My Journey With Cancer

FOOD AND FAST FOOD IN THE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA

Looking back at my time in CHOP (and I'm sure you can gather what that stands for) a lot of the food coming out from the cafeteria wasn't of the best quality. Of course, the workers there had a large number of mouths to feed—more than your average public school's population—so you can't really fault them for it in the end. Logistics was a substantial issue. Many patients could simply not leave their bed, and during certain nights, sometimes you could hear patients crying out in the hall or by their doors. That's how bad it was for some, and I wish I could relate to them more. There's only about 200 or so cases of Ewings Sarcoma a year, and a fraction of them are on the pelvis.

That's how many people I get to relate to.

About the food though... well, the food definitely made it worse than it already was, although I do remember being rather fond of their cheesesteaks. I think those were alright.

But everything else, terrible. Don't get the hot-dogs, they taste like spam. But then again, what didn't when you were on chemo: so comes the punchline. At one point, I really didn't know what to think about food anymore. I either didn't eat. Or I ate and spat what I ate back out. Or I ate, swallowed it, and my body spat it back out for me. That was the eating routine for a lot of kids on chemo, and I think I can relate to that at least. Nothing ever tasted good. Not even Pizza Hut, which they had as a subsidiary of some sort in their own cafeteria. (Maybe you can tell me what Pizza Hut is doing in the cafeteria of CHOP, because hell if I know.)

But even Pizza Hut tasted like I was eating my own shit at one point. I think that's an exaggeration, but it gives you the general of just how bad it was to actually eat during the intensive stages of chemotherapy. Now that I'm thinking about it (remember, I'm looking into a foggy time capsule here) I actually think my food actually tasted like nothing at one point. I'm not sure if that was immediate, or later, but my food actually managed to taste like nothing. I guess all that cheese and sauce managed to feel like shit in my mouth, at any rate. If chemo makes your hair fall out (don't worry, there won't be a chapter on that) I guess it fucks up your taste buds too.

And then there were those times leaving the hospital and encountering the infamous McDonalds. I feel like that's a good and bad thing at the same time. Kids love it (I mean, I loved it). And it's the perfect location for predatory business tactics: Let's market our junk food in a children's hospital—because children make up a good amount of our customers.

But I'm not going to fault them entirely. I also think McDonalds is a good thing. I mean, there's nothing a chicken mcnugget is going to do to restore your health, but it will make you feel good... and a lot of these kids didn't have that besides their own family. Let me tell you, the food in the cafeteria was probably no better, so McDonalds, you aren't all that bad, even if you are making it obvious that you prey on dying children's tastebuds.

So in the end, food is a mixed bag. I think at first it tastes alright, then you get into chemo and it tastes like shit, then eventually you get so fucked up that can't taste anything at all—much like you don't much hair left at all as well.

Want my opinion though?

Go get the McDonalds. (Or the cheesesteaks. Those are good too.)