Surgery--Again

Good for you, Roberta! Comfort food is important. I usually asked for it when
I get to visit with my mother and she cooks my favorite childhood meals.

I know stuffed cabbage very well (and like it) but what's stuffed derma?

Intestine casings stuffed with a mixture of matzoh meal, grated carrots, fat, and who knows what else. Served with a beefy gravy. Uh oh. Mouth is watering already.

comfort food is usually pretty high calorie - good thing at a time like this. Indulge, and enjoy the bejesus out of it.

stuffed foods are wonderful (unless they're green peppers)

Comfort food GOOD!

I just bumped up JPB's thread on semisolid food with a push to talk about non-solid food, nutrition, and, er, deliciousness.

http://able2know.org/topic/99839-2#post-3406288

Or we could start a new thread...

There have just been a couple of threads over at Taunton about preparing high nutrition liquid meals for folks who've had jaw surgery.

I can go pick some recipes up - any tastes that tempt you, Roberta?

This interests me, but nothing off the top of my head appeals. I don't like beets or eggplant. Otherwise I'm open.

As I think back to my last encounter with radiation, I'm remembering that I wasn't interested in food. No appetite. If that happens again, it won't matter much what I eat. Probably not gonna bother preparing anything.

Great! you're going to get me into Taunton more thoroughly yet...

hot/cold?

no beets - no borscht. noted.

I added to my message while you were typing. Didn't know that was possible.

It is.

Glad you indulged yourself. We all wish we could indulge you so it's nice to know you're helping us out a bit. :-)

We aims to please, soz.

BTW, I lost 60 pounds from my last radiation encounter. Any wagers as to how much of me disappears this time?

The main thing I recall of my uncle's adventures in radiation was that his taste buds seem to change on a daily basis. What he craved Monday, he didn't care for by Tuesday - so what you'd picked up on Monday based on Monday's preferences was useless on Tuesday - but might make it onto the list of what tempted him a couple of weeks later. It wasn't so much no appetite, as no appetite for what was being offered - a day late.

Mulling.

Tricky, re a person mostly alone with this stuff. Not much energy for cooking, and not much money for buying (I understand this). I think we have some research to do.

I think appetite and taste may be linked to where the radiation is. I'm guessing that my taste will be affected this time.

Yes, it might be. I'm not sure re answers, re whether a blast at taste or what.

I've a big lack of nasal nerve endings, have been tested by a UC researcher, failed dismally all sorts of smell tests... but not entirely. I've created, I suppose, my own universe, or maybe science is off. Whatever, is is not clear I enjoy food?

Taste has been expanded recently to Unami, maybe some of that would help.

So, if your taste is blasted, Robbie, what a pain in the ass. Wondering how long term that is. I had some rads, not re the jaw, and some of the sensibility has come back over time.

What was the mask for?

Hubby had radiation to his neck about...oh...14 years ago. His reaction to the tattoo points was the same as yours. (That gave me a good laugh!) "Good God!" he said when he came home. "I only got two dots! I can't imagine why someone would spend money to go through hours of that! How sick is that!!!"

ehBeth is right, your tastes will change day by day. I remember Hubby eating things he normally wouldn't touch. And then there were the all-ice-cream days. (Lots of those!) I never knew what to expect. I just kept going out and getting whatever he said he felt like. After 2-3 weeks, a lot of things tasted metallic to him, but I kept insisting he eat anyway. Good thing: he's skinny to begin with. By the time it was over, my 6'2" husband barely weighed 140. (He lost 45 lbs.) But he gained it all back in less than six months. His sense of taste returned pretty quickly.

The main thing is, you gotta keep eating.

littlek, The purpose of the mask is to hold my head in one, very specific place. No movement. No variation.

Eva, I won't know how I react to food until it happens. Things are already tasting weird. Lots going on my my mouth.

Listening in my annoyed way. Well, listening very much.