Todd: So, back to the hospital, so, you were there all day, what do you do? Do you watch TV? I mean, do you play cards?

 

Barbara: Well, at first I was in too much pain to do anything, and, well, after awhile friends came to see me. They brought me books. I read a lot of books. I had my portable CD player and listened to music and I guess the most important part of the hospital routine is when they bring the food around – the meal times, but I couldn't eat.

 

Todd: Oh, no.

 

Barbara: So I could just watch from the sidelines as the other people in my room, were, you know, getting ready for meals, and they would get out their chopsticks and they would be discussing what was on today's menu and, yeah, they really got into it, and I was left out, you know.

 

Todd: That's terrible.

 

Barbara: Not able to eat anything. And there were three old ladies in the same room as me, and they commented on the food that was served up and they often said things like, “Oh, you know, I could cook better than this at home” and “Oh, I don't think this is very good” but… so all of the talk of food just made me salivate, made my stomach constrict, and I was like dreaming about food all the time.

 

Todd: So when you got out and you could actually eat food outside of the hospital for the first time, what's the first thing you had?

 

Barbara: Soba.

 

Todd: Soba.

 

Barbara: Japanese soba noodles.

 

Todd: Well, soba is pretty good.

 

Barbara: Yeah. Yeah. And in a sense I lost my interest in I guess junk food and high calorie food.

 

Todd: I guess there's a lesson to be learned.

 

Barbara: Definitely.