Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Mini Red Cuisinart
I bought the cutest mini red Cuisinart at Macy's (Sale $29). Perfect for 1 to 1 -1/2 cups! I made a marinade for chicken sharma... 4 cloves garlic, yogurt, ginger, oregano, .... I made a half recipe for the two of us.... http://www.mamaslebanesekitchen.com/poultry/chicken-shawarma-recipe-garlic/ It has to marinate overnight, so I guess I get to try it tomorrow! Who says you cannot have fun finding healthy soft foods!
Valley Fever
Just when we thought things were going a whole lot better, J's lowered auto immune system caught another
"interesting set of challenges". The spot in his lung turned out to be positive for valley fever and not something we really lost sleep over.
So what is "Valley Fever" ? Something we needed to learn more about! See http://www.vfce.arizona.edu/ValleyFeverInPeople/Default.aspx for more information. Dr S, the pulmonologist prescribed Fluconazole (a the side effect could be spots ) And what do we have now? 4 Spots/pimples/lesions etc! too! Apparently there are serious complications and getting spots/lesions is one of them...So we happened to have a supply of KEFLEX which should help the spots.
Now why am I discussing all this? It affect J's appetite! He doesn't want to chew food... not enjoying food... last week he only had a 1/2 cup of pasta each day. The rest was Gatorade, High Protein Naked Smoothie and a yogurt/applesauce/protein smoothie. That's not a lot for his digestive system to work. Maybe a trip to the Nutritional Psychotherapist is in order? Is that a specialty? Ha! Maybe we should take more of the appetite increasing pills, that are buried in the cupboard. Or eat Papaya or pineapple for it's digestive enzyme papain! http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=47
Oh no back to enzymes!
For more info:
Digestive Enzymes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digestive_enzyme
Probiotics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotics
Prebiotics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prebiotics
"interesting set of challenges". The spot in his lung turned out to be positive for valley fever and not something we really lost sleep over.
So what is "Valley Fever" ? Something we needed to learn more about! See http://www.vfce.arizona.edu/ValleyFeverInPeople/Default.aspx for more information. Dr S, the pulmonologist prescribed Fluconazole (a the side effect could be spots ) And what do we have now? 4 Spots/pimples/lesions etc! too! Apparently there are serious complications and getting spots/lesions is one of them...So we happened to have a supply of KEFLEX which should help the spots.
Now why am I discussing all this? It affect J's appetite! He doesn't want to chew food... not enjoying food... last week he only had a 1/2 cup of pasta each day. The rest was Gatorade, High Protein Naked Smoothie and a yogurt/applesauce/protein smoothie. That's not a lot for his digestive system to work. Maybe a trip to the Nutritional Psychotherapist is in order? Is that a specialty? Ha! Maybe we should take more of the appetite increasing pills, that are buried in the cupboard. Or eat Papaya or pineapple for it's digestive enzyme papain! http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=47
Oh no back to enzymes!
For more info:
Digestive Enzymes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digestive_enzyme
Probiotics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotics
Prebiotics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prebiotics
Thursday, August 18, 2011
New Doctor today and Vitamin Pill Questions
Today we go to a pulmonologist to see about a lump in J's right lung that hasn't changed in xray's, three weeks apart. It's a scarey day today, but I refuse to be anything but positive.
The oncologist said J's iron levels were low and to take vitamin C to balance it out. So I bought his recommended easy to digest Iron (Ferrous Sulfate) and ADULT gummy vitamin C. As a layman I am getting more and more confused. There are childrens vitamins, adult vitamins, male adult vitamins, female adult vitamins,senior/mature vitamins, male adult vitamins and female adult vitamins, and senior/adult vitamins. Guess what? They are all different recipes! And some are in capsule, some chewable, some gummy....
Now as if that isn't enough choice, look at brand names! At Costco, they have their brands, Centrum has theirs, and One-a-Day vitamins gas their choices.
So if there are all these choices, how do you know which one to take? And if you take J-tube feedings that have all the vitamins/minerals and you also drink a quart of NakedSuperProteinShake... your blood test comes out okay, But there is another test that the oncologist must have had that showed low in iron. We didn't get a copy of that list to our nutritionist or for ourselves. So it seems the only way to tell if you are getting enough or too much of vitamins or minerals, you need a blood test... and how many kinds are are?
Moral of today's story, get copies of all reports PERIOD. Take those results to all the interested parties in case they need them. I wish that we had a centralized, web based medical reporting network so communication is better. In the mean time, get the papers!
The oncologist said J's iron levels were low and to take vitamin C to balance it out. So I bought his recommended easy to digest Iron (Ferrous Sulfate) and ADULT gummy vitamin C. As a layman I am getting more and more confused. There are childrens vitamins, adult vitamins, male adult vitamins, female adult vitamins,senior/mature vitamins, male adult vitamins and female adult vitamins, and senior/adult vitamins. Guess what? They are all different recipes! And some are in capsule, some chewable, some gummy....
Now as if that isn't enough choice, look at brand names! At Costco, they have their brands, Centrum has theirs, and One-a-Day vitamins gas their choices.
So if there are all these choices, how do you know which one to take? And if you take J-tube feedings that have all the vitamins/minerals and you also drink a quart of NakedSuperProteinShake... your blood test comes out okay, But there is another test that the oncologist must have had that showed low in iron. We didn't get a copy of that list to our nutritionist or for ourselves. So it seems the only way to tell if you are getting enough or too much of vitamins or minerals, you need a blood test... and how many kinds are are?
Moral of today's story, get copies of all reports PERIOD. Take those results to all the interested parties in case they need them. I wish that we had a centralized, web based medical reporting network so communication is better. In the mean time, get the papers!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Anti- Antibiotics Smoothie for a sore throat and Measuring Cups
I found a way around having a smoothie when you aren't supposed to have milk for 2 hours before and 2 hours after a pill.
I went to Smart and Final and bought a shelf stable one quart vanilla flavored soy milk carton for under $2.
At Sprouts, I found several vegan protein powders but the cheapest was $6.99 in the bins! They even had all the nutrients on a label, I just snapped a photo of it!
I went to Smart and Final and bought a shelf stable one quart vanilla flavored soy milk carton for under $2.
At Sprouts, I found several vegan protein powders but the cheapest was $6.99 in the bins! They even had all the nutrients on a label, I just snapped a photo of it!
- So I first made a smoothie with a banana, 1/3 c of the protein powder and added Gatorade as a liquid. I don't recommend that choice!
- Next day I tried the soymilk, 1 Cup (not chilled, not so tasty), 1/3 c soy protein powder, banana, 1 piece of cantaloupe, 1 piece of pineapple, 1 piece of honeydew melon. ((Tolerable)
- Third day soy milk, chilled, soy protein powder, 1 T Five Alive, 1T Fruit flavored Omega Blendz , 2 drops coconut flavoring 1/3 c coconut-pineapple juice from Sprouts. Color was not appetizing... maybe I should have added blueberries.
At Target, I found the neatest 4 pack of nested "food prep" cups with measuring lines. They are made out of silicone and you can squeeze them to pour the ingredients out. The set cost about $5 and I might go back and buy several for xmas presents. I love them!!! It makes measuring small amounts for your smoothie so easy!
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