She's better today....still walking with a humped back...tried to shake after her morning outside visit, but thought better of it, so I know she still hurts, but her eyes aren't quite so sad and she's eating. Doesn't want to turn on her back for a tummy rub....and winces at a back rub....so it's been ears and face for now. Hope tomorrow brings more improvement. She's not happy that I won't let her up on her favorite high perch to watch the critters in the yard. Thanks for the continuing TLC. Linda C

Kathy, please don't leave. I am still here. I just can't find much time to get on here with my mom visiting. I hate to get on the computer and just leave her sitting. Mom is leaving Saturday, and I am going to get back into working out for sure. I have really neglected it and I can tell. Although with all the eating I have done this month off of my diet, I am down two pounds past my goal I set for myself back into July when I went on the south beach diet. I set a new goal for myself, so I want to loose a few more pounds by January. Please stay,Kathy!

I see you have curry -- this is an adaptation of a Bon Appetit recipe. I have made it with chicken, pork (can't remember if it was a leftover cooked or uncooked pork loin). I think you could also use one or more beans for the protein and it would be yummy (black and garbanzo come to mind for some reason, but use what you like). I have pumpkin puree in the freezer but first made this with canned. Butternut squash comes prepped if that is easier for you -- or prep enough for several meals and have it already done. Pumpkin Shrimp (or whatever) Curry 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup sliced onion 1 tablespoon minced ginger 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 plum tomato, chopped 1 15-ounce can pumpkin purée 2 cups vegetable broth 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 cup butternut squash, roasted and diced 1 zucchini, sliced (or baby zukes if available) 1/2 cup or more green peas (fresh or frozen) 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice Steamed rice Cilantro Lime zest Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and ginger; sauté until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute. Stir in plum tomato and pumpkin purée; cook, stirring frequently, until pumpkin is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add vegetable broth, coconut milk, curry powder, and cayenne pepper; simmer for 20 minutes. Add butternut squash, zucchini, peas, shrimp, and lime juice. Simmer until shrimp are cooked and squash is warm. Serve with steamed rice. Top with cilantro and lime zest. Another good idea is to make a batch of marinara sauce and freeze portions you can put over pasta, something simple like stuffed zucchini (we're having it tonight), use it for pizza sauce. Meals in the freezer are a great way to maximize the benefit of your time in the kitchen and control cost. Even if you don't want to have the same meal over and over, roasting a whole chicken gives you a hot meal plus cooked meat that is ready when are. Veggies like pumpkin, butternut and other winter squashes are so nice to have on hand already prepped and they freeze well -- cooked or raw. When we had our kitchen redone, I cooked ground beef and froze it in ziploc bags. I seasoned some for tacos or taco salad and made sloppy joes with some. I had some cooked chicken and turkey. For me it was a good way to lessen the icky dishes I had to wash in the bathtub, but the same idea can make your time easier to manage with whatever proteins you use. Salads are a great way to eat this time of year -- some sliced meat, fish or chicken (a great way to use leftovers), beans or cheese with lettuce that's ready to go plus fruit or fresh veggies or not. Also things like a bean salad, pasta salad (can include beans, tuna or chicken), corn salad or other marinated salad. Most of those will make a nice lunch or casual supper -- but they don't freeze well, so you need to learn to make them with leftovers, what's on hand or other ways to keep the scale down. I tasted a bean salad at Trader Joe's today that was just 3 cans of different beans, a container of their prepared chopped veggies (broccoli, cabbage, red cabbage, carrots, radishes and celery in about 1/2 inch dice - easy enough to do yourself) and a bottle of Tuscan Italian Dressing. That and a Southwest Bean salad (made with salsa and lemon or lime juice for the dressing) are things I could eat a bowl of for a meal. If those appeal, let me know and I'll look up the recipes. Sandwiches and breakfast for dinner are usually both economical and on the quicker side. Also -- baked poatatoes, white or sweet. Athenian Stuffed Potatoes 4 8oz baking potatoes 1 6 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts 2 tsp olive oil 1 onion, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 1 red bell pepper, diced (I've used mixed reed,yellow and orange too) 1 tomato, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 c (4 oz) crumbled feta cheese 2 T minced kalamata olives 1 tsp dried oregano The recipe says to foil wrap and bake the potatoes at 375 for an hour, but knowing that you don't want a long hot bake, I will tell you that we have always cooked the potatoes in the micro and move on. Drain the artichoke hearts, reserving the liquid. Chop artichokes. Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add onions, peppers, tomato and garli. Saute about 8 min. Add artichokes, 1 T of the reserved marinade, cheese, olives and oregano. Saute 1 minute more or until thoroughly heated. Slit the cooked potatoes, fluff with fork and scoop 1 cup vegetable mixture into cavity. If you have leftover filling and don't want another potato, the filling is great tossed with pasta and grilled chicken or sausage -- though not vegetarian. I had a large group to feed this spring and doubled the filling, added a can of petite diced tomatoes, tossed it with pasta and served it with sliced grilled chicken and sausage on the side so we had a vegetarian and a non-chicken option. I liked all three variations. Hope that helps.

Sue, I had to come back to ready your full post about the treatment plan they are recommending for you. Is this plan the maintenance plan to keep the counts stable or is this plan because your numbers are up? There’s a difference. After the Revlimed quit working, the doctors tried several treatments on my husband, I don’t recall all the long conveluted names but Darvalex sounds familiar. I know one was a shot but another was a full day of infusions once a month. Still, the side effects were minimal, he was just uber tired, some of which was attributed to the rapid increase of the lightchains in his blood. Now, I’m sure your doctors won’t appreciate me saying this at all, but during his 8 years of treatment, my DH had tons of infusions, but never had a port. He was encouraged (even strongly encouraged) to have one installed, but he didn’t want one and would never agree to it. What were they going to do? Refuse treatment? No, Why? Because this journey is about you and what you feel comfortable with. So, if you don’t want a port, if that part makes the process less bearable for you, tell them no and to find a vein. Sure over a long period of time it can scar your veins, but for now...until that starts to happen, just tell them you don’t want one. There is a nurse at our clinic who has become a dear friend. She’s been a Cancer Nurse for years and years and even she admitted the port is pushed in part because it makes their job easier, which to be honest, really irks me. It’s not supposed to be about them. Also, are you aware that some of the drug companies are offering huge rebates on their drugs? One day out of the blue, the doctor’s office called to let me know I had a bill for 11,000 which was for 2 treatments the insurance was refusing to pay. But she said, don’t panic, the drug company was offering a rebate for all but a 5.00 copay for each treatment. She ASKED if I’d like to go that route. (silly question) and said that she’d even facilitate the paperwork for me. So you might want to inquire about that with your clinic’s Administrator. I don’t get advisories when someone posts to me, so I will watch the thread for your response. I do hope your numbers aren’t rising.