Update On My Mom + Recent Eats At Home

It’s been a nice week at home in Charlotte. I’ve gotten caught up on some work, seen some friends, taught some yoga and got out on a few walks with the dogs. I’m looking forward to spending the weekend with Finn, and hoping to make it back to Durham for a few days next week.

UPDATE ON MY MOM ALMOST THREE WEEKS POST-DOUBLE LUNG TRANSPLANT 

My mom had her double lung transplant on Saturday, January 15 and is still in the hospital at Duke. This is normal for lung transplants as hospital stays can range from two to three weeks to six months. Overall, she had a good week and there are no major complications.

My parents met with one of Duke’s transplant coordinators about what life will look like at home. I may write a more involved post about this in the future once we are actually living it, but it involves things like taking medication every 12 hours for the rest of her life, a list of restricted foods, at home blood pressure, spirometer, blood sugar and weight monitoring/record keeping, regular lab work that goes to Duke and more.

My parents will stay in Durham for another 2-3 months once my mom is discharged from the hospital. She has to go back into daily rehab and attend clinic once a week. As she progresses, they’ll give her the green light to go home to Florida but she’ll travel to Duke at prescribed intervals for monitoring in clinic. Those will space out as she gets further out from transplant but she will be under the care of Duke for the rest of her life.

I hate to report that she did not pass her swallow study again this week so she is still dependent on a feeding tube. They are surgically inserting a GJ tube into her abdomen today so that she can lose the nose tube. While she’s bummed about not being able to eat or drink, she’s grateful to be getting a less invasive feeding tube. Once the GJ tube is placed, it has to stay for at least six weeks but she can start eating and drinking with it in place if she does pass the swallow study.

Everyone keeps reassuring her that this is not the worst complication to have and it’s not going to be forever. I video chatted with her last night and she looked and sounded better than I’ve seen her since I left last Saturday. She’s been able to get by with Tylenol only for pain management during the day and that has helped to greatly improve her mental status.

She still has the one chest tube in place for draining but they anticipate being able to remove that any day now. (She has to get below 100 ml of fluid drainage per day – and she’s close.) It’s the last of her nine drains! She’ll be so much more comfortable once it is removed.

She’s walking three times a day most days for a total of around eight laps. They transplant coordinators told her 18 laps is the ticket to get out of there so I think it’s helpful to have that as a goal.

Lastly, many of you have been asking for an update on Mema. I think I will share a coffee-chat style of post this weekend and talk more about how this has been for everyone. Thank you for caring. <3

Okay, here is what I’ve been eating lately…at home.

BREAKFAST

Carrot cake. Yep, you’re seeing that right. When I got carrot cake from Dulce in Durham for my dad for his birthday, I picked up a slice for myself. I brought it back to Charlotte and ate it for breakfast on Sunday morning after I got home Saturday evening. I slept until 9:30, ate carrot cake for breakfast, drank coffee and picked up Finn. It made for a perfect Sunday morning. Thought I would make it to the gym but there was no way that was happening.

For the record, this was good carrot cake, and the slice was huge! I could only eat about half of it in one sitting. If you’re in the Durham-area, highly recommend. I will definitely go back to Dulce while my parents are in Durham, even though it’s a bit of a drive from where we are.

Bagel with butter and cream cheese, cottage cheese scrambled eggs and orange slices. Most days I do a smoothie or yogurt bowl but every now and then I go the savory route. Finn is obsessed with Dave’s Killer Bagels and eats one almost every morning for breakfast. We like the plain and cinnamon raisin flavors best. Sometimes we get the berry flavor.

LUNCH

I love this lunch! Soft-boiled eggs with sea salt, apple slices and avocado toast with butter and hemp hearts.

Homemade lentil soup with sourdough toast. I wish I could link to the recipe that I used but I kind of read through five or so recipes and then winged it based on what sounded good and what I had on hand. This was a mix of green lentils, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, diced tomatoes, chicken broth and some spices. I used my immersion blender to half puree it.

Ham, salami, cheddar cheese, mayo and banana pepper rings on sourdough.

Salad with spinach, avocado, tomatoes, chickpeas, dried cranberries, pepitas and Whole Foods White Balsamic dressing.

Homemade white bean soup that I pulled out of the freezer with sourdough toast. (I used this recipe for the soup.)

One of my girlfriends dropped off some goodies from Copain on my doorstep earlier this week and they’ve made for some delicious lunches. I’ve eaten toast topped with avocado and a whipped feta with pistachios, honey and rosewater for the last three days alongside this creamy tomato bisque.

DINNER

This was a great bowl creation. Here are the details:

• steamed jasmine rice
• turkey meatballs from Trader Joe’s cooked in a saucepan with canned crushed tomatoes
• Whole Foods Provencal frozen veggie mix
• Cedar’s Feta Dip and hummus
• a spanakopita that I air fried

Salad with spinach, spring mix, toasted pecans, cherry tomatoes, carrots, avocado, shredded cheese and air fried Trader Joe’s gluten-free chicken nuggets. I whipped up a homemade green goddess dressing using the following:

• Trader Joe’s green goddess seasoning
• Plain greek yogurt
• Mayonnaise
• Lemon juice
• Splash of oat milk to thin

So good! Definitely recommend trying this for an easy homemade dressing.

Here’s another salad with the same dressing. I did a “build your own salad” theme when Dorie came over to hang earlier this week. Butter lettuce, arugula, sautéed shrimp, avocado, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin seeds and fresh mozzarella cubes.

This dinner started with an Eat Smart Teriyaki Meal Kit and then I added some leftover steamed broccoli, shrimp, extra cashews and sriracha.

Y’all know I love a good sheet pan dinner. Here’s how this one happened:

• Brussel sprouts, chicken Italian sausage, carrots, fingerling potatoes, baby portobello mushrooms
• Tossed in avocado oil and sea salt and seasoned with Trader Joe’s Soffritto seasoning
• Roasted at 375 for about 30 minutes, stirring a few times throughout cooking
• You can serve this in a bowl with toppings like hummus, hot sauce, sauerkraut, cheese, etc. Sometimes I also eat it over rice or quinoa.
• Leftovers are excellent for a warm and healthy lunch!

Another delicious creation! I made a quick orzo dish with pesto, kalamata olives, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and arugula. Topped it with pesto air fried salmon and spinach and artichoke tzatziki from ALDI.

For the salmon…I seasoned with with Dizzy Pig Mediterranean-ish rub and sea salt and then spread a little jarred pesto on top of it. I cooked it in my Ninja Foodi Oven on the air fry setting at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Finally, I did takeout with another friend another night this week and we decided to try a new spot, Everest Bistro. It’s a bit of a hole in the wall on Monroe Road in Charlotte but I’d heard good things and it has great reviews. Their cuisine is mostly Nepali with some Thai and Indian thrown in.

We shared the chicken momo which is the dumplings you see. They were delightful! We also had the Everest Curry with tofu and the Kaju with chicken and a side of butter bread. Loved everything with the exception of the curry which was a tad lackluster in flavor. Will definitely order from here again!

And that’s all from me! I hope you guys have a great weekend.

QUESTIONS

Current favorite homemade soup? Bonus for recipe links! 

Favorite homemade dressings? 

Favorite type of cuisine to order for take-out? 

What do you have planned this weekend?