Shingles, Chemo, Audio Books and Books

Oh, hello again. 

I thought I'd let you know, since some of you are asking, that I still have shingles, and for your information, it takes a long time for it to go away. I am under a lot of heavy medication in order not to feel the pain in my head and eye, since that is where my shingles are.

 Slowly, very slowly I take one less pill at a time.

This is the white paper that Peter prints out for me every morning to make sure I don't miss a pill or a drop.  

Our neighbour, Martha, had it three years ago around her waist, and once in a while she still feel pain.

Yes, you can get it twice.

Just for your interest, we have already spent over $2,000 for the shingles medication!

My cousin, Lena, from Germany sent me this picture, and oh, if only I could...How it sucks to be sick.

But I'd better not get on this bike since it would make me lose weight, and orders from the doctors is that I should gain weight! 
And so...I will put some weight on my four cheeks!

My immune system is so low that I feel very weak most of the time due to my third year of chemo--I guess my blood count is low and so I try to find foods that are high in iron.

For lunch today it's lentils--I used to love them as a kid, and I still do--and for supper, Peter will stop at Fraser Valley Meats to pick up some liver after his tuning. Did I say liver! We haven't had liver in a very long time, ever since the kids cried over their liver plates, 
"I hate liver!"
 But really, I think I am the only one in our family who actually likes liver. Liver that is fried and smothered in fried onions, and then...awaaaay we/I go. 

Audio Books

Also, before I forget, let me mention the free audio books (Books Should Be Free) that Peter found for me on my laptop while I was recuperating in the dark. All are unabridged, and I needed to listen to something that was familiar to me:

•The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Duma) over 40 hours.
•Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)
•Emma (Jane Austen)
•Max und Moriz (Wilhelm Busch) in German.

•Heidi (Johanna Spyri) in German.

I may have forgotten a book or two...

Oh, yes, before we go to bed, Peter has been reading to me:

Books

•Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother and Daughter Journey to the Sacred Places of Greece, Turkey, and France

by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor (Sep. 7, 2010) 

Remember, Sue Monk Kidd also wrote,

•The Secret Life of Bees (2008), which I have not read, but saw as a movie, and...

 •The Invention of Wings (2014) I started on my Reader but will have to wait until I am able to read again.

And, for something more serious, Peter has also been reading to me, now and then, from

 Karen Armstrong's book,

•In the Beginning 

A New Interpretation of Genesis

and

Nigel Warburton's

•A Little History of Philosophy 

This last book was recommended by Michael.

With a tissue folded over my right eyeglass--what a sight!--I will say adieu for now.

Til next time, 

and missing you like crazy...

Hilda

PS. And now, back to the television for a little bit, or more, of Sochi.