Mojo Update

We got back from our trip Sunday afternoon and it was strange being home with just Pepper and not Mojo. Unfortunately our vet is not open on Sundays - they just come in to check on the boarded dogs so I couldn't pick Mojo up until Monday morning. It was SO good to see him and more so, to see him happy, excited, and "smiling".

I had set up an appointment with Dr. Johnson that morning at 9:30 and stopped at home briefly before heading over there. Bob and I let Mojo out in the backyard and he was posturing again after having a bowel movement. This went on for a few minutes and he walked all the way from the back of the yard back to the house while posturing.

We drove to Blue Pearl to meet with Dr. Johnson who was pleased with how good Mojo looked. She was thinking about just seeing how things go until I told her that Mojo is still posturing without producing a bowel movement. So they did another ultra sound and there were still swollen lymph nodes on his lumbar spine. Because these lymph nodes had not responded to the chemo, they kept him for a round of vincristine while I went to Costco to get a few things and Bob went to work. Half an hour later I picked him up and took him home. We had another appointment set up for the following Monday but Dr. Johnson said to keep an eye on him and if anything seems off, to let her know immediately. She said normally when dogs go out of remission they present the same way they presented when they were first diagnosed. For Mojo that was "just" swollen lymph nodes but obviously this time he presented differently since it all started with constipation.

Since then he sometimes goes out an has a bowel movement without a problem and other times he is still posturing and nothing happens. He also hasn't been that interested in his food which is unusual. However, he seems happy and is playful and energetic. I sent an email to Dr. Johnson with an update and she said she would like to see him today since she is going out of town for the weekend. So I went back to Blue Pearl this morning and Dr. Johnson and I took Mojo to a fenced area in the back. Luckily he did what I have been describing and she said that's definitely not normal. Dr. Holste, the vet who did the ultrasound and chemo two weeks ago, happened to come out and Dr. J asked her to take a look as well. Dr. H is an internist and she did feel that the posturing could be caused by the lymph nodes.

So we took Mojo back in for another ultrasound and Dr. J asked if I want to come in with them. I was really glad she offered because Mojo is really clingy right now after being left at the vet for 10 days and I hate leaving him. Dr. H did the ultrasound while Dr. J and I were making sure Mojo wasn't jumping off the table. He's such a good boy...didn't really try to turn or jump and just let Dr. H do her thing.

Unfortunately there are still swollen lymph nodes on his lumbar spine and some of them are bigger than before. That was very disappointing and obviously not what I wanted to hear. After the ultrasound Dr. J explained that the lymph nodes are not obstructing his rectum, but to Mojo it feels like something is "back there". That explains why he does have normal bowel movements every day, but then also is still posturing other times without a bowel movement. Poor baby.

Since he just had a round of chemo on Monday Dr. J said she couldn't give him another one. She said she would like to start him back on Prednisone, just like last year when we first started the chemo, and he also got a dose of steroids via IV today. Dr. J said to bring him back next week and since we already had an appointment set up for Monday she said that was perfect. She said sometimes it just takes a few extra rounds of chemo for a dog to go into remission and stay in remission. So now all we can do is hope, pray, and wait.

Western Caribbean Cruise April/May 2012

I would have loved to have blogged and posted on a daily basis on the ship, but WIFI is expensive (65 cents/minute) and really, really slow. So I journaled in a Word doc instead...shown below.

04.28.2012 – Saturday - Cocoa Beach, FL

I was surprised how “good” I felt when I got up earlier today. My right eye lid was slightly swollen but nothing too bad and it went away quickly. Heart rate was around 130 but came down with hydrocortisone and a beta blocker. I had great energy and was in a good mood most of the day.

04.29.20120 – Sunday - Cocoa Beach, FL/Freedom of the Seas

Unlike yesterday I woke up this morning with my right eye lid horribly swollen, both eyes were red and burning, and I felt much worse than the day before. Things improved a little bit by the time we left for the pier but overall I was definitely feeling worse again.

We got to the pier around 10:30 AM and there were people in line already. Since we are now Emerald status with Royal Caribbean we are able to go to the priority check-in which didn’t take long at all. Right at 11 AM they let us on the ship and as usual we were among the first people to get on. It’s awesome being on the ship when there’s hardly anybody there yet

This is the biggest ship we have been on yet so we went to look at the promenade first.

Many of the shops and cafés are the same, but this one has more than for example the Mariner of the Seas (our favorite up until now) or the Voyager of the Seas. Around 11:30 AM we went up to lunch at the Windjammer Café (buffet) then we walked around and explored the ship some more.

At 1 PM we were able to get into our cabin and the balcony is AMAZING. We have never had a cabin at the end of the ship before and this is definitely the way to go. Not only is the balcony much, much bigger, but you can see out to the side and the back. The standard balconies on the side fit 2 chairs and a very small coffee table and beyond that there is not much room. This balcony had 2 regular chairs, a small coffee table, and 2 lounge chairs and there was still plenty of empty space. I put the small coffee table between the two lounge chairs and took the slightly bigger coffee table from the room, which always seems to be in the way, and put it in front of the two sitting chairs.

We had barely gotten to our room when they brought our suitcases. So by 4 PM, when they did muster, we were completely unpacked and ready to have fun. After muster we went to the sail-away activities on deck 11, then dinner, then to the Welcome Aboard show in the theater. The sunset was amazing.

04.30.2012 – Monday - Freedom of the Seas – Sea Day

Although I slept fairly good and almost 8 hours, I woke up with horribly swollen eye lids again and also red and burning eyes. I am not sure what this is about but it’s so annoying. I also don’t have the energy I had just a few days ago and my mood is not as good as before. I had so hoped that I would feel better on this cruise but so far that’s not happening. I decided to cut out the Lyme cocktail today and cut way back on some of the other anti-bacterials thinking that might help. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow. 

Waking up to this, however, was pretty awesome.

We spent the day relaxing, watching movies (on this ship they show movies in the theater that normally has the Broadway shows), and just taking it easy. It was a nice relaxing day. It was cloudy and rainy all day long which made it even more fun to hang out inside and just chill.

05.01.2012 – Tuesday - Freedom of the Seas – Labadee, Haiti

Cutting back on anti-bacterials did not help….I felt just as miserable this morning as the last two mornings. I have no idea what is going on but it’s pretty frustrating. I am also struggling with all the other crap I have going on, most notably the abdominal distention, fat gain, and muscle loss. Yeah, I’m thin but I hate this distended gut and the layer of fat my body as accumulated. It’s even harder being in Labadee, where women are walking around in bathing suits, sun tanning, and swimming….all things I used to do and enjoy when I felt comfortable about my body. That is one reason I don’t like going out because it just makes it so much more obvious how much crap I am dealing with.

Anyway – on to Labadee. Royal Caribbean has “fenced off” part of Haiti and has made it their “private island”. They have water sports, other activities, a zip line, a small roller coaster, bars, a spa, and more. It’s been a while since we have been here and they have added a lot of new stuff, including some hiking trails. So we hiked around the entire “island” throughout the morning then found a spot in the shade to chill. I went and braved the market – people there hassle you like CRAZY – and found a really cool, and big lizard. I have a wall in my bathroom with just lizards from the different places we have gone to. The one I found was really big and the guy wanted $45 for it. I offered $20, which was probably still too much, and of course he tried to get more. I stuck to my price and when I started walking away he agreed to take $20 for it. I named him Jerome. The lizard not the sales guy.

After an ok lunch of chicken, pork chops, various salads, and more, we went back to the ship and spent the afternoon relaxing again. It was pretty hot and humid in Labadee so it was nice to get back to a cool room.

In the evening, before dinner, they had a “Welcome Back” party for Crown and Anchor members. The latter is Royal Caribbean’s loyalty program and since we have cruised with them quite a bit we are now Emerald members. So we get pretty cool coupons, a welcome back gift in our cabin, parties like this with free drinks, and more.

On all of these cruises they always have hamburgers at lunch and dinner. I have made the mistake of eating them since they have wheat and soy. They taste really good IMO, but they also cause cravings and with a gluten intolerance I need to avoid wheat. So tonight at dinner I saw two of the “chef” looking guys standing in the Windjammer (buffet restaurant) and decided to ask them what it would take to find out the ingredients in the hamburgers. One of the guys (Vinroy) said that he would have to walk all the way downstairs, look on the box, write them down and bring them back to me. He was actually being cute/funny about it and I told him it didn’t have to be today. He then asked if I have food allergies and when I told him that I do and wheat is one of them, he said that the hamburgers have wheat. I figured they did but one could hope.

I was visibly disappointed so the other guy (Eric) said that they can make me hamburgers from just fresh ground beef when I come in for lunch and dinner. He said to just find them and let them know. YES! It probably seems odd to be excited about getting a chunk of fried ground beef, but I love hamburgers and I can only eat a fraction of what they serve on this ship, so to be able to get hamburgers is pretty exciting to me. In the more formal dining room it is not unusual to get special food prepared since I have allergies, but in the buffet restaurant this is pretty uncommon. Normally they tell me I need to go to the dining room if I have allergies.

We also got an email from Dr. Johnson – Mojo’s oncologist. She actually drove out to our regular vet’s office earlier today to evaluate Mojo herself. She said that his leg is back to normal size and he seems happy and well. In addition, she said that he is back in remission which was a HUGE relief.

05.02.2012 – Wednesday – Falmouth, Jamaica

I think I may have felt even worse today as far as the swollen eye lids, my energy, and my mood are concerned. Actually, my whole body felt “swollen” this morning, I had an almond size “lump” under my left eye, and I was in that horrible numb/angry state. The good thing about the whole body fluid retention is that it lowers my heart rate so that I don’t need a beta blocker. Although, as much as I hate taking this beta blocker, or any medication for that matter, it almost seems better than dealing with all the symptoms I have today. So I decided to cut out just about everything – all the Homeo-Ks, Cordy Chi, Lyme Cocktail, Rizol Gamma, probes, and more – and I also cut back on salt. Maybe this will help. Below is a picture of what my eyes  looked like before going to bed last night and what they looked like this morning. They were actually a tiny but puffy that night, but notice the swelling in my right eye lid the next morning and also how red the whites of my eyes are.

We took a cruise last year in November with these same ports, minus Labadee. In Falmouth, they have a fairly new gated pier with a bunch of shops. Some of them are owned by Royal Caribbean, others are owned by locals, and all of them are fairly expensive. Last year we got off the ship, walked around, then decided to go into town and buy souvenirs from locals rather than give our money to the cruise line. In addition, we were hoping to find an internet café so we could check emails. Well, that was not enjoyable. Jamaica is by far the worst for hassling people to buy stuff. They literally start following you down the street trying to get you to come look at their store, so we had decided not to get off the ship in Jamaica this time. Plus it was really hot and humid so overall it was not an enjoyable experience. However, this year it was pretty cloudy and didn’t feel too hot, plus they had added more stores at the new pier so we decided to get off.

We walked around for a bit and found some souvenirs and some candy to bring back for various people. I also found another really cool lizard which I was excited about since I don’t have one from Jamaica yet. After we had what we wanted we went back to the ship and had some lunch. In the afternoon we spent some time in the sun, and then as usual, went to dinner and a show. As promised I got hamburgers both for lunch and dinner. Eric had called a guy named Hopeton to make them for me. They were incredible.

Here are a few pics of the sunrise, pier, the nice, blue water, and the sunset in Falmouth.

05.03.2012 – Thursday – Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Finally a day of feeling slightly better – my left eye lid isn’t near as swollen as usual, I don’t feel like I am retaining fluid, my face isn’t puffy, I felt more cognitive getting up (before taking hydrocortisone), my eyes are barely red and burning, and that numb/angry feeling was gone. The downside is that my heart rate went up all the way to around 160 when I first got up. Oh well….at least I woke up to this today.

We got to Grand Cayman around 8 AM I believe but we took our time getting off the ship. In Grand Cayman there is no pier to dock at for a ship this size so they use tenders to take people to shore. Since we didn’t have any short excursions schedule and didn’t plan on staying a long time, we waited for the first rush of people to get off the ship then worked our way down to deck 1. The water looked amazing and so inviting.

Once we were off the ship we found an internet café, had some coffee/water, and stayed for a while to get caught up on emails. 

Then we walked around for a bit, took some pictures, and found some of our favorite shops. Around lunch time we returned to the ship and ate lunch at the Windjammer. I got my two hamburgers again which I ate with tons of butter. So good!

After lunch we went out to the pool, sat in the sun, sat at the “bar” in the pool, and just took it easy again. This has definitely been a relaxing cruise for us which I think we both needed. Nothing new/different in the evening – just dinner and a show as usual.

Some more pics from Grand Cayman.

Grand Cayman does not have a pier big enough for these large ships so we had to take a tender.

 Doesn't the water look awesome and inviting.

Love the shape of this tree. So cool.

Thought this "string" of clouds looked neat.

05.04.2012 – Friday – Cozumel, Mexico

Back to more swollen eye lids and more fluid retention than yesterday, increased redness/burning in my eyes, and less cognitive this morning, but not as bad as the other days.

This is our favorite port and we have a little routine here. We normally get off the ship, walk the roughly 3 miles to the down town shopping area, sit at “Coffee Bean” for a bit to check emails, have lunch at our favorite restaurant La Mission which we have been going to since 2003, then walk down to Jeanie’s to sit and chill until it’s time to head back to the ship. A few years back when we went to Jeanie’s there were 3 or 4 boys jumping off the little “pier” into the ocean. I thought it looked like a lot of fun and couldn’t help but jump off that pier myself. Since then, this is one of my favorite things to do at Jeanie’s, besides looking at the ocean while relaxing with a cold “agua mineral”.

I also somehow became friends online with the owner of La Mission and Bob and I have stayed in touch with him. His family owns 2 other restaurants, Parilla Mission and Casa Mission, which we had never tried before. Parilla Mission is more of a taqueria versus a restaurant, and Casa Mission was never open for lunch before. However, now they are so we decided to give it a try. The menu is actually exactly the same as at La Mission, but it has a totally different ambiance. While La Mission has become quite touristy, is in the middle of the down town hussle, and is rather loud, Casa Mission is further away from downtown in a quiet area, is not very busy at all, and has a nice relaxed, and quiet atmosphere. Damian, the owner of these restaurants, met us there to hang out with us and eat with us. He said that his parents still live right there so we asked if that is where he had grown up. He said it is. Turns out that the area that now is the restaurant (see below) used to be their patio when he was a kid. When he and his sister when to college his parents experienced the empty nest syndrome and got lonely. So they decided to open a restaurant and bring people to them. Of course – what else would you do when your kids leave home and you miss them!?

Anyway, the house is beautiful and so are the grounds surrounding the house. I can imagine that it must have been awesome growing up there except for the heat that is. It was SO friggin’ hot I could barely stand it. When we walked off the ship we knew there was no way that we were going to walk to downtown this time so we took a cab instead. Here are a few pics from Casa Mission...

 ...and Jeanie's.

After eating lunch with Damian we took a cab to the Mega Mart (sort of like a Walmart) which is right across the street from Jeanie’s and bought some Mexican candies and cookies to bring home to people. Then we sat at Jeanie’s and like I stated above,  I jumped off the pier into the ocean a few times. That water felt so good after walking around in the heat and sitting in hot taxis – all of them have an AC but none of the cab drivers for whatever odd reason use them. (The picture below is actually from 2007 when we were in Cozumel as well.)

We got back to the ship around 4:30 AM although we weren’t scheduled to leave until 7 PM that night. As usual, we took a shower, went to dinner, then a show, then we watched the movie “Joyful Noise” on the big screen outside. One of the things I absolutely loved on the Princess cruise we took in 2004 is that they had a huge screen outside on the pool deck and they were showing movies at night (Movies Under the Stars). So I was thrilled when I found out that this ship has a big screen on the pool deck doing the same thing. The movie was pretty bad but it was still fun to sit outside in the fresh air at night.

I am not sure if I ate something I reacted to (like dairy for example), if it’s hormones, or if it’s die off, but for some reason I started having that insane, bottomless pit type hunger sometime in the afternoon. I was also craving sweets in addition to the insane hunger which could definitely be a dairy reaction or hormones. I ate ceviche, guacamole, steamed veggies, and a fried pork chop at Casa Mission, so I am not sure where/how I would have gotten dairy. Of course it doesn’t take much and it could have been cross contamination from the kitchen. I also had much worse fluid retention in my body which is another dairy reaction for me. It took all the restraint I had not to raid the dessert table after dinner, but I knew I would totally regret it if I did.

05.05.2012 – Saturday – Sea Day

More fluid retention, feeling worse, basically more of the same. As for the cruise, it was a lazy, relaxing day at sea. Not much to report.

05.06.2012 – Sunday – Back in FL

I woke up around 6 AM and we were at the pier in Pt. Canaveral already. Sat on the balcony one more time drinking my coconut oil blended iced coffee, checking emails, and enjoying the beautiful full moon. 

The trip back was uneventful and I was glad to be home by around 4 PM. It was strange being home with just Pepper and I so wished I could have picked up Mojo right then, but I had to wait until Monday morning.

Cocoa Beach, FL and a Mojo Update

By the time I got to Orlando last night I was exhausted. We took a shuttle down to Cocoa Beach, checked into the hotel and walked across the street to the Cocoa Beach Pier to grab some dinner. After a small glass of white wine (happy hour special was half off all alcoholic beverages and the wine glass was about half the size of a regular one!) I finally relaxed a bit. Dinner wasn't anything amazing - all the restaurants at this pier are owned by the same owner and they have one central kitchen. We split naked chicken wings, Bob had a steak, and I had a burger without the bun.

Walking back to the hotel the sunset was beautiful and Bob wanted a picture of me on the surfboard with the fake wave.

We spent the morning at the Ron Jon Resort listening to a sales pitch. In return the shuttle to and from Cocoa Beach was free, plus we got $75 cash. I thought that was a good deal.

As soon as McCormick Animal clinic opened I called to check on Mojo. Daniel, the guy taking care of the animals, was on the phone. The first thing he said is that Mojo is such a "happy dog" and when he let him out this morning he apparently walked up to everybody to greet them with "kisses" and by trying to climb on them. That's my boy! When Daniel told me this I was so relieved because it tells me that he is feeling better. Daniel also said the swelling is down a bit and Mojo seems to be feeling ok. So that was a huge relief plus we decided to go ahead and go on the cruise.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, going for walks, shopping, and just taking it easy. Now we're going to do some laundry and spend the rest of the night in. Looking forward to getting away for a week and doing nothing but fun stuff. Our pet sitter will check on Mojo daily and will send us an email with an update. If I have to fly back I will but I am praying that Mojo will be feeling better every day now.

Update on My "Little" Boy

This is Mojo, my 10 year old Great Dane/American Bull mix who stole my heart the minute I saw him when he was about 5 months old. He is a sweet, sweet boy who has been through a lot in the last year to 15 months.

Yesterday I wrote about the trouble he has been having this week with a swollen anal gland.

Despite being on antibiotics and doing warm compresses he just wasn't getting better. While doing a warm compress yesterday morning I noticed that his left hind leg was swollen quite a bit. Within an hour it had gotten much worse. I called the vet and they told me not to do anything until I come in later to see Dr. McCormick.

Two o'clock didn't get there fast enough. His leg got even worse by the time I got to the vet. Dr. M did another rectal exam and said there's a lumbar sub-lymph node that is swollen and obstructing his rectum keeping him from moving his bowels. He said the leg swelling is edema and he felt that all of it, even the initial swollen anal gland, was due to Mojo's compromised lymph system (from lymphoma) and his immune system being run down from all the chemo. He called Blue Pearl to talk to Dr. Johnson, Mojo's oncologist, but she is out of town this week. The vet on staff that day, Dr. Holste, was in surgery so Dr. M sent me home and said he would call me when he hears back from them.

I had justgotten home when he called and said Dr. Holste would like to see Mojo and do an ultrasound. So I drove out to Blue Pearl and met with Dr. Holste. I explained what had been happening, she did a quick exam, then took him to run some tests. She said it could take two hours and she would call me when she is done. I drove to Target and wandered around but was too worried about Mojo and drove back to the clinic to wait there. She had actually just gotten done with some tests and called me in. I was not expecting to hear what she said. Mojo is out of remission, the cancer is back, and his lymph nodes from the belly down are all swollen. This is what was causing the swelling and she said eventually the other leg would swell as well. Here's a picture of what it looked like yesterday.

She said that she would like to administer L-Spar (sp?) which is the same chemo drug he got last year when we first started chemo. It made his lymph nodes go down within 12 to 24 hours. I said that was fine and went home to take care of Pepper while Mojo was at Blue Pearl. Dr. Holste had said she wanted to monitor Mojo for about 2 hours after chemo to make sure there is no anaphylactic shock from the chemo and to come back around 7:30 PM to pick him up.

I called Bob on the way home to fill him in and pretty much cried the entire time. When all this started end of last week I was not thinking cancer at all. It didn't even occur to me that what seemed like some constipation could be from him being out of remission.

The weather was getting worse and worse and as I was on my way to pick him up a tornado touched down about 5 miles south of the clinic. It was a totally crazy and horrible day all the way around.

This morning Mojo's leg was less swollen and his groin, which had gotten huge by last night, was reduced as well. He was also a bit happier but still unable to move his bowels. I took him back to see Dr. McCormick to get checked out and to discuss whether we should even go on vacation. Dr. McCormick said his leg is definitely less swollen and once the swelling goes down everywhere (including in his rectum) he should be able to have a bowel movement as well. He said he sees no reason for us to cancel the vacation. I asked what the odds are of Mojo not responding to the chemo this time and if that happens, how fast things would progress. Like Dr. Johnson he feels that he will respond well since he responded well the first time. He said if not, that he highly doubts that Mojo will go downhill so fast that they would have to put him to sleep before we get back. Of course there are no guarantees!

Bob and I decided that I would go ahead and fly out today and we’ll call the vet later today and tomorrow. If he is worse we will fly home. If he seems to be improving then we will go on the cruise. Our pet sitter will call the vet daily and send me an email with an update. Dr. McCormick also gave me his email address and said to email him directly. After he speaks with Dr. Johnson on Monday he will let me know if she suggests more treatment while we are gone and will get an ok from me via email.

I am not sure how I feel about our decision. It didn't seem necessary to cancel the vacation, but leaving Mojo there, looking at his sweet, confused face when I walked away without him, broke my heart. I cried the whole way home and between all the crying last night and this morning, and only sleeping about 4 crappy hours, I look and feel miserable. My head feels like it is going to explode, my eyes are red and burning, the heart racing has gotten much worse again, and I am emotionally and physically worn out. This is definitely not how I wanted to start a vacation and I definitely did not expect the cancer to return this fast.

April 2012 Update

It's been almost two weeks since I got back from Seattle and I have seen some good changes. Dr. D added Custom Probiotics 11-Strain Formula to my treatment plan since I still had some and she says they are good probiotics. For a long time I could not tolerate any CP at all but now I am up to 1/4 of the adult dose a day, in addition to various ferments including Kombucha, plus Pro Calm, Acidophilus, and Supernatant. Just a few months ago I could barely tolerate a drop of Sauerkraut brine so that's a definite improvement.

Last week I had several days where I felt joy. There was no dark, gloomy feeling and I was able to just enjoy the day, be happy, and have fun, despite all the other nasty symptoms, including the daily, and very uncomfortable abdominal distention. For the longest time I felt that the negativity was out of my control and having those days where I didn't have to try or work very hard to think positive was proof that I am right.

On the days I felt more joy I also had more energy. I even did a mini-workout on a few days in addition to cleaning the house. That is a HUGE improvement for me and I am so looking forward to when I can work out on a regular basis again.

A few days before I went to Seattle I had started taking Ivermectin and Pyrentel Pamaote. On those two anti-parasitics I felt that I was even hungrier than before and I was craving sweets again. Luckily I am done with those and have been taking Albenza for three days now. The second day on Albenza I started getting a headache, yesterday it was worse than the day before and I also started feeling like I was getting a sore throat and an earache. This morning the headache is improved, but the throat pain and earache, mostly on the left side, are still there. I also have a runny nose and my teeth are sensitive to hot and cold only on the left side.

Shortly before ending my fast I started getting chest pain on the left side and my arms hurt sort of like they did after the blood donation last year. The pain wasn't bad but I was a bit concerned thinking it might be an issue with my heart. I had called CMC and since Dr. D was out I ended up talking to Dr. Z. She ordered a CMP and CBC and also asked me to get a stress EKG. I got the blood tests the next day and my electrolytes were fine. I still haven't gotten the stress EKG, but once I started eating, the chest pain improved and some days it even went away.

Monday and Tuesday this week I didn't get to eat all day and by mid-day the chest pain was back and worse than before. When I finally got to eat something in the evening the pain would go away after one or two hours. Dr. D thinks it's Babesia and not my heart itself (but she still wants me to get the stress EKG just to make sure) and said that it's very common with people who have Babs. The fact that it improved when I broke the fast and ate something those two nights also makes me think it's Babs/die off but like Dr. D I want to make sure that my heart is ok. I went to see a cardiologist on Monday and they had initially told me that they could probably do the stress EKG the next day, but they had to do a pre-cert with my insurance company first. So they had scheduled me for today but I never did hear back regarding my insurance coverage so I re-scheduled the stress EKG for 05.09.2012 since I am heading to Orlando tomorrow.

DH is at a conference in Orlando (since last Sunday) and we are meeting at the airport tomorrow. We are taking a shuttle down to Cocoa Beach and Sunday we are getting on a 7-Night Western Caribbean Cruise to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I am looking forward to it but I am also hoping the die off from Albenza and all the other stuff I am taking will subside a bit before I leave tomorrow or at least before we leave Sunday.

Our friend L is staying with the dogs while we are gone which I much prefer over them going to a kennel. Unfortunately Mojo is not doing so well this week. What seemed like just constipation turned out to be an infected and swollen anal gland. I took him to the vet Monday and Dr. McCormick drained it and put him on antibiotics. It was awful....poor baby was in so much pain and it broke my heart to see him hurting so much. Dr. McCormick said infected anal glands respond really well to abx treatment and that he should be back to normal by the time I go on vacation. Well, he's not back to normal. Right after the vet appointment he was finally able to move his bowels several times, and since then he has been back to having a hard time. I have been giving him the antibiotics, I increased his NuVet Pet tablets to strengthen his immune system, and yesterday I did several warm compresses, but just like before he tries very hard to have a bowel movement but nothing happens. I called the vet yesterday and they suggested that I bring him back in today. I was really hoping he didn't have to go back to the vet again and I am praying that he doesn't have to go through the same thing as he did last Monday. I am also worried about going on vacation tomorrow with him not feeling well. Praying that today will be a pain-free vet visit for Mojo and that he will be feeling great by the time I leave tomorrow.

Coffee "Mousse"

I am still pretty limited with food at this point but every once in a while I want something dessert like. Nuts, honey, seeds, coconut flour, etc. are still out for me which presents a challenge. I can do butter but not too much and I am supposed to avoid egg whites but I can eat yolks. So I decided to adapt Bee's Fake Cream recipe and make a dessert out of it.

what you need:

• 1/2 cup very hot brewed coffee (I used organic dark roast and brewed it relatively strong)
• 1 rounded tablespoon unflavored Gelatin (I use Great Lakes)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (Nutiva)
• 3 egg yolks
• liquid stevia to taste
• 2 cups ice cubes

what you do:

Pour hot coffee into blender. Add gelatin and blend at low speed. Add coconut oil, egg yolks, and stevia until well blended. Add ice cubes until mixture gels. With 2 cups of ice cubes it should be pretty "thick".

Slow Cooker Chicken Gizzards

I just got my new Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker in the mail last week so I wanted to try it out. Our old crock was smaller and had lead in it. This one supposedly doesn't. Let's hope that's true.

I still had a bag of chicken gizzards from Good Earth Farms and figured I use those for my first recipe in the slow cooker. I buy the gizzards mostly because I love the rendered chicken fat, but I love the gizzards themselves as well.

what you need:

• 5 lb bag of chicken gizzards
• 1 quart filtered water
• 2-3 large tomatoes, cut into large chunks
• 2 large onions, cut into large chunks
• 3 green onions, green tops included, chopped 
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro
• 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in half or quartered
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoons Celtic sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 - 1 tablespoon curry (depends on how curry-ish you like food)
• 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 1/2 tablespoon rosemary powder
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme

what you do:

Place all ingredients in slow cooker. Turn on high until it starts bubbling, set to low and let it cook 6 to 8 hours or until chicken gizzards are tender. If you don't like mushy vegetables, add them about 20 to 30 minutes before cooking time is done. That's it. Enjoy...

ways to serve this dish:

• as is by itself
• with homemade sauerkraut (put the sauerkraut in the bowl with this "stew" - yum)
• over cauliflower rice
• over mashed fauxtatoes (regular or smoked)
• with a salad
• over steamed or baked sweet potatoes

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