Day 196, Year 11: Striking a Balance
Date: Thursday, May 5, 2016
Weather: Overcast with Drizzle, High 51 degrees F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA

Striking a balance in life is not always easy. Right now Mark and I are working to find the balance for him between chemotherapy, prescription drugs to help him deal with side effects, and alternative or more natural ways that might be just as effective, and sometimes even more effective, than the prescription drugs. Every day is like a science experiment. I think we are making progress, so we will continue our quest. Four years ago when Mark started his first round of chemotherapy he got mouth sores as a side effect. We used the Listerine without alcohol recommended by the doctors, but that did no good. We used the very expensive prescription mouthwash and that did no good. I then remembered that my mother always used a water and salt solution if anyone in the family had a sore throat or mouth sore. I called my sister to verify my memory and she agreed that my memory was correct with one exception. She said my mom always added apple cider vinegar to that solution. We came up with a ‘recipe’ and Mark started using it morning and night. Two days later, the mouth sores were gone and we have been able to keep them at bay through the years of chemo. He is once again having the threat of mouth sores, so he once again is using my mom’s mouthwash recipe every morning. But this round he is trying Bicarbonate of Soda and water at night and that seems to be effective as well. I have written all along that Mark has nausea for the first time in his chemotherapy history. We faithfully keep the diffuser with peppermint essential oil going all day long and that definitely seems to help. But he still tends to get nauseous once during a 24 hour period—never at the same time and never in response to the same stimuli—and we just can’t quite get this one under control. At first we tried the prescription drugs for nausea, but often they make him sicker than taking nothing. So he stopped taking any anti-nausea drugs and then added back one pill per day, but only when he felt nauseous. Yesterday a new drug was prescribed, to be taken at night. It is a powerful drug and lasts 24 hours. Mark was definitely knocked out by it as it was hard to get him up this morning. He was also weak and had some balance issues during the day, but he wasn’t nauseous. We’ll try this for another day or so, but if the weakness and balance issues continue, we’ll stop this experiment and go to the next. Always a challenge.

Striking a balance in our diet is another challenge. Even if you take cancer out of the equation, what is the best diet? There is so much controversy over this right now and so many Americans are so confused that they really don’t know what is healthy and what is not. I mentioned in an earlier log that I have been listening to daily interviews on the internet as part of the Food Revolution Summit. In my opinion, the interviews have been excellent. Some of the foremost experts in the field have been interviewed and the really positive thing is that they are all saying basically the same thing. In a book published in 2008, Michael Pollan said that there are seven words you need to remember to guide your diet, “Eat (real) food, not too much, mostly plants.” And this week I have heard that same thing over and over. But the one thing that is now emphasized is that ‘mostly plants’ means eliminating dairy. I’ve listened and read the evidence and have decided that I am going to try to do that. No milk, no butter, no yogurt. The scientific evidence is so convincing, so we’ll give it a go. Coffee with almond milk is just not the same as coffee with whole milk or half ‘n half, but I’ll be healthier for it. Today we tried a breakfast smoothie recommended by Dr. Mark Hyman. He is an American physician and a New York Times best-selling author. He is the Director of the Cleveland Clinical Center for Functional Medicine. In one of his books, “Eat Fat, Get Thin” he recommends a high-protein smoothie as a complete breakfast. We tried it this morning and both of us really liked it. He says he alternates mornings having eggs one morning and the high-protein smoothie on the other. Here’s the recipe.

Mark Hyman’s High Protein Shake (makes enough for 2 people)

In a blender, combine the following:
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
2 tablespoons chia seeds (from the bag or soak overnight to let them become gelatinous)
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds (raw, unsalted)
4 walnuts
3 Brazil nuts
1 heaping tablespoon coconut fat
2 tablespoons organic almond butter
1 banana
1 cup wild blueberries
1 cup water
½ cup unsweetened, organic almond milk

Enjoy!

Notes: Organic chia seeds can be purchased at Costco at half the price of other places. You can also buy raw pumpkin seeds at some Costco stores, but not all. I purchase Nutiva organic hemp seeds on Amazon or at Whole Foods. Same for coconut fat. Frozen Wyman wild blueberries work great. You can get them at any supermarket. And make sure the almond milk you buy is unsweetened.

Day 195, Year 11: Treatment Number Six
Date: Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Weather: Overcast with Scattered Showers, High 51 degrees F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA

Today we traveled to Boston to Mass General Hospital for Mark’s sixth drug trial treatment. Many of you have asked how long he will be in this weekly treatment and the answer is that he will continue the trial as long as it is effective. The first CT scan that will help make that determination happens along with treatment number eight, but indications are that the current treatment is making a positive impact. Mark and Dr. Kwak both feel that the size of the solid tumors in the abdominal area that can be felt have reduced in size. So we are hopeful.

Day 194, Year 11: All About Food
Date: Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Weather: Overcast with Drizzle, High 50 degrees F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA

No matter what I do, I can’t seem to get away from buying, preparing, and serving food. It is a full-time job these days trying to come up with the most nutritious and healthy things for Mark to eat. In addition to that, I have been trying to listen to almost three hours of interviews on the web-based Food Revolution Summit. Starting on Saturday, there have been three interviews each day and each interview lasts about an hour. I have found each and every interview to be really informative, sometimes riveting. The people being interviewed are the foremost experts in the field today and they have so much up-to-date research and information to share. As each of them seems to say, trying to figure out exactly what you should eat these days is not easy. If you are interested, you can listen in at 10 am, 11 am, and 12 noon at foodrevolution.com. But I am actually looking forward to a change of pace tomorrow, even if it does mean spending the day at a hospital (Mark’s infusion day). At least I won’t be spending the entire day in the kitchen!

Day 193, Year 11: Beth and Bob Lux Visit
Date: Monday, May 2, 2016
Weather: Rain All Day, High 50 degrees F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA

This afternoon, Concord Yacht Club friends, Bob and Beth Lux, stopped by to visit. We had hoped to be able to take a walk on some of the wonderful forest paths behind the condo, but the rain was incessant, so we stayed inside. It didn’t rain hard, but it did drizzle all day long. This made it the perfect day to sit inside and visit with friends. Bob and Beth sailed around the world in the 1980’s and we had fun comparing the difference between the time when they sailed around and when we did. It definitely took greater navigational skills before the days of the GPS and electronic navigation software, both of which made a circumnavigation for Mark and I much easier. Bob and Beth sailed to Bermuda last summer and Beth was seasick all the way there and all the way back. And she sailed all the way around the world like that. Mark was particularly sympathetic now the he is experiencing nausea big time. Beth said she usually gets over the seasickness after three days into a passage, but that’s a long time. Don’t think I could have done it if I were prone to seasickness. Bob and Beth are thinking about selling their boat, but they will take it to Maine this summer and think about it some more. It is a very hard decision to sell a boat on which you have shared so many wonderful experiences. It feels like selling your best friend. As you know, we have made that decision and are hoping the waterfront apartment will help keep us in touch with the water.

Day 192, Year 11: Soccer Sunday
Date: Sunday, May 1, 2016
Weather: Overcast with Sporadic Showers, High in the 50’s F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA

Heather called this morning and invited us to come watch Sam’s soccer game in Taunton this afternoon. From here, Taunton is a little more than half way to the Cape and we jumped at the chance to get out of the condo and go see Sam play soccer and visit with all of the other Goldstones. It was an ugly day, overcast with sporadic showers, but the smiles and energy of Goldpebbles brought sunshine into our lives. Mark even conjured up the energy to play a little soccer with Ollie. So it was a good outing.

160501 Day 192 Cape Cod, USA–Soccer Game in Taunton

Tomorrow Bob and Beth Lux are coming to visit in the afternoon. Bob and Beth are Concord Yacht Club friends and the last time we saw them was in Quissett Harbor last fall. They kept their sailboat at Quissett for the last part of the summer and fall. We enjoyed visiting with them on the water and I know we will enjoy our land visit tomorrow.

And lastly, happy first day of May!

Day 191, Year 11: You Are What You Eat
Date: Saturday, April 30, 2016
Weather: Partly Sunny, High in the 60’s F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA

I seem to spend a lot of time these days watching and listening to various web-based programs about the food we eat. Recently we watched the Total Wellness Summit hosted by Food Matters (FMTV) and today we started listening to a series of interviews called The Food Revolution. Both of these series bring forward research that indicates that eating more plants and less meat is the healthy way to go. Of today’s interviews, I found the information from Dr. Michael Greger the most interesting. He is the author of a popular book entitled, “How Not To Die”—not quite a threat, but almost! His recommended ‘daily dozen’ things to eat or drink includes lots of vegetables (especially veggies in the cruciferous family that includes broccoli, kale, and cabbage), dark leafy green veggies, beans, berries, other fruits, nuts, flax seeds, specific spices like turmeric, whole grains, and water. Add exercise to that and you have Greger’s winning combination. I am impressed that these web programs are challenging the current ‘standard’ American diet with loads of scientific research that shows that what you eat really matters. And when I am not watching or listening to these programs, I seem to spend almost all of my time shopping for food and preparing food. I am convinced that ‘you are what you eat’ and that the quality of the food you buy and prepare really matters. Okay, that’s my soap box pitch for tonight, and since my entire day revolved about food in one way or another, that just about wraps it up for today.

I’ll just add a little update on how Mark is doing. He has stopped taking nausea medications around the clock, but he is finding that he still needs to take something just before he takes his chemo pills at 10 am. If he does not, he can make it through the afternoon with the help of the diffuser with peppermint oil, but he really can’t eat as much as he needs to. So for now he takes one pill for nausea and that seems to do it for the 24 hour period. We still don’t have a complete handle on this as he never seems to have two days in row that are the same. But things are MUCH better than they were when he started this trial. So day by day, we are making progress.

Day 190, Year 11: Canning Magic
Date: Friday, April 29, 2016
Weather: Mostly Sunny, High in the 50’s F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA

Bet you didn’t know you can ‘can’ magic. But I am here to tell you that you can. At the end of today, I ended up with 19 pints of magic in the form of Magic Mineral Chicken and Veggie Broth. Nineteen pints seems like a lot, but we use at least one pint every day and sometimes four or more. So I have to keep making and canning it in hopes of keeping Mark feeling good while in chemotherapy. I never in my life thought I would be so convinced that bone broth is REALLY so very good for you, but I am. With it, Mark’s blood counts seem to remain stable. Without it, things start to drop. He drinks a cup every morning just like I drink my coffee. But I think I’m going to start drinking the bone broth with him. It has glycosaminoglycans, both glucosamine and chondroitin, which so many of us take in a pill form to keep our joints ‘greased’. Bone broth is also good for your skin, for your gut, and it reduces your need for meat and protein. All in all, bone broth made from organic chicken or beef bones with lots of organic veggies added to mix is a dynamite addition to the diet. Our grandmothers made bone broth as a matter of course, but somewhere along the line, the art was lost. But it has been revived big time in this household.

Day 189, Year 11: Shopping, Cooking, Planning
Date: Thursday, April 28, 2016
Weather: Sunny, High in the 60’s F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA

Today was spent shopping, cooking, and planning. We first went food shopping to get the ingredients needed to make chicken and vegetable Magic Mineral Broth. That job is done and tomorrow I will can it. Making the chicken broth requires roasting an organic chicken first, so I did that and we had it for dinner. I also made almond muffins. Boy, they are yummy.

In between cooking, we talked through our options for packing up Windbird. Mark talked to Lee and Lee really thinks everything can be packed up without us having to come there. We are going to proceed on that premise for now and I will spend a little time each day sending written directions for what is located in the various storage areas on the boat and what we want, what should stay on the boat, and what can be thrown out or given away. When we went food shopping we stopped by a U-Haul dealer to check out the sizes of the trailers and the kind of hitch that can be used. Lee thinks we are going to need the largest trailer which is 5 feet by 12 feet. We’ll run that my Heather and Jon tomorrow to see if they are willing to transport something that large. But the great news is that little by little, we are planning and making decisions that will get all of our belongings from there to here. Tomorrow will be more of the same, hopefully with a little more time for walking and reading.

Day 188, Year 11: Overwhelmed with Kindness
Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Weather: Beautiful Day, Still Cool, High in the 50’s F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA

Yesterday’s log was entitled ‘Thanks and Praises for Friends’ and today we have even more thanks and praises. We are absolutely overwhelmed with the generosity of our friends. This morning while I was reading an email from Lynda offering to continue to help packing up the rest of our belongings on Windbird, we got an email from Heather and Jon Turgeon. They were offering to stop in Little River on their way home from Florida to Vermont and haul our things north for us. Mark and I have spent days trying to figure out how to get all of our belongings from South Carolina to Cape Cod and we just have not been able to come up with a way to do it in the six day window we have between Mark’s treatments. The offer from Heather and Jon felt like a miracle in the making. How could we be so lucky?

You might ask, who are Heather and Jon? The answer to that question takes us back to 2003 when we moved aboard Windbird in Shipyard Quarters Marina in Boston. Actually Shipyard is in Charlestown, across the harbor from Boston proper. I had insisted that we live aboard for a year or two before heading around the world. I wanted to find out if I really could live on a sailboat, so we put everything we owned in storage and moved aboard. It was July and before the end of the month we had met most of the other couples that were living aboard. There were Dick and Claire who lived on their trawler four days a week and on Fridays drove back to their home in North Falmouth on the Cape. Dick was the head of OR at Mass General and had to be at work very early in the morning. So instead of making the pain staking commute from the Cape to Boston, he and Claire, formerly sailors, bought a trawler and lived aboard part-time. Years later it was Dick that got us connected to Mass General when Mark was diagnosed with cancer. We will be forever grateful for his connections and his insistence on getting us connected. Dick and Claire were about our age, but then there was the younger crowd. We met Kevin and Claire who arrived at Shipyard about the same time as we did. Claire was a graduate student at Harvard Medical and she and Kevin bought and moved aboard Merganser to avoid paying the outrageous costs of renting an apartment in Boston. We became friends forever. Kevin is THE Kevin who flew to West Palm Beach in February at a moment’s notice to help us get Windbird to South Carolina. And then there was Heather and Jon who lived aboard Evergreen, their immaculately kept Toshiba. Heather was a research nurse at Mass General and Jon worked in the computer world. When we met them, they had already taken a year’s sabbatical to explore the Caribbean and were hoping to sail around the world one day. Currently they are fulfilling that dream. Recently they had Evergreen shipped from Thailand to Greece and they are home for a short visit with family before returning to the Med and eventually sailing home to New England. Lucky for us, they are in Florida right now visiting with Jon’s parents and during the second week of May they will be driving back to Vermont. Heather said in her email this morning that she read in our log that we might need help getting things from South Carolina to here and she and Jon were offering to haul things in their SUV or haul things in a U-Haul trailer for us. Totally unbelievable.

After getting that email, I started checking the costs of a trailer rental and the possibility of flights to and from Myrtle Beach so we can be there to help. It is all possible, but the hang up is Mark’s situation right now. One day he is fine; the next he is nauseous and weak. I could leave him here alone and fly down to do the packing, but he would feel better going with me. But it is really not something he should be doing right now. When we stay home so he can rest, eat victuals I conjure up for him every couple of hours, and use the infuser with peppermint oil to fight off nausea, he is fine. But when we go out, like we did yesterday to have lunch with friends, or like we did today when we had to go to the hospital for his infusion, he has bouts of nausea and can’t eat as he should. So here’s our dilemma. Should we just stay here and let Lee and Lynda and other friends pack up everything we own on Windbird or we should we fly down for two days and help with the process. Or should I leave Mark here alone and go down to do the packing. My sense of guilt tells me I have to go. But then I talk to Lee and Lynda and Lee convinces me that I really don’t need to do this. They will somehow get everything packed and put into a U-Haul trailer and then Heather and Jon will come pick it up and head north. Just like magic.

Whatever we decide, it is just inconceivable to Mark and to me that friends are willing to do so much for us. We have sailing connections with all these friends, so maybe sailors are just generous people. Or maybe we have just been blessed with wonderful friends. Whatever, we are overwhelmed and grateful with the generous offers of help.

Day 187, Year 11: Thanks and Praises for Friends
Date: Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Weather: Rain and Sleet, High in the 40’s F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA

When our son was in college he wrote a song called, “Thanks and Praises for The Most High.” That was twenty years ago, but I still sing that refrain when I am particularly grateful for something. This afternoon when we received the photos posted in this log from Lynda Kaufman, that song popped into my mind once again, this time changing ‘The Most High’ to the Kaufman’s. They did an absolutely incredible job of getting things off Windbird and cleaning her up. They even brought in nautical items of their own to decorate. As Mark and I looked at the photos, we fell in love with Windbird all over again. She is a beautiful boat that has given us so much. I sure hope Lynda and Lee’s hard work helps to find a wonderful new owner for Windbird. She still has a lot to give.

We also have thanks and praises for our friends Rich and Leslie Kole. We drove to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, midday to have lunch with them. Rich made a wonderful olive oil and rosemary no-knead bread and a Tuscan stew. Both were delicious. This is the first time we have ventured out to visit with friends since Mark started the trial treatment and it felt good to be out and about. It was cold and rainy (even had some sleet) but the warmth of friendship kept us cozy. Thanks, Rich and Leslie.

Tomorrow is an early day. We have to be at Mass General at 8:45 am, so our drive will be at the height of rush hour. But we are grateful to the research team for changing Mark’s treatment day to Wednesday. Driving to Boston on a Friday during the summer months would be insanity, so they went ahead and switched us now.

Enjoy the photos of Windbird posted here. Just click on the photo you see and you will be taken to the entire album.

160426 Day 187–Windbird Looking Good (photos by Lynda Kaufman)