This is the longest post ever.  I'm sorry, but please read it all, especially if you're cooking for us at some point.


Have you ever been in a conversation when someone said, "Let me be honest with you..."  It kind of makes me want to say, "Have you been lying to me up to this point?"  Well, let me be honest with you about this blog and my food list.  


Honestly, this blog is meant to keep everybody up to date, but it's also for me.  Because if I have to say all this stuff all the time, or even once sometimes, I will become a crying mess.  The clear scans are good news and Clara taking the bottle is good news and Cathy feeling better from the infection is good news, but there is a lot of crappy stuff to come.  It's going to make me tremendously sad to watch this amazing woman, who I love, suffer through all of this.  So, I need this blog as much as you do.


Honestly, I'm a little obsessive about this food list.  This is why.  First of all, I can't control the cancer.  I also can't control the treatment or how effective it is.  I can't make Cathy not get sick or lose her hair from the chemo.  I can't help Cathy keep her breasts or ovaries, or get back the four months of nursing that she lost.  There is so much of this that I can't control and that I can't help with.  I can make sure she gets the best nutrition possible.  When I read that great diet and exercise decrease recurrence by 60% and that if she makes it three years without recurrence it's about 80% certain it won't come back.  If she makes it five years without recurrence the percentage goes up to around 90%.  If she makes it to eight years without recurrence the percentage is near 100%.  Those are numbers I like.  If I can contribute to that, if I can control a little part of that, then I'm not completely powerless in this fight.


Honestly, I'm not in control of any of it.  God controls all of it.  I know that.  Maybe I can help.  Maybe I can make things a little easier or better.  Like Pastor Amy said on Sunday - if God is my co-pilot, I'm in the wrong seat.  If God is in the driver's seat, maybe I can get him a coffee or change the radio station or some other little thing to help.  Maybe that means getting the food He intended for Cathy to have into her body.


Honestly, I'm a little obsessive about food anyway.  I like food.  I like to cook.  I like cooking for Cathy.  She eats what I make.  Even if it's bad, she pretends she likes it.  And I believe that where our food comes from makes a difference for our heath.  It will also make a big difference in Cathy's fight. For all the generous people who have volunteered to make meals for us, it's been a really hard balance for me with the nutrition thing and letting go of cooking.  Partly because I want the best for Cathy, partly because I like doing it, and you probably had no idea this has been a gigantic internal struggle this has been for me and I'm giving you way too much information.  So, I say to those wonderful meal makers, thank you, truly thank you.  There will be times in the very near future that I don't have the energy to cook for Cathy and you are coming through for our family.  


I know this is the longest post ever.  If you are cooking for us, please read the food list.  There are a lot of foods that are supposed to be really healthy for cancer fighters, but we don't know much about them.  We would love to try your recipes if, say, you know a good recipe for kale or jackfruit or seaweed.  Jonah and Aaron don't share our interest!  That's another layer of complication.  Anyway, please read the food list to do the best for Cathy.  And do this for yourself if you are not a believer in organics or not interested in the sources of our food- get a nice looking organic, grassfed steak (which will cost more) and a nice looking, regular steak.  Cook them both medium rare with nothing but salt and pepper and notice how different they taste.  They taste different because God made cows to eat grass, not corn.  If you are intrigued by the difference in taste, read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Polan.  On a side note, grassfed milk is an acquired taste and one I have not been able to acquire.  It kind of tastes like grass.  On another side note, thank you to Sonal, for helping me put this together and encouraging me to broaden it.  Without further adieu, the list, in link form (if you have questions ask me):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6s4woun3f595zxz/Foods%20for%20Cathy.docx