Monday, March 4, 2019

A diet to kill me!

Day 8 - 21 days til treatment! 

Kill me! Kill me now! I'm really struggling on this Listeria diet... what on earth do pregnant woman eat?? I can't have anything I really love. My steak has to be cooked to a crisp, I can't eat shellfish or soft cheese!!! Apparently no delicatessen food either. So no chorizo, salami or hummus. My favourite lunch food is off the cards. Ryvita with cottage cheese and ham is no longer part of my lunchtime routine. My soft poached eggs have been taken away from me.  Everything has to be cooked... I have another seven weeks, at least, of this. Please someone don't disappoint me tomorrow and tell me I can't have ham and cheese toasted sandwiches either. 
I have a new found respect for all mothers and pregnant women now. What did you eat? I'm in complete awe of you doing this for nine months. It is not a reason I never had children, but now knowing how hard it is, it really could have been a subconscious mitigating factor. 
I have one saving grace though, I can still have wine and whisky. So again, hats off to all pregnant women. 
There is something to be said for not being able to do this, for what I'm told is longer than nine months. The realisation I am doing this to stay healthy for this treatment is a bit startling. And making it so very real. If my immune system is compromised prior, I will need to filled with antibiotics before they can do anything. Something I really want to avoid, as the drugs going in to my system are pretty horrific already. Steroids and an immune system killer. I really want to avoid anything else if I can. 
It is hard to believe I am only three weeks away from being a pin cushion for five days. This is looming up fast and I'm not quite sure I'm okay with it. There are really conflicted feelings about it. On one hand, I really want to get this done and dusted, so I can get on with things. I'm putting so much on hold until I get through the treatment and recovery time. Going away anywhere is going to be minimal until I can take stock of my recovery. Although we have booked a few days over my birthday in May, I'm not sure how well I will travel. I am hoping seven weeks post treatment I should be fine. I'm really hoping three weeks post treatment I will fine. 
On the other hand, I'm terrified it's all going to go to custard and I'm going to suffer tremendously. Some of the side-effects of this have left me reaching for the wine and whisky bottles. They are low odds, and because my M.S. is relatively moderate, I've been told I have a better chance of not suffering most of these. This is worse case scenario, but terrifying none-the-less.  But I am told the chances of the M.S getting better are higher than these side effects. So it's the risk I take. 
Some of the more common ones during the treatment can be dealt with. I've been instructed by people who have already been through this to take plenty of Aloe Vera, antihistamines and paracetamol. 
They say Knowledge is Power, so at least I am going in to this forewarned. But I wonder what is worse. Knowing all this, or is ignorance really bliss? 
I'm off to cook a listeria friendly dinner of chicken stir fry (with all my vegetables well washed, and because it's chicken - well cooked). 

Happy reading! 



2 comments:

  1. Oh Jodes, sending you lots of love. I can only imagine how scared you must be. I ate lots of stir fried and casseroles. I also ate lots of well washed fruit. Ice poles were also a big thing for me.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Char. I'm not too bad. I think it's like I was with the diagnosis. 'Head in the sand' comes to mind. :)

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