Surgical Update: Left Eye
After nearly five years of complete blindness in my left eye I finally had surgery to repair and attempt to restore my vision loss. This is the third surgery I’ve had in my left eye – previous attempts being less than satisfactory – but I was optimistic.
Success! Sorta… so before it was just darkness. Now I can see colors and images but everything is wobbly. Apparently I have a genetic defect in my cornea that creates a kind of “fish bowl” effect. I guess that’s the end of my career as an aspiring land surveyor.
The upsetting (and unsurprising aside) is that the genetic defect could have been repaired when I was a child. At this point, even though all the parts in my eye are technically working the neurological effect is so complete that nothing can be done. The lesson learned here is that childhood eye diseases MUST be addressed and treated aggressively to prevent lifelong vision problems. I’m scheduling my daughters immediately!
What I Ate in Recovery
My main priority was to avoid eating anything that could trigger an inflammatory response and to eat only foods that were easy, natural and healthful. I put together a great menu and prepared all the foods before heading to the hospital.
My weekend menu:
- Roasted chicken with turmeric
- Roasted turkey legs with curry and olive oil
- Baked sweet potatoes with garlic cloves
- Apple, Jicama and Corn Salsa (see below for link to recipe)
- Fruit Soup (cherries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries in cranberry juice with unsweetened shaved coconut topping)
- copious amounts of filtered water with fresh mint and limes
- a french press full of ginger pear tea from Trader Joes
I made enough food for the entire family for the weekend + rice for the kids who claim, no matter how much food they have just eaten, to always be on the verge of starvation.
Other than the beautiful simplicity, quick cooking time and affordability of my weekend menu I want to stress the importance of high quality – especially if you’re coping with an inflammatory condition. ALL my meat is ALWAYS 100% organic, grass-fed which is essential if you have any kind of gluten or soy sensitivity. I do not buy all my produce organic – way too expensive – but focus on not getting any GM foods instead. You may have questions about the validity of GM foods but I am not going to discuss that on this blog. Bottom line – If you have a compromised immune system or genetic toxicity filtration issues than GM crops can pose a greater risk of triggering an inflammatory response – better safe than sorry.
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Apple, Jicama and Corn Salsa (see recipe on Levana’s site here)
It took about 5 minutes to make and was delicious! My favorite addition to the salsa was wasabi powder (I used Eden brand from Whole Foods) it was an interesting smokey flavor that was not as overpowering as I feared. The kids had no problem eating it.
Jenny Is A Mommy 