Subscribe
Tag Cloud
1950s television Alsace animal behavior Asbestoses Bakewell Tart baking banana coconut upside down cake bananas Barefoot Contessa beach beans beauty beer can chicken Ben E King blueberry Book Review Boom De Ya Da Bradenton Florida cabbage cake canine lung worm carrot salad casserole cassoulet Celebrity Constellation Celebrity cruiseline cheese chicken chicken and dumplings chicken fricasse'e Chicken Salad chicken thighs chihuahua chocolate christmas pudding coconut commercialization of Christmas Condor Ferries contrived ignorance cooking video Cornwall COSTCO cottage pie couscous Cream of Tortilla Soup Cream Recipes cream teas crockpot croutons cruise ship menu cultural awareness current event Curry Dauphinoise Potatoes decorating desserts Dick and Jane Ding Dong School Dinner Discovery Channel diversity dog psychology dogs Easy Recipes eggs enamel coated cast iron English Cooking English trains Enzos on the Lake Epcot extrovert Fall Food Fast Easy Fresh Fennel Recipes fish florida food preparation France Frances Horwich French cooking fresh green beans Fresh Market fresh pasta fresh vegetables fruit tart gardening genital euphenisms George Pullman grandchildren greek yogurt grilling ground lamb ground beef guardian ad litem ham hocks Handicaps Havanese healthy food home decorating how to clean leeks I Have a Dream Ina Garten Indian food introvert Italian Cooking Italian Food IVIG Kix Cereal lamb lamb curry lamb palak lamb shahi khorma lamb shanks Lasagna leek and potato soup Leeks leftovers literacy love song low-carb main course Mallomars Marissa Tomei marriage Martha Stewart Martin Luther King Mary Oliver Meat Recipes meatloaf mental illness Michael Portillo Mickey Rourke Miss Frances modern omelet monkey bread Moroccan muffins Mushroom Recipes Mushrooms Nelsonian knowledge New England Style Cooking Nixon NY Times Obama one dish meal onion tart onions oscar nominated pack dominance pack leadership pakora parenting Parmesan Recipes pasta pate brisee Paula Deen peach cake Peeps peppermint bark photo photography photos pina colada monkey bread pineapple poached poem polish cooking politics poverty pullman dining car raspberries recipe recipes refrigerated rolls riding the rails roast chicken Rush Libaugh RV lifestyle salad Sally Field salmon Samsung Appriances Sand Hill Crane Sand Sculpture Sausage Recipes sausages Schizophrenia school children hear Obama speak self-perception shepherd's pie Siesta Key Florida snails souffle soup South Florida spaghetti squash Spinach St. Malo Stand By Me Whistle Blower summer meal sweet bread Taffy Tandoori cooking Technology Ted talks The Help theme park This Was the Week That Was Tin Can Tourist Tom Gross transatlantic cruise travel trailer tropical plants UK UK Guardian article urban blight Valentine's Day vegetables vegetaria video VIMEO viseo welsh terrier white blood cell count wild salmon Willful Blindness Willful Ignorance wood look porcelain tile World Showcase Youtube Youtube video zucchini Zuni Cafe Roast Chicken

« At the CopacaDan-a | Gob Smacked and Pissed Off »
Friday
Sep252009

And the Winner Is...

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I write this with a humble heart filled with gratitude and a sincere appreciation for life.  I saw the oncologist yesterday.  I am again manufacturing white blood cells.  My levels are not yet normal, but they are climbing.  I feel better.  The sweats and the headaches have stopped although I am still somewhat fatigued.

This is the theory as to what happened.  I take the IVIG infusions to supress my immune system.  Some people take IVIG to boost their immune system because it is weakened.  To quote my doctor, "You have the Rotweiller of immune systems.  It is constantly on guard and wants to attack invaders.  It is termed a hypervigilant immune system.  If there are no invaders, it will attack whatever it can, in your case, the myelin sheath lining your nerves."  When I get the IVIG antibodies, it is to flood my system and wipe out those Rotweiller antibodies (anti-antibodies) that I make.  Conceptually it's like chemo treatment for cancer that has to wipe out everything to wipe out the cancer cells and then rebuild.  Fortunately, I am healthy and knocking out the white blood cells destroyed them, but I am capable (we now know) of manufacturing more.  I just have a critical period where I haven't made enough white blood cells yet and it can be very dangerous.  But we're aware of it now and can take precautions.

The only real question now is whether the IVIG does me enough good to make it worth taking the risk.  I decided not to think about that one today.  I mean, if Scarlett O'Hara can think about it tomorrow, why the heck can't I?  Instead, I made a Zuni Cafe Roasted Chicken.  It's really really easy and is very chicken-dependent.  I promise I'll write it up soon.  And furthermore, I will deny I ever said this BUT...it's better than a COSTCO rotisserie chicken in that unlike the COSTCO the Zuni chicken skin is crisp crisp crisp while the meat is tender tender tender.  And No, Dr. Federman I did not eat any of that crispy, scrumptious, tingle your every tastebud chicken skin.  I know my cholesterol is way high and that why you give me Prevastatin.  I was just ummmm you know, saying it about the skin....

Thanks especially to all of you for being so very kind to me and so very supportive.  I truly am humbled by you.  Now, I am going to take a nap and will try my hand at a corn pudding later.

 

PS: If I owe you an email::::waving at Holly and Jill:::I promise I will get to it soon.

Reader Comments (2)

dont worry about the email, dana whenever. hoped i would be ready to drive this week but try out in the drive wasnt that successful. just have to keep exercises going. pete not very well at present. doct says chest infection but he doesn't appear to be coughing much which is puzzling. thought your chicken looked great but pete isnt really eating much and i reckon jacket potation for me this evening. getting toned up for bonfire night.

September 28, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterJill

Looks good can almost taste it
Can't wait for your Thanksgiving Turkey

September 29, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterShirley

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>