Blog

Black coffee and lemon Italian Ice…eeech!

I am prepping for my colonoscopy tomorrow.  A colonoscopy 4 1/2 years ago literally saved my life so I’m not mad about it.  What grosses me out is the prep.

 

 

Part I:  The entire day before (or today for me) I have to stick to a clear liquid diet.  There is no limit to the amount of clear liquids I can drink during the day.  This diet can include water, clear broth, bouillon, soda, gatorade, clear fruit juice, limeade or lemonade, popsicles, Jello-O, Italian ice, coffee or tea.  Here’s the catch: I cannot have anything with the colors red, purple or orange.  I cannot have any solid food, I cannot have any alcoholic beverages, I cannot have any milk, cream or dairy substitutes.  That pretty much wipes out my whole diet (smile).

Part II:  At 3pm this afternoon I start cleaning out my system with the Suprep Bowel Prep Kit.  This is the prescription medication that my GI doctor ordered for me to pick up from the local pharmacy one week before my procedure. There are 4 steps involved here which all center around drinking the entire first bottle of the prep medication which must be diluted with a 16 ounce container of water.

By the way, if you cannot find a responsible adult to go with you, you must arrange for transportation to and from your colonoscopy    There are reputable medical taxi services in the area that can help with this step.

Part III:  The next morning (or the day of your colonoscopy) approximately 4 hours before your arrival time, repeat steps 1 – 4 with the Suprep Bowel Prep Kit.  I will now be on the second (last bottle) and all liquids must be completed 3 hours before my arrival time.  What I find difficult is that I now have barely anything in my stomach, I’ll most likely be feeling even more dizzy than I feel right now, and I still have to get all of that icky drink down as quickly as possible…

Part IV:  To me this is the easy part:  the actual procedure.  In and of itself it’s  quick, it’s painless and there’s very little memory of it as you are sedated.

Part V:  The fun part. It’s over and you can eat again – yay!!!

Update:  just completed colonoscopy — all clear — no polyps!   Next one in 3 years due to my history.

 

Sincerely,

 

TVFL

The Yellow Brick Road

So me and my sisters, Dana and Casandra, were texting one lazy Saturday afternoon and came up with this great idea. We were talking about how in the past year I did:

a magazine interview:

(pgs 40-41: http://issuu.com/secondwind/docs/nhm_oct_2014-web2e=4001684/9891267)

a radio interview:

(see parts 1 and 2 of podcasts dated 8/15/15: http://www.943wybc.com/Episodes.aspx?PID=2770)

and a television interview:

(http://networkconnecticut.com/2015/07/colon-cancer-was-no-match-for-lajeune-hollis/)

 

Two of the three interviews centered around my colon cancer experience. Then my sister Dana said, let’s put together a colon cancer fundraiser in my (Lajeune’s) name and we all agreed it should involve water, a good time and people. We immediately thought: why not a fundraiser cruise!  Here is where the ‘Yellow Brick Road’ concept kicked in: Dana is a part-time travel consultant so everything involving the cruise travel plans would come out of her agency – Cruise Planners; my sister Casandra is a part-time Quilt Artist so she would create 2 colon cancer survival quilts to raffle off; and I am a colon cancer survivor with a real wish to help others, so Voila, the Lajeune Hollis Cancer Survivors Cruise was born!  We decided on the month of June in 2016, since June is Cancer Survivor’s Month.  We thought it would be nice if everyone wore white on the last night of the cruise which would represent Survivorship and Life.  And we imagined a Carnival Sunshine Cruise to Canada/New England out of NYC made the most sense as it’s an affordable, good time that is popular with our target demographic, middle-aged adults.   By the way, the interior cabins start at just $569…

 

We leave out of NYC June 30th – July 4th so there is no airfare involved. We are adding $50 to each cabin, which will go directly to CCCF, who “has been working since 2003 to fund screening programs for the uninsured and provide much-needed funds to young investigators who are committed to finding a cure for colorectal cancer.”  Dana initially contacted the Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation (CCCF) and sent them my colon cancer survival story blog.  She suggested that I call them myself and share my story.  I spoke on the phone with their Director of Communications (Cindy) and explained my story. After I finished Cindy confided in me that the timing couldn’t have been better as one of the main priorities at CCCF this year concerned the African-American Community who are dying of Colon Cancer (one of the most preventable cancers!) quicker than any other ethnic group!  Cindy explained that this is happening because African-Americans are not going to see their doctors on a regular basis so when they do finally come in, the diagnosis is much more worse than it would have been. I agreed to allow her to post my colon cancer survival blog in their CCCF Fall newsletter and she asked to be kept in the loop on our upcoming Colon Cancer Cruise so she could get us additional publicity by including it in their newsletter!  Cindy also mentioned that she would be more than happy to provide us with information on early detection for colon cancer which we could hand out on the cruise.  Stay tuned as me and my sisters are happily skipping down the Yellow Brick Road as we speak!

 

Sincerely,

 

TVFL

 

 

16 Bean & Clean!

One of my favorite seasons in New England is the Fall and it’s just around the corner.  Me and my partner James are gathering fire wood for weekend backyard bonfires as we speak!

 

Weekend bonfire in the fire pit

 

And I’m feeling like cooking again so here is another one of my favorite clean bean soup recipes.  This one is packed with nutrients and sure to fill you up on a crisp Fall day or night!

 

Ingredients:

one bag of 16 bean soup mix

1 – 2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 package of Herb-Ox low sodium chicken stock

4 to 5 cloves of garlic or 2 large tablespoons of minced garlic

2 cups of organic carrots

3 stalks of organic celery

one large red onion

one box of organic grape tomatoes

one package of chicken sausage

2 tbsps of crushed red pepper seasoning

1 tbsp of pure ground black pepper

6 to 8 cups of water

Rinse entire bag of beans well and soak in a large pan overnight.  In the morning drain and rinse beans. Here is where I detract from the recipe.  From this point on I use a large crock pot which I find to be a timesaver and I also find it creates added flavor.  Add pre-soaked beans to large crock pot.

Put all veggies (red onion, carrots, celery stalks) separately in the food processor to get them super fine.  Now put the veggies, the olive oil, the minced garlic (my preference is minced), the chicken stock and the water in with the beans in the large crock pot.  Sprinkle in crushed red pepper seasoning and pure ground black pepper.  Stir everything together and place the cover on the crock pot.  Then bring to a rapid boil, lower heat and cook on low for up to 7 hours.

While the bean soup is cooking, cut chicken sausage links in half and then cut into small squares and bake in oven on 350 degree for 30 minutes.  Add the cooked chicken sausage pieces to soup dish when finished.

Slice grape tomatoes in half and put them aside in refrigerator.  Don’t add them to 16 bean soup until one hour before soup is finished cooking.

Cook on low and slow until beans are soft.  Once done, serve in small bowls – delish!

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

TVFL

 

Yikes! Has it really been 35 years since high school?!??

imageI feel like pinching myself because tonight I am going to my 35th High School Reunion!  I still can’t believe it because I remember my mother mentioning her 35th High School reunion to me when I was a child and me thinking how old everyone there would be!  Now I know better…we are all 53 but I must say that I truly believe that 50 is the new 40 in terms of health and well-being.

 

Here’s a picture of us when we were still in high school:

image

I’m looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and getting contact information from those I have completely lost touch with.  I’ve attended my 5th, 10th and 15th high school reunions so this is not completely new to me.  We did not have a 20th and I inadvertently missed the 25th.  There was not a 30th either so this will be the first time I have seen my classmates since I was 33!  20 years ago – unbelievable, as time has truly flown by.

The event takes place at the Groton Elks Lodge on Shennecossett Road in Groton. There will be a relaxing sit down BBQ Chicken dinner, cash bar, late night pizza, dancing and music by Next Level Entertainment featuring 80s music since we graduated in 1980.  Looking forward to a good time!

Me and Bonnie and Sherry my former track buddies

Me and Bonnie and Sherry — my former track buddies

Happy faces after eating!

Happy faces after eating!

Memory Lane pix

Memory Lane pix!

Me and Linda Cady

Me and Linda Cady – my February bday twin!

A keepsake and it was good!

Our delicious keepsake which I ate!  Ooops!  As you can see, I had a very good time and was so glad that I went.

Bean Clean!

In a perfect world I would always eat clean and get the proper rest.  However, from time to time, I find  myself overindulging on vino and eating food with too much sodium.  It is during these times when I break down and start cooking my clean dishes.  Here’s a recipe I received from my former co-worker Michele which is so easy to make and soooooooooo good!  I call it Clean Bean:

In a large saucepan put about 2 tbsp of olive oil and heat on low heat

Chop by hand or in a food processor 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, 1 large red onion, 1/2 bunch of cilantro and add to heated oil

Sauté until soft

Add 2 cans of kidney beans and 2 cans of black beans with most of the juice drained

Add 1 cup of whole grain or brown rice and 1 and a 1/2 cups of water

Stir well and add 1 teaspoon of black pepper and 1 teaspoon of chili powder.  If it tastes like it needs salt, feel free to add it

Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook until all water is absorbed which may take up to an hour.

Add cooked chicken sausage (sliced in to quarters) and cherry or grape tomatoes (sliced in half)

All done!  Yummy! Continue reading Bean Clean!