The Food Problem

While I have been feeling a bit better, my appetite hasn't improved greatly. However on Saturday I actually ate 4 small slices of Brie and three seaweed crackers while sitting in the sun with friends. I couldn't eat anything that night, so just had a glass of Sustagen.

Yesterday I managed breakfast and a small cumquat and choc biscuit in the late morning, but couldn't face lunch. More Sustagen. By the evening I was feeling a bit more like coping with food, so I decided that I would like to try a recipe I had found in the newspaper - ricotta and potato hotcakes.

First problem was that the ricotta in the fridge was past use-by date (and in fact, definitely off) so I substituted cream cheese. Second problem was that the effort of grating and whisking etc made me extremely tired, so I had to have a little rest before doing the actual cooking. Third problem was that once the hotcakes were ready my appetite shut down abruptly. I forced myself to eat about three quarters of one - Kevin ate four.

This aversion to food is the biggest problem I am having with my treatment. I can put up with the sensitivity to cold induced by Oxaliplatin and the perpetual nose drip and snuffle I have had since chemo started. Even diarrhea and nausea are manageable problems as is hand-foot syndrome (which reoccurred two days before I finished this round of Xeloda) But I have always enjoyed my food (too much, in the past) and this present inability to eat is basically destroying the quality of life for me.

Enough whingeing. I must get the entry form off for possible inclusion of one of my textile pieces in a book to be published at the end of the year. I took the photos yesterday and had them printed as required. This morning I have burnt the images to CD, and now just need to complete the paperwork and send it off. Wish me luck.