one place.

And, finally, I'll meet with Dr. Forman to discuss the results of the PT scan I had last week. The scan will confirm if I'm still in remission or if I've relapsed. Strangely enough, I'm not feeling the usual funny little "is she or isn't she" butterflies. I think it's because my non-patient life has been creating so many flutters that I can no longer tell the difference. I'll also find out if my pesky eosinophils (aka EOS) are behaving themselves.

It will be a long day, but, truth be told, I don't mind being a "lifelong patient," as long as that means that I'll have a nice, long life.

By popular demand: The little man in my life. I love to make him laugh.

Bouncing Back and Berries

After months of nearly non-stop sickies, I finally turned the corner a couple of weeks ago. Nothing serious or even EOS-related - just enough to slow productivity and squelch the appetite. But the first thing to return after I've physically bounced back is a healthy preoccupation with food.

My current obsession is strawberries; I can't seem to get enough of them. You can take a peek at my latest strawberry creations at Open Mouth, Insert Fork.