Ah, food. The smell, the appearance, and most importantly, the taste– all of it brings to mind comfort and satisfaction. It may also bring about a wiggle-dance that you do when the waiter sets your feast down in front of you. (Yes, I’m talking about myself here.) But what happens when the relationship between you and that sweet, sweet man named Mr. Food goes sour? All hell breaks loose, that’s what.
I love everything about food, but when my kidneys and pancreas went on strike and I was hospitalized, I suddenly found myself being told “No” to any type of food, including water. (Don’t worry, I stayed hydrated via IV) After 12 miserable days without anything solid, or liquid for that matter hitting my stomach, I was told those magic words by my care team, “You can eat now.” I would have jumped up and kissed them but the length of my IV tube prevented me from doing so.
When lunchtime came around I was just itching to get my hands on my chicken broth, jell-o, and pudding… oh, and my apple juice! I wasn’t cleared for a full diet, which basically meant that for the time being I could only have soft or liquids like the pudding and the broth. Now, people often say that hospital food tastes bad, but when you’re 12 days hungry… you don’t care. I literally ate every bit, and drank every drop of what was given to me, and soon after lunch I began asking when the dinner trays would arrive. But, my new found hunger wouldn’t last long, mostly because everything I ate gave me a great deal of pain in my abdomen, and usually made me extremely nauseated.
I was hoping that this annoying side effect of my new medical condition would fade, but so far I’ve seen no change. Although I’m continuing to lose weight, I wish it were under slightly different circumstances. I am eating much healthier now though. I’ve come to the point to where I’ve only been putting healthy, fresh, and non-fried foods in my body, that now if I try and eat a hamburger or greasy fries, my body just won’t accept it.
I wish I were still able to enjoy food as I used to, but I’m loving that my body is actually craving fruits and veggies over ice cream and chips. So, I suppose the old adage is true- every cloud does have its silver lining.
Adventures in Diabetic Land 