What happens if you do kitchen work with your Illnesses?
Does the pain become too much?
Is it too exhausting?
Difficult in which way?
Can you describe?
Are the questions I’m often confronted with.
Prior to finding pain relief (dollarom & cannabis oil blend related in chapter 12) the pain was definitely a limiting factor, now it is being managed (All praises to my Lord) 😁😁😁
Small fiber sensory polyneuropathy does not involve 1 type of pain so prior to these meds it was disabling.
Once on medication – thinking I’d be capable of adopting a life with more normalcy – short lived joy – heart failure set in at the same time.
Though, I managed making short & easy recipes.
Until…!
Eventually congestive heart failure & Prinzmetal – microvascular angina took over.
Cooking is not simply “exhausting“,
Like I always state; packaged with any “less than ordinary task”
Are a host of ongoing symptoms, which, if not ‘obeyed’, result in disastrous consequences.
If not rested once angina is triggered, I’m at high risk of a heart attack (myocardial infarction).
Spoonie biscotti – A glimpse into 1 day of baking whilst living with insufficient battery life / measuring the task of baking with spoons – falling majorly short as some people understand this analogy…
I purchased this book (from a cousin, all thanks to her for informing me about it) 😊
Titled Breads & Pastries by Hafsa Kasak +-3 months prior to everything changing. A wonderful book 🍩🍪 & if you don’t have one already, think of investing in one 😉. No one asked me to advertise / promote, doing so out of my own free will because I’ve used it a lot & up to date, mom & sisters continue using it.
Every tried recipe has never flopped & been thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who tasted from the contents.
Coconut ring, caramel cinnabons, pancake varieties, feather light rolls, definitely not forgetting this yummy coconut biscotti recipe which I made once after purchasing the book.
The image below dates back to March 2016 👇
Divine to dip in a cup of tea / coffee or even a munchy crunchy snack.
3 months ago, craving for it, mom said she’d make but I refused her offer saying I wanted to do it all by myself.
Clever much 😂😂😂😂
Well, it was after 2 entire years so this day had to be recorded as an anecdote in my journal!
1 batch of biscotti took approximately 7 hours 😮😮😮
Reversing the gears back to
[ MARCH 2018 ]
Today ! Baking & I had some well deserved, good bonding time ☕🍪 😋😂
Been wanting to make coconut biscotti “by myself” from ages but insufficient 🔋 life
Little achievements tally a count 😀😀
Let me take y’all through a tour of the athletic work achieved:
[STEP 1]
Mom took out the ingredients, put them on the table, I took a few small things out like spoons, dish, sieve etc.
[STEP 2]
Sat on the chair, mixed flour & baking powder.
Beat eggs with sugar. Added Vanilla essence & pinch of salt.
[STEP 3]
When fluffed up, I hand mixed the flour in, this particular recipe does not call for machine mixing. But as the dough got heavier, circling motions became difficult – I couldn’t turn the spoon due to BREATHLESSNESS & ANGINA wanting to be included in the fun.
Oh, they scream if excluded.
[STEP 4]
Mom stirred it finish. Then I needed to rest bearing in mind no other task was performed prior to beginning. Covered it with a cloth & layed on the bed for a while.
[STEP 5]
Dad came on the scene to help whilst mom cooked supper, took out the tray, mat & coconut oil bcause my breathing had not yet settled but head set on getting this done lol.
Coconut oil moulded the 2 logs well.
*Substituted for normal oil.
[STEP 6]
Mom placed the tray in the oven to bake.
[STEP 7]
Once done, I took it out.
Then left to cool.
Completely drained of battery life.
Went to sleep.
Immediately in dream land 😴😴😴
[STEP 8]
Mom put the logs in the fridge & sliced it early the next morning.
What a lonnnnnnnng sequence making only 1 little batch of coconut biscotti 😆😆😆
📈📉 Sauntering a life of multiple heart diseases
Heyy!! By the way – healthy recipe 😂😂
With the finest quality ingredients used:
🍪 Unbleached stone ground flour
🍪 Farm eggs
🍪 Brown treacle sugar (grounded)
🍪 Homemade baking powder
🍪 Pure vanilla extract
🍪 Pinches of Himalayan salt.
🍪 Coconut is well, just coconut. Lol.
Agrees with my gastroparesis because it’s really light on the digestive system – no butter (butter filled biscuits & rich cakes nauseate me)
Sooo….
Hope that gives an idea…
Cooking a complete meal is not listed among my capabilities with the exception of someone assisting by doing the up, down walking, fetching ingredients, cutlery, stirring etc.
I manage little handwork whilst sitting at the kitchen table (cpap on); cutting mushrooms on a board etc for short time spans… Cannot hold an arm upwards longer than a few minutes.
Recently realized that writing also impacts my 💙 more than thought but will never give up, continouing to do all these little things with respiratory ally’s because every bit of pay back time holds worth 😊😊😊😊
Whilst writing, rules are;
💠 No bending the chest halfway over
💠 Maintain a complete upright position so as not to trigger angina & neck muscle spasms = migraines.
To attain success in any field of life, 2 P’S are necessary:
🎓 Patience
👑 Perseverance
And
🌹 Failure is also essential for flourishing.
A heart
Beating fast,
Drumming in my ears
Heralding fainting fears,
No feelings of anxiousness
Merely, frequent occurences,
These waves appear bleak
But do not make aspirations weak,
As long as reliance above is at peak.
Swimming Through The Waves 