Germany/Part 2 + recipe

We arrived at the Klinik by 11:00am, Monday. I had some paper work to fill out, and then we saw a doctor who went over my history. Lunch was next and pretty good. We unpack and relaxed until I had my first treatment at 5:00PM.

Meal times are early:
Breakfast 7:30-9:00 (not really bad)
Lunch Noon-1:00 ( a bit early)
Dinner 5:00-6:00 (really early)
As I had my treatment at 5:00, lasting until close to 6:00, they delivered our dinner to our room, as we had missed dinner in the dining room. They are very flexible food-wise, and I'll be able to stay on my diet: no sugar, no gluten, no dairy, plus some other "no's."

The Hyperthermia treatment was pretty easy to take. They only took it up to 100 watts (whatever that means) and next I think it goes to 120 or 125 watts. They use radio frequencies to generate the heat. I laid down on a water bed and the nurse placed a pouch of water on my abdomen. The machine went on top of that; this was a German model. She took it to 80 watts for about 10 minutes and then up to 100 watts for the rest of the time. I felt a warmth, almost like the heat lamp Frank, my acupuncturist, uses when I have acupuncture. I dozed a bit and was quite relaxed. Art sat with me during the treatment. No pain or discomfort at all. Here's hoping that 120 or 125 watts works the same.

Tuesday, the 28th, they took blood at 7:45AM and then I had a sonogram, around 8:15AM; Dr. Migeod wanted to check to make sure no there wasn't any thrombosis and to see what the tumors looked like. Luckily, no thrombosis but there is a bit of a blockage of a vein due to the large tumor in my right groin. That's why we're here!!!! Shrink those suckers!!!!!

I know this is detailed info and if you're not interested, just skip over it. There are some who're interested and are contemplating using this type of treatment as well. This is for them.

I'm due to have another consult with Dr. Migeod, who runs the Klinik, in a little bit. He is the one who is creating my treatment schedule.

(Back to write more later)

It's later, after dinner. Before the consult with Dr. Migeod late this morning, we had about an hour.  We went into Bad Bergzabern to look around. It's a pretty town. We found a health food store (here organic items are called Bio) and found some interesting things. When we had visited Switzerland a couple of years ago, I found a chestnut flour cracker that I really liked a lot. Here, I found a brown rice and chestnut flour one, also good. Then, we went to the Information Center and got some brochures on the Palatine, which is what their wine country in this area is called. Art can have a good time wine tasting, and maybe I'll take a taste now and again; of course, this means we will have time to explore. I know that there aren't any treatments on Sunday, so............ Actually, I'm hoping we can go the Strasberg, France, over the weekend, as I believe it's less than an hour away.

When we met with Dr. Migeod, he had most of the results from my blood tests - they took a lot of blood! Mostly everything was fine, but I'm a bit anemic (due to the chemo) and I need more Vitamin D, so not too bad. He wanted me to have another hyperthermia treatment today with a Vitamin C infusion and to start low-dose chemo, given in pill form. This time, I was on another machine, and this one was Italian, very international here. I also had a Mistletoe shot to boost my immune system. There are a couple of more results from the blood tests that I will get tomorrow when we meet in the morning. I will be seeing him every day. The staff here is very nice, although not all the nurses speak good English, which makes it a bit difficult, but nothing that can't be worked with.

We've met a lovely young couple, in their 40s, who unfortunately are leaving on Thursday. We have a lot of similar ideas about food and other health related topics, so there's lots to talk about. Nancy's husband, Patrick, works with software, so he can work anywhere, and he is - working each day here. We plan on keeping in touch and I'll be adding some of her recipes to my cookbook. Wish I had one now to give to you.

Here's another recipe I believe I have written before. It is easy and delicious -

BABAGANOUSH

Ingredients:
1 eggplant
1/4 C tahini
1/4 C fresh lemon juice
2-3 cloves garlic, cut up
Salt
Cumin
Cilantro or parsley

Directions:

1. Put the oven on broil. Place the eggplant on a tray, after puncturing it several times with a fork.
2. Broil it for 6-7 minutes on a side, turning it three times.
3. Let it cool and then skin it. Either put the pulp in a container and refrigerate it until you are ready to use it, or put it into a food processor.
4. Add the rest of ingredients and blend it well.
5. Refrigerate it until ready to serve. Can be prepared at least a couple of days in advance. Lasts well.

I serve this with both cut up vegetables and crackers. I really like that dash or two of cumin.