A Reprieve, Soup, and Living in the Future

Although my back is out, I had another good day in terms of energy. I managed to tap the back pain down to a manageable level, although the muscles are still seized up and I can’t stand straight all the way. I imagine it’s from not exercising. My muscles are getting weak and it’s easy with all this lying around for them to seize up. I stretched for 20 minutes today and went for a 20 minute walk, which shows just how good my energy is at present. I also made dinner. It’s so nice to have an appetite and the energy to satisfy it. I made navy been soup, a good winter dish. I’ll include the recipe below. My mother used to make this soup and this is an approximation of her recipe. This is a vegetarian version. She used to cook it with a ham bone.

My head is clearing and I can think again and read articles without getting impatient. I guess it’s the glutamine helping my liver to detoxify. I was able to write some letters today for work. Things that hitherto seemed impossible to do suddenly seem possible.

I have over a week before the next chemo treatment. It’s at this point that I feel like I’m setting up the bowling pins one by one all week, only to have them all knocked down when I get chemo. But it’s glorious for the moment to feel the fog clearing, to have enough energy to participate in household chores, to read the editorial page of the New York Times, and to take walk outside. I’m still taking multiple naps, but to be able to do these simple things is like being let out of prison.

David is in Washington D.C. on a business trip. He’s staying at some old hotel that offers to install goldfish in the room if one requests it. His goldfish is named Galileo. He spent last night with his mother and met an uncle of his for the first time. He was able to gather more scraps of family history and was pleased about that.

I got a new cell phone. It's red and small. It has all sorts of features I don't need, like an mp3 player and a video camera. I had to get it because it's red and very cute. I suppose it's a signe that I'm old now, but I feel like I'm living in the future having a phone in one's pocket that's so tiny that does all those ridiculous things like playing music, accessing the internet, and taking videos. Howard's mother is 94 and that's what she says. She says that she's just living in the future now. Except that she doesn't have a cell phone. An answering machine is about as far in the future as she'll go, as far as technology is concerned.

Navy Bean Soup

1 lb Navy Beans
4 T butter
1 Onion
2 Carrots
2 Stalks Celery
1 Bay leaf
32 oz. broth (I use a box of No Chicken Broth)
1 c water
1 t hickory smoke liquid
Salt and pepper

Put the beans in a big bowl at breakfast time and soak them. At about 4pm, dice the onion, celery, and carrots and sauté them at the bottom of a soup pot. After the onion is clear, pour in the broth and water, add the bay leaf, and the beans. Cook on medium heat for 1 ½ hours. When the beans are cooked, take about 1/5 of the mixture out and puree it. Add it back to the soup. And the hickory smoke and salt and pepper to taste. Serves six.
Because I have a big family, I usually make a double recipe.