It begins

Like every good story, there must be a beginning. 

Our story begins with the 2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree in Mt. Hope, West Virginia. Mark and I were happy to have been selected and approved to work the Electricity and Electronics Merit Badge booth at the very first Jamboree to be held at Summit Bechtel Reserve.

We were there for a week setting up our Merit Badge booths, and had survived the first couple of days with boys present. On Wednesday, July 17th, Mark was not feeling well.  By late that evening, he was taken off-site to Plateau Medical Center in Oak Hill, West Virginia with probable pneumonia.  On Friday, he was moved from a regular room into ICU because the pneumonia continued to grow. Saturday morning, it was clear that he was not getting better and that he needed a level of care that Plateau could not provide.  He was transferred to Charleston Area Medical Center - Memorial Hospital in Charleston, West Virginia. This is where the true adventure begins.

He arrived at CAMC and his oxygen levels continued to drop, as the pneumonia grew.  At 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning, the decision was made to intubate him. He would be medically paralyzed and sedated while the respirator helped him to breathe. He was intubated for over a week, during which time, he had multiple x-rays, a CT scan and an EKG.  The EKG showed a slight heart weakness -- with a low ejection fraction (37-40%).  A later heart catheterization showed a slight narrowing in two arteries -- not enough to require a stent; however, enough to order medication and a change in diet. During the hospitalization, it was also discovered that Mark has diabetes. More diet changes are required.

I did a quick search, and found some diabetic and heart healthy cookbooks. Once they arrived, we reviewed them, thought about what we might like, and planned a couple weeks menu.

Primary Cookbooks - along with additional recipe resources

We are human.  We are changing our lives.  Change takes time. This will be a gradual immersion with an alertness and awareness of needed changes. There will be times that we will still enjoy foods that are typically "not allowed" on these diets (things higher in fat, sugar and salt).  This life change needs to work for us. 

We invite you to follow along with us as we begin.