I met Tony at his doctors appointment to meet the surgeon.  Um, turns out our GP didn’t set up an appointment as his nurse had told us, so they had no idea we were coming.  So we waited about a good hour while they had all of his charts and lab work to be faxed to make up his file before seeing the doctor.

Even with that set back, when we finally got into the doctor, we immediately both liked the surgeon.  He went to undergrad at Madison in Wisconsin, then went to Stanford and did his surgical residency at Rush.  The only piece of the puzzle he’s waiting on is the results of the ultrasound test Tony did on Monday, which would pinpoint exactly where the tumor is.  If it’s high up in the colon, they just do surgery – all of their surgeries start out laproscopically, and only if there is a complication do they do the more invasive surgery.

However, if the tumor is lower in the colon, they do six to eight weeks of chemo and radiation.  We had both just wrapped our brains around him having a possible invasive surgery, but chemo and radiation never crossed our minds.  I know he has cancer, but we both had surgery on our brains.  When we heard chemo and radiation, it make it seem that more real that Tony has cancer.  It’s hard to describe!

The other piece of the puzzle will be next Wednesday, when they do a full body scan to make sure that the cancer hasn’t spread anywhere else, and then we’ll form a game plan at the end of next week.  Bottom line is the surgeon doesn’t want to waste any time.

There’s just one more thing.  This surgeon is a Chicago Cubs fan.  I told him that on the day of surgery, don’t be surprised if I have written “Cubs suck” and “100+ years without a World Series Title” all over Tony’s body! 😀

I had to be to work early yesterday, so I had McDonald’s oatmeal – I really like it!  And my co-worker said that you can ask for it without the maple, and it would reduce it to 6 points, but I still don’t think 7 points is too bad for a breakfast.

All of a sudden I looked up and realized I had 15 minutes to eat before leaving for the doctor appointment.  I brought my Split Pea with Smoked Turkey soup – 1 1/2 servings for 8 points.

um, maybe splashed with some Tabasco 😀

The smoked turkey was still really tender – I still have four more servings in the deep freeze too 😀  I never even tried split pea soup before just because of how it looks – missed out for so many years!

the perfect bite

Since I didn’t do a full grocery shop this week, I decided to hit up my store’s 50% off bin on the way home.  I scored and got a one pound bone-in New York strip for $4.30 and this package of veggies – Green Giant’s Healthy Colors.  While I wouldn’t spend $3 on this package, I didn’t mind spending $1.50.  Each serving is only 1 point.

My plate: 8 points

I have a full-proof gravy recipe for you.  I know I’ve talked about having the .50 cent packets of gravy mix in your pantry is nice to have on hand, but I didn’t have any more so had to make it from scratch.

Super Easy Gravy (makes 4, 1/4 cup servings – 2 points each)

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup broth (I used beef, but you could use any broth to suit what you are making)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in sauce pan.  Add flour and stir for one minute.  Slowly add the beef broth and continue cooking for 5 minute or so, making sure the flour is combined and the gravy gets thick.  I added sauteed mushrooms for Tony and put that gravy over his steak – he loved it! 😀

This was the first time I’ve had yellow carrots – I actually never knew they existed!  I am submitting this side dish to Christina’s Friday Firsts:

I did add pepper to the veggies at the table, but these were really good.  Maybe I can use the remaining bag in a stir fry for my lunch today.

But later on in the evening, I was really hungry – I realized I’d only had 23 points for the day, so I made an unphotographed cheese and cracker tray for me and Tony – my guess is it was around 8 points.  Turns out I like cheese! 😀

Stats for Thursday

  • 31 points
  • no exercise
  • average blood sugar 134

Hope everyone has a great weekend – I’ll “see” you on Monday!