Well. I’ve taken quite the vacation from this blog, haven’t I? I have to admit, I’m feeling a little rusty, like I might not be able to write anymore, but I’m going to give a good try. Here goes nothing.
On our most recent trip to Stanford we found ourselves wandering the streets of downtown Palo Alto with no specific plan. I mean, we love food, so we had an outline of a plan to find some pizza. We just weren’t in complete agreement on where to eat the pizza. I wanted to go to this upscale place with a swank patio, C had another restaurant in mind. Both eateries have phenomenal pizza – we know because we’ve eaten at both of them before. So….what are two foodies to do??? I won the coin toss and we headed over to the swanky patio pizza place. Unfortunately, it was a 45 minute wait to sit out on the patio (on a Monday night?), and so we headed out the door in search of some other great place to eat. As we were walking down the street our noses led us straight into the kitchen of …. Buca di Beppo. The front door is in the kitchen. Nicely played Buca, nicely played. I mean, the aroma! Absolutely mouthwatering. My nose didn’t know what hit me.
We asked for a table for two, and there was a bit of a wait (again, this is on a Monday night), so we sat down at the bar while we were waiting. Of course, we ended up eating at the bar, because eating at the bar is the best. For some reason it’s just so much better. I don’t know why.
Ok, so we started with the fried calamari with spicy marinara sauce for our appetizer. They were very tasty, four stars for sure. It’s all about the sauce though, I don’t know how they do it at Buca, but all the sauces were amazing. I knew I wanted to save some room for my dinner this time, so I was pretty careful with the appetizer (I might be lying… I tried to be careful with the appetizer).
Dinner. Was. Amazing.
We ordered two entrees and shared them because neither one of us could decide what to order. So, we got the Eggplant Parmigiana, and a chicken dish I can’t pronounce or spell (I later found out it was the Chicken Saltimbocca), but I know it came with an amazing buttery sauce that was to die for.
In case you’re concerned… we took a lot of food home with us in those little styrofoam boxes, but you know what we forgot to order? Pizza.
Until next week…
The cancer update
On this last visit to Stanford I had multiple appointments with all the different teams of doctors involved in my case. Sorry, I’m being overly dramatic. There are only two teams, plus the people who take my blood. The first appointment was with the oncologist in charge of the Bone Marrow Transplant. He has his own pre- and post-transplant nurse coordinators, and quite a crew of people working in that department. It’s impressive and a little intimidating at times. But, they are all super nice and caring and I know that I’m in good hands with these people.
The next appointment was with the trial drug doctors, and their nurses and interns and assistants (and the photographer – don’t forget the photographer). There are two doctors on this research team, and I have a lot of faith in both of them, and their team.
So after my latest PET scan and the bloodwork I’d had done that morning, all the doctors on both teams agreed that it was time to move forward with the planning for the Bone Marrow Transplant. OK. Finally. Granted, that was two weeks ago, and I still don’t have a start date…. I don’t know how long it takes to plan something like this, but apparently, it’s more that two weeks. Not that I’m complaining. I like where I’m at right now. I feel great, and I know that the Bone Marrow Transplant is going to be a bit of an ordeal and that I might now feel so great. And quite frankly, I don’t want to do it. If I had it my way, I’d stay on these immunotherapy drugs for the rest of my life. I mean, some people take insulin all the time – why can’t I just take these pills forever? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that the smart people up at Stanford are recommending this Bone Marrow thing, and I’m going to follow their advice. I may even get to do a trial for the Transplant, and it sounds like it’s a little gentler than the usual treatment. I’m praying super hard that I get to do that. I will keep you all up to date on what is happening. Sorry for the long wait…. Thank you, thank you all for the prayers and support!!
Adventures in Food 