HUGE VICTORY!!!!

We were able to get it approved to have the primary care physician just sign everything - not only that, ALL REFERRALS have  gone through and I have authorization #s in my hot little hands!!!!!
WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!

got a lot accomplished today ~ well, at least by my standards...

I get tired by afternoon, so I try my best to get as much done in the AM as possible. Today it was the making of the phone calls  to try to get it approved to have my new primary care physician waive the usual first visit thing and just sign all the referrals. All the diagnoses and tests have pretty much been done. I might need another CAT scan or even a PET scan, but those can be ordered after I see the oncologist.

 My sister is in town for the weekend, which has been really nice. WAY too long in between visits.... Anyhow, today we left about 8:30 and went shopping! Wait, before you get all excited about that new purse or pair of shoes~ they don't exist. We shopped for wonderful things like pillows that help keep nasty germs away, pillow cases that will not pull what is left of my hair out once I start chemo, but most importantly, we shopped for BABY FOOD! Strained peaches and carrots and ham, OH my!

Such will be my new diet. We actually were able to find other things as well that I can eat, I am just so not excited about the baby food aspect of all this. Hey, whatever it takes to stay healthy!

I never in a million years dream I would be counting calories to keep them UP! I feel like I have entered.....
the Twilight Zone...(creepy theme music fades in....)

In a nutshell, the food I must eat can't be high in fat, cannot contain anything with acid  (like tomatoes, citrus or vinegar ) must be high in protein, must supply the fiber and nutrients I need ~ and it can't be any thicker than a thin paste.  Now before any of you out there start suggesting protein powders, health shakes and ensure, please know I have been living off these. I need variation in my diet or #1,  I don't get all the fruits, veggies and vitamins I need and #2,  I will probably loose my mind LONG before I  have surgery and get placed on a feeding tube. Since I don't want to add shock therapy to my regimen, I figure we should start looking around at different options.

We have come up with quite a few ideas actually, but if you can think of any more I am open!

hummus, thinned with beef broth (my fav)

soups put through the blender

whole bran cereals soaked in low fat milk until they fall apart

cream of wheat and oatmeal, made thinly

baby foods and cereals

low fat non yeast breads soaked in milk (like banana bread made with applesauce)

applesauce

yogurt

low fat puddings and custards

sorbets

that sort of thing.  Not very exciting, but luckily the Lord has blessed me enough to really think ALL food sounds nasty right now. And right now, I am not lactose intolerant ( apparently about half of the chemo patients undergoing treatment become lactose intolerant) so I can drink milk too.


Now for another gem ...