You Are What You Eat

Happy Waffle Wednesday??

Waffles are on the breakfast menu here at the Moncton Hospital. I couldn’t help myself, I had to order it. I can’t say I was surprised when one, un-toasted, cold, soggy freezer waffle showed up. Actually, it’s exactly what I was expecting.

The breakfasts here actually aren’t all bad. I can usually get away with a boiled egg, a piece of fruit, and a bowl of plain hot cereal. I can make do with that!

Fret not, I ate this instead of the soggy waffle. Cream of wheat with PB&J. Natural PB that my family brought, and not the hydrogenated kind stocked in the kitchen.

For the most part, what I do is eat what’s edible on the plate and I supplement with my extra fruit, veggies or protein.

Baked potatoes, apple pork, frozen vegetable mix. An example of an edible meal.

Often, I’ll take bits and pieces and make a salad out of it.

The above has ham, mandarin and a cucumber salad that came on the plate which I mixed with my own greens and peppers. Although, I don’t always have the appetite for raw veggies. They’re hard to digest and some days all I can stomach is toast. I know, hard to believe that my appetite is affected! I find the drugs make some things taste weird too, and the doctor says eating calories is more important than being picky about my calories. So some days, toast it is.

Or, after surgery on Tuesday, a liquid supper.

After having a scope shoved down my chest and an oxygen tube down my throat, I was perfectly happy with some broth, jello and popsicles.

Although, sister Sara still made me some special watermelon juice with basil and mint.

With all that said, some days, I get food that is truly appalling. Tuesday’s dinner for example featured mystery fish cakes with a black hair cooked inside.

I kid you not. I couldn’t come up with something more disgusting if I tried.

Food is of course subject to change. I’ll eventually meet with an oncology nutritionist and find out what sort of restrictions I will have while on chemotherapy.

Apart from the bad hospital food, I do have some good news! My bone marrow biopsy came back clear, which is a HUGE relief. Lymphoma and leukemia are closely related and it’s not uncommon to have both. I am SO relieved I don’t have to worry about leukemia on top of the lymphoma.

The other news is that the special PET scan I had out of town showed that the mass is isolated to my upper chest, shoulder area, and bottom of my throat. Which means we’re looking at Stage 2 cancer. Chemo for lymphoma is notoriously potent, but knowing that it’s not at an advanced stage relieves a little of the worry about that for me.

Still healing from Monday’s surgery. Word on the street is that I may get my formal diagnosis from the most recent samples as soon as Friday. It hurts to talk, swallow, and hold my head up. But figuratively, I like to think I’m still holding it up. Hoping I won’t end up with a gnarly scar on my throat, but people tell me these types of things are the least of my problems. It’s just a flesh wound I guess.