Charlie Update and Marinated Grilled Broccoli

My brother was feeling well enough to go see The Hunger Games over the weekend! While the awful taste isn’t as prevalent, he still doesn’t have much of an appetite. My Mom is actually coming home today too!

Here is Charlie’s latest update on Facebook:

I just wanted to take a few minutes and thank everyone for the outpouring of well wishes over the last couple weeks. Apart from the Facebook posts here, I’ve received many emails, cards, and even a few personal visits. For that, I owe a big thank you to everyone. To say I feel overwhelmed doesn’t come close to covering it.
You know, it’s funny: it’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day routine (wake up, go to work, stay there 47 hours, come home and go back to bed; lather, rinse, repeat) that you forget the wider world is still out there, still holding the hundreds upon hundreds of people you’ve met throughout the years. It’s not until you’re forced to step back and look at the big picture do you remember: there’s a lot more out there than the daily grind. You’ve all helped me put that into proper perspective again.
Now, for those just joining the party or wondering just what the heck I’m talking about, let me ‘splain. No. There is too much. Let me sum up. A few months ago, I started getting a touch of a cough. Maybe six weeks ago, the cough got bad and invited headaches and fevers to come along for the ride. Finally, after three doctor visits, they decided to actually look at my blood. The very next morning, my doctor called and told me the bloodwork wasn’t looking too hot. She recommended I head to the ER immediately for further probing.
So literally overnight, I went from what I thought was a bad cold to a surprise diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. My ER visit turned into a ten-day hospital stay, which among many other events, included my first round of chemotherapy. At the moment, I actually feel almost normal again (first time in a long time). But then again, I still have five to seven more treatments, so I’m fully prepared for lots more ups and downs.
So there we are! I’ll wrap this up just how I started: with a big thanks for all the kind and encouraging words. And going forward, I’ll keep everyone posted . . . without being too annoying about it.

I love you Charlie!

I was out of granola and tried to substitute 1/3 cup of honey nut cheerios, 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of dried cranberries in place of the granola.  The first few bites were good, but because this takes me like 30 minutes to eat, at the end it was just all soggy.  I made two batches of granola last night so I am back in business!

Breakfast comes in at 413 calories, 5 fat, 78 carbs, 7 fiber and 21 protein.

I checked my blood sugar before going on my walk – shit – it was only 66!  I ended up eating my lunch first – 1 cup of cantaloupe (not pictured) and had a bowl of my Spicy Indian Tomato Soup with meatballs.  Yep, one and only shot of my soup – that’s what happens when my blood sugar is low.  I added fresh chopped spinach to mine too.

While that doesn’t look too pretty, the spice combination is wonderful – its flavorful spicy.  And because I brown the meatballs first, there is a bit of crust on the balls, but the inside is very tender.

So my blood sugar was up to 140 by the time I left for my walk.  I don’t recommend eating a bowl of soup and then walking 15 minutes later.  It was sloshing around – not my best 40 minute walk ever, but I moved!  It was perfect weather too – sunny and 50 degrees.

I had steak and baked potatoes on the menu and was wondering how to kick up some broccoli for my side dish.  I have this blog to thank for the idea for this broccoli dish – since Tony doesn’t eat dark veggies, I made this one serving.

Marinated Grilled Broccoli

1 serving:  113 calories, 5.5 fat, 15 carbs, 3.9 protein and 3.6 fiber

• 1.5 cups broccoli
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• salt and pepper

Cut the broccoli up and set it aside.  Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl and whisk.  Toss the broccoli in the marinade and let it sit 5 minutes.  Grill over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until desired doneness.  Keep an eye on it and move to indirect heat if it starts to burn.

I like that Tony and I split a steak – I used to make two of those.

I even ate a couple mushrooms!  My baked potato has two tablespoons of tzatziki sauce.  Dinner comes in at 504 calories, 25 fat, 39 carbs, 5.9 fiber and 29 protein.

While the steak was delicious, the star was the broccoli – the honey kind of caramelized on the grill and the dijon mustard gave it a nice bite.

I had to wait to do my 30 day stretch until after dinner since it records it around 8:00 in the morning.  My heel pain was alive and well since I hadn’t stretched since Friday.  But after 30 minutes?  The heel pain went away and it doesn’t hurt this morning either.  Still so happy I found that show!

I had to stop at CVS on my way home for dish detergent and saw they had a bin of Christmas bags – everything was 75% off.  Check out all these wine bags I got – all for .67 cents each!  The original price was between $2.99 and $3.99 – score!

Thanks for your continued well wishes and emails for my brother – we appreciate it!

Stats for the Day:

• 1468 calories, 48 fat, 173 carbs, 17 fiber and 91 protein
• 48% of calories from carbs, 30% from fat and 22% from protein
• 40 minute walk at lunch
• 30 minute stretch

Make it a great day!