It's so easy to forget to take of myself in all this. Whether it's guilt for enjoying something my husband cannot (I feel this guilt regularly), or guilt for just needing some alone time, it's easier to just ignore myself to make sure he's feeling better... even if it means a fight later.
On the upshot, one of the hospitals we've been in has some really great food, so good they even named their food court-styled area Windows on the Wasatch (the windows literally face the Wasatch Range). One of my favorite stations is the "Greens" area, where one of the servers mixes together your choice of greens, one protein, six veggies, a cheese, etc, and dressing for a delicious, though perhaps oversized salad.
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| One such salad... delicious! |
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| Orzo and greens salad with feta, strawberries, and watermelon from a couple of days ago. Sure makes a bad day better. |
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| This veggie pizza was pretty delicious, as well. I think I got this early on in his stay. |
All-in-all, though most items weren't photo-worthy (nor did I want photographic evidence of some of my worse choices... foot-long corndog anyone?), the food here was pretty decent. I'm still craving something a bit better from home, which I'll be able to get starting tonight. I'll also have to start tinkering around with new things to eat, things that will be both pleasing and healthful for Jason... (will be keeping an eye on Heidi's Blog for some healthy food tidbits!)
Time to get back to my regularly scheduled LIVING!
Those salads look amazing. How lovely that the hospital has them. The hospital where my mom stayed for a month had zero healthy/good food.
ReplyDeleteVery glad you'll be able to get back to regularly-scheduled living... it is near-impossible to make consistent good choices when big things are happening like this. The whole HALT thing... when someone you love is sick in the hospital, there's probably a lot of hunger, anger, loneliness and tiredness going on - none of which is particularly preventable. So happy that you can cook more at home now.
Hey... I'd like to do a post dedicated to you and Jason, with ideas for healthy food for him (which could be also good and fun for you & others.) If you'd be interested, would you consider letting me know more about foods he can't eat, as well as some ideas of foods he loves?
I'm happy that we'll be able to do more at home. Jason's also hoping to be able to do more around the house as he feels better. I'm thinking about bringing back my old blog, not because I need to have a place to cry, but maybe I do need a place to talk about everything that's going on with Jason in greater detail, where others can see and understand what's going on. Explaining it in a nutshell in a way that won't freak people out is a hard thing to do.
ReplyDeleteWith Jason, we've been told that he needs a balanced diet of veggies and lean protein... but, because of the loss of muscle and weight, he is to have milkshakes from time to time, to keep his calorie count on the higher side. He definitely needs to remain on a low sodium diet. Thankfully, I've had to watch my own sodium, so that's good for both of us (minus the milkshakes for me).
One thing they didn't say, and that's because Jason hasn't been encephalopathic (sp?) in the past, is that he may have to lower his protein levels. This is mostly because his first line of filtration has been taken out of the loop. There are medications, such as Lactulose, that he can take... but we're all about prevention here.
People on the interwebs have recommended a vegetable protein diet for hepatic encephalopathy (HE) - something Jason has been interested in for some time - so that's where I think we could use some help. And, I'm guessing that both you and Tom might be the experts in that field. He loves comfort foods, but we need to redefine that a bit. He really likes quinoa, but I could use some more ideas on veggie meals.