Getting ill is shit the best of times but as I’ve discovered with my breast cancer surgery and now with chemo treatment, it provides a perfect opportunity to re-evaluate.
I could talk about re-evaluating life and its meaning, but for me, at the moment, it’s giving me a great opportunity to re-evaluate my diet.
When you have cancer, recommendations and advice come thick and fast of what is good for you. From what combats the sickness that chemo may cause through to which berries are the best antioxidants to fatigue busting boosters.
So, whilst I’ve been busy listening to advice and doing my own research in order to make sure that my diet is exactly that – a diet of what I like and what will be of actual benefit to me.
I’ve long enjoyed the pleasure of good food and good drink and I promised myself that cancer won’t detract from that. So with my current chemo treatment starting, it’s been an opportunity to enjoy what I normally do, increase it where I can and discover new foods.
Pomegranate, beetroot, aubergine, ginger, trout, peppers and lemon are all in. I now shop by colour, as the more you have the better it gets. My local greengrocer John introduces me to varieties of kales and greens I’d never heard of. New recipes for new ingredients are researched, tried and adapted. My children are encouraged to contribute, learn and create. We have even found a way of making the devil’s own vegetable, the brussel sprout palatable by lightly frying and burying in a melange of other friendlier veg.
With a fridge full of amazing colourful ingredients, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to photograph all the colour and vitamins styled onto one plate and with occasional bubbles to help, the fight against cancer has well and truly started, ensuring I’m fitter, stronger and can fully celebrate at the end of my treatment.