23. Food

I need to figure out my new normal...if that is even going to be a thing. I've never had any issues with feeling hungry and I have always loved most foods, apart from chilli. That just makes my mouth all blister up and in the last couple of years raw capsicum makes me burp a lot so I avoid that too. So, the last couple of days have been hard, difficult, confusing, weird, overwhelming, sad and the list could go on. Definitely don't feel like baking at the moment that's for sure!!!

So do I feel hungry or am I nauseas? I read the Cancer Council's book on Nutrition and Cancer (https://www.cancer.org.au/) and there was a recommendation to eat smaller snacks every 2 hours or so. That has helped and I think that it is more that I am hungry than feeling nauseas. I have always had a good sense of smell and it has gone super sonic and some food smells that didn't bother me before definitely send me running. Meat, fish, mint - yes, strong mint smell sent me running last night. Any thoughts about creamy foods aren't appealing. I used to love a good creamy pasta dish but now that is something that seems like one of the worst ideas ever.

Fruit is something I have always liked and seems to agree with me. I have a food processor and blitzing up frozen fruit (mostly berries) with some oat milk makes a delicious sorbet. Cold fresh foods are mostly what I want during the day. Some fruits like mango and apricots (two of my favourites) are oestrogen promoters which unfortunately I don't want to do as that is what Hector was feeding off, so might have to let them go for a while. In the supermarket yesterday I was wandering around the isles, seeing what was something I might like for snacks and the baby food section has those puree fruit pouches. I got an apple and pear one to try. Who knows, it might be a lifesaver at some point.

Congee. I hadn't heard of that before but it is a recipe in the Nutrition and Cancer booklet. It's long grain white rice, stock (I choose vege) and sliced ginger. I made some yesterday, it's delicious! You can also add some veges or other protein to bump it up. The book mentioned chicken but that turned my stomach when I read it. Maybe that will change as I get further away from the day I had chemo. The word doesn't seem to affect me as much today, but still doesn't sound nice to eat. Perhaps lentils or chickpeas would work better.

Soup. I've never been a soup person, more a thick stew where you can use your teeth. I didn't use to mind potato and leek but again, that is more a creamy type thing and doesn't seem appetising to me at the moment. I do feel like clear soups and got a few at the shops. Vegetable and minestrone was the first I tried and it was nice. Only could have about a cup though (half serve). Smaller meals are much better.

Salada crackers. Lifesavers!!!! Those things can be plain, have avocado, vegemite, cheese, whatever I feel like on them. They go great with the soup. They saved me at 6am yesterday morning when I wasn't sure if I was feeling sick or I was hungry. Turned out it was probably hunger.

Water. I've always been one to drink a lot of water and that hasn't changed. I feel like iced water is the most refreshing and got a new big 1.2L water bottle that is insulated and I keep iced water in that. There was still ice in it today and I put the ice in it more than 12 hours ago!

Tea. I like herbal teas, if it's cold weather, and I mean 5c or less is cold for me. However, ginger tea can help with tummy stuff so I got a Pukka brand that is lemon, ginger and Manuka honey. Mither tried it and said it was nice, I haven't yet. Maybe as an iced tea.

Salad. Yesterday I managed some kale slaw salad for lunch with a hard boiled egg and avocado. I ate it slow and it didn't seem to have any adverse effects. I know that salad and vegetables are good at any time but especially for clean fibre foods that are high in nutrition.

Constipation. Dr Man said to get some tablets for diarrhoea but seems like I have the opposite problem. I walked up to the pharmacy and had a chat to the lady there. She went through chemo in 2019 and so she understood what I was going through. She said to try movicol, which is a powder to put in water, and hopefully that will work. I called Ange, I remember her saying she had a massage type bowel release move. We FaceTimed and she showed me what to do. I know how important it is to do a poo and it's been two days since I really have done anything considered normal so time to get moving again! Eating fruit with skin, vegetables, wholegrain food, legumes, drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day, exercise. All these things are meant to help with constipation so I'm doing them all too.

I'm taking each day slow, a few hours at a time. Listening to my body. Last night I was so tired I went to bed at 10.15pm. For some people that would be late but for me that is about 3 hours earlier than usual. I slept well and woke up at 8am. My left side is ok to sleep on again and even my right side is getting better. I'm continuing my stretches and exercises and have almost full range back in my right arm and shoulder. Only slight tight cord feeling at full extension. Wednesday next week I'll do an exercise class with Lewis and see how that goes. I have a massage on Monday after I get the stitches out from my PORT surgery. Little things to look forward to.