Crazy hectic last few days...

So the last few days were kinda crazy hectic....

Sooo back when we were in the hospital with my Dad the doctors stressed that while his counts are down he can pick up any types of infections and to check his temperature regularly.  If the temperature went up to 100.5 we would have to take him immediately to the ER...We have been taking it everyday to be cautious and it has been fine.....On Thursday we took him to get his blood taken and saw the local Oncology Doctor.  He mentioned to them he's been taken Tylenol every few hours because his tooth has been bothering him.  They were a little alarmed since his counts are so low and his white blood is at 0 there are no bacteria or infection fighting cells left in his body...  They gave him Oxycodone for the pain instead because Tylenol can mask a fever.  They also gave him 2 more antibiotics to help fight infection from his tooth.  I knew right then and there that once the Tylenol had warn off he would have a fever.  Once we got home and he said he was cold when it wasn't really that cold out I took his temp.  Sure enough it was 99.5...  He usually runs low at 97.5.. He had stayed in bed a few days and when the antibiotics started working and his fever finally broke.  I was on edge all weekend worried that we would have to take him to the ER.... 

On a happier note...

Thursday night Matt and I went out to my favorite Chinese restaurant...   

Scorpion Bowl...delish!

 

We shared an appetizer sampler, got hot and sour soup and then I got my favorite sushi. Tempura Ebi Roll..it is soo good.. I am not into the raw types of sushi, this one is just 1 cooked tempura shrimp with lettuce, cucumber and avocado.   I tried Matt's raw red snapper roll....it wasn't bad but the thought of it being raw made me a little freaked out.

This was Matts fortune haha

 

 

Friday and Saturday I had to work at the country club as usual.  Usually I have to work on holidays, but I told my boss my Dad not feeling great and he let me have Fathers day off.

 

Kaitlynn and her boyfriend, Jeff came home on Saturday.  Sunday was Father's Day and my Dad was still not feeling too great, but at least he could get out of bed and sit with us in the living room for awhile.  Every Father's day I usually buy him a lobster, mussels or steamers but since he was not feeling great, he wasn't up to having any of that.  As soon as he's feeling better I will defiantly make it up to him.  Me and my sister got him gift cards to Sears because he wants a new snow blower.  We also got him a few scratch tickets and he won $20! :)

 

Here are a few pictures from this weekend:





 

 

This is Cody playin out side.  It was taken with my Sisters new GoPro Camera!

 

Me and My Sister Kaitlynn :)

oops...we went to the local creemee...I got blackberry ice cream with sprinkles...I know I know..not a healthy few days with the Chinese food and ice cream...but sometimes its hard with all the stress and need a break...

 

I am back on the game this morning though.  I made another smoothie for breakfast;

1/2 Frozen banana

1 scoop Optimum Nutrition Extreme Milk Chocolate Whey

1/8 cup of Chobabi Plain yogurt

1 Tbsp Smuckers natural Peanut butter

(406 Calories: 9.5g Fat, 52.4 Carbs, 31.8 Protein)

For lunch I packed a salad with lean steak and for snacks a hard boiled egg and raw broccoli and carrots..  I will try and keep my carbs lower during the day since the smoothie took up so many.

 

Matt wants to take me to dinner tonight since I did not get to see him this weekend with my Dad being sick and all..  Since I don't have time to go to the gym today I am making myself a promise to workout when I get home from work and to order the healthiest I can while were out.  It's so hard to find time for the gym when I work and someone at home is as sick as my Dad is.  I have tried the morning gym thing and that is just as hard as it sounds.  I don't really have a hard time getting up and going in the morning, its how I feel afterwards during the day.  Around 12ish my body just hits a wall and I get so exhausted at work.  Maybe it's because I have no windows at all in my workspace.  I literally look at a cement wall.. Oh well I guess you just gotta make due with what you got.. ok now I am rambling..

Thanks again for listening..

 

 

Dads home!

Well Sunday was a good day because we took my Dad home from the hospital.  He was finished with chemo and his Doctor said he was able to be home while his counts drop.  They would rather have him at home instead of the hospital where it is crawling with germs.  There are a few down sides to this though....  His counts are going to drop which means he will grow weaker and be more susceptible to any type of infection.  His Doctor said that 8/10 patents come back with a fever.  We are crossing our fingers we will be lucky enough that we will make it through the stretch with no complications.  So far everything seems good...

 

On the other hand, yesterday I started to eat healthy again.  It is so hard to stay on track while on the go and in the hospital.  You would think that the hospital would have nice healthy meals...NOPE  In the cafeteria they have pizza, French fries, chicken tenders, onion rings, mac and cheese, tacos, sandwiches...and a small lousy salad bar.  I did try my hardest this time to not go for the worst things, so most of the time I would just get a half a sandwich or salad.  I'm glad I don't have to be there anymore..


Soooo speaking of healthy.... I just purchased a Nutribullet:

 

I think that it will help out a lot with breakfast and protein smoothies.  I used this the first time yesterday morning and it works really good!  I was skeptical about purchasing this because I heard bad reviews on the Magicbullet but the Nutribullet is much more sturdy with pretty good reviews. And not to mention $100!! I did wait until I had a 20% off coupon from Bed Bath and Beyond to make the purchase a bit more reasonable..  Previously, I had a Ninja blender but it was so big and was a pain to clean.  I love the fact that you make the smoothie right in the cup that you can take to go after its done.  It blends so much more smooth. I love it.

I am still experimenting with the ingredients but this one is;

A handful of Spinach

A little bit of Kale
1/2 a frozen Banana

3-4 frozen Strawberries

6 small frozen pineapple chunks

About 1/4 cup Almond Breeze (Original and unsweetened)

1/3 cup Cellucor Vanilla Whey

 

This blend was okay ...but it seemed to be missing something...so this morning I found a way to make it even better!!

 

I used the same recipe but used half the Almond milk and added Acai juice

 

and about 1/4 of a granny smith apple!

oh YUM! It gives it a more sour taste which is exactly what I think the first smoothie lacked.


Now I just have to find time for the gym...............
That's all for now
 

 

 

Cancer Sucks!

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I apologize in advance; this is not going to be a happy post....

2 Days ago my Dad was admitted again to Oncology.  His cancer has returned....

I guess I will start off with a little history..

He was diagnosed back in 1998 with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  I was honestly too young to remember what actually was going on.  I just remember visiting him in the hospital because he was sick, but since the hospital was about 2 hours away I didn’t go there often.  He received chemo twice because the lymphoma came back a few years later.  He then had a stem cell transplant and was cancer free for 14 years.

Jump forward to this past December... I remember coming down with a really bad cold that just wouldn't go away.  Soon after my mom and then dad both caught the flu too..coughing, stuffy nose, chills, common flu symptoms..  Finally, my mom and I got better but my Dads cold just kept lingering on, especially with a bad cough, chills, and fatigue...  He thought that he just needed more rest and hopefully he would get better..but it just didn't.  He grew so weak that he could hardly walk from one room to another.  I begged him to finally go to the Doctors and he did.  They took a blood sample and then told him it must just be allergies and sent him home with Allegra.  The next morning we got a call from the doctors to take him immediately to the ER because they noticed he had a very low red blood cell count and high white.  This means his body was on overload trying to fight off something.  After what it seemed like hours the ER doctor came in and said it looks like his cancer has returned.

He then got rushed down to another hospital with a cancer center 45 mins away..

It wasn't until the next morning that he called my mom from the hospital telling her the doctor said it was Leukemia (AML).  We rushed down there and they explained that it was most likely caused from the chemotherapy he’s received in the past..

How could this be?  How could curing one cancer lead to another?  It just isn't fair.

Fast forwarding a little... He received his 7 day chemo regimen and then came down with a bad case of pneumonia which landed him in the ICU for a little more than a week.  Seeing him in there with a breathing tube and on so much medicine he couldn’t even open his eyes horrified me.  At this point I was at my lowest point I have ever been in my whole life.  I remember when I would try and fall asleep at night I could feel darkness closing in around me.  I would literally wake up and feel so much pressure pushing on my head and shoulders I thought this was going to last forever…All I wanted was my Dad to come home and everything be back to normal..

After a very long 32 days we took him home…(I was at the hospital as much as I could every day except 2 days because of snow storms)

The first few nights home were very scary..he was so weak I would lay awake to make sure he was sleeping and jump up at every sound.  He had lost so much weight and was in bed for so long he couldn’t even stand to walk to the bathroom and I was afraid he might fall…

Each day got better and better…in a few weeks he was outside gardening and doing his everyday things.  Weeks went by and we were waiting to hear from Dana Farber which who would be doing the bone marrow transplant.  We learned that there were no complete matches for him but his brother was half.  We went to Boston thinking we were going to discuss and start the transplant but soon found out from a blood test the disease had returned.  This was a huge shock because he has been doing sooo good and got back to his normal active self.

Sooo now we are back to square one, looking to get this leukemia back into remission.  This round of chemo he is stronger and not sick to begin with.  We are crossing our fingers that there will be no complications and he will only be in the hospital for a week or so....

Wellll... that's that...It helps to write this out and kinda get it off my chest..Thank you whoever is reading..
For anyone who is battling cancer....Stay Strong and just keep swimming...

 

 

 

 

 

Delicious Mussels Marinara

Ok so the pics are not gonna be top quality photos but I just took pictures with my iphone as I went along making this..

This is the third time making this recipe..it's really good if you like mussels!

So the cook book is called 'Cooking the Catch' by Dave 'Pops' Masch..my dad has had this for years and we always use it when we are cooking seafood

 

So, I never know how many mussels to buy...I went with a 2lbs bag and it seemed to be the perfect amount.  My Dad loves them and I only kinda like them so I only had about 5 and my Dad had the rest (my Mom does not like them).  I love the sauce but something about eating a mussel grosses me out a little...especially after I examine them...If I just pop them in my mouth its okay or if I have a few drinks before hand... haha..

Alrighty!! First you want to soak and scrub the mussels.  These ones I got at Big Y and they were already pretty clean already.  Make sure to toss any that are broken or hallow know as 'clunkers'

Now lets get cookin!!! Since I went with 2lbs, I doubled the recipe so we could have extra sauce for dippin bread.

First, chop up the herbs; Tarragon, Parsley, Basil, Oregano, Fresh Garlic, and some Red Hot Pepper Flakes... Mmmm I love the smell of freshly chopped herbs.

Now toss all the herbs into the pan with the bottom covered in EVOO

Yumm...this part smelled soooooooo good...Sautee for 3 mins..

Then add the can of diced tomatoes...

 Let this simmer for 15 mins..

Next is to add in the wine and mussels!!

In the hot tub they go!

Cover and let cook for about 7 mins..

Mmmm! look at that steamy goodness!

Now serve with French bread and enjoy!!!!

Here is the recipe!

 Until next time!!

Here goes nothing..

 

Well, hello all.  This is my first entry.  I am very new at this blogging thing so please excuse me if I am at all awkward..............
Why did I start this you might ask?
Welp, I have been reading and following other blogs for years now and I decided it was my time to start my own.  I needed somewhere to let out my thoughts about anything and everything.

I don't have a theme to this yet..or I might not ever..but my topics will include:
-Make up
-Photography
-My (long) journey to becoming fit haha
-Recipes
-Pretty much anything that sparks my interest

I guess I should start off by telling you a little about me..
My name is Kelly, I am 26, and I live in a small ass town in New England....yes..still with my parents.  ( I know!I know! Leave the nest already)  I guess I just haven't found the place and time yet to start venturing off from home..or the money....anyways!

I graduated from the local community college with a Business Management degree pretty much because I couldn't decide what to study or what to be.  Now I realize that I wish I went to a beauty school because that is what I am most passionate about...Someday I hope I stumble upon a career in that direction...for now its working for an online store and waitressing at a local country club..Enough about the boring stuff..

You may come to find me as a little bit weird... but that's okay and I accept that, I am defiantly not one of those basic chicks...

I guess that all I should start with for this first blog.  I'm making my Dad a special dinner tonight of Mussels Marinara. Perhaps (if it comes out good) I can share with you in my next blog.
Ta ta for now.