u/BedroomWonderful7932

Post-chemo scan shows clear!

My spouse (51 M) has just completed six months of CAPOX treatment after being diagnosed with cancer (3B) in the sigmoid colon last September. He had a partial colectomy a few weeks after the initial colonoscopy (in mid-September 2025), and began chemotherapy about six weeks after surgery. He’s a big bloke (almost 2 metres tall and 110 kg), so he was on a very high dose; his oncologist reduced both the oxaliplatin and capecitabine after the second or third treatment cycle to reduce the effects of the neuropathy he experienced.

My husband experienced pretty bad fatigue, a bit of nausea, some occasionally bad stomach cramps, and heartburn during treatments, for which he took ondansetron and pantoprazole for relief. They worked really well. He also had rather bad hand and foot syndrome, so he used a lot of coconut oil and peppermint foot cream to soothe his extremities. The lost fingerprints also sucked, because his hands have zero traction, which makes opening things and lifting stuff a lot harder.

He just had his post-chemo CT scan, and the medical oncologist says everything looks clear, and that his prognosis is very good. After ordering a three year regimen of 100 mg of aspirin, the medical oncologist has handed us back off to the surgeon for ongoing monitoring - scans and blood tests every three months for a year or so - and a colonoscopy in four months. Fingers crossed.

Hang in there, everyone.

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u/BedroomWonderful7932 — 7 days ago
▲ 33 r/Bagels+1 crossposts

I’m quite pleased with how these turned out, especially since my mixer died after three minutes of mixing the dough. So I kneaded for about 15 minutes by hand (when shaping the dough, I realised that that was insufficient) and then into the fridge overnight. This time, I boiled the bagels with a mix of molasses and baking soda for a touch of shine, and baked them with a steam pan at the bottom of the oven. I also used parchment paper as a liner instead of a more insulated silicone mat.

I’m fairly happy for a third attempt, but husband says they still need work: the exterior isn’t crunchy enough (even though there was an audible crunch when he bit into it) for his taste. He suggested boiling them for longer than the 15 seconds on each side prescribed by the Thia Codes recipe, and maybe baking for longer than 15 minutes to crisp everything up. The recipe author says that a longer boiling time results in an overall smaller, flatter bagel, which I don’t want, but…meh. Back to the drawing board I go. But only after the KitchenAid gets overhauled. I’m not keen to repeat the hand-kneading experience!

u/BedroomWonderful7932 — 11 days ago
▲ 163 r/Bagels+1 crossposts

Couldn’t add “result” photos to my post from yesterday, so excuse the new thread. This second batch definitely turned out better than my first sorry attempt at bagels - the “Thia Codes” formula is definitely superior to the King Arthur sandwich bagel recipe, in my opinion. First photo is after a 16 hour refrigerated proof, right before going into the boiling water/molasses bath for 15 seconds on either side. I baked them at 230 degrees C (convection) for about 13 minutes. Probably should have left them in for another two minutes or so.

It’s a decent second effort, but I have a long way to go. The bottoms were a bit too soft and pillowy - my hypothesis is that a silicon baking mat was a poor choice, since it probably has slight insulating properties? I’ll try parchment paper next time (I don’t have a pizza stone or bagel boards) to better bake the bases. But they were definitely tasty and by far the best bagels I have had in SE Mexico!

u/BedroomWonderful7932 — 15 days ago
▲ 43 r/Bagels

My second attempt at NY style bagels, but this time (based on input from folks here!), I’m using the Thia Codes formula. This photo was taken right after the initial shaping. Afterwards, they rested on the kitchen counter for 45 minutes (until one floated in a bowl of water). Now they’re sitting in the fridge for the rest of the afternoon and overnight. Boil and bake tomorrow! Wish me luck.

u/BedroomWonderful7932 — 16 days ago