Day 109, Year 7: Windy Saturday
Date: Saturday, February 25, 2012
Weather: Mostly Sunny with LOTS of Wind, Gusts to 60 mph
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
If this were next weekend, we’d definitely be able to say that March is coming in like a lion. But it is still February-just feels like March. The winds have been blowing a steady 25-30 mph with gusts to 60 according to
radio emergency broadcast warnings. I can tell you from the way Windbird is healing at the dock, that it certainly is windy. But people were out and about in town, kids playing in the parks, disregarding the wind and acting
like spring has sprung.
Mark was having a low energy day, his first since his chemo treatment on Tuesday, so I left him on Windbird while I went into town to do some shopping and to go to the Saturday Farmer’s Market. It is much more expensive to buy at the Farmer’s Market, but we are trying to support the idea of eating locally when possible, so I paid the price. I got locally, organically grown kale, a mix of cooking greens, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. I also got free-range eggs. I will go to the grocery store tomorrow to get broccoli, cauliflower, scallions, and fruit, and even some of that is organically grown. The choices are not as great here on the Cape as they are in Boston, but we certainly aren’t going to starve. We continue to read everything we can find about diet recommendations while on chemo, but there are so many variables that it is very difficult to figure out just what to eat. We are trying new recipes that are plant-based and using meat sparingly for now. Fish, like Pacific
salmon, seems to be okay on every list, so our plan is to have fish a couple of times a week, chicken used in stir fries and curries a couple of days a week, bean-based meals twice a week, and pizza on Fridays. But it’s not as
easy as that. When Mark’s blood count gets low, which it will, then you have to eliminate eating things like nuts, and that eliminates our staple of granola for breakfast. And that is just one example. The next six months
are going to be challenging, to say the least, in terms of food choices.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a bookstore in Falmouth and the local library didn’t have any cookbooks for people on chemo available. I’m finding lots of books that have dozens of chapters explaining the science behind food
choices, but you have to assimilate all that information and come up with your own plan. And since each person’s situation is constantly changing, I guess the answer is total education, not an easy step-by-step cookbook. But
still, that would be nice, and I’m looking at the choices on Amazon and thinking of ordering one. If anyone knows someone who has gone through chemo for colon cancer and found a great “what to eat” guide, please let us know.
