‘And for you?’ I’m in a restaurant, being served by a sweet waiter with what might be a non-ironic handlebar moustache, and I’m studying the dessert menu intently. ‘Hmm,’ I say, pointing towards my family, ‘can you go that way first, please?’
In the absence of a definite certainty, what makes life feel better...just a coincidence, or global consciousness at play? I like to think there's a bit of magic going on out there. On the Ice cream front (although this might not fit with the low saturated fat requirement of the OMS diet...I had no idea Chicken is high in saturated fat! I thought it was a 'lean' protein!) Alpro Chocolate and Hazelnut is pretty delicious. x
It was *really* weird, N! But at the same time: as I read the email I broke into a smile and thought ‘of course you’ — ‘you’ in this case being a random man called Paul who presumably lives on the other side of the world, considering the time he posted the comment — ‘would have sent this to me right now!’
And that is a shrewd observation you make re: chicken / saturated fat — you are absolutely correct that chicken breast is considered lean meat, but OMS adopts a strict ‘no meat policy’ because it says human nature means a grey area would make for a slippery slope…
Thanks for the Alpro Chocolate and Hazelnut tip! (Although, while vegan ice creams tick the ‘no milk’ box, even these would be a no-no for OMS purists, as they're processed and contain coconut oil. Let’s just say Paul the universal nudger would not be pleased)
Oh gosh, what a complicated diet to get your head around! It slightly reminds me of the Low FODMAP diet I had to adopt for a couple of years. I didn't cook anything or go anywhere without the booklet and/or app within reach. There's a niche food market here crying out for an ice cream range to be developed!
Great and accurate description for it...that's exactly what it was. It took almost all the joy of eating away. The hidden perk is that two years of following that diet (as a vegetarian just to make it worse) left me with such low standards when it comes to food, that now (no longer Low FODMAPping) everything tastes delicious!
Oh my gosh that is a coincidence! I like to think these little nudges from universe help push us in the right direction and worth listening to.
I’m secretly glad you went for the ice cream.. you’re currently navigating these decisions so there’s room for pleasure… but more importantly perhaps now is the time to understand fully what HSTC is all about..
Yes Indy, light and shade n’ all that. There was a moment when one of our contingent’s dessert choice of creme brûlée was held up, and I thought ‘oh cripes, I’ll feel duty bound to wait out of politeness and then I’ll end up drinking a litre of ice cream liquid’ and that would most definitely not have been worth it. But happily we were encouraged to tuck in, so I was able to savour it in all its firm glory.
p.s. I’ll add Roar to my list of vegan ice creams to explore too! Annoyingly I think these vegan ice creams might fall foul of OMS’s ‘no saturated fat’ rule but c’mooooonnnn…
Resisting ice-cream is always difficult...unfortunately cows milk products and my body don't get on at all, I definitely find them inflammatory - do check out Beaus Ice cream tho, all made from cashews and SO good!
The in depth brain scan and HSCT sound fascinating, at a cost like that is it guaranteed to work? Are there any risks?
I love how sometimes just the right information arrives at just the right point in time :) xx
Good question re: HSCT. Unfortunately there’s not yet been a large-scale study comparing HSCT to other highly-effective MS treatments (one has just started) so you just have to pick your way through anecdotal data… some people thinks it’s amazing and should be offered as standard to people early in their disease course (the idea is that it can halt progression). But others have had it and say they now feel worse, or no better than they did. (From what I understand a big question mark is to what extent does the chemo cause nerve cell death…)
Apparently the actual treatment itself has a 0.3% mortality risk — because there’s a small window afterwards where you have literally no immune system — but think this risk is getting smaller and smaller, as I’m guessing perhaps infection protocols have improved (think it was 1% at one point).
The BBC’s Caroline Wyatt had it done in Mexico (some light reading for your Monday morning tea-break!):
P.s. Interesting that you find also milk inflammatory! I’ve got to say — I honestly do feel better now I don’t drink cow’s milk, but I wasn’t sure if was the placebo effect. Will check out Beau’s ice cream - thanks for the tip!
In the absence of a definite certainty, what makes life feel better...just a coincidence, or global consciousness at play? I like to think there's a bit of magic going on out there. On the Ice cream front (although this might not fit with the low saturated fat requirement of the OMS diet...I had no idea Chicken is high in saturated fat! I thought it was a 'lean' protein!) Alpro Chocolate and Hazelnut is pretty delicious. x
It was *really* weird, N! But at the same time: as I read the email I broke into a smile and thought ‘of course you’ — ‘you’ in this case being a random man called Paul who presumably lives on the other side of the world, considering the time he posted the comment — ‘would have sent this to me right now!’
And that is a shrewd observation you make re: chicken / saturated fat — you are absolutely correct that chicken breast is considered lean meat, but OMS adopts a strict ‘no meat policy’ because it says human nature means a grey area would make for a slippery slope…
Thanks for the Alpro Chocolate and Hazelnut tip! (Although, while vegan ice creams tick the ‘no milk’ box, even these would be a no-no for OMS purists, as they're processed and contain coconut oil. Let’s just say Paul the universal nudger would not be pleased)
Oh gosh, what a complicated diet to get your head around! It slightly reminds me of the Low FODMAP diet I had to adopt for a couple of years. I didn't cook anything or go anywhere without the booklet and/or app within reach. There's a niche food market here crying out for an ice cream range to be developed!
Just googled Low FODMAP - that sounds like stress on a plate too! And yes good idea... I can start off the range with 'linseed oil' flavour...
Great and accurate description for it...that's exactly what it was. It took almost all the joy of eating away. The hidden perk is that two years of following that diet (as a vegetarian just to make it worse) left me with such low standards when it comes to food, that now (no longer Low FODMAPping) everything tastes delicious!
That sounds like a winner already...
P.S ROAR’s dairy free salted caramel ice cream is AMAZEBALLS.
Oh my gosh that is a coincidence! I like to think these little nudges from universe help push us in the right direction and worth listening to.
I’m secretly glad you went for the ice cream.. you’re currently navigating these decisions so there’s room for pleasure… but more importantly perhaps now is the time to understand fully what HSTC is all about..
Yes Indy, light and shade n’ all that. There was a moment when one of our contingent’s dessert choice of creme brûlée was held up, and I thought ‘oh cripes, I’ll feel duty bound to wait out of politeness and then I’ll end up drinking a litre of ice cream liquid’ and that would most definitely not have been worth it. But happily we were encouraged to tuck in, so I was able to savour it in all its firm glory.
p.s. I’ll add Roar to my list of vegan ice creams to explore too! Annoyingly I think these vegan ice creams might fall foul of OMS’s ‘no saturated fat’ rule but c’mooooonnnn…
Resisting ice-cream is always difficult...unfortunately cows milk products and my body don't get on at all, I definitely find them inflammatory - do check out Beaus Ice cream tho, all made from cashews and SO good!
The in depth brain scan and HSCT sound fascinating, at a cost like that is it guaranteed to work? Are there any risks?
I love how sometimes just the right information arrives at just the right point in time :) xx
Hi Lisa!
Good question re: HSCT. Unfortunately there’s not yet been a large-scale study comparing HSCT to other highly-effective MS treatments (one has just started) so you just have to pick your way through anecdotal data… some people thinks it’s amazing and should be offered as standard to people early in their disease course (the idea is that it can halt progression). But others have had it and say they now feel worse, or no better than they did. (From what I understand a big question mark is to what extent does the chemo cause nerve cell death…)
Apparently the actual treatment itself has a 0.3% mortality risk — because there’s a small window afterwards where you have literally no immune system — but think this risk is getting smaller and smaller, as I’m guessing perhaps infection protocols have improved (think it was 1% at one point).
The BBC’s Caroline Wyatt had it done in Mexico (some light reading for your Monday morning tea-break!):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/caroline_wyatt_multiple_sclerosis
P.s. Interesting that you find also milk inflammatory! I’ve got to say — I honestly do feel better now I don’t drink cow’s milk, but I wasn’t sure if was the placebo effect. Will check out Beau’s ice cream - thanks for the tip!