I am still undergoing a chemotherapy called “Folfiri”. I receive the treatment every other Tuesday, and am connected until that Thursday morning (approximately 48 hours). I do this treatment on an outpatient basis (I go home with a bottle of chemo). Michael disconnects the chemo on Thursdays for me.

As time goes by, the side effects of the chemo get progressively worse. It is also taking me longer to recover each time. This last treatment it took 10 days for me to feel decent again. My main symptoms are nausea, insomnia, and my newest symptom: extreme bone and joint pain. I have been in touch with my oncologist about the pain. Since I am not running fevers or having any other flu-like symptoms, we will discuss lowering the intensity of one of the chemotherapy drugs when I see him on Tuesday. Roughly 11 days after treatment this pain began to subside. Yes, I am lucky enough to be receiving chemotherapy this week (on 11/25/2008). I will be disconnected Thanksgiving morning. I just hope I will be able to get out of bed to spend a little time with my family!

The chemotherapy is also massively affecting my teeth. I narrowly avoided needing a root canal last month. I found out this week that a different tooth needs to be pulled, as a huge hole has developed in the side of it. Thank goodness we have dental insurance.

Michael is doing the best as can be expected, considering my situation. I don’t know how, but he manages to hold it all together. Berkeley and Amelie (our cats) are still acting as my nurses. They rarely leave my side, and always seem to be able to do silly things and make me laugh.

I love hearing from people – please do not be afraid to call the house. The phone ringing usually does not wake me. And if it does, that’s okay! I’d rather be talking to you anyways! On that note, I am usually home so try to reach me there first. Since I am home 99% of the time, I rarely check the messages on my cell phone. Also, anyone using AOL Instant Messenger, my ID is “BerkeleyTheBiker”.

Well, that is about all. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Love, Melissa

1. To make finding well designed, interesting or unusual products and collectibles both simple and fun.

2. To make publishing or sharing lists of recommendations and wishlists easier and more appealing than maintaining a weblog and not tied to one particular store.

Using Wists is not like going to Walmart or searching a price comparison shopping site – we try to encourage the discovery and promotion of products from small retailers and manufacturers and young designers.

via wistsblog.

Leftover Chicken Croquettes SUBMITTED BY: Jeanne Gold PHOTO BY: VanessaW

“A mixture of chicken, eggs, bread crumbs, sauteed onion, parsley and light seasoning make croquettes you’ll go crazy for! My grandmother used to make salmon cakes; I adapted that recipe to use leftover cooked chicken.”

RECIPE RATING:

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PREP TIME 15 Min

COOK TIME 30 Min

READY IN 45 Min

SERVINGS (Help)

Servings

USMETRIC

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

3 cups cooked, finely chopped chicken meat

1 1/2 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs

2 to 3 lightly beaten eggs

2 cups sauteed chopped onion

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

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What to Drink?

Sparkling wine

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl combine the chicken, bread crumbs, 2 eggs and onion and mix well; if mixture is too dry to form patties, mix in another lightly beaten egg. Then add parsley, salt and pepper to taste, mix well and form into small patties.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and fry patties in oil until golden brown.

via Leftover Chicken Croquettes – Allrecipes.

She will be missed by all!

Michael (her husband)

I really wanted to like this book, as I had heard so much about it. After the 3rd chapter, I was so bored I could not will myself to continue. The plot is barely non-existant, and I felt no connection to the characters at all. It is extremely rare for me to dislike something so very strongly that I not only do not finish it, but actually spend the time writing a review not only for “Goodreads”, but also blog about it!

I am going to start reading others’ reviews (not professional critics’) from now on – they seem to be much more accurate & fair.

Anyone out there have any reading suggestions? (I am already reading several “serious” memoirs – I am looking for more of a light fiction)

Half way through reading this inspiring memoir I decided that I just had to blog about it… Now that I am sitting down to write, I feel like I am back in the 3^rd grade doing a book report! J

Erin is one of 3 girls, whose parents are still married (which is another rarity that we have in common) and lived the typical Long Island childhood. Like me, Erin’s older sibling was the one always breaking the rules, while Erin always played it safe. Ironically, Erin’s older sister is named Melissa.

As I read this book, I felt like a member of the Zammett clan. Erin’s writing style is one in which you feel like you intimately know the individual people in her life. Erin and I both worked during chemotherapy, and never “looked sick”. The real jaw-dropper is when Melissa, Erin’s sister is suddenly diagnosed with lymphoma while 7 months pregnant!

Erin discusses not only her tips and tricks for dealing with cancer, but does so in a way that shows how vulnerable we all are. I am under the impression that she has the same thought as I do that cancer is tougher on the family than it is on the patient. She talks about trying to figure out how to be there for her sister, while keeping an eye on the rest of the family. You can tell that Erin was always the strong caretaker and overachiever.

I recommend this book to anyone, whether they have been touched by cancer or not.

Until this year, I have spent the majority of my career in retail management. Let me tell you: if you want to see people’s worst attitudes, get a job as a cashier at your local drug store. For several years I managed stores for a nationwide pharmacy chain. I thought I saw it all. People would talk on their cell phone or listen to their iPod while you were ringing them up, walk into you because they were too busy texting or using their “crackberry”, demand help rather than asking politely (which was made worse when you were already assisting someone else), the list never ends.

When I run into somebody on the street and stop to talk for a second, is there a reason why they cannot take their Bluetooth off their ear? Or perhaps remove just one ear bud? I would like to be under the impression that the other person is actually listening. The worst part is that people are not doing these things on purpose. They are just not thinking! All of this technology, from Twitter to Blackberries to mp3 players have conditioned us to be in our own worlds all of the time. To not even consider the world around us, or how we are making other people feel. (Keep in mind that I am on MySpace, Facebook, AIM, Twitter, Gtalk, & Yahoo Chat myself – I simply make it a point to not be rude about it!)

I remember the days when strangers would hold the door for you, or if you dropped something in public a passerby would help you collect whatever it was. Nowadays, these things almost never happen. And for the record, I’m not all that old. I’m only in my early 30s!

I think that while children are growing up, parents need to get back to basics and teach their children some manners (after they learn them for themselves!). Those lessons should include how to give someone their undivided attention, and to perhaps put down their gadgets once in a while so they can develop their social skills.

]]> http://melissamcbride.wordpress.com/2008/11/08/technology-etiquette/feed/ 2 melissamcbride http://melissamcbride.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/my-first-blog-entry/ http://melissamcbride.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/my-first-blog-entry/#comments Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:43:34 +0000 Melissa McBride http://melissamcbride.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/my-first-blog-entry/ ]]> So I consider myself to be a blog virgin. I have a few entries in my blog on MySpace, but those are more about disseminating information to loved ones as opposed to writing about my thoughts and ideas. I’m a little rusty (to say the least) when it comes to my writing skills, so hopefully my posts will improve over time.

I started a list of topics that I will be blogging about. They are varied in scope, from personal relationships to politics to housekeeping and then some. I plan to simply use this forum to talk about whatever happens to be on my mind at that moment. Hopefully my posts will be interesting to others, as most of the topics I have so far are somewhat universal in nature.

Whether you agree or disagree with my opinions, I would love to read any comments you may have on my posts.