So Many Dishes

First, I want to thank all of you who reached out with good wishes for my health. I had surgery Monday, went home on Tuesday, and although I’m sore, my symptoms are pretty much gone. I haven’t talked about what my issue was, but I’m going to share some of my journey in the next paragraph. If that is TMI for you, skip to the next paragraph. Make that two paragraphs.

I was diagnosed with a large, benign cyst on my liver almost ten years ago. All the medical advice I received was, since it wasn’t causing any problems, leave it alone. The imaging that was done when I had the bad fall just before Thanksgiving 2024 showed that the cyst had increased in size. I ended up having a surgical consult, but the advice was the same. A few weeks ago I began to have some symptoms that I thought the cyst might be causing, and scheduled an appointment with the surgeon. The soonest I could see him was January 30th.

Last week, severe pain sent me to the ER. A new CT scan showed that the cyst now had a diameter of 26 centimeters! It was pushing on my stomach and intestines and had shoved my right kidney to my left side. No question, it had to be dealt with. Because the surgeon was out of town, Monday was the earliest it could be scheduled. Fortunately, I didn’t have to stay in the hospital the entire time. Anyway, on Monday the surgical team drained two gallons of fluid and removed part of the cyst wall, so it shouldn’t refill 🤞Stepping on the scale when I got home was a revelation. My weight dropped 16 pounds, and my stomach hasn’t been this flat in years.

Okay, the rest of you can resume reading now 😄 Hospital food has never been known as haute cuisine, but this experience has been one where the food has provided lots of laughs, if not much taste. The doctors put me on a “full liquid” diet. (The senior resident said a soft, low fiber diet would have been okay, but it’s not an option at this hospital).

I had been admitted initially last Tuesday, and kept overnight. But because they didn’t know in the ER when I’d scheduled for surgery, they didn’t feed me anything. By the time I was on the floor, dinner service was over. All the nurses could give me was a couple of pudding cups. Chocolate pudding never tasted so good. Breakfast the next morning was thin oatmeal, juice, milk, and orange jello. Sorry, jello is not a breakfast food. There was also a container of Ensure on every liquid meal tray, but I passed on that as well.

Then came lunch, and my first soup experience. I uncovered the bowl to find a kind of golden yellow glop. I tasted it, but mostly tasted salt. The texture wasn’t perfectly smooth, and there were tiny bits of “mystery meat” in it. I took a guess of split pea soup made with yellow split peas. Then I spotted a printout listing the items on the tray. It was cream of chicken soup. I wasn’t even close.

I was discharged to wait for the surgery at home, and went back to be admitted again through the ER on Sunday morning. Everyone knew what the plan was again, so while I was waiting in the emergency room for a bed, they brought me meal trays—still the full liquid diet.

I uncovered the soup bowl on my lunch tray, and there it was again. The same yellow soup met my eye. I ate some of the soup, but made a beeline for the container of chocolate ice cream. Dinner meant more soup, but this was at least identifiable as tomato soup. I haven’t eaten Campbell’s tomato soup since I was a kid, but the taste was instantly recognizable.

Obviously, there was no food prior to surgery on Monday, and the operation didn’t take place until midafternoon, so I didn’t see any food until breakfast on Tuesday. I was thrilled to see solid food, but I had been assigned a “cardio diet;” limited salt and fat. The cholesterol free omelet was also taste free. Fortunately, the turkey sausage links were pretty tasty, and I pretty much inhaled the blueberry muffin on my tray.

I don’t want to give the impression that my hospital stay was less than satisfactory. The staff from top to bottom was wonderful: caring , compassionate, and clearly very competent.

Our son Ben has been with us this week, and he and Ken have been cooking up a storm. It’s taking time for my appetite to come back, but the meatloaf they made on Tuesday was tasty. Ben made the Veal Marengo recipe that I’ve posted before, and it was delicious. Tonight, he and Ken are working on arroz con pollo and steamed chayote, so I anticipate a feast. On the one hand, I’m looking forward to getting back to cooking. On the other, it’s nice to be a bit spoiled.

Happy eating, everyone. May you be able to identify your soup!