we've been working on 2022 business planning for a few months now and it continues to be Who-the-fuck-knows?

I am so glad I work in eBooks and not in the part of the publishing industry that needs the paper product supply chain to...exist.

My advice for Lactaid is take one with the first bite of dairy food and then another one halfway through the meal (and maybe a third at the end if it's something like mac & cheese or ice cream). I keep a giant bottle on my kitchen table and sheets of the single-serve pills in my purse, in my car, in my desk drawer at work...

I really like So Delicious coconut milk (the kind that is like cow's milk in the dairy section) and I normally don't like yogurt but I like the coconut milk based yogurt.

If you like chocolate milk , according to M (who I'm pretty sure has some lactose intolerance and I try to get him to drink milk alternatives but he usually won't) Silk Double Chocolate milk is delicious and tastes like chocolate cereal milk,

So Delicious coconut based ice cream-esque products truly are delicious, IMHO. I never drank milk so I don't miss it, and cheese doesn't seem to bother me for which I am grateful. I know people who rely on lactaid primarily for cheese-eating purposes.

Ran into someone from IT who helped me with my monitor, woohoo! Now I just need my flu shot, to find someone who can give me my "vaccinated but if anyone asks that is not exactly what it means" sticker for my badge (and gift card), and probably more work because this day has turned out to be relentless with stuff coming up for me to do...

Well, the blood draw was worth the (minor) trauma. The lab and scan reports have already been released to the patient portal; the numbers look good and the scan looks good. PSA is staying low. No new mets. Existing mets are stable.

So the treatments are working as well as can be expected. The side effects of the treatments are still tedious and annoying and tiresome, but I am coping. My oncology consult is scheduled for Monday afternoon, where I'll learn whether I am reading these reports correctly, what I've missed, and what else can be concluded.

As a final bit of good news, my meds were delivered today. So that background worry is gone for another month.

I have celebrated with an ice cream sandwich. Now, back to the diet.

People are paying no attention to the one way aisles. There's so few of us here I'm sure it doesn't matter, but still.

Glad for the good news, dcp! And the ice cream sandwich

Good news, dcp!

I would be so pissed, meara. Ugh!

dcp, great news! Definitely worth the trouble of the blood draw!

My advice for Lactaid is take one with the first bite of dairy food and then another one halfway through the meal (and maybe a third at the end if it's something like mac & cheese or ice cream). I keep a giant bottle on my kitchen table and sheets of the single-serve pills in my purse, in my car, in my desk drawer at work...

Ah, good to know. I did have 1.5 oz. of colby-jack cheese (I know that seems oddly specific, but it was 3 cubes that were 1/2-oz. each) about an hour ago, and everything seems okay so far. (With milk on my cereal, or 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee, it took maybe 30 minutes before things went very bad, so I think I can narrow down some cheeses that are friendly to me. But I will also get some Lactaid.)

I've had Silk's holiday nog (probably not actually egg nog) and liked it, and I've had So Delicious ice creams and think they're spooky magic for how good they are. It seems a lot easier to be lactose-free than gluten-free (although even that is fairly easy now).

It's nice pre-fall non-humid weather today, so I'm making a pot of chili with corn muffins for dinner. Of course, it's going back to stupid hot tomorrow, but I really want chili.

Silk's holiday nog is a treat!

Flu shot and vaccination sticker/gift card, done and done. Nothing left in my workday but work.

Excellent news, dcp!

I haven't been following a low carb diet, but I have been trying a lower carb diet rather than an all of the carbs diet. I definitely haven't been strict about it because I don't see much point in the endeavor if I can't maintain it long-term, but I've lost about 8-9 pounds so far.

Right the fuck on! At this point I'm basically on a lower carb diet myself because I'm really maintaining rather than actively trying to lose. Figuring out how to make sandwiches with the cauliflower thins, though, has been fun.

Last week I sauteed mushrooms and onions together, set them aside. Made myself a 1/4 burger, smash style. Salt & Pep, Worcestershire. Topped the burger with mushrooms and onions, topped that with Havarti, covered that with a lid. Used my cauliflower thins as the bun, with lettuce, thick slice of heirloom tomato (seasoned), bit of pickle and it was SO decadent.

That's not really diet food with all the fatty deliciousness, but I certainly didn't miss the traditional bun.