More Randomness

Jacob and I had another exhausting day. He had an appointment for Vincristine today. I was smart and left the kids with Grandma this time. I figured that since I left them at home that this visit would likely go smoothly and quickly, as is often our luck (opposed to slow and painful when I bring the other two along!).

Luck was not with us today. Jacob's Hemoglobin was once again quite low (7.1) so he needed another blood transfusion. We did not arrive home until 6:30 this evening, having left the house at 8:30am.

This is the first time that his counts have not rebounded quickly after hitting the low point after his chemo. I hope that this is not signs of what is to come, but expect that it is as it will wear his body down more and more as we get into the treatment. I count every single treatment down with glee and can say that we have 12 left. "12" doesn't exactly sound like a lot but we've "only" had 8 so far, so we aren't even to the half way point. Plus, some of these treatments are four day ones (12 days left of those) and several overnight ones. So it isn't "just" 12 days of treatment left. It is nice to check another one off the list after today though.

Jacob is now watching Scooby Doo and will soon be taking a bath and heading to bed. He's slept on and off today on the car rides and while receiving his transfusion so he tells me he isn't ready for bed yet. I'm anxiously awaiting it myself!

I wondered how it would be to try to eat healthy on the go and today had my first test. I didn't do horrible but could have done better. I didn't eat breakfast because I was in a hurry (first mistake of the day). For lunch we went to the hospital cafeteria and I got made myself a big healthy salad from the salad bar and drank a V-8 Fusion. Jacob had gotten an order of onion rings and didn't eat much of them and I didn't want them to go to waste so I finished them off for him (those puppies were $3...I wasn't going to throw them out!). On the way home Jacob wanted Wendy's and after the day he had he deserved it so I tried to pick out something healthy for myself...a small chicken wrap. It was yummy, but probably wasn't too healthy. I came home and drank a glass of lemon water and the pita sandwich below.

One recipe I want to share is what I made for lunch yesterday: Quinoa and Black Beans. I like it but won't rave about it. I do think it's something simple enough that if you want to try something different it's worth trying it.
Quinoa and Black Beans

1 t. vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 c. uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 c. vegetable broth
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
1 c. frozen corn
2 15oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
Heat oil in skillet. Stir in onion and garlic and cook until browned. Mix quinoa in pan, cover with broth, season with spices. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat, simmer 20 minutes. Stir in corn, simmer 5 more minutes. Mix in beans and cilantro. Serve.

Becca and I were the only ones that would eat it and she made sure to pick out the cilantro. I do like it warm better than served cold. But for leftovers I piled some in a pita pocket, added some alfalfa sprouts and spicy mustard and enjoyed it that way.