Day 13 First Chemo Round - Nutrition, Quinoa Salad and Blood Cell Counts

Last night, we made plans to go out to dinner tonight with some very special friends who celebrated an anniversary this week. I was excited to see them and we also want to go for a ride on the Honda Goldwing tomorrow. So that means all the laundry needed to get done today so that tomorrow could be free to go riding. I also wanted to make my quinoa salad to help raise my white blood cell count. This salad also helps fight the tendency for me to have thrush. I developed this recipe back in 2012 when I was fighting thrush during my 6th chemo cycle. I looked up the post,  Day 4 - 6th Chemo Cycle, so that I could make this recipe today. I decided to use the vegetables that are helpful in raising white blood cell counts. The homemade dressing is good for fighting thrush.

So while I did 5 loads of laundry and hung 3 on the line to dry and the rest put in the dryer, I also made my quinoa salad. Today I used radishes, cucumber, carrots, celery, red onion, avocado, a granny smith apple and pecans chopped up to add to my 2 cups of cooked and cooled quinoa. After tossing it all together, I mixed together about 2 cups of plain no fat yogurt, 2 Tbsp. of cider vinegar, a few shakes of cinnamon, 1 shake of ground cardamom and a couple shakes of celery seed. Then I mixed it all together and put in the fridge for it all to blend together. I had this for lunch and I can use this to put food in my stomach for the various pills that I have to take with food.

I had a busy day, but I am feeling great. I see that I'm getting pale and I suspect my red blood cell counts are decreasing. So tonight, I decided that while we were going out with friends for dinner, I would make sure I eat some red meat to help raise those red blood cell counts. Around 4:00 p.m., I started to drag. My nauseousness was returning a little because I was too tired. So I went and laid down to rest so that I could enjoy our dinner out with friends.

We went to one of our favourite Greek restaurants called The Greek Islands. I decided on having their dinner special which was a filet mignon kebab. I love Greek salads so, of course, I chose to start with that. The meal, as always, was delicious and involved lots of food. Surprisingly, I ate all of it. However, now I'm stuffed and a little uncomfortable. But....what a wonderful evening being with friends, enjoying each others' company and feeling the warmth of our friends' love. It's been a super day. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's ride on the bike. I'll be visiting the CCAC clinic to have my dressing changed on my picc line and to have it cleaned and cleared. I think we'll ride over on the Goldwing and then jump on the bike and go for a ride directly from the clinic.

Here's hoping for a good night's sleep and another great day tomorrow. It's been a string of a couple of great days so far. Life is good at the moment!