The Joy of Eating

Dear readers. I feel like I need to reintroduce myself. My good friend Anelle very tactfully enquired via email this morning why she's been looking at Zoo cookies for two weeks now. I thought I better come clean.

Unfortunately I've been unwell for quite a few months now. Without going into too many gory details, I'll just casually mention that my poor gallbladder was the cause. When I was pregnant with the Little Girl, I spend about 7 months on the coach feeling too sick to even contemplating eating, and my gallbladder became full of stones due to not working. After her birth, I started having very severe abdominal pain whenever I tried to eat something a bit more substantial than dry toast. I had a few tests, which determined that said gallbladder needed to come out. I was put on the waiting list (last November), and waited ever since. The joys of public health.

All the food on the blog? Of course I tasted everything, but mostly only had a bite or two to determine that it's edible. I survived on dry bread and marshmellows. Until the marshmellows, supposedly fat free, caused an attack of biliary colic. Dry bread from then on. Occasionally I tried to eat more, but random foods made me ill again almost every week, sometimes more often, so mostly I stayed away. And hungry.

Early last week I got a call from the hospital. They had a cancellation on one of their theatre lists. Did I want it? People, I couldn't say yes fast enough, and went into surgery on Friday night. The Little Girl and the Fabulous Man spent Friday night at my lovely mum-in-law's, and I joined them there on Saturday to recover. I cannot tell you how wonderful I feel. Yes, I have some pain, but mostly I've been so overjoyed by eating again, any tears are due to happiness and nothing else.

I cannot begin to tell you how fabulous it feels to be able to eat anything I want. And not be haunted by the feeling that this might make me ill, and if it does, crying in agony for hours untill it passes. It's only now that I realise how difficult it's been. And I've come to the same conclusion I did a long time ago: Eating well makes me happy. I love eating not just for energy for my body, but also for mental health. Comfort eating? Yes. Chocolate to cure whatever's wrong that day? Absolutely. Creating lovely dishes to share with my family and you guys? Bring it on.

It's good to be back.