Today’s the day! The iodine free diet starts here. I can’t eat seafood, seaweed, dairy or commercial bread products, salt or use sunscreen! I can eat meat, fruit and vegetables (with the exception of cherries, rhubarb and potato skins!) I’m just going to have to be creative. My diet may be restricted but it’s certainly going to be healthy!
I start my day with splashing out with a freshly squeezed juice from one of the food courts near work and slurp my way to healthiness! I could get used to this!
Wednesday is blood test day. Here’s hoping that if the results are normal I can drop the dose on the torpedo tablets to one a day. That would be a real treat. My arms are starting to look like they belong to a drug addict with all the holes and track marks, but I’m feeling magnanimous and let the nurse take her pick which arm she likes the best. Today, it’s the left. She takes my blood and then I’m off on my merry way.
I stop by the Prof’s office on the way home to collect my cake plate from Geraldine and also to give her some Grandma’s Jam Drops – after all I have to giveth, if I’m taking away! We have a little chat, after all, we’re almost like old friends now, and she asks me how I’m going. I tell her that I’m surprised how much energy I still have in the tank, and she tells me to expect my batteries start to run out, as time marches on and, to pace myself accordingly.
With Geraldine’s advice ringing in my ears, I go home, have lunch and hit the sack for a nana nap. I set my alarm to wake me up late afternoon because I have a parcel to collect from the post office. I’m guessing it’s from Auntie Sandra (she of the Champion Chicken Soup fame,) because she told me there was something coming my way. I’m also guessing it must be food related because she said she sent it a while ago, which can only mean one thing, it’s in quarantine! Australian Customs are red hot when it comes to food items entering this upside down paradise. They will inspect almost anything and everything edible to ensure that it’s safe enough and worthy to come in to Australia. Sure enough, when I get my hands on aforementioned parcel, it is indeed from Auntie, and it has indeed been cast under the beady eye of Australian quarantine. When it comes to presents and parcels, I’m like a big kid, I have to open them immediately! And, today is no exception. Now Auntie’s parcel was incredibly well re wrapped by the peeps in quarantine so it takes me a while to get into it. By the time I pull off the wrapping I’m on the street, and as I pull off the wrapping, I also pull off the lid, of what turns out to be a box of chicken soup mix. Me and my chicken soup must look quite a sight because as I pull off the lid with a flurry I walk right into a wind tunnel and a big plume of chicken soup flavoured dust blows into the air! What a sight to behold! Airborne chicken soup! Auntie has also sent a pack of dumpling mix Kneidlach. The dumplings and the soup are just made for each other and are as quintessential a pair as chips and gravy, strawberries and cream and gin and tonic to name but a few. Typical that they should arrive on the day I’ve started my iodine free diet, but hey, these are going top of my TO EAT list once I can eat iodine again! Apart from the tantalising taste of this amazing soup, everyone should be well aware of it’s healing properties, it’s not called Jewish Pencillin for nothing!
