It occurred to me the other day that I'm going to need to pace myself through what has lately become the overwhelming topic of my life: Orli's lymphoma.
From that first moment in Terem (Urgent Care) when we hit the vending machines because we were starving and were supposed to be enjoying a nice cafe lunch in Jerusalem instead of waiting for a chest x-ray.
The results of the chest x-ray had us on the run to the ER. On the second floor of the ER building we discovered a food stand where we bought Cola Zero and some pre-wrapped tuna sandwiches, the remains of which I found crushed at the bottom of my knapsack when we got home from the hospital three days later.
I don't know if this has become a thing in America in the decade-plus since I moved to Israel, but in this country most hospitals actually have a food court (some even have a full-on mall) on the premises. It is not unusual at all to see a patient hanging onto his IV pole in hospital pajamas waiting in line for his Cafe Hafuch (capuccino) at Aroma.
Weird maybe, but not unusual.
Three days of hospitalization gave the patient and myself a wide range of choices: an Italian pizza/pasta place, Roladin (a cafe that offers sandwiches, toasts, and all kinds of pastries and borecas), McDonald's (kosher, duh) and the aforementioned Aroma's.
We'll get to the specifics of the menus with time, I suppose.
In the meantime, our world has turned into a whirlwind of CTs, PETs, Ultrasounds, Bone Marrow Scans. Add to that technicians and nurses and doctors and social workers and referrals and insurance approvals. And a big, fat loose leaf binder to hold the ever-increasing documentation.
Reeling from the diagnosis and all the food, Orli asked me if I was going to write about this.
She knows me too well.
I think I'm up for the challenge of writing about this from my (often hungry) perspective, while respecting her need for privacy.
And I'm sure she'll let me know when I'm not.
We have quite a journey ahead.
There will be plenty of time to hit all the food joints. Next up is the Japanese place. I think it's the only one at the hospital we haven't tried yet.
Not to worry, one of the nurses told us.
Plenty of restaurants deliver.
