Going Vegan

One of the things the doctor told us to do was to have Aspen eat a liquid diet supplemented with only fruits and vegetables....no fat, no meat, no dairy. The first days have been difficult, finding things she can eat and wants to eat. She doesn't have much appetite, so things have to sound really good to her. The first few days only the guinea pig was loving the new diet...she fed him everything she wasn't interested in.

Uncle Dave called and suggested Popsicles...we have gone through LOTS of Popsicles. I associate Popsicles with hot days in summer as a child. I wonder if her memories of Popsicles will be of being sick?

She is losing weight rapidly and I am feeling a sense of urgency to feed her something that is high calorie. Uncle Dave also says Edamame from Costco is the way to go, that the cousins love it!

Uncle Dave and Aunt Kelly are unofficially in charge of thinking of wonderful vegan things that kids will eat, so far, so good...we really appreciate someone else taking this part of the research and thinking. There is so much research and thinking and rethinking to be done! We are wide open to other ideas...anyone???

A quick trip to the grocery store for Aspen today took an hour. It's good when she goes along, she can see things that look good to her on the shelf and read the ingredient and discover for herself if she can have them. I want her to be in control of her body and her choices as much as possible, that way family can just be the support, not the bad guy. It also means she is picking things that sound appetizing to her and she is in control right now. There will come a time when that might not be the case and any control we can give her right now is good.

It does mean that yesterday she wanted some chocolate gelato as a reward for surviving harrowing medical ordeals and it made her feel lousy and she didn't sleep well last night and hurt into this afternoon from her indulgence. But it was her choice. She probably won't choose that again.

She is making a list of things she wants to eat when she is well. It's something to look forward to. So far it is: cheese tortellini with alfredo sauce, burritos, macaroni and cheese, french fries...kid stuff. Her diet is very adult now, I hate how this whole ordeal steals part of her childhood away and causes her to grow up quickly.