Diets

Tuesday, March 6, 2012: I've had a good couple of days. I saw an old friend Saturday night and she almost didn't recognize me. She even called me a "hot babe" - ha! She knew my story and knew that the "diet" I'd been on was a forced diet caused by radiation effects. When I told her that I was starting to gain weight, she just said, "Good! That means you feel better!" Yep, it's a double whammy. I'm glad I can eat...I just need to eat better and healthier.

When we first started chasing this "hot spot", I felt like I had done something wrong to cause it. My biggest worry was that sugar was the culprit. I still feel that way and I know that I need to get rid of it in my life. Easier said than done, though. I love goodies. I'm a sucker for all the bad things - cakes, cookies, licorice, M&Ms - you name it. I just need to psych myself into giving it all up. But, wow, it's a hard choice.

Dr. Grossmann suggested that I read "The Sonoma Diet", which is the "way of life" he follows. It sounds so wonderful and healthy, replacing candy and cake with blueberries and strawberries and grapes. My wonderful cousin also suggested I read "The Anti-Cancer" book, which also advocates eliminating sugar and eating more veggies and fruits and the Super Foods. I have all these great books with advice and council - now, I need to follow the rules if I'm really serious about fighting this cancer-beast.

I also saw Dr. Robison this week, the dermatologist who first examined me after my initial melanoma diagnosis and took the biopsy from the top of my head. It's been a year (tomorrow) since that horrible, fateful night, and though I'm sure he doesn't remember it like I do, he saw me yesterday and was absolutely amazed at how "great" I looked. He was full of compliments and told me to keep doing whatever I was doing, because it was working. He examined me from head to toe again and couldn't see anything suspicious. He continues to be amazed at how someone like me, who is pretty much "mole-less" and doesn't exhibit a lot of sun damage, can have melanoma. Just "lucky", I guess. It was very encouraging to talk to him because he was so positive about my year's journey. It was a Good News visit.

Yesterday, I also got the reminder call from Huntsman about my endoscopy/biopsy tomorrow morning. The girl told me what time I needed to be there and where I needed to be. I then asked her if there were any special instructions I needed to follow, since I remembered that I wasn't supposed to eat or drink anything right before the procedure. She said, "Oh, yes, let me check on that." Soon she came back to the phone and said, "Yes, you're supposed to be on a clean liquid diet all day Tuesday (which is today) and then no food or drink after midnight." Really?? I was skeptical, but accepted what she said. Later, I told Dean that I almost feel like she thought I was coming in for a colonoscopy instead of endoscopy - I've never had to do the clear liquid diet before! It could have something to do with me also having a biopsy done, but really?? Also, she didn't say anything about going off my blood thinner meds, although I did that on my own, stopping last Saturday. It just makes me wonder if they really have it all together there. If I hadn't specifically asked, would she have said anything? Probably not. The differences in the preparation before these procedures from the U of U Hospital and the IMC Centers where I've gone before is like night and day. IMC would contact me days in advance and even send me things in the mail to make sure I had all the proper instructions. I feel the U of U isn't quite with it. So, I'll probably make an issue of it tomorrow and let them know that I'm a bit confused. It certainly doesn't make today any easier - I'm eating jello and Popsicles and drinking apple juice & cranberry juice and beef/chicken broth. Blah... Maybe this should just be my "giving up sugar" start. If only I didn't have those Girl Scout cookies and M&Ms in the pantry...

(Picture: at Bear Lake in August 2011 - me holding baby Knox and my mom snapping pictures. This was only a week before Mom's heart stopped and she had to be resuscitated - twice. Keeping my skin safe under the umbrella in the hot, summer sun...)