8/22/09 - Vietnamese Porridge

I had a good day today. My family was here for a longer visit this morning because it was a weekend. It was fun just hanging around each other, not really talking about anything important and not really doing anything together - just like when we were at home. Then it was time for to leave for their play date and for me to take a nap.

The girls are having their first sleepover, so they were both excited. Rob will also sleep over just to make sure everything went okay. It was going to be at Rob's best friend's house. His daughter is one of our girls' oldest and dearest friends.

As I was reading my emails this afternoon, I read that Alvina may bring me lugao (porridge) either today or tomorrow. I was hoping she would bring it today, and even dreamt that she did when I took a nap. When I woke up form my nap, there she was, sitting in front of me with the ugly mask everyone had to wear. And she brought Vietnamese lugao - do I want fish or chicken? I was very happy. I have been craving for lugao for a while now, and although I had arroz caldo from Bessie the other day, I could really have more. I never had Vietnamese lugao before, but they're good! It is like the rice version of their Pho, which I also like. There's something soothing about lugao when I'm sick. Maybe because I was always given lugao whenever I was sick as a child. It is easy to digest and the soup could be very nutritious. I had to dig in even while Alvina was here because I am not allowed to reheat food - like I needed an excuse! :-)

I was able to talk to my mom briefly. She called when I was taking a nap, so she kept it short. Just wanted to know the results of the biopsy. Later that evening, Cristina came to visit after her shift was over. It was always nice to see my best friend.

The new challenge for my doctors these days is to find antibiotics/antifungal medication that don't make me break out in rashes. So far, I think we've tried 3 kinds. I hope they find one that's suitable for me soon.

That's it for today. Prayer requests - new healthy, beautiful looking white cells; bye-bye to chicken pox; and antibiotics/antifungal meds that don't give me a rash. Answered prayer: my diarrhea is gone, and I think I'm almost back to normal now.

Thank you again for all your prayers and God bless you all.