10 Weeks

Yesterday our little pup,Penny Layne turned 10 weeks old. Yes, HER name is Penny Layne.  :)  When we picked up the puppy, we were told it was a boy.  I thought the puppy had "parts" similar to Daisy's and asked Dan, but he agreed that the puppy was a boy.  What do I know?  Well, we took the pup (who we still couldn't get a name to stick) home to meet my family.  There, my SIL, Beth, who works at a pet store, informed us that he was a she!  Well, then it was really easy to name HER!  Haha.  Dan's blonde.  What can I say?   

Well, we got Daisy when she was 10 weeks old, so now we can start to really compare the two. Penny has a lot to live up to.

At 10 weeks Daisy was pretty much potty trained, knew the word no, and hated her leash. We hadn’t started teaching her tricks yet, but she loved her Daddy from day 1 and was a snuggler. She had sooo much extra skin it made her look like an old man. She also hated car rides and would get very car sick.

Penny at 10 weeks, after living with us for a month, is almost potty trained. We occasionally have a few accidents when we aren’t paying attention, but she does ask to go outside. She walks on a leash, but mostly she just follows Daisy. She has learned sit and up only when you put your hand up.

We are still working on verbal commands. She’ll come to you when there isn’t a cat around (her favorite toys besides Daisy), and preferably when you have a treat in your hand. She is very good at the stairs already.  You can find her chasing the cats up and down them.  Now there is no where you can hide!  It took Daisy a looong time to learn how to use the stairs. Penny is great in the car with me. She is afraid of water, but hopefully Daisy will have her swimming in a month or two.

Penny has doubled in size since we first got her. She is taller than Daisy was, but not as stocky. She also seems to listen to me a little more than Dan.  Her bad habits include trying to bring in the dead things the cats kill up to the house, and she’s very loud, but she's getting better.

Extreme Couponing – New Hobby

I have a new hobby. This month, in attempts to save some money on bills, I started extreme couponing.

I’ve always clipped coupons, and used them whenever I bought something, and would save between $20-$30 each trip with the store deals. Then, a family friend told me about this “Extreme Couponing.” At first, I was skeptical. We don’t eat foods from boxes, rarely from cans, and mostly meat, dairy and produce. I didn’t think we would save very much for the time I felt I had to put into prep work for the trip. But, I’ll try anything once.

August was the 1st month that I participated. I went to southern savers and followed Kroger and learned about CVSing. The 1st ½ of the month I only went to Kroger, and the 2nd half, I took the time to look at the Marsh and Meijer ads on my own to come up with my own deals. I avoided Target because I can’t go into the store without spending way too much money. Also, with the new laptop, we don’t have a printer with ink that we can hook up. So, next month, I’ll start printing coupons as well.

With store deals, coupons, and CVS deals, I cut my grocery bill by 23%! Yes, I cut out almost a quarter of my grocery bill. Not to mention I had already be using coupons! And, I only did 2 major grocery shopping trips. So, I ended up saving time spent meal planning and at the dreaded grocery store. Plus, we are still on our diet, and eat fruits and veges with almost every meal.

How? I only bought meats if they were less than $1.50/lb. No, they aren’t the cuts of meat we are used to, but we work with it. Chicken drumsticks for $1/lb. Cook, take the skin off, and shred. Easy chicken for almost any dish. Chicken breasts with ribs. My new favorite cut. We even buy the no hormones, cage free chicken for $1.19/lb! I was able to get 2 huge steaks for $5 that lasted us 2 meals. We are eating a lot more chicken and turkey, and a lot less pork and beef, which is actually what the Dr. suggested for Dan. I bought fruit and veges only if they were on special, plus I compared sales for each store, and not trusting their ad for it to be on sale. Ex: Kroger blueberries were $4/2 pints where Meijer was 3 pints/$5. Meijer wins hands down.

For cleaning/hygiene/can products, I only buy if they are on sale and I have a coupon, and then I stock up as much as I can. I’ve never been one to stock, but if taco kits are on sale, with coupons, buy as many as you can, because they keep. Plus, tacos are such an easy meal when you just don’t feel like being creative.  This also cuts down on those stops at the grocery store to get one item, where you leave spending $20.

CVS was a whole exciting deal. I never thought much of the extra care bucks or their in-store coupons. I’m very skeptical and felt like they were just trying to get me to buy extras. Not true! By combining coupons with CVS deals, using extra care bucks, and in-store coupons I was able to get:

For $22! Plus, I got $4 back in Extra Care Bucks for my next trip! I saved over $40 with the extra care bucks.

I am very excited to go grocery shopping and can’t wait for my Sunday coupons. I look forward to my shopping trips every 2 weeks, and I can’t wait for next Tuesday when I get to see how much I can save! I’m just going to save more once I start printing coupons (and take advantage of the copier at work so I can really stock up!)

Hair Ideas

I am ready for a new haircut/style.  I feel like I've had the same or a similar hair style for 5 years now.

The shorter styles would most likely let me donate to locks of love.  Pretty scary to go that short.  The other two aren't too much of a change, but still something different.

Decisions, Decisions…

Yesterday Dan and I met with Dr. Helft, an oncologist at IUSCC. We were referred to him by a good friend who worked in the pathology department. We both were really nervous about what the oncologist would say. With Dan recovering so well, and back to his old self, it would be crushing to hear he would have to go through rounds of chemo and radiation.

Dr. H first wanted to make sure Dan was feeling ok. They checked his pulse, heart rate, weight, listened to his heart and lungs, looked at his incision, and palpated his abdomen. Everything looked great. They reviewed with Dan his initial symptoms and what was done and discussed at his previous Dr. appts. They also checked his and his family's history of all diseases.

He started from zero and went through Dan’s diagnosis. He indeed had Stage IIa colon cancer. His cancer was a mucinous adenocarcinoma which means the tumor was in a gland and the cells produced a lot of mucin, or mucous. This type of cancer occurs in 10-15% of adenocarcinomas and these tumors are typically more aggressive and harder to treat. The good news, all of his LNs biopsied were clear as well as his liver as seen in the CT scan. If the cancer was going to spread, it would most likely be to the lymph nodes, liver, or lungs. Dr. H would like Dan to have a CT of his lungs just to be sure they are also clear.

Next we went through Dan’s prognosis. Dan has a 20-25% chance of having a recurrence of cancer in the next 5 years (+/- 5%, but the doctor said he would lean towards the 25% because of the mucinous tumor). This was a little higher than Dan and I originally thought. The good news, after 5 years, his risk dramatically drops, and after 10 years he’s considered cured. The scary news, if Dan does have a recurrence, there is a 95% chance of it being incurable. It would most likely be treatable, but therapy goals would shift from curing the cancer to shrinking the tumor and preventing further metastasis (spread). Also, recurrence wouldn’t be in the colon. He could have a local recurrence (risk reduces after a year) on the outer membranes of the colon most likely caused by cancer cells being knocked loose during the surgery, or a recurrence in the liver, lungs, lymph system, or bone marrow. Dr. H did say that if we are planning on having children and we want to be sure Dan will be around, it would be worth waiting the 5 years.

So, with that, we moved to therapy options. There are three arms of chemotherapy options for Dan’s type of cancer.

The 1st is an oral medicine, Xeloda. This was approved by the FDA in 2000 and is typically used in Stage III colon cancers and breast cancer. Unfortunately, the dose approved by the FDA has horrible side effects, so the Dr. would have to give Dan a lower dose to help with the side effects, but there aren’t studies showing this lower dose would be as effective of a treatment. That and Dan’s was Stage II.

The 2nd and 3rd arms are treatment with a drug commonly called 5-FU or Fluorouracil. This is given as injections either in a port (2nd arm) or through IV in the arm (3rd arm). The port option is out because the risk of infection and overall discomfort is too great for us. The IV treatment is a cycle of 3 weeks on, 1 week off the chemo, for 8 months. As the side effects go, the Dr. said it's pretty minimal compared to some chemo drugs. He has had some patients with no side effects and the worse were functioning around 90%.  It’s very rare for hair loss, but it’s common to have fatigue, diarrhea, eye problems, temporary changes in eye and skin color, and mouth sores. Loss of appetite are seen with the mouth sores as well as developing a metallic taste. There are no lasting side effects, and the chemo would not affect his fertility, but we wouldn’t be able to get pregnant for 18 months after starting therapy, or else we would have an increased risk for a genetic mutation in the child. Treatment with this arm would reduce his risk of recurrence 3-5%.

Now, there is a genetic test that is being done on Dan’s tumor to look at the Microsatellite DNA in Dan’s tumor (different from Dan’s DNA). Basically, there is instability in the microsatellite DNA, then the 5-FU treatment is not effective at all, and can make his prognosis worse. The good news is, these tumors have a better prognosis than those lacking the instability. Only 22% of Stage 2 tumors are positive for this instability.

So, we go back to see Dr. H in 2 weeks and we will have the DNA test back, and the goal is to make a decision about whether or not to do chemo, and if we do, which type. We definitely have some tough decisions to make and I can argue either side. It’s a scary thing to think that we might be going through this again in the next 5 years, but we need to do what’s right for Dan and our family.  Hopefully we can make and stick to a decision by the 17th.  Or maybe Dan's tumor will be positive and we won't have to decide!

New Addition

We added to our family yesterday.  We have been thinking about getting another pup so Daisy can have someone to play with, and about 6 weeks ago, our friend Bob's dog had puppies.  The mom is a golden retriever/lab mix and the dad was a husky mix.

They were born 6/21 and are healthy with just some fleas.  We picked the chocolate one and named him Hercules.  He's the biggest of his siblings and is very persistant.  He has light brown eyes with a ring of blue on the outside.  We aren't sure what color his eyes will be.  He has white patches on his chest, chin, and a little on the paws, just like Miss Daisy.   It took Bob's family and Dan  an 1 1/2hrs to get him out from under their barn so we could meet this little guy.  After a quick bath and a flea colar (he's too young for a treatment) he was a shade lighter, and good to go. 

He was great the car ride home, snuggled in a towel against my arm.  I received several licks and some grunts if I tried to move him off my lap.  I think he'll be a snuggler.

Sierra and Buggs don't really know what to think of Herc.  He grunts a lot and really prefers to be out in the grass than inside.  He seems to miss his Momma and siblings.  Daisy seems to like him so far.  She let him crawl all over her this morning.  He tried to nurse and she got weirded out.  Haha. 

So far the transition has been very easy.  He didn't mess in his kennel last night at all, so hopefully he'll be as easy to train as Daisy is.  Maybe Daisy will show him the ropes.

New Recipes

With Dan recovering from surgery and not being able to train as he used to, we needed to come up with some new recipes with more fruits, vegetables, and grains without the carbs.  So, we switched to organic foods, tried successful new recipes, and so far, we've been able to not only keep from putting pounds on, but get leaner!

Turkey Stuffed Peppers - These are sooo good.  People at work were gawking at the left overs.  It seems expensive when you are buying stuff at the store, but one stuffed pepper and you will be full!
5  Peppers (Green, Yellow or Red)
1lb ground turkey or beef
Mozzarella cheese
1/2 Yellow or White Onion Chopped
Turkey bacon - 2 strips
16oz can Crushed Tomatoes
Basil

Remove the tops off the peppers and core out the seeds.  Blanch the peppers for 1-3 min in boiling water.
Cook bacon strips until crispy.
Ground turkey or beef.  If you use turkey, be sure to add salt and pepper.  If the turkey starts to get too dry, add some olive oil to keep it moist.  If you use beef, be sure to rinse, but don't leave too much water in the meat because your peppers will get soggy.  Add the bacon, crumbled, and the onion.  Cook until the onions are softened, but still crunchy.  Add 1/2 can of crushed tomatoes and basil to taste.
In the pepper, layer a good slice of mozzarella cheese, meat mixture, cheese, meat, ect until the pepper is full.  Close the top with cheese.
Bake peppers at 350F for 10-15min and serve!

Lemon Pepper Steak Roast - This didn't taste as strong as lemon pepper chicken, but maybe if you added some lemon juice to the marinade.
London Broil or Steak Shoulder Roast
1- Yellow or White Onion
EVOO
Worchestershire Sauce
Salt and Pepper
4 cloves Garlic
Parsley
Lemon Pepper
Crushed Red Pepper

Add ingredients to steak and marinate ON in the fridge.  You should add enough spices for it to look like this:

Grill or broil in oven until its done to your desire.  This was good, but again, the lemon pepper flavor is subtle.  A thin london broil maybe better then a shoulder.

Apple Pork Loin - This is very good.  Makes your house smell like cinnamon apples.  The carrots and pork have a apple glaze on them, and the carrots don't get mushy!  My apples got mushy, so next time I might add later.
Pork Shoulder
1 - Apple
Carrots
EVOO
Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper
2 cloves of garlic crushed
Cinnamon
Ginger
Rosemary
Parsley.

Place loin in casserol dish and slice longways in 3 places about 1/2 way through the pork.  Drizzles with EVOO (I used about 1/4 cup), lemon juice (about 1/3 of the amount of EVOO you use), and sprinkle with salt and pepper and add garlic.  Add the apple sliced, and I used 3 big carrots cut up.  Place the apples and carrots in the slices and around the pork.  Do not put the apples under the pork or they will be apple sauce!
Sprinkle the whole thing with cinnamon, ginger, rosemary, and parsley.  You can't use too much, its a big roast.
Grill in aluminum foil or broil on high until 160F through the entire roast.
The carrots and apples will blacken, but they are still tasty.  Next time I'll add the apples 1/2 way through cooking.

And for dessert when you get a craving for some chocolate:


Dan's Chocolate Mouse Recipe - Trust me, its good.  Dan doesn't even like avocados.  Don't be afraid.

2 Ripe Organic Avocados
2 Tbls melted coconut oil
1 1/2 Cup of Splenda
1 Tbls of Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Cup of Raw Organic Cacao Powder

Blend the bajesus out of it until smooth, and dark chocolate looking.  You may see some very small specks of green, but keep blending and they should mix in as well.



This is very very thick, like thick frosting.  We added 1/2 package of sugar free cool whip and it helped lighten it up.

Its very good if you top on these coconut bars:

1 3/4 cups fine unsweetened shredded coconut
6 tablespoons coconut oil
1/3 cup coconut milk (or regular milk)
1/3 cup splenda
Pure stevia extract, to taste (start with 1/16 of a teaspoon)
Raw almonds

Melt coconut oil in sauce pan.  Add splenda, coconut, and milk.  Stir until its a paste consistence.  It won't look like it will turn out.  Sweeten with stevia to your liking.
Spoon out into bar shapes on a pan lined with wax or parchment paper.  Push almond on the top of the bar.  Freeze for 5-10min.
Frost and serve!  Next time I may put the coconut in the food processor to make it more of a powder.  Sorry, these didn't last long enough for a picture!

Rest and Recover

Dan’s recovery at home seems to be going as quickly as his recovery at the hospital. We were sent home with a 10lb weight limit and a “don’t do anything that hurts”. Thursday and Friday we spent most of our time on the couch relaxing and watching movies. We had a few visitors once we were home.

By Saturday Dan was getting cabin fever, so we had people over to watch the UFC. Dan was still sleeping a lot, but was able to stay up later than me. Already he was feeling better than before the surgery.

By the 4th, Dan felt up to going to the movies. He was able to tolerate an hour drive up to Keystone and sit through a movie. After we got home, he was pretty tired, but it was nice to go on a date. I returned to work ½ day on Tuesday and Wednesday. Dan started walking around the neighborhood and was up to walking 3 miles that weekend. He even got his appetite back. It had been so long since has eaten to his full potential and I forgot how much that man can eat!

That next Wednesday he was able to drive, and he was less restless with some freedom. He was able to come out to my work picnic to show everyone how well he was recovering. By the next week, Dan was slowly jogging 1.5 miles and walking 1.5. Amazing recovery. We even went to see Tom Petty.

On the 13th, Dan had his checkup with the surgeon. He removed the steristrips and lifted his weight restriction to 25lbs. He was released to a physical therapist to help with the rest of his recovery. He’s started doing things around the house and I was very happy that he could take the trash out again.

Currently Dan is alternating between doing some exercises in the pool, and going up to see Bill Hartman at iFAST. Dan is really enjoying being back in the gym and around such athletic people, and he can’t wait to be off restrictions.  He’s only taking his pain meds at night after a long day.  It won't be too long until he's better than he has ever been!

We start going to the oncologist on August 3rd. He is going to review all of Dan’s history and map out where we go next. Dan will be having frequent checkups, and we are hoping to avoid any chemotherapy and/or radiation.

So here we are almost a month after his surgery and if you passed him on the street you’d never know any of this happened. It’s very surreal looking back at everything we went through in such a short time. We are definitely closer as a couple, and I have learned how to manage stress much better. My perspective on life has changed and I’m much more tolerant of people. You just never know what they are going through. I am very thankful to have a good job with solid benefits. We only have to pay 6% of everything: Dr. visits, colonoscopys, surgery, drugs, and hospital stay. It’s amazing. One thing is for sure, I could not imagine going through this and not having insurance.

I’m also very thankful to have such great, supportive family and friends. We never could’ve done this without them all. We truly have just one large family and I hope, one day we will be able to repay everyone.  Soon, we will celebrate!