Nothing to see here. I'm getting tired of this just being a whiny medical blog. I'm still dealing with some relatively mild issues, and they're making me inordinately cranky. I've been working on some fiber art projects, but those are all unfinished, and some are super secret. Summer is still summering. The peppers are doing okay, the mints are fine, etc etc. Overall just hanging in there and trying to make it to the next milestone without going insane.
The cardiologist appointment went well. My blood pressure was actually lower than it's been at home -- I was knitting in the waiting room, so maybe that helped distract me from the anxiety I'd been feeling. The tiredness I've been experiencing is normal both for the drugs that I'm on, and because my body is adjusting to having a more normal blood pressure. Good to hear that it's not a sign of something more serious. I confessed that we'd gone on the trip that the doctor had advised us to postpone, but the doctor laughed it off, and said he'd let it slide this time. He also ordered up a sleep study as he thinks that sleep apnea could very well be the main culprit here. I'm fine with that, so I'll call and try to get something scheduled for after the surgery next week. I have a follow up appointment with the cardiologist in a month and that was that. No big deal at all.
Richard and I are looking at both our travel schedule and other plans to see when we can have folks out to the house next for a bbq. I definitely want to wait a few weeks since I've been sleeping so much. I don't think I'd have the energy to pull out a big shindig right now :)
Time to head back to sleep... I woke up around 5am and decided to come downstairs and do some dishes. Those are done, and now's as good a time as any to head back under the covers.
I'm very glad that I didn't follow the cardiologist's admonition not to go on our trip to Seattle. Nina and Tom's wedding was wonderful, and hanging out with Leslie and Adam was so much fun -- I can't imagine having missed a minute of it to sit at home moping about my blood pressure. Tomorrow, though I guess it's technically today at this point, is the appointment with the cardiologist. Hopefully my blood pressure will behave and we can discuss medications. My surgery with the oncologist was postponed til next Thursday, and I'm just looking forward to getting that over with.
And now for the deep thoughts... I still feel very lucky in my life. We've traveled so much this year and had some amazing experiences. Throughout all of the medical drama, I'm very thankful that we have excellent insurance and it hasn't forced any hard choices like so many folks have to make. The time I've been able to spend with Richard has also helped rebuild our relationship -- we'd been going full throttle with work for so many years that it's nice to get some of the spark back from when we were actually two separate entities :)
In other news, the garden this year is kind of meh. My tomatoes aren't doing well, and it's difficult to keep up with the watering the containers require. The mints are doing great and I need to start some more basil inside since I harvested everything before we left. The peppers are resilient so they're still doing their thing.
Good news and bad news. Last week, I went in for my pre-anesthesia screening, and my blood pressure was off the charts. 230/130, and it would not come down. I've had "white coat" before, but it usually settles in the 145/90 range, which is still high, but not 'holy crap your veins are going to explode' high. Three untreated hours in the University of Chicago medical center ER, then home, then off to Edward Hospital for actual treatment. After two nights in the hospital, two EKGs, an echocardiogram, a renal ultrasound, an adenosine stress test, and a bunch of different drugs later, I'm home and chilling out and getting into a routine there. The hypertension isn't shocking given the 60 pounds I've put on in the past 7 months from the megace and general stress eating. I also have family history on both sides for it; so, again, no surprises there. I still need to do a sleep study to check for sleep apnea (which I think is likely, but easy to treat).
It was definitely scary, but as the cardiologist said, it was probably spiking for months, and we just never caught it before. Hypertension is something I'd definitely prefer treated than untreated, even though it means that I have three more pills to swallow every day for the rest of my life (or until they tweak things). I'm watching what I eat, and I've cut out caffeine. So far so good.
First, I'm thankful for all the good friends I've been lucky to have in my life... it's truly a blessing. The bbq went beautifully today, but I need to stop cooking for 50 unless I actually have 50 confirmed attendees :) Everything turned out well -- the turkey was a big hit, and even though I thought the brisket was a little overcooked, I was able to trim it up nicely.
Pictures are here. Someday the house will be completely clean, but we're not quite there yet. Still it wasn't horrible :)
The final menu was:
Appetizers:
Onion dip with potato chips
Jalapeno popper dip with corn chips
Cheese tray with breads
Veggie tray with ranch dip
Mains:
Pulled pork (pecan smoke) with a wide variety of BBQ sauces
Brisket (Jim Beam/oak smoke)
Turkey breast (brief marinade in Williams Sonoma turkey brine with orange juice, then a maple smoke)
Sides:
Macaroni salad
Potato salad
Cole slaw
Corn Salad -- this went over really well
Cheesy potatoes
Cinnamon apple slices
Desserts:
Strawberry Jello Pretzel Salad
Texas sheet cake -- didn't like the recipe or execution, turned out like pecan fudge with a weird spongy base
White chocolate macadamia nut bar cookies
M&M bar cookies
Way too much food, but it's nice to have people fed and happy :)
Well, the meats are all smoked and tucked safely in the fridge. White chocolate macadamia nut bars, M&M bars, and strawberrry pretzel jello salad is stowed in the fridge. Tomorrow morning it's Texas sheet cake, jalapeno popper dip, and corn salad left to prep. Everything else will be washing and drying salad greens, chopping veggies, and blocking drinks in ice. I'm thoroughly exhausted, but today also brought news from my biopsy... the cancer is gone :) We're still doing another three months of treatment (minimum) but if I clear the biopsy in three months, then we get sent over to the fertility doc.
Wiggle your big toe...
Despite my inability to actually publish my blog post last night when I wrote it, today has been good! I got up at 5am to take the rubbed butts out of the fridge to warm up. Around 6am I went out and fired up the smoker, and joy and success! It actually got hot this time! Since the 12lb butt was actually two pieces of meat, one about 5lbs and the other 7lbs, I put them on separate racks and popped them in. This time since we're having so many different smoked meats, I decided I wanted to keep it simple and just do one wood per meat. The pulled pork got pecan wood, which I just love. It's not quite as strong as a hickory or a mesquite, but it gives a good flavor.
I started this so early because I was afraid it was going to take 18 hours to cook. It was mostly hands off -- I did have to change the drip pan around 1:30ish, but other than that, not much to do. The temp held steady, and even went a little on the hot side -- I was aiming for 220ish, but it got up to 250 at times, probably because it was 95 degrees outside. I decided to poke around with instant read thermometer around 5pm. Clearly getting readings up to 200, so it's done! I pulled both of the butts out and they were falling apart. I snuck a taste, and it's wonderful, and moist. Big success!
Tomorrow I'll smoke the two 5 to 6lb briskets that I got. They are currently marinating in an absolutely delicious mix of apple cider vinegar, worcestershire, garlic, paprika, pepper, salt, brown sugar and olive oil. I picked up some Jim Beam oak barrel smoker pucks today at Bass ProShops, and I think that will complement the brisket quite nicely.
Saturday, I'll smoke the turkey that I've yet to procure. That will be brined tonight and be ready to go by Saturday morning. Tomorrow I'll cook the desserts: scotcheroos and a few other things. Saturday morning I'll finish up the dessert offerings and make the corn salad and prep veggies. Then some artful arranging of spaces and a quick shower... then magic!
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