Monthly Archives: October 2015

by Ramona

Luscious Almond Cheesecake

As requested. Besides, we’ve had enough healthy stuff posted here for a while.

CRUST
1 1/4 cups crushed vanilla wafers
3/4 cups finely chopped almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

FILLING
4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

TOPPING
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 cup toasted sliced almonds

In a bowl, combine wafers, almonds, and sugar; add the butter and mix well. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 10-in springform pan; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add extracts; beat just until blended. Pour into crust.

Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove from the oven; let stand for 5 minutes.

Combine sour cream, sugar, and vanilla; spread over filling. Return to the oven for 5 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack; chill overnight. Just before serving, sprinkle with almonds and remove sides of pan. Store in the refrigerator.

notes
It says to use chopped almonds for the crust – I crush almonds instead until most of them are the same consistency as the crushed wafers (some almond chunks are left, but they’re pretty small too). I always use butter instead of margarine.

When it comes out of the oven before putting on the topping, it’s usually up to the top of the pan. It collapses a bit as it cools and after you put the topping on. I’ve never topped with the toasted sliced almonds it suggests. I’ve also served it without the overnight cooling and it’s been fine. It gets firmer as it cools, but it’s been just fine for me after about 4 hours.

by Ramona

Staging & Treatment Plan (part 2)

The consult at MD Anderson went very well.

The oncologist we saw (who we really liked) looked through all the tests and said that the treatment plan already outlined is what he would recommend as well. Furthermore, he said that chemo is pretty much the same wherever – the drugs are what they are – and we can do that here but do our check-ins with him. However, for the final radiation component, there is some operator expertise involved, so we’ll do that part at MD Anderson itself.

So we have a final treatment plan. We may have to make some tweaks based on holidays, Joseph’s reaction to the chemo, and any upcoming infections, but here’s the overall plan:

Chemo:
8 total treatments; 1 chemo day every other week.
First treatment is this Thursday (10/29) and will continue to be on Thursday afternoons (except where it bumps into the holidays).

PET scans
There will be a PET scan halfway through the treatment (as scheduled, that would be the week of Christmas. We’ll see.) and another one at the end of treatment. Both of those will be in Houston.

Radiation
At the final PET scan, they’ll do some other scan for the radiation team to plan their approach. And then we’ll find out the radiation plan and go with it.

The PET scans should show us how effective the chemo was. If they show us we need to do another round, we’ll figure it out from there. The radiation is to keep it from coming back.

by Ramona

Staging & Treatment Plan (part 1)

We are seeing a local oncologist. We’re also going to be in Houston next week getting a second opinion.

So this is the local dr’s assessment and treatment plan. We’ll see how closely it agrees with what the good doctors in Houston have to say next week.

It is at Stage 2A. Stage 2 means it’s in multiple locations, but it hasn’t spread out of the chest (it’s a bad marker if it’s moved below the diaphragm) and it hasn’t spread to any other organ systems. ‘A’ means that he doesn’t have any physical symptoms (sudden weight loss, fever, night sweats, extreme lethargy).

The treatment plan for this is 8 doses of chemo. It’ll be one day of chemo every two weeks, so the whole thing takes 4 months to get through. Then he’ll have another set of CT/PET scans to see how effective the chemo was. This will be either followed by radiation in the current hot spots, or radiation and further treatment.

All that remains is to see how hard the chemo hits. But in general, this seems like a timeframe and a schedule that we can manage.

by Ramona

ZOMG Help

This is going to be a long laundry list of things that I have though of that would be helpful.

I don’t need anyone to do all of these things. I’m listing all the things that come to mind specifically because I don’t want you all to think you have to do all the things. Pick the things that seem good and doable and fun to you. They will all be helpful to me.

And if a thought I’ve listed suggests some permutation to you, it is very likely a good thought. Feel free to ask, but also feel free to innovate and surprise.

Continue reading →

by Ramona

Support

I’ve been giving some thought to the ‘what can we do to help?’ question.

Truth is, there’s lots of stuff that would be helpful. But I don’t really know how to list it.

I made an Amazon list for the things-in-a-store stuff. If that works, I can continue to fill that in.

Every time I list the more intangible stuff here, though, it starts to sound weird. Any suggestions? Reassurance that if I list lots of ideas, you won’t all think I’m being demanding or weird?

by Ramona

The Violet Cancer

This post was “The New Normal” but apparently Joseph feels even more strongly that that is an irritating expression.
What an appalling phrase. It’s only used when you’re adjusting to something tremendously bad, and yet there’s this veneer like it could be anything (good or bad) that’s happened. It’s a euphemism that doesn’t even try to be happy; like the best it could manage is to pretend to be neutral. Blech.

And yet, here we are. All unbalanced looking for any normal.

So everyone knows by now – Joseph has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. With cancer.

We’re still in the testing phase. We don’t know what stage the disease is at, or when treatment will begin (though we expect progress on both of those questions this week).

I’ll be posting more as I know more.

Oh, and apparently Hodgkins lymphoma is violet.

by Nelia

Now That’s a Worm

Carrie sent me a picture of a Tomato Hawk worm that they found wandering around on their front porch.  He must have been in a garden that was harvested and uprooted for the fall because he is obviously well fed.  They still had some tomato plants so they gave him a new home.

hornworm

“The tomato hornworm, Manduca quinquemaculata, is the larva of a sphinx moth, also known as a hawk moth. Caterpillars of the tomato hornworm grow up to four inches in length, then form a dark brown pupa in the soil. During this resting stage the larva transforms into an adult moth. The life cycle from egg to adult can occur in less than two months during the summer but in winter the pupae remain in the soil for several months.  The adult moth, which has a wingspan over four inches and a body length of about 2″, is a strong flier and is sometimes mistaken for a hummingbird. It may be seen at dusk hovering over flowers and sucking nectar. The female moth mates then lays eggs on tomato plants.”

sphinx moth

 

It will turn into a Sphinx Moth (also called Hawk Moth).  If the size of the worm determines the size of the moth, it’s going to be a big one.

I’m glad Carrie and David like insects and saved this one.