Food glorious food!

It has been almost three weeks that I have had the great pleasure to be at home in Urbana. It may sound strange but while in the hospital I
basically ate the same food each day for many weeks at a time. The protocol in the hospital is that you phone in your food order anytime between 6AM and 8PM and whatever you wish to eat from the menu will be delivered to your room by an energetic and smiling server within 45 minutes.

Once I figured out what foods would agree with my digestive system after my first chemo, my food choices rarely deviated. The people who answer the phone and take your food order could predict with great accuracy what I would be ordering for each meal and would sometimes remind me of an item I overlooked. For example, breakfast was always two beautiful bowls of oatmeal, one bowl of Cream of Wheat, a banana and a carton of skim milk. You are probably wondering how I could possibly eat three bowls of cereal in one sitting, however, this strategy of ordering multiple bowls ensures that almost half of each bowl will be hot upon arrival.

As predictable as my ordering would be, each meal was unique. It is truly dependent upon the cook how the food you order, albeit the same each day, turns out. I will report that I only encountered burnt oatmeal once in 69 days, and that when a meal was nicely done, I phoned to compliment the cook of the day.

Jello. A few weeks after my first chemo I had an epiphany that people in my situation with sensitive digestion would probably do well with a little jello. At first I enjoyed the red jello, then my taste buds changed - dictated by the chemo of course and I was onto green jello; tastes changed yet again and I became firmly attached to the orange jello. For several weeks I ordered orange jello with every meal; I did not have much of an appetite so a bite of jello here and there got me through the "pushing" of food at each meal to maintain my health.

You may be perplexed as to why the title of this post is "Food glorious food" and I am reminiscing about hospital food. Well, it is the knowledge that with my upcoming stem cell transplant (date yet to be confirmed) that I have been revisiting all of this in light of the absolutely delicious meals I have enjoyed since being home. Which brings me to the wonderful discussion of the diversity of fabulous cooks in our C-U community!

While in hospital I heard rave reviews from each of our two teenage boys (each possessing discerning, discriminating palettes) of meals delivered to our family. From "The Barefoot Contessa" chicken, corned beef
sandwiches, to macaroni and cheese, homemade bread and goat milk gelato, and everything in-between, I can say with certainty that that the boys understated how delicious each meal has been.

Meals provide the opportunity to socialize, share events of the day, and reconnect. Since being home I have truly enjoyed visiting with everyone who has come to our house. I want to thank you all yet again for bringing over a meal, bagels, or groceries but most important, for your generosity and friendship.