What would your "last meal" be?

GregP_WN
GregP_WN Member Posts: 742
edited January 2020 in General Cancer
As my surgery date gets closer and closer Donna keeps telling me to give her a list of things I want to eat before that date, because we don't know how long I'll be on a feeding tube. Worst case scenario is I never eat and swallow again. (I don't for a minute expect that) I feel sort of like someone on death row waiting for execution. I keep telling her that I don't care, anything is fine. But as I think about what if I had to choose one thing, a "last meal", what would it be? I don't have a clue.

So if you had to choose something for your last meal, what would you order?

Comments

  • Leuky
    Leuky Member Posts: 2
    edited January 2020
    Nothing fancy Lasagna and french toast for me.
  • po18guy
    po18guy Member Posts: 329
    edited January 2020
    Remember the 80s movie "Arthur" with Dudley Moore? As his faithful butler lay in the hospital bed dying, Arthur brought in a catered steak dinner with all of the trimmings. When the hospital staff expressed shock and horror, Arthur told them, "I don't want his last meal to be Jello..."

    Whatever I eat tonight, probably sloppy joes, might be my last meal. Thomas á Kempis wrote in the 1400s that we should awaken and live each day as though we would not see its end, and retire for each evening as though we would not see daybreak. Not bad advice.
  • Bengal
    Bengal Member Posts: 518
    edited January 2020
    This is hard to contemplate. I think seafood ( lobster, crab, scallops, shrimp) and peach pie (made with fresh peaches and my mother's pastry) or, although no longer possible, my grandmother's chocolate cake.
  • alivenwell
    alivenwell Member Posts: 84
    edited January 2020
    Oranges. They are associated with killing cancer stem cells.
    https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/316334.php#5
  • Carool
    Carool Member Posts: 787
    edited January 2020
    I, too, would have lobster, shrimp, crabs, clam chowder, plus vegetables of all kinds. Coconut custard pie. And I’d want to have many hours in which to eat that meal, so I could eat a lot.
  • beachbum5817
    beachbum5817 Member Posts: 238
    edited January 2020
    I probably would want some of everything that has already been mentioned, and I would top it off with chocolate cake and dark chocolate candy.
  • Jayne
    Jayne Member Posts: 134
    edited January 2020
    I would prefer to drink my last meal, lest I end up in the bathroom (a lovely side effect of colon cancer) so a nice glass of red wine (or 5)!
  • PaulineJ
    PaulineJ Member Posts: 205
    edited January 2020
    Like you Greg anything.but I would like ham,decent chinese food that use to be,not anymore,pizza.
    This sounds like prisoners on death row.
  • PaulineJ
    PaulineJ Member Posts: 205
    edited January 2020
    Jayne like you,but no wine for me.I have enough problems without being dizzy over wine.Even that would make me dizzy ,besides people making me dizzy over stress.Had it happened once when someone told me to have a glass of wine to stop my stress.She had wine every evening.She was 86 years old.
  • JaneA
    JaneA Member Posts: 335
    edited January 2020
    Georgia fried shrimp, baked potato with butter and sour cream and 14-layer chocolate cake.
  • Dkatsmeow
    Dkatsmeow Member Posts: 37
    edited January 2020
    I had T-bone steak w/ mushrooms, a salad & a baked potatoe. Only problem was I was so anxious about the surgery I couldn't eat a mouthful. Didn't sleep either. We had to be at the hospital at 4:30 Am anyway. and surgery was 12 hours long. I was probably out for 24 hours, including recovery. So I really didnt' lose any sleep. Then I found out I will never be able to eat again. The left side of my throat is paralyzed and my wind pipe won't close properly. Every time I try to eat or drink anything it goes down the wrong tube. I did end up getting aspiration pneumonia from trying to eat. so I don't even try anymore. I have been told basically that my anatomy is forever changed in my throat. Me the foodie!!! I love to garden,cook and eat it all! What do I say I am alive, but quality of life sucks.
  • Dkatsmeow
    Dkatsmeow Member Posts: 37
    edited January 2020
    I am going to add - After my experience 2-3 days before, eat your favorites. whatever that may be. I wish you the best of luck, but you never know. I was told the most I should face was a drooping shoulder. they glossed over the other affects. So guess what happened.
  • Dawsonsmom
    Dawsonsmom Member Posts: 99
    edited January 2020
    As others have noted, shellfish would be my choice.....being in the South, my choice would probably be shrimp & grits (grits using Paula Deens recipe...so creamy!).
  • Molly72
    Molly72 Member Posts: 227
    edited January 2020
    What are YOUR favorites Greg?
  • BoiseB
    BoiseB Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2020
    I would like anything that did not contain Chocolate or garlic. I would not like liver or any organ meats, In fact you can skip the meat altogether. Whatever it is it should well-cooked and loaded with salt.
  • PaulineJ
    PaulineJ Member Posts: 205
    edited January 2020
    I just had second thoughts on this.We don't know what we're eating these days.Everything taste different and not the same ingredients..
    I don't know all about you ,but it's a struggle to open everything.LOL!
  • BoiseB
    BoiseB Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2020
    @po18guy, I hear you on that every meal might be our last. I am living on a major fault, due an earthquake at the foot of a volcano due an eruption and next door to an army base and an air force base that make ideal targets if Kim Jon Uhn should decide to take a little target practice with his missiles. By the way I see you live in the same neighborhood. Also the doctors have warned me that my next fall may be fatal. That being said I don't eat for pleasure. I eat to feel better in the future. I eat to control pain, improve strength, reduce inflammation and boost immunity. If death were immanent I probably would not bother to eat.
  • GregP_WN
    GregP_WN Member Posts: 742
    edited January 2020
    Molly, I am not real picky. Donna has been asking me what I want for the next couple of weeks and I can't really say anything that I am just dying to have. (no pun intended) A favorite is probably filet mignon that I cook at home.
  • JustForToday
    JustForToday Member Posts: 39
    edited January 2020
    You have shared your special barbeque with us. You built it in your back yard. Not the best time of year for a barbeque. But, if someone could make something on your barbeque it would be a shared treat for all and a tribute to your hard work. Something for all to appreciate with a smile.
  • cllinda
    cllinda Member Posts: 153
    edited January 2020
    Mine would be jumbo shrimp, French fries and coleslaw. But everyone has their favorite meal. I hope that your surgery goes well and you can eat and swallow afterwards.
  • treesaw1
    treesaw1 Member Posts: 2
    edited January 2020
    I have thought about this!!! The pan fried shrimp dumplings from PF Chang’s!! And Godiva cheesecake from cheese cake factory w Diet Coke and vanilla vodka. Thinking good thoughts for your surgery!! I have been in that feeding tube for 21 days following salivary gland cancer surgery and it’s not great but I’m praying for you it’s temporary as well.
  • PaulineJ
    PaulineJ Member Posts: 205
    edited January 2020
    I was just thinking how Donna and/or Greg needed/wanted some suggestings.lol
  • Molly72
    Molly72 Member Posts: 227
    edited January 2020
    Yes, treesaw---Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory.
    I've heard that lobster mac & cheese is tasty too, but never have had it.
    I don't care about steak, but seafood & Chinese is always good.

    What's the worst for you?
    I vote for Mexican food, peppers, & Brussel Sprouts!
  • Bengal
    Bengal Member Posts: 518
    edited January 2020
    The worst: things I wouldn't eat even if it it was my last meal? Liver! Anchovies. These things we used to have in the school cafeteria 50 something years ago. They were called "corn burgers". An open hamburger bun topped with loose ground beef and kernel corn, topped with a laddle of tomato soup. I wouldn't even go to the cafeteria on the days it was served. P.S. Lobster Mac & cheese can be aweome!
  • Danfan714
    Danfan714 Member Posts: 7
    edited January 2020
    Mine was a porterhouse steak at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in NYC.If I knew I was never going to have steak again at the time, I would have had 2..
  • Dkatsmeow
    Dkatsmeow Member Posts: 37
    edited January 2020
    I am with you Danfan74. If I could eat now I would be big as house because I would eat & drink everything in sight. The See Food diet if you please.
  • BoiseB
    BoiseB Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2020
    Last night while I was having a very healthy meal of bean soup with kale and tomatoes and onions, I watched a video on earthquake preparedness. It occurred to me that it might be my last meal. But the very purpose of the meal was to extend my life. Since cancer the challenge to me has been to eat healthy. After diagnosis and before surgery I had a feeding tube, and for a month after surgery. During that time (5 1/2 months) I had 5 tubes. When the last tube failed the Dr. said said "God is telling you that it is time you eat. I was still at the recovery facility so guess what they offered me to get started? Chocolate pudding, I hate chocolate. I finally talked them into tapioca pudding. So the worst things for me would be chocolate garlic liver also because anything fried causes me almost instant pain we could eliminate those foods
  • Bengal
    Bengal Member Posts: 518
    edited January 2020
    Here's a twist that came up today when I was talking about this thread with someone . What if for your last meal you had to eat something thoroughly disgusting, like chocolate, garlic liver? With that memory you might not mind so much that it was your last. Seriously?
  • Ps8285
    Ps8285 Member Posts: 4
    edited January 2020
    A big tray of Maryland style blue crabs or veal Parmesan

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