Family BBQ

My bro manning the grill.

Happy Labor Day! I am happy to report that my mom is feeling a lot better. I say this nervously because I know things can always change and rather quickly, but for today and the past few days, she's been doing better. Her appetite is still not that great...mostly because she says everything tastes bad, but at least she'll have a few bites and won't throw up. I've been giving her 5 ml of megace every day for the past 4 days. The nurse practitioner we saw on Friday said that it might take a little bit before the appetite stimulant, well, stimulates. She had chemo on Friday and I was surprised that all her counts were in normal range- her platelets, white blood cell (WBC) and red blood cell (RBC) count. When her blood was taken on Monday, her platelets were still at the 60 range so she couldn't get chemo. But by Friday, it was at 203 (lowest of normal range is 150), so chemo was a go.

On that same day, my cousins (on my mom's side) who've recently moved here from China and Taiwan told us they wanted to visit. My mom was like, "sure, whatever," but I was nervous about how she'd feel in the next feel days. But all in all, it turned out to be a nice get-together. All my cousins' kids are boys ranging from 13-28 years old and they eat like beasts. Last time they came, my mom literally gave a face of horror as we watched them come back from a game of basketball and just swallow the food whole without taking a breath. With my cousins coming over, I decided made sense to host a barbecue. We also invited my cousins on my dad's side.

 The boys:

scarfing down chicken

Other than eating and visiting the local Walmart, my brother gave the boys some exercise training. My cousins also joined in on the "fun." We went to the park and my mom watched in amusement as they suffered through sprints, high knee jumps, push-ups, squats, jumping jacks, etc.

Although having guests over means that I need to get the house "ready" for guests in terms of cleaning and shopping, I think the extra company is nice for my mom. Since she's been off work for a while, I'm usually the only one she sees most days. And they also don't come empty handed, bringing dim sum, Chinese take out, Chinese newspaper, and fruit.

Two of our youngest guests had birthdays coming up so we got them cake and presents.

My mom and my cousin Tracy's children

note the Christmas wrapping paper ;)

giving my mom some love

I made some great burgers and thought I'd share the recipe:

3.25 lbs. of ground beef
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of chopped onions
3 tablespoons of chopped cilantro
2 cloves of chopped garlic
salt and pepper

1. Preheat grill for high heat.
2. In a large bowl, mix the all the ingredients using your hands. Season with salt and pepper,
3. Form the mixture into hamburger patties.
4. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill patties 5 minutes per side, or until well done. 

stage 4 stomach cancer blog

unofficial theme song for ER visits: (I want to go) home by Michael Bublé

(note: duet with Blake Shelton, my mom's favorite American singer purely based on looks. lol)

Last Monday, my mom had to be admitted to the hospital. My mom went to the doctor's office for routine blood work and was told she couldn't go home. I had anticipated her counts being low, but not that low. Her hemoglobin count was at 5 (10 is the lowest point of normal range) and her platelets were at 14,000. Normal platelet should be at least 150,000. I declined their offer to get a squad car to take her to the hospital. Instead, I hurried to the doctor's office to pick up my mom and head to the ER.

The emergency room at Robert Wood Johnson is always a mad house. Because of her low counts, she had to be in "isolation." They gave her blood and platelets. I appreciated that they were quick about this. However, Robert Wood takes FOREVER to get a room up on the oncology floor. We arrived at 6pm and at 2am, finally were told that they had a room waiting. Another hour passes and they said oops, they were misinformed. The room they found was for the wrong location.

I planned on sleeping at the hospital with my mom. But in the ER, there were only chairs to sit in so by 3am, I went home to get some shut eye.

When did my mom finally get taken to a proper room? Drum roll please....

At 4pm the next day. %&@#$^!!!!! (insert angry emoticon here)

I feel uncomfortable in the ER not just because of the incredibly long wait time to get a room and not just because it's loud and crazy.

Reason #1: The ER only has TWO toilets. One on each side of the floor. If my mom needs to go to the bathroom, I hurry ahead of her to make sure there is one available. I grab sterile gloves and lysol wipes and wipe down everything...the floor, the seat, the water faucet handles. Her low counts make her very susceptible to infections, etc., so I make damn sure the bathroom's clean.

Things just get complicated when there's more people in need of a bathroom. When the one closest to us became occupied, but the one on the other side was open, I race to her bed and anxiously tell her to hurry to the bathroom. It then becomes a mad dash to the bathroom because there's a huge chance that by the time she arrives, it'll be taken.

Reason #2: My mom was in an isolation room to lower risk of infection. But ironically, the room we were in was not sanitized. I saw 2 cockroach-like bugs in the room. Now, I understand that the ER is super busy and people are coming in and out. But for people who are neutropenic, doesn't it make sense that their rooms just get a quick wipe down before a patient with a low immune system enters?

Well, we were in Monday night and left on Wednesday, late afternoon. I was glad the visit was relatively short.