Day 8 All About Food – well not quite

My diet has been restricted for three years due to a gastric bypass in September 2014. I have a small capacity and it is hard to tolerate sugar, but I have managed a bit and got back to eating small meals and pretty well everything as long it isn’t huge. It works well for us and Rowena has small appetite as well so we do meals for 2 and Rowena and I share one half with Mark. I do not absorb as much and eating and drinking separately. As all of us, I try to eat lots of protein, and veg and not too much high fat.

Now I have been given the list below

Yes

Mashed potato with cream and butter

Poached fish and chicken

Double cream

Full fat milk

Cheese

Drink milk

Smoothy

Purée anything

Clear soup

No skin on potato

Salmon

Nothing bigger than a pea

All dairy

Eggs

Ice cream

Jelly

Lots of sugar, fattening foods to gain weight.

No

Beef

Or fibre

Lamb

Or really any meat other than softly cooked chicken

Onions (minimal for flavour)

Garlic

So no brown rice, bread, grains,

Veg – green

It is so very hard as a lot of this goes against everything I have been doing. This is for 6 weeks. But generally I have to eat more calories as I will not absorb as much and drink lots.

My problem at the moment is that I have no appetite and I am able to eat very little. I am being asked by the hospital to suggest what I want, this is very reasonable, but I have no idea what I fancy. They are happy to do everything for me, which has been better today. I really feel like good soup (Vicky to the rescue) but the soup here is so salty it is unreasonable to eat.

Can anyone come up with ideas for me given the restrictions so that I can suggest things?

Today has been a small step backwards, another poor night up and awake from 3-6 and then just a bit lower all round today. I have had a weeping wound, but not infected. Pain control is under control today and so fingers crossed for tonight. I will be going to have a scan tomorrow to see what is causing the ooze and I will be home either Tuesday or Wednesday, it is suffice to say that they want to be totally happy with me and that I can cope at home, and today I would not.

As I type this I am watching Call the Midwife and feel ok, fully dosed up and warm and comfortable and having great care from wonderful nurses, a few revitalising visits from friends, lovely messages, visits from family. I feel blessed.

Thank you to those, Carol and Rosie particularly who have been supporting my family at home with food and comfort.