I’m 24 Years Old, and I Have Hot Flashes.

My body tends to overheat.  Even in the Winter, I often keep a fan on while I sleep.  I daydream about being back in Western New York, where things are much cooler than they are here.  On top of this predisposition, my chemo gives me hot flashes.  In short, I am constantly trying to cool down.

I’ve noticed that the most effective methods are those that bring my internal temperature down.  One method is pretty kooky: I actually will close my eyes and pretend I’m skiing in the Alps or on an expedition to Mt. Everest’s highest peak.  This seriously works.  When it’s freezing out, I think about lying on a hot Mediterranean beach.  I think maybe it just calms me down.

The other is eating frozen stuff.  All the time.  Iced is not good enough for me.  So I thought I’d share some of the things I freeze:

• Fruit puree and bananas: I explained the purees in my first blog post.  By freezing everything that would go in a smoothie, and adding a ton of ice, I get all the taste while going on a short vacation to Antarctica, too.  Also, using less ice yields a thicker, creamier treat, much like sorbet.
• Lemon water: After juicing and zesting lemons for lemonade/future cooking, I boil the leftover scraps for about 10 minutes.  It doesn’t get bitter, and it adds a soft tang to the water.  Just freeze in your ice tray, and either pop them in the blender with some sweetener, or add them to a glass of water.
• Coffee and tea: Who doesn’t like a Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Coolatta?  They’re so creamy and refreshing!  But also full of fat, served in throwaway plastic cups, and in a public place you probably have to drive to.  The trick to making one at home is not to add ice to cold coffee, but to freeze coffee in an ice tray and blend it up with a banana (not frozen) and some milk.  Just make sure to chop up the ice in the blender first.  I only drink tea these days, so I use that instead.  Yesterday, I brewed 2 cups using 2 heaping spoonfuls of Earl Grey and 1 of dried lavender.  This morning, I blended it with a banana and some almond milk.  A perfect way to wake up.

Other ideas: hot chocolate, nut butter and banana puree, vegetable juice, infused simple syrups…

Let me know what you do when you get hot flashes!

Also, I wonder if this could be a good way to store a large batch of compost tea?

One more thing: I am just now discovering the world of PICC line couture.  I was so tired of that itchy gauze that was NOT helping my skin rashes from the dressings.  So I started wrapping my extensions in my Lululemon wristband keyholder.  Then I found an old hair band and decided, hey, that would be a nice cover!  I’m going to start making some new ones from fabric ends and elastic.  They let the site breathe so much more, and I can move it down my arm to give my skin a break.  If you’re on Pinterest, search ‘PICC line covers’, and you’ll see all sorts of creative stuff!

A nice little bow over my dressing 😀

A Freezer Full of Berries

My parents visited from NY this past weekend, just in time to take me home from the hospital. Due to a neutropenic fever and low blood counts, I was there for about two weeks.  For those of you who haven’t experienced neutropenia, these fevers happen when someone with a low neutrophil count gets an infection.  I’ve been in the hospital 5 or 6 times since the 5-week initial stay, and all but one was because of a fever.  They’re very annoying and usually come at night, when the E.R. is most crowded.

My parents go grocery shopping for me when they ‘re in town.  They fill our freezer with frozen meals, popsicles, and frozen fruits and veggies that I can easily heat up when chemo gets the best of me.  This time, I forgot to remind them that frozen berries are a no-no (stone fruits like peaches and mangoes are fine) and consequently ended up with 3 or 4 bags of them.  It doesn’t hurt to save them for when I’m healthy, but boy do I want strawberries!

I think all the planets aligned because I was also given a bag of rhubarb from my parents’ garden.  And I just bought a new blender.  My mom, The Cook, put two and two together and saved the day.  She threw the bag of strawberries in a big pot with the rhubarb, a little water to get it going, and some honey, then let it boil.  After only 10-15 minutes on the stove and some mashing with a potato masher, it turned nice and thick.

I blended half of it and poured it in an ice cube tray to freeze.  Now, whenever I want a strawberry rhubarb smoothie, I just have to pop a few cubes in the blender, add a banana, some plain yogurt, and maybe a little more honey, and voila!  Springtime smoothie!  **You can also get a secret helping of protein in by adding some nut or seed butter.**

About to get Ninja’d.

Smooth as a baby’s bottom.

I might use the other half on pancakes, or better yet, in a pie.  But right now, I don’t have much energy, so an easy smoothie is perfect.  The strawberries are thoroughly cooked and bacteria-free.  Time to add a bit of edible sunshine to my day!

Two fruit cubes, two ice cubes, 1/2 banana, spoonful of yogurt, and a generous squeeze of the honey bear!