Chemo nose and chemo taste buds strike hard

Last night we prepped a wonderful dish, mussels and clams in broth.  (the mussels and clams weren't cooked until today).  Friends were joining us for lunch Sunday. Well, Marty prepared the broth and I washed a gazillion bowls, utensils, pots and pans.  He does love to drive me crazy dirtying every dish in the house.  While he worked on the broth I sat in the living room, the smell, aroma to him, was ticking off chemo nose.  I would go to the kitchen every 20 minutes or so to wash more dishes, then rush back to the living room. Marty also made an Angel Food cake which he iced this morning. 

Our friends brought a wonderful salad for us. It even smelled good, and was beautiful. Marty said it was really good.  I wouldn't know,  I forgot to tell them I can't eat raw veggies. 

This was a mussels meal I had asked Marty to make for our friends.  It is a recipe Marty developed. The broth is so rich with all the veggies cooked in it.  I love this meal.  So the meal began with me watching all eating the salad.  I could smell the broth and mussels cooking and knew this was not going to end well.

Marty filled the bowls with the dish and then put one in front of me.  I almost screamed, no take it away, I can't eat this.  I was gagging, but I didn't throw up.  The smell was just awful to the chemo nose.  I watched them eating one of my favorite meals and having to smell it.  I ate peanut butter on Zesta crackers with applesauce.  Not great, but doesn't gag me.

Then he cut the Angel Food cake and served us nice big slices.  Chemo nose said more, more. Chemo taste buds says this is good stuff.  It tasted normal, which would be wonderful.  So many things if they don't gag just taste wrong.  Love the cake and will have some for supper too.

I had planned to take pictures of food and chemo brain forgot.  Trust me, this chemo stuff is disruptive to my life.  But it also is giving me life. 

Why can't my brain remember?

Chemo brain is real.  I can't remember squat. Sticky notes are my best friend. Words come out of my mouth that just don't make sense.  Or I can't pronounce words correctly.  I can't track more than one thing at a time and reflexes are slow, thus no driving.  But all of the above is not the worse problem.  My hair is the problem.

Well my lack of hair.  I used to have such good hair.  It was curly, thick, and silver.  I never was grey, hell no, Divas do not go grey.  We have silver hair, thank you very much.

 

 

When I got up in the morning, I fluffed my hair. When I washed my hair I only had to fluff it.  No need to dry it.  It was curly, a good cut, and easy.  The wind blew, no problem, run my fingers through my hair and all was well.

As you all know, I now don't have a hair on my body.  Well maybe 4 where I should have eyebrows.  I haven't had head hair for months.  My brain can not remember that.  When I take off my hat I reach up to fluff  my hair.  Marty finds that hysterical.  Every morning as I get up I reach to fluff out my flat hair.  In the shower I reach for the shampoo.  Why o why can't my brain remember, NO hair?

Chemo Brain maybe

Lately if I can't remember something I blame chemo brain.  And that is a true problem.  But sometimes, because I did this before I got sick, I just can't remember things. Prime example this week, the SAFE problem

After we were robbed last year we got permission from the landlord to put in a security system.  We also put in a couple of safes for jewelry, emergency money, checkbooks.  Stuff like that.  Now I did help Marty set up the combination punching buttons when he told me to, but I didn't read the book of instructions.  He was reading it. 

Well, Monday I tried to open my safe and an error code came up.  I kept trying and it locked me out for 15 minutes.  I asked Marty for help, it wouldn't open for him.  So we got the book out. Not a lot of info for our problem.  But I did learn if you punch the wrong code when locking the safe it resets to that code.  It will display the code for 2 seconds so you can see what it has become.  So setting up your code and closing the door have the same operation.  Evidently I had hit a button wrong and changed the code.  So we got the override key.  And it didn't fit my safe, tried the second key, didn't fit.  Crap. 

We worked on this little problem for a full day.  We figured out the keys only fit his safe.  Where were my keys?  The next morning Marty called the manufacturer, gave them the serial number. They told him what forms to fill out and to have notarized, how much money to send,(a lot).  I thought too much money for this, the keys have to be in the apartment somewhere.  So we started looking again. 

Drawers were dumped out, vases upended, shoes boxes checked out.  And then my fuzzy brain cleared and I knew where I had hidden the keys.  I retrieved them, opened my safe and kissed my jewelry hello, and then reset the combination.  In the future I will check the readout on what numbers I punched in to lock it.  I still think it is dumb to have the code to lock also the reset option at the same time. 

Where did I hide the keys?  As you can tell, in a very secure place.  And you ask again where did I hide the keys?  You don't really think I will tell you do you?