Day 171, Year 7: Beef Liver, Vinegar, and Dark Chocolate
Date: Friday, April 27, 2012
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Windy, and Cool
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Mark got a good report from the oncologist today. On Fridays prior to his
Monday chemo treatments, he goes to the clinic early to have blood drawn for
testing and to then meet with Dr. Crook. After his third treatment, we saw
a bit of a dip in some of the numbers, so we adjusted his diet. We have
added beef liver from free-range, organically fed cows from Martha’s
Vineyard, and we increased the amount of meat we eat in general. And that,
or fate, has kept those numbers from dipping any lower. In fact, most are
increasing. So the doctor feels that Mark is going into his sixth treatment
(the halfway point) in great shape. He has successfully kept mouth sores at
bay with his nightly mouth rinse of hot water, salt, and apple cider
vinegar. And we solved his upset stomach with two cups of hot chocolate at
bedtime. We have experimented enough now to know that this chocolate
bedtime drink also allows him to sleep through the night-something he hasn’t
done for years. We used up all of the dark chocolate drink from Singapore
and are now using Ghirardelli Double Chocolate. It works as well as the
Singapore drink even though it is not dark chocolate. His weight has also
stabilized. So the doctor suggests we just keep on doing more of the same.
Who would have ever thought that eating beef liver smothered in onions,
gargling with vinegar and salt water, and drinking hot chocolate at bedtime
would be a winning combination?
Heather, Jed, and I are still working toward getting the bee garden
completed before the bees arrive. We were given a bit of a reprieve as the
Saturday afternoon delivery date has been changed to late afternoon on
Sunday. The bees are being delivered by a small bee company from Rhode
Island. When Heather called them inquiring about ordering bees she found
out that they are delivering bees to Martha’s Vineyard this weekend. So she
will meet the gentleman at the ferry in Woods Hole and get her brood before
he crosses to the Vineyard.
Mark is working through Sunday and then has his next chemo treatment on
Monday, so boat deck work has been put on hold for now. We were also
working on the dinghy but only got as far as finding the leaks and totally
deflating the boat so we could patch it, but it has been two weeks now and
we haven’t gotten back to that job. The dinghy has been sitting sadly on
the rocks on shore. So we have decided to have the dinghy picked up by the
local dinghy repair guy and let him do that job. Slowly, ever slowly, we
are getting things done.
