Zero Day plus eighteen - the C-plan Diet

 

Even though I have tried to keep myself physically fit over the last few years, I cannot claim to have had a healthy weight since I was back in my thirties. I may be a bit stumpy which throws out BMI figures ("built like a fireplug" is one phrase that Cro used to use), but for years I have had BMI right up near 30 and sometimes above, and a cosy amount of padding on my belly. 

My theoretical healthy weight would be down near eleven stone (which is what I was in my thirties) but in recent years thirteen stone and up was normal, and at my heaviest I got to fourteen and half stone.

Before going in for the stem cell transplant I made no effort to lose weight because they said now was a bad time. So on the day I went in I weighed 13:05.

The day I got back home I was 12:10, a drop of nine pounds in 17 days. The day after I got back I was 12:08; the third day I dropped to 12:06. I had basically lost about a stone in three weeks. Now that's what I call a crash diet. I was glad to see it level out at 12:06 this morning as I was getting worried I might disappear altogether. 

So, how the big crash? I was in fact eating a quite normal diet for the last week in hospital, though in the ten days before that food had become my bete noire. But still, a stone in three weeks? Well the dietician gave me some insight (for which thanks, Fran). I had been physically very inactive in the time in hospital, but I hadn't missed out on all that much food. It didn't seem to tally. She said that when you get the Melphalan in your system, your metabolic needs increase a lot, because of all the processing that your body and organs are doing. Your liver and kidneys have to deal with all kinds of chemical and dead cell crap. The inflammation that the chemo causes (and I guess in my case also the lung infection) has to be paid for. Those 39 degree fevers don't come cheap either. 

The total calculation is that of all the weight you lose (and they don't like that to go over 5kg, which I have unfortunately just done) is not made up of fat loss. Body scan research shows them that on average 75% of the loss is from skeletal muscle. 75%! So basically my kidneys have been eating my pert arse. It's scary. 

So since getting home, how have I eaten? Well, like a hungry dog, basically. Yesterday's food included a big bowl of oats and dates and raisins, fresh fruit, yoghurt and honey; toasted crumpets with cheese melted on top; sausages, black pudding, beans and crumpet, along with mango, christmas cake and lots of fruit juice. I have not stinted. I have reintroduced beer too! My appetite has been good and I have tried to meet it. 

However, one interesting other figure backs up what Fran said. My normal waking pulse rate before the transplant was in the mid 50s, which is very healthy. Today it was 90. The whole effect of the Melphalan will continue for weeks, including breathlessness, fatigue and this over-cooked metabolism. 

So I am also using the vile secret weapon from Fran, in the picture above. This is Fortisip, used for old and frail people who cannot eat enough. It has about 300 calories in that little bottle but also has high protein and trace elements. It tastes vile, and Cro could barely stomach these when she needed them. But needs must, and each day I am keeping a bottle of this in the fridge, mixed with full-fat milk, to sip across the day and prevent me turning into a complete Cassius with his 'lean and hungry look'.