Chapter 13: The Stroke Diet

I may not be as active since my stroke, but with my new stroke diet I am staying slim.

My sense of smell and taste has been tweaked.  It is now slightly off.  

I can no longer trust my sense of smell.  I sometimes think something smells sour or spoiled.  At first, I used to throw those things away.  But one time I had something that I thought smelled burnt and Larry walks up to me as I’m taking it out of the oven and tells me that it smells delicious.  Delicious?  Really?

That got me to thinking that maybe it’s me, not the food.  So I often let my family decide if something is spoiled.  But, if it smells bad to me, I’m not going to eat it.

My taste has changed too!  So many foods no longer taste good to me.  My body is definitely better off for it; most of the foods that I don’t like anymore are not really good for me anyway.  I miss having those yummies.  But, why eat fattening food if it tastes gross?

For example, I used to love French fries.  The first time I had a French fry after my stroke was supposed to be a treat for me.  I took a bite, with a smile on my face and was shocked to realize it tasted horrible! 

I still remember loving French fries.  They still look delicious, so I’ll have one every now and then hoping... and, yuck!  Nasty!  Sadness!  I miss my French fries.

Another feature of this diet is poor memory.  I struggle to follow the directions I read.  If I get interrupted, that’s it.  Did I put in the salt?  Did I add all the sugar?  I can’t tell.  It’s all white!  I can’t remember what I just did.  Frustrating.  I find myself bursting into tears and give up. 

So are there any cookies in our house?  Brownies?  Very rarely.  

I can still make main dishes.  You just look at your pan and see, “Oh, I forgot the carrots.”  It’s really hard to figure out what is missing when it’s all white stuff.

I do still try from time to time.  I had an assignment to bring a dessert for a family gathering.  So I focused, kept my finger on the recipe, and made them when no one was home.  No distractions.

I took them to the dinner with my fingers crossed.  I tried one and thought, “Darn it, not very good.  I must have done something wrong.”  But Larry tried them and told me they were good.  I guess he was right.  They got all gobbled up!

So there you have it.  My new diet.  All you have to do is have a stroke or some other brain injury, find that food no longer smells or tastes good and that cooking desserts is not that fun.