Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Doctors, Bread, Visiting and WORK!

We visited our primary care physician yesterday and he was amazed at the progress Mike has made since his surgery. He encouraged us try hard and keep Mike's weight up, especially as he begins his treatments. Mike was up a whole pound this morning.

Yesterday I experimented with a bread recipe and came up with 2 loaves with whole wheat flour oat flour and flax seed. It is okay, but has a much more crumbly texture than we like. It did make for a good piece of toast this morning. Mike is really liking steel cut oats with blueberries for breakfast. Who would have thought Mike could get off the Ding Dongs with such little effort!

Mike is in the office for a few hours this morning. This afternoon we are going to visit with some friends in Anderson who are also dealing with cancer. We hope we can all be uplifted by our visit. It looks like the United Way is going to get some of his time tomorrow :) Boredom is such a huge deal here! Did I tell you Mike made us a compost pile complete with fencing, etc. on Saturday? Yesterday his project was edging the drive. We also went out to Rotary Park to make sure things were looking good there since he hasn't been able to work out there for a few weeks. I think today we are also looking at getting some mulch for a back flower bed. Oh my, I am not sure I can keep up with it all!

6 comments:

  1. I thought of these words quoted by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in his April 2006 general conference address:

    In Nazareth, the narrow road,
    That tires the feet and steals the breath,
    Passes the place where once abode
    The Carpenter of Nazareth.

    And up and down the dusty way
    The village folk would often wend;
    And on the bench, beside Him, lay
    Their broken things for Him to mend.

    The maiden with the doll she broke,
    The woman with the broken chair,
    The man with broken plough, or yoke,
    Said, "Can you mend it, Carpenter?"

    And each received the thing he sought,
    In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;
    The broken thing which each had brought
    Returned again a perfect whole.

    So, up the hill the long years through,
    With heavy step and wistful eye,
    The burdened souls their way pursue,
    Uttering each the plaintive cry:

    "O Carpenter of Nazareth,
    This heart, that's broken past repair,
    This life, that's shattered nigh to death,
    Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?"

    And by His kind and ready hand,
    His own sweet life is woven through
    Our broken lives, until they stand
    A New Creation—"all things new."

    "The shattered [substance] of [the] heart,
    Desire, ambition, hope, and faith,
    Mould Thou into the perfect part,
    O, Carpenter of Nazareth!"

    ...Just seemed appropriate.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nancy,
    Just look at it this way...as Mike's new "right hand woman" you have an instant personal trainer....just hang out with Mike & you will either die from exhaustion or you will be in great shape before you know it! LOL!! Who needs dieting & exercise with this new regime???? Actually, it sounds like you two are doing very well with all of this and I'm pretty impressed at all you are able to do this soon. The weight issue could be a big deal for Mike, so try to find some really fattening, but good foods for him right away! Meanwhile, you may need to take naps when he does to keep up with him! Remember back when the kids were babies and if they went down for a nap you knew you had to too or you would be too tired to take care of them. This could be a little more like that than you might like.....there is nothing that can't wait a bit while you get some rest too. It is really important that both of you take good care of yourselves right now. The chemo & radiation will really weaken Mike's body and the stress will weaken yours. So, good nutrition, exercise & a variety of ways to deal with the stress & boredome will help to keep you both strong! Keep up the good work, you two!
    Love,
    Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Man- we were supposed to get our compost bin made yesterday for FHE, rain stopped us, so we have smelly food in a tub on our porch...yeah! I walk by that rotary park just about every morning, I see 'Mike's bridge', and think of you guys:-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nancy,
    I have only one question about the bread. I remember when our dear friend, Margaret Brown, told me - about both you and herself, "Anita, every good Mormon woman has a Bosch?" I'm not even sure how to spell Bosch . . . but did you use that Bosch to grind those grains and make that bread?

    Also - have you and Mike discovered Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah)? It is a good, healthy grain and I prepare it like rice but add stuff like mushrooms, organic chicken broth, etc.

    Anita

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh my gosh! I can't believe all the home jobs you're doing, Mike. We're having an engagement party here in July for our Andy (and his Elizabeth). Do you hire out?

    Carmen

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good morning, friends. Yesterday was a good and somewhat productive day. I spent a couple hours in the office before power napping just before lunch on our back patio with our blond lab Rudy at my side. Nancy gave some of the back yard shrubs a bit of a haircut (she wouldn't trim mine up with the hedge clippers, however, while I picked up a bit of pet waste. Our kind neighbors seem to compete to see who can mow our yard. Beck Hannaford won yesterday. We are grateful it was done after the rains began. I monitored Delaware County skywarn for a while as there was reports of severe weather in the area and I am an assistant emergency communications coordinator on ham radio. Nothing developed, so it ended quickly.

    I am finding a few things I can do, but Carmen, your talented husband should be able to handle your home jobs! You may just need to find the right motivation (treats or whips).

    I'm going to participate in a United Way meeting this afternoon as part of my 2 hours of work today. It will be good to volunteer to support some community wide priorities to make lasting change in community conditions.

    My head and hairstyle may have changed, but my heart is still the same. This community can make some positive changes if we all give just a little, volunteer, and advocate for a unifying goal. It will not only improve the lives of those without, but will raise the quality of life, improve economic development by demonstratingng just how much we can accomplish by working side by side rather than fighting over smaller things. Let's look for common ground where we can all unite.

    ReplyDelete