Newly Remodeled Website

The folks over at No Stomach for Cancer (formerly Be Strong Hearted) have been kind enough to feature my blog as one of the many Personal Stories on the Community section of the website. If figured that I should plug them here as that site has been an invaluable resource for me both prior to and during recovey from surgery.

They've just revamped the site and made it more navigable and user friendly. At the same time they have awesome news. November has been designated as Stomach Cancer Awareness Month thanks to a few senators from the Midwest. Oddly enough they represent two states (Wisconsin and Illinios) in which I have recently been sojourning. Now, I don't want to say that my mere presence out there has some kind of mystical influence over this turn of events. It doesn't mean that my personal energy is so powerfully strong that it can move even politicians to do good things. Or does it?

Yeah, I doubt it. It was mostly due to the diligent efforts of the Chelcun family and
everyone else behind the scenes at No Stomach For Cancer. Upon learning of this condition and it's rude interjection into the lives of their family, they immediately sprung into action and began in their advocacy for people living with CDH1 and HDGC. Their efforts have been monumental and their hard work is reflected in the new site. Stop by and get informed, and I dunno-maybe hit the red "donate" button if you have a few dollars that you don't know what to do with.

No Stomach For Cancer

I want a big glass of Coca Cola. I haven't been dining out so much in the classical sense. I mean, we went to the breakfast buffet at the local firehouse Sunday morning and I had a few bites of a burrito at the mall a while back. But the whole sit at a table with a server waiting on you thing; haven't done much of that.

I flew back to Chicago today so that I can start to drive back to PA with my mom tomorrow. Don't ask. We're making a few stops to see people so it'll take a while. My cousin wanted to treat us to dinner and before I could even mention Morton's, I found out that Red Lobster would be the restaurant of choice. Usually I have a rule about eating seafood so far away from the actual sea. But it's Red Lobster, right? It's not like I'm getting tuna tartare or raw oysters or anything like that.

Aside from intentionally ordering way more than I could eat (after dismissing my first thought to order a cup of soup and an appetizer as my entree), I spent a lot of time watching the servers carry trays with icy cold glasses to other tables. Glasses containing a dark syrupy liquid with a riot of effervescent bubbles clinging to their sides. I really wanted a Coke. Or a Dr. Pepper, which is odd as I remember a similar tasting soft drink called Mr. Pibb being the brand of choice in these parts. No, never mind, just a Coke.

I started obsessing about it. Like I could almost taste it, but not quite and I just needed a little nip to remember that taste. I looked at my watered-down raspberry lemonade and then at all the other tables. Look at them, I thought. Just look at all of them with their sodas, happily slurping through straws, asking the waitress for refills! I recalled being able to sip such a beverage and thoroughly enjoying, but not appreciating, the flavor and thirst quenchiness! Sometimes I would chug some right out of the bottle. Sometimes I would even mix in a little rum believe it or not!

I never even really drank a lot of soda anyway and in our house it is considered a treat more than it is a staple. Maybe it's just the idea of wanting something you can't have. Or perhaps it was just the feeling of wanting something that wasn't watered down, as is the only way i can tolerate the beverages I'm able to consume. Or even an urge to drink anything at all while I'm eating. It's a totally natural thing to sip water with a meal, but not something I'm able to do any longer. Eating is separated from drinking by at least 30-45 minutes.

What's probably going to happen is that I will obsess about it until I just get a Coke, open it up and let it go flat. When I taste it, it will be nothing like I remembered and I'll be disappointed and wonder why I even missed it in the first place. And I'll stick to my flavored water for now, thank you!